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This weekend I FINALLY made it to New York with my friend Lisa. We have been planning plans and changing plans all summer and this weekend we hopped in her car and drove to the Big Apple. Lisa is the most intrepid drive I know. Nothing scares her, not even New York cab drivers during rush hour!


First stop, The Cloisters. Built by Rockefeller to house his collection of early monastic art it is truly a beautiful place at the north end of the island. Of course, with a day as beautiful as last Saturday, it was a real treat.

It isn't all that often that the view of the Hudson River is this perfect, but this is the view from one of the courtyards at The Cloisters.

Then shopping in Chinatown and Little Italy then a walk I have never taken . . .

. . . yep, right across the Brooklyn Bridge. What a view! It was such a beautiful day that literally thousands of people were walking or biking from Manhattan to Brooklyn (or the other way around!). There is a level above the cars for walking or biking and it was full.

Final stop of the day was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art which is open late on Fridays and Saturdays during the summer. Lisa wanted to show me something special but wouldn't tell me what it was. We got there at about 8 p.m. and took an elevator hidden in the far recesses of the building to the roof and this is what we saw:
It is a very large metal sculpture titled Maelstrom and it is massive and wonderful. However, the truly amazing thing was the view:

It was a spectacular sunset and moonrise right there in the middle of Central Park.


In an effort to see some paintings that we are all familiar with, Christ in Gethsemane and Christ and the Rich Young Lord, we went to Riverside Church Sunday morning and found ourselves in the middle of a very unique service. They were saying goodbye to their senior pastor, "dissolving the covenant," according to the program notes.

We were told that the only time the paintings were on display were at the one and only tour offered after Sunday Service. However, this was a special Sunday. Long story short, the meeting went on for three hours and we were not allowed to see the painting about the rich young man. But it was a learning experience! I know this picture shows an empty nave but it was taken after everyone left, there were over two thousand people at this service!

Oh, we also walked to Columbia University campus which is right by Riverside Church, so that I could show Lisa where I worked when Dan was in law school.

Good old Low Library. Every time I am on that campus I hear Dan Akroyd telling Bill Murray that he knows "the public sector . . . they expect results."

One more notable stop:


I felt it my grandmotherly duty to go to the shrine of every girl (apparently) under the age of 12. Right there on Fifth Avenue, across the street from Rockefeller Center. I was amazed at the number of young girls and their moms who were there at 6:30 on a Sunday night. This business is definitely NOT suffering from a recession!


Capri, this one's for you!

A walk down Fifth to Bryant Park, behind the New York Public Library, and a good long rest.

Next day, lots of shopping on Madison and 3rd Avenues and a late lunch at a wonderful little Italian restaurant before driving back to DC.

I LOVE NEW YORK ! ! !