August in N-hoo York

Well, it is officially September! My second month in NY, and it's been a busy few weeks! The theme of which being "WOW, that is EXPENSIVE!" But let's start with my apartment!

As Vicki says, "it is very 'Manhattan.'" Read: Compact.

Here is our entrance hall:

You can see Vicki's boots, and my umbrella handle left in their positions from when they were lined up against the wall, should we have needed to evacuate because of Irene. Last Sunday there were more boots and two "go bags." This is also where we planned to camp out should all of our windows shatter into 1000 pieces.

Many of you have seen the pictures of my room, but I will post one:

My room is genuinely very cozy. It has been/will be a struggle to keep it clean, however. It doesn't take a whole lot of clutter to block your walking path. Most of my furniture is from Ikea, which is a blog post in and of itself, but to sum up...

Getting to Ikea, I walked a lot. Much more than I intended. Hours more than I intended. But I saw some beautiful neighborhoods (Park Slope and Red Hook were particularly beautiful), some interesting stores (one in particular was called a "Sidekick Store." They sold unitards and helmets with flames.), and some stunning benches (walked a LOT). Building these things was another adventure. But even when one falls on her semi-assembled dresser, and breaks important hardware connectors, and the drawers are crooked, and the figures from the ikea instructions are laughing at you...you SOLDIER ON!

Now, back to the theme, NY is a very obscenely expensive place to live. Discussing with a friend from NC, we decided on average, you could pay at least one to three dollars more for an item when grocery shopping. And don't get me started on rent. So when one is faced with funding the next three weeks on the remains of your Biltmore fortune, you have to get creative! Walking has been lovely! Walking is free, and there are some lovely lovely places to do so! One favorite of mine was walking through Fort Tryon Park to the Cloisters, the medieval collection from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met essentially rebuilt a castle at the very northern tip of Manhattan.

I chose this destination as they have a "suggested price," not expecting everyone to pay that full price. So, having done this before at the Natural History Museum (more on that later), I was prepared to pay two dollars, and vow when I am rich to come pay forty dollars to make up for it (I might have been over thinking it). When I get up to the counter, I give my shpeel (sp?): "Hi! (best smile) I am a broke student, so for now, I can only pay a little bit."

Out falls my grocery money onto the counter.

I end up paying nine dollars, which is more than I anticipated, but in hindsight, the experience was worth it. Here are a few links to pictures:

The Building! Click Here!

The Park! Click Here!

In the Cloisters (and this WILL sound goofy, but bear with me) they hold the largest collection of Unicorn tapestries than (I THINK) any other museum. Here is why that is significant: in many works of art the unicorn is seen as a symbol for Jesus. So in these tapestries, the story of his death is portrayed as a hunt. We are scheduled to visit this site in our textiles class, so I will probably have much more to share then.

Speaking of, my advisor/textiles professor actually listed Fort Tryon Park as her favorite hideaway in the city, as it is very quiet and peaceful. So if you don't believe ME....well, she's got a ph.d. That's all I'm sayin'.

The Natural History Museum was really cool! They recently opened a planetarium, and while you had to pay to see the show, they had plenty of exhibits around the planetarium that had astronomy fanatics entertained.

The Building! Click Here!

(I am very awful at remembering my camera/blogger makes is interesting to post pictures, so please excuse the links)

The planetarium is actually located in the sphere, and the museum uses the sphere as a bench mark to help illustrate scale in the universe. It is rough to explain, so COME VISIT! And we'll go! Other highlights: life-sized model of a blue whale (astounding!); T-rex skeleton right when you first walk in.

Walking highlights: NY's park system is truly astounding. Fittingly enough, Central park was my first big park stop. They have an Alice in Wonderland statue that held special meaning for me (thanks Meredith College!). The High Line park is an park built on an elevated train track. Walking it, you can see where they maintained the old railway tracks, but you are high enough the see the water and enjoy the foliage they have planted up there (not to mention the iced coffee Amy and Sam recommended). And this week specifically, Washington Square Park has been a lovely hangout. Vicki and I people watched today (with our little piggies in the fountain).

One of the cool things about NY is the history that is there even when a Starbucks has taken its place. Out walking after the hurricane, I chose a street that took me right by Theodore Roosevelt's birthplace.

Now, my writing is getting worse, and my subject is scootching into September, so I'll cut off there. (Not quite as organized as Andy, but who is really?)