The Big City
Jun. 19th, 2023 11:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unicorndukeThis is the third? time I've been to NYC and it was fun! Exhausting but fun!
My sister's community choir had a concert on Sunday and I've watched the live streams but wanted to see it in person. Plus there was a museum exhibit (Shaped by the Loom, incredible exhibit that I highly recommend) so a couple weeks ago, I booked all the tickets.
Friday, I worked in the morning, got all the emails and things done, then packed and hopped on the train south. I took everything in one hiking backpack that I got when I was traveling in Europe that one semester in college. At the last minute, I pulled some extra shirts and an extra book out, which was smart. I was also taking my old laptop down to my sister since hers is dying and all the old one needed was a power cord.
Got to the train station right on time, my train was 20 mins late. womp womp.
But it was fine! I was on the river side and it was a lovely trip. I spun on my tiny drop spindle and read my book.
When I got to the city I met up with Jade, my old roommate who moved to the Yonkers area last year. I hadn't seen her since I helped move her down there. She works in Manhattan, so popped over to the train station to meet me and we went out to a Korean restaurant and got delicious bi bim bop. Then we wandered up to Big Gay Ice Cream for some tasty ice cream. I had forgotten how fast Jade walks and my boots weren't tied for speed walking so I ended up with very sore feet that night. No blisters and I tightened them up in the morning so it was all fine.
We took the train up to Yonkers and crashed hard, we were both pretty tired. I slept on the couch, which was surprisingly comfy. Her cat Ares did touch my feet at like 5 am and then screamed about it briefly before going to the bedroom to sleep with Jade which was really funny.
I ate my granola breakfast when I got up, then Jade walked me back to the train station to head south. I took the train down to Manhattan, then subwayed over to Brooklyn to my sister's place. My bag was heavy and really didn't want to haul it around all day plus it meant I could give her the computer. We went out to brunch at a place nearby which had gluten free bagels and really good hot chocolate. Delightful.
We didn't have any concrete plans until 2pm when we had tickets to see the Shaped by the Loom exhibit and a friend of Z's was texting her that the friend was going to the MET with her parents and did we want to meet them? Sure! The MET was only a 15 minute walk from the Bard Graduate Center which was hosting the Shaped by the Loom exhibit. I didn't have any particular things I wanted to see at the MET, so I went along with what Z's friend L and her parents wanted to do, which was see the Van Gogh exhibit, which I didn't know about. So I got to see Van Gogh paintings including Starry Night. That was neat.
At one point, I told Z that the one drawing Van Gogh did made the trees look like flames. Read the plaque on the next illustration and an art critic of the time said the same thing, so I've been saying I'm an art critic now.
We then wandered through the Greek and Roman statues, the American Hall and the medieval armor section. I was sad I ran out of time to see the entire Japanese armor section, only saw a little bit. There was an incredible saddle made out of mother of pearl chips. SO COOL.
Me and Z split off and headed to the Bard Graduate Center to see Shaped by the Loom through Central Park. The exhibit was amazing!!! absolutely beautiful weavings, really amazing art and just really pretty. Highly recommend. It's paired with another exhibit on fancy feasts in Europe with the focus on carving and folding napkins which also was neato.
After that, we sat in the park to recover from all the walking and standing. Our legs were sore haha. Ate some snacks and then hit the subway back to Brooklyn except we hopped off at a different spot and got ice cream! Delicious. Then we walked back to Z's apartment because why not. Z had some email stuff to take care of, so we sat on the couch until we ordered Thai takeout and then I showed Z Eurovision videos because it was funny. Pad Thai is delicious I found out and so is chicken satay. yummy
I slept on Z's couch and was very glad I only did that one night. There was a lot of noise from the street, the couch was a fold down but there was a bump where the back and the seat met and her roommate was walking around very loudly at 5am. I dozed on and off until 7 or so and then got up and ate my granola.
Right around noon we scooted out the door to the church where the choir was performing. I brought all my stuff with my since the church was in Manhattan. Obviously Z and the other singers were there early so I sat in the back row and munched a granola bar and figured out where I was going to get lunch. I found a fully gluten free restaurant nearby, ordered pepperoni pizza and wandered off to pick it up. I ate sitting outside the church so I didn't disturb their warmup and ate the entire pizza. It was delicious. Amazing. 10/10 do recommend.
I sat and spindle spun while preparation stuff was happening and then settled in once people starting arriving for the concert. I did end up putting my ear plugs in because the high loud notes were making my ears crackle and I was so tired and I knew I needed to save my brain for later. The concert was beautiful! And they had a little reception afterwards with some fruit and crackers and things, so I munched some more.
Everyone headed out around 6 and Z and I walked to a nearby park to sit and chat. My train wasn't until late and we weren't going to grab an actual dinner so we just hung out for a bit. It was nice. Then we walked to a gelato place and got some amazing gelato! Then she walked me up to the train station and hung out while I got another water and some snacks for the train.
We said good bye and I waited in the station until the train. Train ride was a weird purgatory everlasting but I made it through and drove home just fine.
Mara was baffled when I came in at midnight, but is pretty happy to see me. F was taking care of her and Mara is always offended when someone else takes her out on walks. We both slept in until 7:30 which is wildly late for us.
I was both surprised and not surprised at the lack of masks everywhere, but when out on non busy streets, Z and I took our masks off to enjoy the nice weather. Only issue was on Saturday in museums and on subways all day meant we were both dehydrated. Did about 20km of walking according to Pokemon Go, which was the only tracking I did. Might be a little high since it would have caught some subway travel but it felt like 20km.
It was a fun weekend! Not the kind of thing I'm going to do frequently because I'm exhausted today, but it was so good to go down and see everyone and all the things.
