NYC Trip - Day Two
Well! After eight hours of sleep I started walking.
Hoo boy, did I walk. I started out by walking downtown to Times Square at 6:30 in the morning to get some pictures of the place in the dark. It had rained a bit, so everything looked freshly-washed and the huge signs and video screens looked like something out of Blade Runner. Very cool.
After that I crossed back over to Fifth Avenue and walked all the way south to 20th Street so I could take snaps of the Flatiron Building, Madison Square and the Empire State Building. As the low clouds shoved off, the building slowly revealed itself and I got some great pictures.
I also addressed myself to breakfast. After about two hours of walking I decided I needed to eat, so I looked for a bagle place. Sure there was Dunking Donuts, but why in the name of Bleeding Jesus and all his martyred saints would I go to Dunking Donuts? I went to a place called the Brooklyn Bagel cafe and had a delicious warm bagel with cream cheese and some absolutely tasty smoked salmon.
I then walked down 42nd Street all the way to Lexington Avenue, and took pictures of the Chrysler Building and Grand Central Station.
After taking a stop at the hotel to ditch my sweatshirt (the weather was warming up nicely) I headed for the first museum on the agenda, the Museum of Modern Art. Works by Dali, Picasso (I had my picture taken by a security gaurd while I stood next to Picasso's Girl Standing at a Mirror), Oldenburg, etc. Wonderful stuff. I ate lunch at the Petrie Cafe at the museum, on a terrace overlooking the ground-level sculpture garden. To give the lunch a sense of occasion, I splashed out a bit and had a duck, pork and fig confit tart with mascarpone cheese and prosciutto. Excellent!
After another brief stop at the hotel I went back south again, this time to visit the Museum of Sex.
Yes, there actually is one.
In addition to the permanent collection (all done very straightforward), there was an exhibit on sex in the animal kingdom. I, for one, didn't know that white-tailed deer have threesomes, nor did I know the real reason why Chinese researchers show pandas videos of pandas mating (giant pandas are so rare and generally so solitary that they rarely get to see other pandas mate, so they might not realize how to go about it; hence, the need for panda porn).
Dinner was at the restaurant adjacent to the hotel, and consisted of a very tasty cheeseburger and a honey wheat beer (and I have a question - who in their right minds garnish a mug of beer with a slice of orange? Just asking.) I have decided not to get a night-time trip to the Empire State Building tonight as my feet are starting to bother me a bit (two blisters already).
So, off to bed and more walking tomorrow. Off to Central Park, and points north!
Hoo boy, did I walk. I started out by walking downtown to Times Square at 6:30 in the morning to get some pictures of the place in the dark. It had rained a bit, so everything looked freshly-washed and the huge signs and video screens looked like something out of Blade Runner. Very cool.
After that I crossed back over to Fifth Avenue and walked all the way south to 20th Street so I could take snaps of the Flatiron Building, Madison Square and the Empire State Building. As the low clouds shoved off, the building slowly revealed itself and I got some great pictures.
I also addressed myself to breakfast. After about two hours of walking I decided I needed to eat, so I looked for a bagle place. Sure there was Dunking Donuts, but why in the name of Bleeding Jesus and all his martyred saints would I go to Dunking Donuts? I went to a place called the Brooklyn Bagel cafe and had a delicious warm bagel with cream cheese and some absolutely tasty smoked salmon.
I then walked down 42nd Street all the way to Lexington Avenue, and took pictures of the Chrysler Building and Grand Central Station.
After taking a stop at the hotel to ditch my sweatshirt (the weather was warming up nicely) I headed for the first museum on the agenda, the Museum of Modern Art. Works by Dali, Picasso (I had my picture taken by a security gaurd while I stood next to Picasso's Girl Standing at a Mirror), Oldenburg, etc. Wonderful stuff. I ate lunch at the Petrie Cafe at the museum, on a terrace overlooking the ground-level sculpture garden. To give the lunch a sense of occasion, I splashed out a bit and had a duck, pork and fig confit tart with mascarpone cheese and prosciutto. Excellent!
After another brief stop at the hotel I went back south again, this time to visit the Museum of Sex.
Yes, there actually is one.
In addition to the permanent collection (all done very straightforward), there was an exhibit on sex in the animal kingdom. I, for one, didn't know that white-tailed deer have threesomes, nor did I know the real reason why Chinese researchers show pandas videos of pandas mating (giant pandas are so rare and generally so solitary that they rarely get to see other pandas mate, so they might not realize how to go about it; hence, the need for panda porn).
Dinner was at the restaurant adjacent to the hotel, and consisted of a very tasty cheeseburger and a honey wheat beer (and I have a question - who in their right minds garnish a mug of beer with a slice of orange? Just asking.) I have decided not to get a night-time trip to the Empire State Building tonight as my feet are starting to bother me a bit (two blisters already).
So, off to bed and more walking tomorrow. Off to Central Park, and points north!
posted by Walt at 8:42 PM
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