Upper East Side

This weekend took me to the opposite side of Manhattan – the Upper East Side. Typically, I spend the majority of my time on the west side or downtown, since it’s the easiest travel-wise. Getting to the east side requires a crosstown bus or finagling a few out-of-the-way transfers on the subway. If it was warmer, walking would’ve been a nice option. Not when it’s in the 20s. Of course, I dragged my roommate along again.

Our subway finagling took us up to the Bronx to take a peek at Yankee Stadium as we waited for our transfer downtown. Even though I live in NYC now, and pretty close to their mammoth ballpark, I can say with confidence that I’ll never be a Yankee fan. (Go Tigers!) I took a picture anyway.

Our ultimate destination was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I’d been there before, about 4 years ago now, but it’d been a quick trip and I didn’t remember too much of it, so I thought I’d give it another whirl. Though you’re allowed to pay whatever you want to for admission, the suggested prices make you feel a bit like a jerk when you hand over your credit card and “offer” to pay a lower amount. That being said, I used the old student discount and paid just $12. (Adults are $25.) With so many great museums in this city, and most with a $15-or-more admission, it really makes me miss all the free museums in London.  Why is culture so pricey?

Let’s commence with my tour of the Met. We didn’t visit the entire museum, mainly because it’s humongous and we both got hungry about halfway through. I’m not one for art museums, and tend to go through them pretty quickly, so thankfully there are other things to gawk at here. We started in the Egyptian area, which is full of mummies and pyramid-like structures.

Both of us had been to this section before though, so there wasn’t much new to see. Next we stumbled into the New American section to enjoy some sculptures and other décor (and some paintings).

There was a bit of a Native American theme.

The Hall of Sculptures was interesting and a bit creepy. This statue below depicts a man from Dante's Inferno who is imprisoned with his sons and condemned to starvation. He is shown struggling with and resisting and his children offer themselves to serve as his sustenance. (Yikes!)

We went into an exhibit about Abraham Roentgen, who was one of the most successful cabinetmakers of the eighteenth century. Not realizing we weren’t supposed to, I took a picture of this awesome game table he designed

and a couple of other pieces before getting scolded for taking a picture of the informational wall at the end of the exhibit. A little bit of a delayed reaction on the part of the museum staff, but okay. (Sorry for taking pictures in there, Met.)

I did not take any pictures in the exhibit I really came to see, the whole reason we even made the “trek” to the UES in the first place, because we weren’t allowed and I actually noticed the sign this time. (You’re welcome, Met.) Called “Faking It,” the exhibit was about how photography was manipulated before Photoshop and other modern technology became available. It included everything from elaborate stunts to developing different pieces of pictures over other pictures. They also had a brief section at the end devoted to photos that have been manipulated with Photoshop-like technology. Also cool but a little less impressive. Overall, I’m glad I made it to the exhibit just in the nick of time. (It closed on Sunday.)

The only other section of the museum we saw was modern art. Now, I know I previously said I’m not the biggest fan of art, but modern art is probably the one kind that I consistently enjoy. Yes, it sometimes is amazing what people pass off as “art.”

 

This one reminded us of a color strip at Home Depot.

But some of it’s super cool. And I’m probably more likely to decorate my house/apartment with it than creepy old portraits. 

Then, hunger got the better of us – is it just me, or does this happen every weekend?  We ventured even further east to a restaurant recommended in my new Not For Tourists guide book. We chose Cascabel Taqueria because it was described as awesome, authentic food at “Taco Bell prices” and I love Mexican.  I’m not sure that Taco Bell prices accurately describes it (though Taco Bell is more expensive here than most of the rest of America), but it was still reasonably priced.

 

They had beer from Ithaca Beer Company!

As an appetizer we got a queso dip with chorizo, which was served with soft tortillas rather than chips. (I noticed that chips were nowhere to be found; a table nearby ordered guacamole and it was served with crispy tortillas that then you would presumably break apart for dipping.) We also happened to be there during “brunch” where they offer bottomless drinks for an hour and a half for $12. The choices were mimosas, sangria, bloody Marys, bloody Marias (tequila instead of vodka), and then fancier mimosas. We mainly stuck with the fancier mimosas, La Lola and El Capitan.

