NYC

i've known kristin since i started middle school...she went to university in my home town, and we've kept in touch ever since...now she lives in new york city:)

From minneapolis i flew to new york city...one of the most well known (if not the most famous) cities in the country...i'm lucky enough to know people who live in manhattan, and are willing to host me...i've known kristin for ages and ages, since i was a teenager...

kristin had given me directions to her office from the airport, i figured out where to go...i've been to nyc before, i had a little idea of how some areas are put together...i dropped my bags at the office, then went out walking while she had a few more hours of work...it was super windy that day: there was a tornado watch at the time, as i found out later...

as i'd done earlier this summer, i had looked up coffee bean locations before coming to the city...coffee bean, my favourite coffee shop, YUM...large chai latte, here i come:)

after work, kristin took me to the flat she was living in at the time...the loft they normally lived in was being renovated, so they'd found another place for the summer...the 'new' place wasn't far from central park...awesome...

we went out to dinner at a 'healthy' restaurant...tempeh, kale, and quinoa were all over the menu:)...i never expected that this summer would be a summer of super healthy food alternating with stuffing myself with fast foods i rarely get when i'm outside the states...

the next day i went out walking while my hosts went to work...

i started the day with another chai latte from coffee bean...YUM...(if you've read past posts on this blog, you should be used to me mentioning the place as often as i visit a location...sooooo good)...after coffee bean, i went to lululemon, one of my favourite brands...a couple of hoodies later, i dropped the goodies back in the flat before walking through central park...

central park is HUGE, it took a while to get to the south end...from there i walked down broadway, all the way to lower manhattan...look at a map, this is not a short distance...

kristin had told me about the memorial at the world trade center, i'd set up my ticket for a specific time...(you have to organize a ticket to see the memorial before you get there)...i picked up my ticket at the information area, and browsed through the souvenirs without buying anything...i got a bit confused, but followed the crowds to the entrance to the memorial...security looks over everyone going into the memorial in at least three places...it's a sad statement about that much security being needed at this memorial...the memorial is simple, gorgeous, and makes everyone a bit somber...there isn't a lot of talking...

two HUGE, empty (well, sorta) pools, with the names of those who died inscribed on the edges...you can see where the new world trade center is being built...the museum wasn't finished yet, i have no idea when that will open...i think a lot of squabbling is happening about costs/maintenance/security/etc...

from there i wound my way through manhattan to a place i've never seen before...the map made it look more complicated, but when i got to the right area, it was easy to follow street signs...i walked across the brooklyn bridge, i loved it...

there were heaps of people on the bridge with me, (there are markings that attempt to separate the people from the cars) but it still felt a bit surreal...i don't know how to describe it, other than to say it's one of the iconic parts of the city...i walked all the way across, then all the way back...amazing skyline views of manhattan...i would've walked farther after the other side of the bridge, but i quickly realized i had no idea where i was going...next time i'll think about that sort of thing so i can go to a new borrough...(new york city is made up of 5 borroughs)

then i walked all the way back to the flat, going back through and across central park...i used my computer that evening to figure out how far i'd walked, that day, i think mapmyrun.com said the total was about 15 miles? I don't know if that's correct, but it was a good day of walking...beautiful weather the whole time:)...katherine made an awesome dinner to finish the day...

the next day i went to one of the museums in the city...after another large chai latte from coffee bean, of course...YUM...i guess you could call it a branch campus of the metropolitan museum of art, the cloisters is a subway ride away, a bit north...i think the building used to be a monastery or convent, or something like that? 

I'm not entirely sure...it's beautiful, and the building itself is part of the museum...mostly religious art, and artifacts throughout the building, i loved exploring...i kept thinking i'd seen the whole place, then finding another room...as i thought about it afterward, the building itself interested me more than the rest of the art inside...plus it is in the middle of a big park along the river, and i love walking through parks...

after the cloisters i walked along the east side of central park, in an area they call museum mile...the guggenheim, MoMA, and others are there...i got back too late to go in any of them, maybe next time...5th avenue is close by, i had the chance to window shop:)...i walked by the apple store and there were a lot of people sitting around, it struck me as wierd at the time...i remembered later that the new iphone was scheduled to come out in a couple days, and these people were camping out so they would be among the first in line to buy one of the new phones...crazy people...

that night kristin helped me set up my ride to the airport the next morning...as with all cheap flights, the timing is never convenient...i think i was in the bus at 0445, or something along those lines? Ugh...oh well, it was worth it to be able to spend a few days in the city...i'll go back again, and find more to see and memorialize it all with photos...