RTW to no-where in particular

[JohnM]

D'oh - all that salty-looking landscape in the 5th and 6th pics was snow, then.

 

[RooFlyer]

OK, now we've figured out what season it is ...

First day in New York was my customary exploratory wander, keeping with the TR theme, to no where in particular. Forecast was for sunny and about 8 degrees max, so I put on my #1 winter jacket, goose-down lined & all, plus gloves etc. In the morning it was about 2 degrees, but after 100m outside I realised that the jacket was going to be too much, so I went back and ditched it, making do with just a jumper. Walking to the subway, and then on it, I was a bit concerned because everyone else was rugged up to the nines ... Fast forward ... duting the morning it was a bit cool, but as I was walking all the time and there was no wind I kept warm, and by the afternoon the jacket would have been a real handicap. A win for the Tasmanians.

Decided to do (part of!) the West Side. First stop was Chelsea Market at W16th an 9th Ave.



Lots of gourmet places ...







I didn't bother going in here....

 

[RooFlyer]

Next, I decided to walk the Highline, a park created on an disused elevated freight railway on NY's west side, running about 2.5km from W 13th St to W 34th st. Very busy even at 10am, but a lovely experience.

I could just see the Statue of Liberty through there ...









Bloomberg Tower







The Hudson near the end of the Highline

 

[RooFlyer]

Just past the northern end of the High Line is the Intrepid air, sea and space museum - pretty obvious as you approach it:



The Intrepid was a late WW2 - cold war aircraft carrier, decommissioned in 1974. Lots of nifty military aircraft parked on its deck - this is a small sample:









The bridge:



At the back is the Enterprise space shuttle. This was the first, prototype, which flew but didn't get to space, so it doesn't have the tiles etc. It was supposed to be retrofitted to go into space once they perfected the design, but it ended up costing too much, so it was left grounded.

 

[RooFlyer]

At the rear of the Intrepid is a BA Concorde. It looks like you can only go on board with a tour.





I guess you didn't really want to be behind the business end when it was going:



Also at the Intrepid is the 'Growler, a cold war nuclear-armed sub. I think it said the only US nuclear sub on display, anywhere.



Lastly, US Airways flight 1549 would have ditched in the Hudson about here, at the left, just off the intrepid.



Continuing my wander, destination Central Park.



Columbus Circle at the SW corner of the park:



Civil War memorial



A lovely afternoon - no more than 10 degrees, but sunny and no wind.



A man after my own girth (Daniel Webster):

 

[RooFlyer]

I didn't really go into Central Park - thats for another day, I just wandered up the western margin for a sticky-beak.

'The San Remo' apartments:





'The Magestic'



The side of The Dakota apartments, where John Lennon lived (and was killed outside of)



After 12km of my first day recce walk, it was time to head home. In search of some groceries, back in Queens I saw this place, a bit of a squeeze:

 

[Drakecula]

New York is on my to visit list - probably part of the next Big Trip one day.

 

[RooFlyer]

Day 2 in New York and, fair dinkum, if there was a better day weather-wise to walk around it, I'd like to see it. Again, sunny, no wind (just a mere zephyr at the top of the Empire State Building) and between 5 and 12 degrees - just right in a jumper.

Today it would be walking up the east side. I started at Union Square and saluted George and Abraham:





At 9am the place was practically deserted and the famed NYC traffic all but absent.



Up Broadway (which these days isn't so broad - a single lane flanked by bike paths and parking) to Madison Square Park and the Flatiron building and the MetLife building:






I spied a familiar landmark. I haven't been there for 30 years or more so thought it was time to revisit, if the queue wasn't long.

 

[RooFlyer]

Almost no queue : but US$78 freak'n dollars to go up. Gulp - what the hell.

Just sensational views from the top:







The above is the reverse view from one pic from the Highline yesterday:



Looking south to the tip of Manhattan:



Some might remember my TR from 2 years ago where I walked lower Manhattan for a day and went up the Freedom Tower. This was the reverse view from about 30 years ago atop one of the World Trade Center towers, and the view in 2018 from the Freedom Tower:

Twice around the world in 40 days

I'll sit on your knee any day you like LTL...;):):D. I tell you what JohnM, I'll do the honourable thing and move to 2A! Not keen on 1A anyway. :D

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

The outside gallery - those heaters pack some punch!



Looking back to Madison Square Park, :



The ground floor, in its Art Deco glory ...

 

[RooFlyer]

Just a couple of blocks away was once place I did plan beforehand on visiting - the ( JP) Morgan Library and Museum.

