Heavenly New York City – Part Two

After yesterday’s post about my journey getting to the city and an even more notable lunch at Serendipity 3, it was time to head out for some museum action.

But not before I chuckled at this awesome monkey table in a store window. This thing probably was a few thousand dollars, but it was fun to admire from a distance.

This caught me off-guard…I didn’t know something like this existed in New York City. I think it is a sky train to Queensboro. That’s the Queens Bridge to the right.

If someone knows, please enlighten us! In any case, I thought it was cool and belonged here on today’s post.

I just love the old water towers on top of these buildings. They must be over a hundred years old!

I walked past some beautiful residential buildings today as I made my way towards a subway station. I needed to go about twenty streets north, and riding the subway just sounded like a fun way to get there.

I can’t even imagine what it would be like to live in a building with such a beautiful entrance. I love the rod iron fence and the detailing around the gorgeous door.

This is one of my favorite shots of the day, playing with different focus points on my new camera. I’m still trying to figure this thing out but am really loving it. Money well spent!

I would probably move into this building yesterday, if asked to do so. I hope that the landlord is reading today…

And, because I’m crazy, I stopped while crossing the street to take this picture. Typical annoying tourist, huh? I love the perspective from the middle of the street.

This was a fun picture, simply because I couldn’t figure out how patrons could climb through the tropical swamp to get to this statue to honor her with flowers! She doesn’t seem to like any of them, does she? “Don’t touch me…”

Our flowered statue was in front of this beautiful church. I could spend a few days just visiting all of the old churches in this city. Wouldn't that be a fun tour? Each and every one was different but gorgeous.

Wow, I really like this church as well. The intricate carvings in the stone are just beautiful. And I love giant wooden doors!

As I continued my walk, I passed a few places that reminded me of a favorite movie, You’ve Got Mail. Doesn’t this look like his house in NYC?

Subway time! Let’s go down below to catch a train north for a few blocks. Of course, I swiped my Metro pass wrong and looked silly. But I didn’t care…this day was just getting better and better. Who cares what the locals think?!

I remember the first time that I ever visited New York City. I had just graduated high school and came to visit my nannying sister for a week. I recall being shocked at how clean the subways were in real life. I bet that they have to work incredibly hard to make them so.

Here comes my ride! Let’s go to 86th Street to visit some museums with my New York Pass!

When back above once again, I was greeted by yet another stunning church. I love the old buildings surrounding it, too.

We don’t really have stuff like this in Phoenix, you know?

It was mind-blowing how many people I witnessed that were walking dogs for a living. These guys had just been tied up while a single dog was returned upstairs inside this building.

How do all of these dogs get along, anyway? And what’s the point of having a dog in the city when you’re too busy to even walk him?

I was looking for a “For Rent” sign in these windows but couldn’t find one. I love this place. Can you imagine what it would be like to live here? These residential streets in the heart of the city are surprisingly quiet.

And here is my destination peeking out from the surrounding buildings. Can you see it? Do you know where I’m headed?

If you guessed the Guggenheim, then you were so right! I’ve never been here before but have free admission with my New York Pass, as well as an included audio tour.

They are even cleaning the museum exterior today. That could be a pretty cool job, as long as they only cleaned incredibly short buildings…

But this. This was incredible. I pinched myself a few times because I couldn’t believe that I was here! Look at that ceiling! Frank Lloyd Wright was just a genius, everyone. We even have a street named after him here in Scottsdale.

I put on my audio tour and followed the instructions of the museum lady. When she found out that it was my first visit, she told me how to do things! Take the elevator all the way to the top, then walk down as you admire countless art pieces.

Letting gravity do most of the work just sounded like a good plan to me.

So I did it. And somehow I avoided the incredible urge to photograph the artwork that I saw. It was forbidden, after all. But I even saw an original Jackson Pollack. So cool!

I walked quickly, since I had another museum on my list that needed visiting before closing hours today. Goodbye, Guggenheim!

I walked along the eastern edge of Central Park as I headed south towards my next destination. I couldn’t get over how cool these old cobblestones were. I wanted to take a picture to showcase their age and beauty. Aren’t these neat?

Normal people take pictures of bricks, right?

Ah, the beautiful park. I only had a few blocks to walk until I was at my next museum.

This is it! The Metropolitan Museum of New York City! I recall loving this place when I visited with my sister so many years ago…it had art and history! Woohoo!

In fact, I could spend an entire week in just this building alone…and probably still not see everything that it offers.

Even the building façade was super cool. Let’s go inside!

Just like every neat landmark in New York City, I had to pass through security before I could enter the building. Isn’t it amazing how a few people can ruin things for so many others?

 

Just the building itself is gorgeous. Who needs to see exhibits!

Just kidding. The exhibits are pretty cool, too. Here is one in the Renaissance time period.