Oh, yeah, we also got tacos.

After lunch, we went down to Sprinkles between 60th and 61st for cupcakes, which is also apparently a running theme of these weekend excursions. NYC definitely has its share of cupcake shops, and I’ve obviously sampled a handful of them. So far, Sprinkles is my favorite. They don’t use too much frosting like most places do and, more importantly, their cupcakes are actually good. In my opinion, a lot of the trendy cupcake shops focus more on overwhelming you with frosting than with making an edible cupcake - too often they’re crumbly or dry or relatively flavorless or all of the above. Now I just wish there was a Sprinkles closer to the apartment...or maybe I don’t.
 

Upper West Side

This weekend, I didn’t so much have an agenda as in the past two, but I managed to spend most of my time in the same relative area and spread it out over the course of 3 days (Who doesn’t love long weekends?) so it also wasn’t quite as intense.

On Friday night, I went to see Zero Dark Thirty at what is quickly becoming a go-to theater (even though there’s one practically down the street from my apartment) near Lincoln Center. The movie was well done, and as expected, intense at times.  

On Saturday, after a day that was pretty much filled with a trek to Target in the Bronx, I went to dinner at Café Ronda, where I enjoyed an array of tapas and some delightful sangria (white and red, both tasty). I love tapas, and in fact, did a paper on them in culinary school, so I always enjoy finding a great place to indulge. This will be a place to get back to.

The next day, I made it back to Lincoln Center for a performance by the Budapest Festival Orchestra. My roommate had gotten free tickets at work, and who doesn’t love a chance to get a bit dressed up and experience some free music? It was both my first time at Lincoln Center and my first time seeing a live professional orchestra (though I’d seen plenty during my time at Ithaca – thank you, Whalen Music School). I definitely want to get back to Lincoln Center to check out an opera sometime this season and possibly even a ballet. Though, the ballet is a bit questionable since I didn’t love the one I saw in London and have since decided I don’t like ballets at all, but perhaps I should give it one more chance. Operas on the other hand are an automatic yes. Love them.

But I guess I digress – the BFO is one of the top ten orchestras in the world, and I certainly enjoyed the show. I don’t know much about music, admittedly, but I know what I enjoy. They played pieces from Shostakovich (my favorite), Bernstein and Rachmaninoff (the only composer I’d previously heard of), close to two hours in total. The selections from Shostakovich were very upbeat, reminiscent of a Disney score (at least I thought so), so to me, they were a great way to start. A bit unexpected too. The other composer’s pieces were more somber, but I enjoyed them as well.

After the orchestra performance, my roommate and I went a bit uptown to 84th and Broadway for dinner at 5 Napkin Burger. I had been craving a good burger for about a week and this seemed like a natural place to try. I was starving (not surprisingly), so I started with an order of onion rings. Perfectly crispy, I loved them. We both got the Original, which was topped with caramelized onions, Gruyere cheese and rosemary aioli. It was definitely tasty (and messy – hence the “5 napkin” concept), but I tend to like fresh/crunchy toppings on my burgers, so I’d probably get something else next time.

Yet another restaurant to cap off the three-day weekend – on Monday, I met up with a friend at Café Blossom for lunch. Caveat: It was vegan. As is probably pretty obvious (if not from knowing me then from the previously mentioned week-long burger craving), I love meat. I love cheese. I love all things non-vegan. Not that I don’t love veggies and healthy things too. I absolutely do. I just happen to love my healthy things with a side of meat, or dairy, or something typically animal-based. I’m sure this place is great for vegans (maybe a place to take my aunt if she ever visits!), and having looked at the menu, probably better for non-vegans at brunch. Nevertheless, I forged ahead and ordered a veggie grain burger, which was basically a patty made of lentils and quinoa (both of which I like) and topped with lettuce, tomato, pickles and hummus. The lack of color of the “burger” wasn’t doing it any favors, neither was the mushiness of it, but it was good for what it was. Thankfully the fries on the side helped to fill me up.

