Getting Educated by the Big Apple

  With New York City acting like Sin City's older brother, sometimes it can be hard to see all of the educational opportunities and historical significance that this City has to offer.  Fortunately, we made some time to let the City school us.  These are the landmarks we visited this time around, along with a couple "visitor friendly" tips.

 The Morgan Library & Museum

225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street

Manhattan, NY

http://www.themorgan.org

  When we first entered the Morgan Library, we didn't exactly know what to expect.  The museum employees near the front door directed us to the right-hand side of the building and said that we should start there.  In the first room we went into, there was a brochure that included descriptions of the significant items in the room.  We made our way around the room and then went into a second room and wandered from there.  The complex holds an amazing amount of rare artifacts, artwork, books, letters, prints, and manuscripts.  The Morgan boasts the world's largest collection of Mahler manuscripts plus many compositions by Mozart, Chopin, Brahms, and Schubert.  The Morgan can also boast about having the largest collection of Rembrandt etchings in the U.S. along with the only surviving manuscript of John Milton's "Paradise Lost".  During the time we were visiting in December, there was a huge Beatrix Potter display on the upper level of the museum.  The exhibit showed how Potter, through private letters, developed the animal characters which are now so widely known to children everywhere.

  General adult admission to the Morgan Library is $15, however it is free admission every Friday from 7-9pm.  We chose to visit the Library on a Friday.  We arrived shortly after 7pm and there was a line of people waiting to check their bags and other belongings.  We didn't have anything to check so we went right in and started walking around.  Friday is the only day the Morgan Library is open late.  Tuesday through Thursday the Library is open until 5pm and Saturday and Sunday it is open until 6pm. 

The Frick Collection

1 East 70th Street

Manhattan, NY

 http://www.frick.org/ 

  Just like with the Morgan Museum, I didn't know what to expect with the Frick Collection.  The "Collection" is housed in the former residence of Henry Clay Frick.  Frick was a successful industrialist who amassed a great collection of paintings, sculptures, and decorative art.  Frick's wife outlived him, but after her death in 1931, their house was opened to the public in 1935.  Visitors can view beautiful works by Titian, El Greco, Goya, and Bellini, along with many other great artists.  We were directed to start in the rooms on the lowest floor of the house and then we worked our way around to the main floor.  On the main floor, in the center of the house, there was a beautiful atrium with a water feature and plants displayed for the holidays.  Overall it was a nice experience.  Some of the rooms became quite crowded but I'm sure that's because we came during the "pay what you wish hours".  The Frick is open every day of the week but provides pay what you wish hours only on Sundays from 11am to 1pm.  The difference between free hours and pay what you wish hours is that guests are expected to give something for pay what you wish, almost like a donation.  General admission to the Frick Collection is $18 outside of the pay what you wish hours.  They do expect guests to check coats and large bags.  They have a no photo policy.  I find the no photo policy a hit or miss with museums.  Some museums don't mind visitors snapping photos left and right while others forbid cameras.

Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace

28 E. 20th Street

Manhattan, NY

http://www.nps.gov/thrb/index.htm

  We were walking around the Union Square area when I noticed a marking for Roosevelt's Birthplace on my map.  After walking up and down a couple of streets, we stumbled upon his childhood home and were pleasantly surprised.  We entered his home through a lower level door and were warmly greeted by a park ranger.  Their next home tour was not for another 2 hours (we came during lunchtime) so we instead watched a movie and looked at some artifacts.  We noted the tour times and came back the next day for a 10am tour.  A friendly park ranger guided us and since we were the only ones there, we had our own private tour.  From the lower level of the house (the former servants' quarters), we walked up the stairs to the main level of the house.  We got to see Roosevelt's former nursery, his parents' bedroom, and living areas.  Our guide was very informative and we learned a lot of interesting facts about Roosevelt and his life growing up in NYC.  I do have to say that Roosevelt's Birthplace is a hidden gem.  The National Parks have worked hard to restore and maintain his birthplace and surprisingly the tours are completely free to the public.  If you have a few minutes, take a look at the artifacts.  If you have an hour, I would highly recommend a house tour.  Find Teddy's home tucked away in the hustle and bustle of the Union Square/Flatiron Districts. 