Those who don't remember J Pierpont Morgan (other than being the namesake of the Fin Review's 'Pierpont' mining mogul of the '80s ), check him out:

J. P. Morgan - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I read this some time ago and have never forgotten the story:



So, with a 'student discount', I got in for US$7 - a bargain. The Library and museum houses JPM's fantastic book and manuscript collection, together with various other (priceless) trinkets.

First, his study:







Off to one side was a vault here he kept the good stuff (no, not his wine):





When he died in 1913, he was worth about US$118 million, of which US$50 was in art etc. John D. Rockefeller was alleged to have said: "and to think, he wasn't even a rich man."

 

[RooFlyer]

Then, his library, which must be one of the most beautiful small rooms I've seen:

The tapestry over the fireplace is some 16th century rag:

 

[craven morehead]

Just a couple of blocks away was once place I did plan beforehand on visiting - the ( JP) Morgan Library and Museum.

Those who don't remember J Pierpont Morgan (other than being the namesake of the Fin Review's 'Pierpont' mining mogul of the '80s ), check him out:

J. P. Morgan - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I read this some time ago and have never forgotten the story:

View attachment 206606

So, with a 'student discount', I got in for US$7 - a bargain. The Library and museum houses JPM's fantastic book and manuscript collection, together with various other (priceless) trinkets.

First, his study:

View attachment 206611

View attachment 206610

View attachment 206607

Off to one side was a vault here he kept the good stuff (no, not his wine):

View attachment 206608

View attachment 206609

When he died in 1913, he was worth about US$118 million, of which US$50 was in art etc. John D. Rockefeller was alleged to have said: "and to think, he wasn't even a rich man."

Over there in June might have to look this place up.

 

[tgh]

Fantastic stuff…..

another book to read.. sigh

I am not a big fan of cities but there is something about New York

 

[RooFlyer]

Of course in those display cases aren't collectors editions of the Readers Digest. Stuff like:

Napoleon's English language notebook from Elba:



First Edition (1826) of Beethoven's 9th Symphony:



One of Morgan's 3 Gutenberg Bibles:



A bejeweled 9th century book of Gospels:





... that sort of stuff ...

There is a third room, a bit of an office which now houses Morgan's collection of Byzantine seal-makers:



The 3 rooms are linked by an exquisite marble rotunda:



A panorama makes the square room look curved:

 

[RooFlyer]

What sort of ball park figure was this DONE (I'm assuming) and how many SCs?

About $13K, virtually no taxes and I think 1,350 SCs (no doubles or bonuses).

... more accurately on the SCs: 1400 exactly and on the points front (travelling in J as Plat, 90,000 points, which will be boosted by about 60,000 points, from a triple (base) points (on Qantas flights) promo I signed up for . Amazingly, the triple points for the outward Qantas leg posted only a day after the flight

 

[RooFlyer]

From the Library it was only a couple of blocks again up Park Avenue to Grand Central Terminal, which I also visited last time I was in NYC. Another postcard view:



The concourse, of course (after a snack at one of the delis )



Then over to 5th Avenue, where the traffic was still a bit sparse at noon:





I moseyed around the Rockefeller Center, another place i hadn't been to in 30 years (when I actually did some skating )







Like the Empire State, its an Art Deco paradise:



Back over to 5th Avenue, and St Patrick's Cathedral, framed by Hercules in the first shot:

 

[RooFlyer]

By this time I decided to hit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which I had never visited, and the Guggenheim which was another 30-years-ago visit. Maybe get a bit more of Central Park. So I had to forego a visit to Trump Tower (sorry @Cruiser Elite) and get the subway up to 86th Street.

The Met building is enormous - couldn't fit all the front in a frame:



Great Hall:



It costs $20 (IIRC) to get in - for some reason I wasn't expecting that. Use the self-serve machines on the right as you go in - no queuing ... as opposed to the ticket counters which was a zoo.

I wandered around the European Art, which was ... well, I'm not going to get all arty pretentious (pretentious ... moi?! ) but it was a bit pedestrian compared to what you get in, well, the European places . So I bee-lined to the American section and it was worth it. Sculptures in a massive glass annex:



... with a reconstructed bank facade at one end. (Considering how much dosh the bankers have put into the arts in this joint, its totally appropriate!):



Diana:



Good 'ol GW, by Peale c1780:



Them something instantly recognisable - Washington crossing the Delaware, painted in 1851 by Leutze.

 

[Magoo]

That Library! Wow! Almost enough to make me visit New York again....

 

[JohnM]

You certainly aced it with the weather.

 

[Drakecula]

Library envy. Mine doesn't look nearly as pretty. At home anyway. Work is quite beautiful I think.