I enjoyed many pieces of art as I wandered, but this was one of my favorites. I love how the ladies are so excited to meet the arriving ships. Are their husbands on board? Have they come home after many months at sea seeking their fortunes?

The art is pretty neat, but the frames are pieces of work all on their own. Most of the artwork on display were in original frames. Too cool!

This was another favorite piece. I love how the guy’s head to the right is just peeking over the ledge to see what’s going on. And what’s going on is pure bubble-blowing awesomeness in the 1700s!

I absolutely love the Founding Fathers, so this picture definitely caught my attention. It was painted in 1778 by Benjamin Franklin’s host when he visited France. He was respected before he showed up but still accepted after refusing to wear their silly wigs.

I love a man who is confident enough to not wear wigs. Even when it is apparently the cool thing to do.

This is the original frame, too. Isn’t it incredible?!

And I don’t think I noticed before how incredibly much that Benjamin Franklin looks like John Cleese from Monty Python!

Since I knew that I wasn’t going to see as much of the museum as I wanted, I decided to pick one wing today to focus most of my time. And, of course, I chose the Egypt wing. I have loved anything ancient Egypt since I was a kid!

Look at this gorgeous sarcophagus. I can’t get over the intricate carvings and bright colors that have somehow managed to survive thousands of years.

And I must say that our standards for beauty have changed quite a bit indeed.

It was incredible to me to be in the presence of so many statues and hieroglyphics that actually existed thousands of years ago. Look at the incredible preservation of these two beauties!

This little guy was fascinating to me. Can you imagine the person carving each tiny ripple in that headdress? Egyptians sure had funky eyes, too.

I love vessels, and these were beautiful with the hieroglyphics surrounding the edge. I wondered how it would feel to be the one to see these for the first time after opening a tomb.

No doubt, this guy had a really hard time finding shoes that could fit.

Oh my goodness. Isn’t this just incredible! There is probably a mummy inside that sarcophagus right now! (there wasn’t…)

These beautiful hieroglyphics told me that he wasn’t there any more. It mentioned something about the happy hunting grounds…but the rest of the message was missing or smudged.

I bet you didn’t know that I could make stories up from ancient hieroglyphics, huh?

There was a giant collection of miniature boats on display, and they were beautiful. This pharaoh obviously liked to spend his weekends at the lake!

But the miniature boats were made even cooler by being accompanied by this original photo of when they opened the tomb and discovered all of the miniature boats. Can you imagine?!

It would seem that some looters preceded the scientists in this discovery. What a shame.

This could be a preview for an Egyptian zombie moving, opening this very weekend.

 

Wow. I just loved this. Especially the close-up, where it is easy to imagine him outside some spectacular Egyptian temple protecting the interior worship chambers.

Imaginations can run wild in museums like this!

 

These statues just had me in awe. I love that they are holding little vessels. It would be so neat to know what all of this meant to those ancient people.

And that kneeling position just looks like it would hurt after so many years.

These could be interpreted as downright creepy, or just an earlier version of the Three Stooges. Who knew that ancient Egyptians had senses of humor?!

Wow. Just wow! My only disappointment with this exhibit is that I was in too much of a rush to stop to read everything. I could spend days just in this wing of the museum!

These jars, which held the innards of the great and wonderful pharaohs of the day, were so beautifully carved. I can’t believe what incredible shape these are still in.

What’s inside? I bet it stinks…

I loved the displays of clothes from back in the day. I am grateful that the looters overlooked these golden sandals and decorative accessories for the body. Can you imagine this being worn by the Egyptians back then?!

This was a favorite section of mine, simply because I got to admire real hieroglyphics. I was so impressed with all of this.

I own a book about making your own Egyptian hieroglyphics…I used to write secret letters all the time!

Yes, my social life has always been this stunning.

Holy smokes. This necklace is beautiful, but it looks heavy! These people had stronger necks than I have previously given them credit for.

 

I couldn’t get enough of this place. And the sarcophagus to the right was massive…maybe eight feet tall! Look at the inscription on the front. Isn’t it beautiful!

This was one of the few friendly-looking statues that I encountered during my visit today. I would say that the ancient Egyptians were a serious lot, overall.

Papyrus! Holy cow! It is gorgeous. Can you believe that these lasted so long?

I don’t know why I was surprised after seeing the exterior of so many sarcophagi, but the intricacy of the interior was just incredible. Of course they would decorate both places!

This was one of my favorite areas in the museum today, simply because I was surrounded by beautiful sarcophagi. And I was mostly alone in here, too…creepy, huh?

Once again, the attention to detail just blew me away. I felt like I saw so much of ancient Egypt today, which has always been a dream of mine.

The museum is probably just a smidge safer than visiting the real place right now…

That concludes our museum tour for the day! We saw the Guggenheim and the MET. What did you like?

More beloved NYC coming tomorrow!