  I found this out shortly after our trip but I just had to add a little fun celeb tie-in.  After visiting Roosevelt's Birthplace, I read in a magazine that Miley Cyrus has a tattoo of a quote from Theodore Roosevelt's 1910 "Citizenship in a Republic" speech.  A 100+ year old Roosevelt speech has found a quirky yet interesting place in our modern culture.

Preparing for Gotham

  Back in December I spent a week in the city that never sleeps, also known as NYC.  I can see why this city never sleeps....there's just too much darn noise.  There's noise, activity, and adventure and I made sure to plan well before the trip to take in as much as I could.  I have decided to split up my NYC trip into multiple blog posts so that I can put more focus on different aspects and highlights of the trip.
  I would like to start my trip review by mentioning a little about what I did to plan for NYC.  For those travelers interested in museums, I would highly recommend "googling" or doing an internet search of free days and free hours for NYC museums.  There are a few museums that are always free or are free with suggested donations.  However for the museums that are charging quite a bit to get in, free days are definitely worth while in this expensive city.  Sometimes travelers only have a couple hours to spend in a museum and balk at an $18 entrance fee.  Visiting during free hours definitely gives the pocketbook a rest. 
  During previous visits, we visited a couple of the "biggie" museums:  the Guggenheim and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  This trip I found that the J.P. Morgan Library Museum had free hours on Fridays nights and the Frick Collection had free hours on Sundays.  I had also wanted to go to the Rubin Museum of Art, which has free hours on Friday nights as well, but decided to save that for a future visit.
  Since we were staying in NYC for a week, I decided to group activities and sights into the different areas of NYC and try to do a different area on each day.  I didn't want to have every single minute of our trip planned so I left plenty of free time too.  We had a few schedule changes and didn't get to see every thing we had planned on seeing but overall we had quite a wonderful and entertaining trip.  To help cut other costs, I would recommend using a few Groupons or Living Social Deals.  I bought 3 deals in advance of our trip and we were pleased with all 3 deals.  (All 3 deals were for food and beverages.)  I did not want to buy too many deals and then have to spend time running around the city making sure to use them all. 
  Since we went in December, holiday decorations were everywhere and made the city extra enjoyable.  Beware, it's hard to tell from the photos but Rockefeller Plaza was packed with people vying for the perfect Christmas tree photo.

 

  In my next posts, I want to share our NYC adventures and we'll see if I was able to take a bite out of the Big Apple or if I was the one that was chewed up and spit out.

What are you doing for New Years Eve?

  I apologize for being MIA for the past month.  December ended up being very busy for me.  I visited my sisters in NYC and then they came home for Christmas to visit.  I was able to get in some nice family time and now it looks like the year has already come to an end. 
  I had originally thought that I would be in NYC for New Years but we ended up visiting a couple weeks ago.  Really any time of year is nice to visit NYC....well, except for during Hurricane Sandy when my sisters had no electricity for 5 days and there was a fire in their apartment building.  I will have plenty of future posts about my NYC trip but right now I wanted to focus a little on New Years.
  Reflecting back on traveling in 2012, I am grateful that I was able to take some very nice trips.  We kicked off the beginning of 2012 with Ecuador.  We left January 1, 2012 and arrived in Panama City for a 1 night layover.  We flew on to Guayaquil and the Galapagos Islands.  I saw Lonesome George before he died in June 2012.  In March 2012, I visited a good friend in Los Angeles.  It was still a little too cold for beaches but we had fun at an Anaheim Ducks game, hanging out in Hollywood and people watching in Venice Beach.  We did an Oktoberfest weekend in Iowa in September and then ended the year in NYC. 
  2012 had its fair share of negative events like Hurricane Sandy devastating the East Coast and the loss of lives in the Sandy Hook and Aurora theater shootings.  We also had many positive and fun events like the explosion of Gangnum style and Kate Middleton's pregnancy. 
  Wherever you are....Times Square, Chicago, California, or anywhere outside of the United States...I wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year!
   Please enjoy my Times Square photo taken a few weeks ago.  I can only imagine how crazy and crowded it will be tonight.  Let the new year be a time of new travels, new adventures, and spending time with both new and old friends. 

