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Evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Museum Hack

July 15, 2016 / / 0 Comments

“Claudia knew that she could never pull off the old-fashioned kind of running away. That is, running away in the heat of anger with a knapsack on her back. She didn’t like discomfort; even picnics were untidy and inconvenient: all those insects and the sun melting the icing on the cupcakes. Therefore, she decided that her leaving home would not just be running from somewhere but would be running to somewhere. To a large place, a comfortable place, an indoor place, and preferably a beautiful place. And that’s why she decided upon the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.”

E. L. Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler has been one of my favorite books since elementary school. I reread it from time to time, and it holds up, even though Claudia and Jamie manage to run away from home with less than $30 between them and make it to NYC from Connecticut no problem. This book influenced me in two ways: it made me realize how awesome museums are, especially at night, and it helped teach me that what makes art important is the stories we tell (or don’t tell…) about it.

My recent tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Museum Hack did exactly the same thing, which of course means I had an awesome time.

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Medieval Festival at Fort Tryon Park — Sunday, October 4

September 25, 2015 / / 0 Comments

I have a lot of favorite places in New York. Some of them I go to all of the time and others I don’t get to visit nearly enough. The Cloisters in Ft. Tryon Park falls into the second category — I can’t remember the last time I was there! In case you haven’t heard of The Cloisters, it’s an offshoot of the Metropolitan Museum of Art which features art and architecture (including the building itself, which was assembled from time-appropriate elements) from the medieval period. The Cloisters is a gorgeous space — I wrote a few years ago about visiting a musical installation that was there for a while — and the artwork is stunning. If it’s been on your list for a while and you haven’t gone, may I recommend Sunday, October 4? Because if you happen to go that day, you’ll also get to experience the annual Medieval Festival in Ft. Tryon Park. I’m hoping to be there, too! And speaking of things that are coming up, don’t forget about square dancing this weekend in Bryant Park!

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A Manhattan walking itinerary

May 12, 2015 / / 2 Comments

First posted April 25, 2014.

Tourist season is upon us. If you live in NYC, that means you’ll soon have friends and relatives coming in for the weekend and sleeping on your couch. Some of them have spent time in New York and just want to see you, but I guarantee you’ll have at least one visitor per year who hasn’t visited before – and if you don’t live in New York and are reading this, that visitor might be you.

You can always go back through back entries of this blog when looking for ideas (check out my “things to do” tag!). But in this post and a few others, I’ll outline some sample itineraries for a day with friends who want to explore the city. Because most of my visitors are twenty-somethings on a budget, most of my suggestions are free – though there are a lot of stores are on this itinerary, so remember to bring enough money for some small souvenirs! If you’re looking for something to do on a Friday evening, swing by the free hours at the Morgan Library & Museum. Grab some finger food at their café or have some sandwiches at the Pret around the corner before heading to bed early to rest up for a busy Saturday!

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Reading about New York

March 19, 2015 / / 2 Comments
First posted March 19, 2014.

Most of the nonfiction I read falls into the memoir category, with an emphasis on travel. But one of my favorites is Anne Fadiman’s Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, a book for book lovers. If you haven’t read it, buy it now. It’s short and you’ll read it so quickly you’ll wish it were longer. I’ve read it a couple times and love all of the essays, but one of my favorites is called “My Odd Shelf”.

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Reading about New York

March 19, 2014 / / 1 Comment
Most of the nonfiction I read falls into the memoir category, with an emphasis on travel. But one of my favorites is Anne Fadiman’s Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, a book for book lovers. If you haven’t read it, buy it now. It’s short and you’ll read it so quickly you’ll wish it were longer. I’ve read it a couple times and love all of the essays, but one of my favorites is called “My Odd Shelf”.

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From the roof of the Met

November 1, 2013 / / 2 Comments

I have a fondness for viewing things from a height. When I traveled to Italy in college, I climbed to the top of something (usually a cathedral, but once a tower) in most of the cities we visited. When I studied in London, I climbed to the top of St. Paul’s, and loved the view from there much better than that from the London Eye. There’s something about being up high and out in the air that makes a view so much crisper than it is when viewed through the thick walls of the Eye’s capsule, or through a window in a building.

It’s been years since I’ve been to the top of the Empire State Building (I’ll write about it if I ever go again), but I’ve come across a few spots that cater to my love of Being Outside While Up High, and neither of them requires climbing 320 steps, like my trek up to the top of St. Peter’s in Rome did. One spot is the view from my office’s roof, mentioned in my September 11 post.
The other is the view from the roof garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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