Re: Into the Madding Crowds!
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 12:44 pm
We got off the subway at 86th Street just next to Central Park. We were heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which was on the other side of the park, so it was a good time to stroll through. Central Park is the most visited urban park in the United States as well as one of the most filmed locations in the world and covers 843 acres.
The Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir covers 106 acres and holds over 1,000,000,000 gallons of water. It was originally used to distribute New York City's water supply. It is one of the main ecological sanctuaries in the park, housing more than 20 species of waterbirds making it a popular venue for birdwatchers. I did spot some birds and took some pics, but because I only had my small lens with me they all just came out like blobs!
Being a Sunday, there were lots of people running, cycling, walking their dogs or just taking it easy.
The Met, or Metropolitan Museum of Art, is the largest art museum in the United States and one of the ten largest in the world. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works. The main building is one of the world's largest art galleries and its total area is 190,000 m2! Represented in the permanent collection are works of art from classical antiquity and Ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern art. The Met also maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanic, Byzantine, and Islamic art, and collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, and antique weapons and armour from around the world.
Before heading inside the Brat said I had to try some street food from one of the many kiosks outside the museum. I opted for a chilli dog and the Brat had a chicken kebab. They were quite tasty but expensive on our SA budget - about $5 each!
Once inside the Brat wanted to see the Greek and Roman section as that is what he is studying in Art at the moment. There are just hundreds of statues and artefacts and it's impossible to look at everything but we did our best!
What you can see in this pic below is just a fraction of what there is to see from the Classical period! 
Next we headed towards the Old Masters but found some interesting things on the way. This is a Kwoma Ceiling from a ceremonial house in New Guinea which I thought was pretty cool!
A real Egyptian tomb that was transported brick by brick!
The Old Master's collection included works by Bruegel, Caravaggio, El Greco, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Goya, Turner and hundreds more!
The Brat was hoping to see Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer but had to settle for Young Woman with a Water Pitcher.
Self-portrait, Rembrandt
After more than 2 hours and 100s of photos we had to leave as the museum was closing and we hadn't even seen half of what was on display, but by this time we were completely "museumed-out"!
Before leaving for America I had found out that a second-cousin had recently moved to New York after winning Green Cards in a lottery and we had made plans to visit them for dinner that night. So we had to cross back through Central Park (a walk of about 15 minutes) to catch the subway to Harlem (upper west side of Manhattan). We had walked so much that day that the soles of my boots had cracked in half but I knew that if I sat down I wouldn't get up again, and I had to 'urge' the Brat to move his butt more than once! 
In Harlem it was about a 10 minute walk to my cousin's apartment block. He lives with his wife and daughter (2 years old) in one of the smallest one-bedroom 'apartments' I have ever seen! The kitchen was no bigger than a cupboard and even one person battled to fit in there, and their rent is the equivalent of almost R18000 a month! They had only been there about a month - I don't think I would have lasted a week - but they are determined to stay for 6 months to see what it's like to live in the US! Anyway, despite the cramped conditions and no furniture apart from a wooden table and some mismatched chairs, it was great to catch up with them and we had a great evening. My cousin said it was safe to catch the subway back to our hotel but we decided we had to take at least one cab while in NY and we couldn't walk another step. 
The trip lasted about 15 minutes and cost over $30 - nearly R400!
The Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir covers 106 acres and holds over 1,000,000,000 gallons of water. It was originally used to distribute New York City's water supply. It is one of the main ecological sanctuaries in the park, housing more than 20 species of waterbirds making it a popular venue for birdwatchers. I did spot some birds and took some pics, but because I only had my small lens with me they all just came out like blobs!
Being a Sunday, there were lots of people running, cycling, walking their dogs or just taking it easy.
The Met, or Metropolitan Museum of Art, is the largest art museum in the United States and one of the ten largest in the world. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works. The main building is one of the world's largest art galleries and its total area is 190,000 m2! Represented in the permanent collection are works of art from classical antiquity and Ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern art. The Met also maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanic, Byzantine, and Islamic art, and collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, and antique weapons and armour from around the world.
Before heading inside the Brat said I had to try some street food from one of the many kiosks outside the museum. I opted for a chilli dog and the Brat had a chicken kebab. They were quite tasty but expensive on our SA budget - about $5 each!
Once inside the Brat wanted to see the Greek and Roman section as that is what he is studying in Art at the moment. There are just hundreds of statues and artefacts and it's impossible to look at everything but we did our best!
What you can see in this pic below is just a fraction of what there is to see from the Classical period! Next we headed towards the Old Masters but found some interesting things on the way. This is a Kwoma Ceiling from a ceremonial house in New Guinea which I thought was pretty cool!
A real Egyptian tomb that was transported brick by brick!
The Old Master's collection included works by Bruegel, Caravaggio, El Greco, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Goya, Turner and hundreds more!
The Brat was hoping to see Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer but had to settle for Young Woman with a Water Pitcher.
Self-portrait, Rembrandt
After more than 2 hours and 100s of photos we had to leave as the museum was closing and we hadn't even seen half of what was on display, but by this time we were completely "museumed-out"!
Before leaving for America I had found out that a second-cousin had recently moved to New York after winning Green Cards in a lottery and we had made plans to visit them for dinner that night. So we had to cross back through Central Park (a walk of about 15 minutes) to catch the subway to Harlem (upper west side of Manhattan). We had walked so much that day that the soles of my boots had cracked in half
but I knew that if I sat down I wouldn't get up again, and I had to 'urge' the Brat to move his butt more than once! In Harlem it was about a 10 minute walk to my cousin's apartment block. He lives with his wife and daughter (2 years old) in one of the smallest one-bedroom 'apartments' I have ever seen!
The kitchen was no bigger than a cupboard and even one person battled to fit in there, and their rent is the equivalent of almost R18000 a month! They had only been there about a month - I don't think I would have lasted a week - but they are determined to stay for 6 months to see what it's like to live in the US! Anyway, despite the cramped conditions and no furniture apart from a wooden table and some mismatched chairs, it was great to catch up with them and we had a great evening. My cousin said it was safe to catch the subway back to our hotel but we decided we had to take at least one cab while in NY and we couldn't walk another step. The trip lasted about 15 minutes and cost over $30 - nearly R400! 
I think we did almost everything there is to do in NY. 
