NYC Day Three

Our third day in New York we decided to split up. Keith and Ethan wanted to go to the American Museum of Natural History and I wanted to go to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The plan was to meet up in the late afternoon and walk through Central Park and then do some shopping on 5th Avenue. However, Keith and Ethan were having such a great time at the museum that by the time I walked the 30 blocks to the Upper West Side to meet them, they didn't not want to leave.

At first I was a little upset because I had just walked all the way from 54th street on the east side to 81st on the west side. I didn't mind the walk as most of it was through Central Park, but I would have preferred to stay in midtown to do more sightseeing there. Not all was lost though, because I remembered that my beloved Zabar's was on the Upper West Side, and after doing a quick search using the GPS on my phone, I realized it was only a few blocks away. I was happy.

 Some pictures from the Natural History Museum.

I really loved MoMA. My favorite floor the was the 5th floor. The 5th floor has many Impressionist art collections, including the famous Monet Water Lilies, and Van Gogh's Starry Night.

a

 The Sculpture Garden at MoMA

Andy Warhol's Golden Marilyn Monroe

 Van Gogh's Starry Night

After spending a few hours at MoMA I walked through Central Park on the way to the Upper West Side to meet Keith and Ethan. We had wonderful weather all week but the weather on this day was a little cooler and partly cloudy. I didn't bring a jacket and when sun went behind the clouds, I wished I had brought one. Nonetheless, it was a nice walk through the park. I enjoyed the peacefulness of it, a stark difference from walking on the streets of New York City. I also enjoyed being able to walk at my own pace, not hurried, or stopping at every corner to wait for a traffic light. I was glad to have that time to myself that day, enjoying the beauty of the park.

Spring was evident everywhere you looked in the park.

When I was walking through the Strawberry Fields, a living memorial to John Lennon, in Central Park there was a tour guide explaining to a group about the Strawberry Fields. I was lucky enough to listen in.

The Strawberry Fields is a tranquil section of the park and designed to be a quiet zone. There is a plaque nearby that lists 121 countries that endorse Strawberry Fields as a Garden of Peace.

The entrance to the memorial is located directly across from the Dakota Apartments where John Lennon lived during the later part of his life, and where he was also killed. Above is a mosaic memorial in the Strawberry Fields. Sometimes the mosaic is covered with flowers candles, and other belongings left behind by John Lennon fans. Oftentimes people gather at the mosaic to sing songs and play tribute to to John Lennon on his birthday and at the anniversary of his death.

 

The Dakota Apartments

After my walk through the park I arrived at The American Museum of Natural History. Only to find out when I got there that Keith and Ethan were no where near ready to leave. They wanted to stay until closing at 6pm, which meant that we needed to alter our plans. The were planning to meet back at the hotel so that left me with 3 hours to kill. I was too tired to walk all the way back to midtown so I decided to spend some time at Zabar's which was only a few blocks away 

Zabar's is a specialty food store and one of the largest groceries in Manhattan. It is probably my most favorite store in NYC. I have been there several times but it has been a good 17 years or so since I last stepped foot in the store. Nothing much has changed, it was as I had remembered from many years ago, and I fell in love with it all over again.

This is one of the most impressive parts of the store, the cheese selection. They have any thing and everything that you could possibly want in this store. It is stocked floor to ceiling in every corner, every isle, and every space of the store with many,  hard to find,  international, and everyday grocery items.

 

There is a cheese counter, a deli counter, a fish counter, a bakery counter, a bread and bagel counter, a coffee counter, and more.

 

The coffee and tea section

 The strudel and knish counter

 

And it even gets better. The entire upstairs of Zabar's is devoted to housewares. Again you can find any type of cooking or baking supplies that you could possibly need. There is everything from small appliances, to cutlery. It really is amazing. 

After spending a good 1 1/2 hours in Zabar's I decided to take the subway back to the hotel to wait for Keith and Ethan. We were suppose to meet some other HYP parents for drinks but I canceled with them because I knew there was no way for us to make it all the way down to the Lwer East Side in time. 

I met up with Keith and Ethan at the hotel in time for dinner. After dinner we had planned to go to the Empire State Building for a view of the city at nighttime. However, our plans got changed once again as we got a call from one of Mac's chaperones telling us he was sick and running a fever. He had to miss out on the second scheduled Broadway show, Memphis (they saw Wicked earlier in the week) and go straight to bed. I felt so bad for him knowing that he didn't want to miss this or anything on his trip. I spent some time on the phone with his chaperone tying to figure out if he would be able to continue with his group. Thankfully though he was feeling better by morning and was able to finish out his tour with the orchestra.