First full day in New York City.
I had been to the Apple Grande twice before, but still, in a city like this only repeat visits will provide any satisfaction that you actually achieve in getting a true sense of the city. One of the places I'd yet to visit was the Cloisters, an extension of the Metropolitan Museum of Art which focuses on monastic and Christian artifacts from the Middle Ages. The building itself takes the form of a Middle Ages monastery, situated on the top of a hill overlooking the upper portion of Manhattan Island. Like any monastery, actually getting to it can be quite the task, and unless you know about the M4 bus which takes to directly to the Cloisters' front door (which I was not privy to at the time - thank you Google Maps), then you'll have to hike your way up there. The walk I took started about 1/4 mile or so away from the park in which the museum is situated, and after several winding roads, wrong turns and asking "WTF" of the Google Maps app, I finally get across the street and into the park. Now we get to the real task - of course, the paths wind up, and up, and UP, and are long and offer little relief in terms of downhill stretches. Toward the merciful end of my jaunt, during an increasing warm and humid morning, I found shade and stopped, at one time soaked in sweat and panting so much I thought I was hyperventilating. I knew I needed to get back into shape, but this told me how much further I had to go to be able to declare myself as “in shape”. Finally, I get to the front door with a few other people, wait until the 10:00 opening time, and am welcomed in to air conditioned relief - albeit with more steps. This is a place where, if you don't know about the bus line that takes you there, you need to EARN your way to the entrance.
Once inside, however, you’re taken back to those medieval times.
Those who currently subscribe to Catholic, Episcopal, or similar traditions will immediately recognize many of the articles used in church services: the chalices, the crucifixes, the vestments, and other like articles are on display. Among the many religious-themed artifacts that I found of interest was this fierce-appearing lecturn, dominated by the sculpture of an eagle:
(Imagine being in the congregation and listening to a sermon or a bible reading given from this lecturn. Forget being able to see the person giving the sermon or reading - the eagle is seeming to make the, uh, point.)
The preserved frescoes and statues were also given a good and deserved amount of space, most of them religious in nature but some secular, such as this image of a unicorn doing battle...
...and there is a room devoted to the effigies and crypts used by the royalty of those days. The gardens, with their variations in bloom and hue, offer a welcome respite to the gray interior, and the entire structure overlooks the Hudson River, creating stunning vistas of the water and of the state of New Jersey just across it Admission for one adult is $25, but it’s included in many of the discount programs such as the New York City Pass and The Explorer Pass.
My next stop was back in Midtown, at the Paley Center for Media. Not a true “museum” per se (since there are no physical artifacts), the Paley Center is essentially a library of historic television and radio programming, extending from the early part of the 20th century through today. Admission will give you 90 minutes of time to browse the collection - I looked at various documentaries, news events, and sporting events from the 1960s, including parts of Super Bowl III. The Center is located on 52nd Street, about two building away from the CBS Headquarters Building (where the Center’s namesake, William Paley, made his reputation as a broadcasting pioneer.) As above, admission was part of the New York Pass.
Toward the end of the day (which I called early due to an oncoming headache brought on, in part, by what I suspect to be dehydration), I stopped at the City Museum of New York. Located on the museum-heavy Fifth Avenue (along Central Park), the museum deals with the history of what used to be called New Amsterdam when the Dutch set up an outpost at the southern tip of Manhattan Island around 400 years ago, only to be overrun by the British and the resultant name change to New York. A theater on the third floor shows a multi-screened movie giving the 30,000 view of this history: the huge role of immigrants throughout the years, its former days as a manufacturing mecca, it’s evolution into a financial mecca, and the divide between the haves and have-nots which has plagued the city from virtually its inception. There were also exhibits on the role of activism (left wing AND right wing), the role of comics in shaping public opinion, and an exhibit which goes into the role of Yiddish theater. In all, a fascinating take on a fascinating city. As above, admission is part of the City Pass.
As I stated above, I called this day a bit early due to a headache I was trying to prevent from becoming a huge problem, and because of the exhausting from huffing it up to the Cloisters earlier in the day. I had four more days to explore, so better to rest now and be ready to hit the ground running.
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