Hockey Stadiums

  In my previous post I had mentioned that on my still to do Bucket List, I want to see hockey games in at least half the NHL stadiums in the U.S. and Canada.  So far we've got four stadiums under our belt and plans for more.

We saw the Chicago Blackhawks in Fall 2010, a few months after they won the Stanley Cup.  I remember the stadium was packed with people going crazy over the Windy City's new champions.  The Blackhawks play in the United Center.  I like this stadium and feel that there's a decent view from almost every seat.  Outside the stadium, there isn't much to do but it's a short drive to other parts of the city for post-game partying.

In March 2011 we saw the New York Rangers play at Madison Square Garden.  Unfortunately we weren't very fond of "The Garden".  Some seats had blocked views which I didn't think was fair considering tickets were pretty expensive.  Also, I didn't like the setup where the bathrooms were in the arena with the seats so there were lines of people waiting to use the bathrooms right next to the seats.  Madison Square Garden is a historic stadium and I do recommend a visit.

In March 2012 my husband, my friend and I went to see the Ducks in Anaheim.  The area around the stadium is nice and nearby is the Angels' baseball stadium.  I liked the setup of the stadium and each seat seemed to have good views of the rink.  On our way to the stadium from Los Angeles we stopped by a couple of hockey stores and the popular In and Out Burger.  My friend suggested the "Animal Style" burgers which were as good as it gets.

 Our Tampa Bay Lightening game in January 2009 rounded out a nice Tampa Bay/Carnival Cruise trip.  My husband proposed to me at the beginning of this vacation.  Then we boarded a Carnival Cruise ship and headed to Cozumel and Grand Cayman.  When we arrived back in Tampa Bay we ended the trip with a fun Tampa Bay Lightening game.  Before the game, there was a pre-party around the stadium with food, drinks, a band, and games.  The weather was so mild compared to Chicago winter weather and we were secretly wishing that the Blackhawks could have these kind of pre-parties outside the United Center.  We both liked St. Pete Times Forum and had no complaints about the rink views from our seats. 

We're hoping the NHL players and owners are able to work out their differences in the next month so we can have a hockey season this year.  If so, our plan is to hopefully see the New Jersey Devils and NY Islanders this year and the L.A. Kings next year. 

My Short List for New York City

  I've been to New York City twice before and did a lot of touristy stuff.  I saw the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, The Met, The Guggenheim, the Museum of Natural History, Little Italy, and Chinatown.  I love touristy stuff but I think this time around I'm going to focus on trying to "blend in with the locals".  As you read in my previous post, I just booked airfare to NYC for $177, nonstop, round-trip for this winter.  On a whim, I decided to check out a book from my local library called "Pauline Frommer's New York City:  Spend Less, See More".  I actually really enjoyed this book.  It gave me plenty of great ideas to try new, creative things in New York City.  Some ideas are still touristy which I don't mind but then I have some fun "local" ideas as well.
  Here's a short list of ideas that I've jotted down so far from Pauline Frommer's book:

1.  Eat Dim Sum in Chinatown.  Dim Sum is small portions of Chinese cuisine traditionally served in steamer baskets.  The food is pushed around the restaurant on carts and customers can choose what items they would like.  I first saw Dim Sum in New York City in the movie "Made of Honor".  Two of the Chinese Dim Sum restaurants that Pauline Frommer listed in her book were Jing Fong and Golden Unicorn.

