November 11th
– November 17th 2013
Monday, the weather was goofy – some clouds,
some sun, some breeze, some wind. As J. did not feel completely fine
we took it easy and had pretty slow morning. Subway to Columbus
Circle and slow walk in Central Park. We could still enjoy changing
colors and leaves being pushed in every possible direction by wind.
It was quite pleasant. Many artists selling the art (some good, some
bad), few performers, and quite a few tourist and/or people enjoying
the park before winter. Bridges, ponds, trees, meadows, woods. Really
nice walk – maybe a bit cooler but what you can do. We walked
across the part of the park and got to the Museum of Natural History.
Impressive building. The museum has recommended admission (22 dollars
a person). You can pay what you want to (1 a person). It was pretty
interesting, some things more then others. Skeletons (dinosaurs and
other animals). By accident we got into the newer additions – big
cosmic ball with model planets around. Inside was big bowl and they
projected short (4 minutes) movie. That was great. All started with
big bang. Subway home.
Late lunch. By 3.44 pm we took subway to Columbus Circle
again and walked to the Daily Show with Jon Stewart studio. We had
reserved tickets because last time we did not get in. Wait. Chaos –
some. Took forever for the seating time. Wait. Chaos – some –
again. Bunch of instructions. A guy – called himself a second
monkey – to do some fun and cheering (pretty funny). The show –
pretty quick, no stops, hard to see as there was too many cameras in
the way. Still – pretty funny and good. Go home.
Tuesday morning (7.22 am), there was that ugly,
cold, and unpleasant white s... flying in the air. First snow in New
York City!!! NO!!!!!! Slow morning. Some phone calls and emails on
J.'s side – as we need to find another place to go to (so far not
much luck, unfortunately). By noon or so I went to Czech store and
Polish bakery. J. went out and meet a friend. By 4.44 pm I was in the
line to see Colbert Report (Comedy Central show). I looked at their
website in the morning and they had 7 tickets available so I reserved
two. It was bloody cold (luckily the line was in plastic/cloth
covered walkway. A bit of chaos, waiting and so on, but we got in and
ended up in the second row. A lot of waiting and instructions.
“Greeter” comedian – asking people where they are from: Sweden
(three or four younger professionals), Australia (two medical
students), Argentina (software engineer), Philippines (diplomat
working in Brazil), Austin, Texas (executive coach). Interesting. The
show was great and funny. Almost running to catch the subway – it
was really cold. Fun day.
Wednesday.
Thursday. J. worked. I did not
feel good. Nothing, really.
Friday.
J. worked. Nothing special. Still not feeling the best. School and
practical stuff. Subway and walk towards Washington Bridge. Walk
across the bridge to New Jersey. Hazy – hardly recognizable skyline
of Manhattan. It was interesting and pretty to see, impossible to
photograph though. A lot of police with signs of Port Authority.
Decent weather. Nothing in Jersey close to bridge – walk back. Walk
along the river – Greenway – home. Pleasant walk.
Saturday.
Kind of lazy and slow day. It
looked relatively nice outside so we decided to do a “city day”.
Subway rides. Grand Central wandering. They were getting ready for
some Christmas market. Walk along Park street down to Union Square.
Sit and enjoy warm fall day in Madison Square Garden. Union Square
Farmer's market. Walk along 14th
street to Chelsea Market – interesting building – industrial
style. The layout was strange and I did not really like it. Many
small and smaller rooms, stores, some higher end … it was just
somewhat strange. Home, not much more after that.
Sunday.
Cloudy and gray morning. Some
thinking and decision to do one of the main “must see” things in
the city – Statue of Liberty. We bought tickets online and left for
Battery Park at 10.49 am. Walk down to the bottom of the park from
where boats depart. Rain – light rain. People. Fog. One could not
see the top of the buildings. Park – like airport security check
(REALLY, REALLY PEOPLE???) - short wait in pretty big line and then
boat ride. Nothing special really. And so many people – too bad we
did not pick uglier day (being sarcastic). The liberty Island –
almost impossible to see Manhattan – foggy and rainy. Walk to the
Statue – had to put the backpack into the locker – fingerprint as
a key – did not work well and when we left we had to have staff
open the locker – it did not want to read my fingerprint. Another
line – another security check and metal detector. The statue –
walk up to the pedestal – look around and walk back down. Strange
experience. The statue museum – how it was built and how much it is
use in commerce. Wait in line again and take a ride to Ellis Island.
The immigration museum was damaged by hurricane Sandy and they just
opened it like three weeks ago. We took a guided tour, it was
interesting and obviously better experience then the statue. Boat
back. Subway back. Home.