My sister's community choir had a concert on Sunday and I've watched the live streams but wanted to see it in person. Plus there was a museum exhibit (Shaped by the Loom, incredible exhibit that I highly recommend) so a couple weeks ago, I booked all the tickets.
Friday, I worked in the morning, got all the emails and things done, then packed and hopped on the train south. I took everything in one hiking backpack that I got when I was traveling in Europe that one semester in college. At the last minute, I pulled some extra shirts and an extra book out, which was smart. I was also taking my old laptop down to my sister since hers is dying and all the old one needed was a power cord.
Got to the train station right on time, my train was 20 mins late. womp womp.
But it was fine! I was on the river side and it was a lovely trip. I spun on my tiny drop spindle and read my book.
When I got to the city I met up with Jade, my old roommate who moved to the Yonkers area last year. I hadn't seen her since I helped move her down there. She works in Manhattan, so popped over to the train station to meet me and we went out to a Korean restaurant and got delicious bi bim bop. Then we wandered up to Big Gay Ice Cream for some tasty ice cream. I had forgotten how fast Jade walks and my boots weren't tied for speed walking so I ended up with very sore feet that night. No blisters and I tightened them up in the morning so it was all fine.
We took the train up to Yonkers and crashed hard, we were both pretty tired. I slept on the couch, which was surprisingly comfy. Her cat Ares did touch my feet at like 5 am and then screamed about it briefly before going to the bedroom to sleep with Jade which was really funny.
I ate my granola breakfast when I got up, then Jade walked me back to the train station to head south. I took the train down to Manhattan, then subwayed over to Brooklyn to my sister's place. My bag was heavy and really didn't want to haul it around all day plus it meant I could give her the computer. We went out to brunch at a place nearby which had gluten free bagels and really good hot chocolate. Delightful.
We didn't have any concrete plans until 2pm when we had tickets to see the Shaped by the Loom exhibit and a friend of Z's was texting her that the friend was going to the MET with her parents and did we want to meet them? Sure! The MET was only a 15 minute walk from the Bard Graduate Center which was hosting the Shaped by the Loom exhibit. I didn't have any particular things I wanted to see at the MET, so I went along with what Z's friend L and her parents wanted to do, which was see the Van Gogh exhibit, which I didn't know about. So I got to see Van Gogh paintings including Starry Night. That was neat.
At one point, I told Z that the one drawing Van Gogh did made the trees look like flames. Read the plaque on the next illustration and an art critic of the time said the same thing, so I've been saying I'm an art critic now.
We then wandered through the Greek and Roman statues, the American Hall and the medieval armor section. I was sad I ran out of time to see the entire Japanese armor section, only saw a little bit. There was an incredible saddle made out of mother of pearl chips. SO COOL.
Me and Z split off and headed to the Bard Graduate Center to see Shaped by the Loom through Central Park. The exhibit was amazing!!! absolutely beautiful weavings, really amazing art and just really pretty. Highly recommend. It's paired with another exhibit on fancy feasts in Europe with the focus on carving and folding napkins which also was neato.
After that, we sat in the park to recover from all the walking and standing. Our legs were sore haha. Ate some snacks and then hit the subway back to Brooklyn except we hopped off at a different spot and got ice cream! Delicious. Then we walked back to Z's apartment because why not. Z had some email stuff to take care of, so we sat on the couch until we ordered Thai takeout and then I showed Z Eurovision videos because it was funny. Pad Thai is delicious I found out and so is chicken satay. yummy
I slept on Z's couch and was very glad I only did that one night. There was a lot of noise from the street, the couch was a fold down but there was a bump where the back and the seat met and her roommate was walking around very loudly at 5am. I dozed on and off until 7 or so and then got up and ate my granola.
Right around noon we scooted out the door to the church where the choir was performing. I brought all my stuff with my since the church was in Manhattan. Obviously Z and the other singers were there early so I sat in the back row and munched a granola bar and figured out where I was going to get lunch. I found a fully gluten free restaurant nearby, ordered pepperoni pizza and wandered off to pick it up. I ate sitting outside the church so I didn't disturb their warmup and ate the entire pizza. It was delicious. Amazing. 10/10 do recommend.
I sat and spindle spun while preparation stuff was happening and then settled in once people starting arriving for the concert. I did end up putting my ear plugs in because the high loud notes were making my ears crackle and I was so tired and I knew I needed to save my brain for later. The concert was beautiful! And they had a little reception afterwards with some fruit and crackers and things, so I munched some more.
Everyone headed out around 6 and Z and I walked to a nearby park to sit and chat. My train wasn't until late and we weren't going to grab an actual dinner so we just hung out for a bit. It was nice. Then we walked to a gelato place and got some amazing gelato! Then she walked me up to the train station and hung out while I got another water and some snacks for the train.
We said good bye and I waited in the station until the train. Train ride was a weird purgatory everlasting but I made it through and drove home just fine.
Mara was baffled when I came in at midnight, but is pretty happy to see me. F was taking care of her and Mara is always offended when someone else takes her out on walks. We both slept in until 7:30 which is wildly late for us.
I was both surprised and not surprised at the lack of masks everywhere, but when out on non busy streets, Z and I took our masks off to enjoy the nice weather. Only issue was on Saturday in museums and on subways all day meant we were both dehydrated. Did about 20km of walking according to Pokemon Go, which was the only tracking I did. Might be a little high since it would have caught some subway travel but it felt like 20km.
It was a fun weekend! Not the kind of thing I'm going to do frequently because I'm exhausted today, but it was so good to go down and see everyone and all the things.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-19 10:27 pm (UTC)