2.  Try a restaurant that uses peanut butter in a majority of its recipes.  Peanut Butter & Co. on Sullivan Street was recommended by Frommer.  They have all kinds of sandwiches and desserts made from peanut butter.

3.  Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.  o.k. this is touristy but I've never done it before and Frommer said that there are great views of the city from the Bridge.  Plus, I've never been to Brooklyn before.

4.  Do a Steinway & Sons Piano Factory Tour in Astoria, Queens.  See how the famous Steinway pianos are made.  I play the piano so this is right up my alley.

5.  Go to a Japanese Tea Ceremony at Cha-an in the East Village.  According to Ch-an's website they have Japanese tea ceremonies the first and third Sundays of the month between noon and 4pm.  Reservations are needed.  I've read the food and teas are great even if you can't make the tea ceremony. 


I plan on discovering many more great ideas for my trip to NYC which I will share in future posts.  I would love to hear more fun tips and ideas from anyone else that has visited NYC.

Below is a photo from our March 2011 trip to NYC.  A fun touristy NYC activity is ice skating at Rockefeller Plaza.  It's a little on the expensive side.  For $35 you can get a combo ticket for a skate plus a visit to the Top of the Rock Observation Deck.  This could be a very memorable and fun experience.

New York City and Mob Week

  This past week was "Mob Week" on AMC.  The list of showings included movies like "Scarface", "The Godfather", "Goodfellas", "Bugsy", and "Donnie Brasco".  I haven't seen all of the "Mob" movies and I can't say that I ever will but I do have to admit that the history of the "Mob" or "Mafia" interests me.  Although many people have images of the Italian Mafia when they think about the "Mob", Jewish, Irish, and Russian backgrounds were also involved.  I'm not interested in the violence but what sparks my curiosity is how the "Mafia" had its beginnings and how it evolved over the years.  How did it affect the lives of people?  How did it shape the culture?  How would things be if the "Mafia" never existed?  New York City seemed to be the lifeblood of the "Mob".  People from various backgrounds came together and formed organized crime.  There were the Italian "Five Families", the "Irish Street Gangs", and Russian "Bratva".  Each has used New York City as an urban backdrop to gain money and power.




  My sisters currently live in New York City and I've visited them a couple of times.  Both in 2009 and in 2011 while visiting, I made my way to "Little Italy" in Manhattan.  "Little Italy" is full of Italian restaurants and delis as you can see from my 2009 photo.  I would recommend visiting the delis for great, fresh Italian specialties.  One thing that amazes me about New York City is that it is the only city in the world where you can find such a vast array of different cultural foods.  People came to "make it" here however they could...through restaurants, small businesses, and even organized crime.
   Earlier this week I also saw a documentary on "The Godfather" trilogy.  As many know, the Italian Mafia have over a hundred year history in New York City.  One scene that "The Godfather" documentary showed over and over was the scene from the second Godfather movie where Don Vito is a boy and he's on an immigrant boat that is pulling into New York City harbor.  The Statue of Liberty appears before him and he stares.  The documentary stated multiple times that "The Godfather" portrayed the classic sense of the new immigrant arriving in America.  Part of the scene shows Don Vito with a group of immigrants, adults and children, and they're all looking up at the Statue of Liberty in awe.  It is their first impression of this new world, their new lives.  I feel that Francis Ford Coppola created a strong sense of emotion with this scene.  As much as we may not identify with a violent Mafia Godfather, some of us may be able to identify with a quest for life and family.
  Now especially after the 9/11 attacks, I feel that the Statue of Liberty gives us that same strong sense of what being an American is.  Whether we're an immigrant from another country or our families have been here for a few generations, we can look up at Lady Liberty and look forward to our futures.
    





 

 The above photos were taken during our July 2009 NYC trip.  We took a boat tour to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island....highly recommended.  Now I'm imagining being an immigrant in the early twentieth century and this is the first image I see as I pull into the New York harbor.