Thoughts on NYC #1

Normally, I write as I go. I try to keep up the blog day to day when I'm traveling. NYC was different for some reason. I have some thoughts as to why, but the reality is that I'm still unpacking the conference and the information and the experience in NYC. I will post more as I'm ready, but I thought I would unload some initial thoughts and images today. These are my more tourist-y impressions. I'll post some teacher thoughts later.

1. Pack a lunch for your trip to The Met.

I love the almost architectural vibe of this piece.

 

This is an El Greco of a saint, but It looks like John Brown became a pope.

 

I love that this painter is looking right at you. Its a detail from a larger painting, but it really struck me.

 

Everywhere you turn in this wing there are heads of people. This one stood out for just the opposite.

This may sound like a negative, but its not. The Met is too large for a one day visit. In DC, the Smithsonian Institution is divided into individual museums and you can make it though one of them in a morning, for the most part. There is always more to see and I would recommend multiple visits, but it can be done. A morning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will get you through maybe 10-20 percent of the museum. One of the highlights of my week was lunch on the steps and 40 minutes of free time in the galleries. I went back to areas we had already explored or sought out new wings to wander through. I did that every day and am still sure I missed stuff.
 
2. New York City ain't normal.

Time Square from several blocks away

 

In the thick of Time Square

 

All of the Broadway theaters are just off of Time Square. Almost right on top of each other.

 

The number of A-list movie stars on Broadway was larger than I had thought. Don't know if that is a good or bad thing, but ...

 

The electric bill must be staggering. This is one block in about six-all that wired.

I've had the chance to travel to large cities and so I thought I was prepared for  NYC. I was not. I can give you a laundry list of what I liked and what I didn't, but often what I liked about the city and didn't like occupied the same space. For example: Time Square is impressive. It houses these gems of theaters and stimulates you visually in a way I have never encountered. But is also more crowded that this small city boy enjoys and there is a general smell like a ripe diaper.

3. Greenspace is gold in NYC!

A softball game in Central Park

 

Central Park

 

Central Park

 

A park near the Brooklyn Bridge

 

The reservoir in Central Park

 

Washington Square

I take parks for granted. You can't in New York City. I was surprised at how many people congregated in all of the parks in the city. Washington Square, Union Square, Madison Square Park, Central Park... It was where people met up and hung out. In Wichita, a park has a completely different function. That's not a judgment either way, it just is. But in NYC, there was never a time that there wasn't someone in one of these parks. It made for great people watching.