Andddd that’s it. I’ll definitely do more on the UWS in the future, since this wasn’t truly an exploration of the pretty big neighborhood, and more that everything I happened to be doing happened to be there. A good weekend nonetheless.    

Central Harlem & Morningside Heights

This weekend, with the weather a little on the warm side (for January), I opted to explore outside a bit. Plus, I thought it might be nice to stay close to home and get to know my own neighborhood. I live in a different part of Harlem, but you have to start somewhere.

We started at the northern side Central Park (also known as the North Woods), at 103 St. near The Pool. There were quite a few people out and about as we strolled along the paths. I got excited about the plethora of ducks relaxing in the water (I'll spare you the pictures), and then we stumbled across the Ravine. 

We also stumbled across some downed trees, which I tried to look like I conquered.

We realized when we first moved in that our area of Manhattan was pretty hilly, and this part of the park was no exception. It made for a good excuse to get our "exercise" in for the day - no need for the gym! 

We passed through the Huddlestone Arch on the way to the Harlem Meer. According to many, this is one of the most picturesque arches in the park. It has been there since 1866 and - just found this online - is held together by gravity alone. Pretty nifty. 

Huddlestone Arch, which I imagine looks much prettier in the spring and summer when  the plants are more lively

The Harlem Meer and a bit of East Harlem

Conservatory Garden
(I'm pointing to our dream villa on top of the building behind) 

After winding our way around the Meer (which is really just a mini lake or large pond), we found ourselves at the northeast corner of Central Park on 5th Ave. Since we'd worked up an appetite, we wandered up to 116th and over to Harlem's own Make My Cake.

Red Velvet, Vanilla Cupcake with Strawberry Frosting, and Carrot Cake

We enjoyed our delicious cupcakes and had some drinks to warm up (even though it was nicer outside, it wasn't that nice). The atmosphere was cute and casual. I'd say Make My Cake is definitely worth a trip or two for more cupcakes. 

Last on the agenda for the afternoon was a 2:00 Vertical Tour at St. John the Divine. So, we walked further west through a slightly mountainous Morningside Park to get to the cathedral. 

Lots of stairs

St. John's as seen from the park

East Harlem from the top of the park

St. John's the Divine is the largest gothic cathedral in the United States, with construction beginning before 1900 and the very last installation ending in the 90s. The Vertical Tour ($15) took us up on the roof and above the the arches. While it was mainly focused on the architecture of the building, the behind-the-scenes feel was very cool. 

The building reminded me of so many of the cathedrals and churches I'd visited in Europe, and I was probably a little too giddy to be taking this tour. Our trusty tour guide, Bill, started by telling us some themes present in the building. One of them: sevens. There are 7 bays in the nave, the arches are 124' tall (add them together 1+2+4 and get 7), and the length of the cathedral was 601', and the property has 7 chapels, to name a few. 

This picture is taken from the ground floor.
Our first stop was the dark windows on the right; after a trip to the roof, our second stop was the archway on the left;
third stop inside was the floral-shaped opening up at the top of the photo.

View from first level up

Each of the banisters had different sets of flowers on them;
all were hand-carved, as were the banisters themselves - you could feel the ridges

Up to the roof!

Looking down from the second level, called the Clear Story Level

On the Clear Story Level, we stopped to talk about the stained glass windows throughout the cathedral. Bill told us that each bay had a different theme dedicated to human endeavors. The two we looked at closely, for example, were dedicated to medicine and to communication. The themes were 3 levels high. The Bay Level, or ground floor, had a human representation of each theme. The Clear Story Level had a saint representing the theme. The highest level used Jesus to represent the bay's theme. 

Communication (St. Mark on the left, St. Matthew on the right)

Medicine (St. Luke on the left, Hippocrates on the right, Jesus on the top performing healing)

You may wonder why Hippocrates was featured on the medicine-themed window, being that he's not a saint and was actually around before Christianity. Bill said that the windows, and the cathedral itself, has quite a bit of secular imagery. For example, on the communication-themed bay level window, you can see a TV featured. This was pretty futuristic for the time period (the window was completed in the 1930s) but is definitely relevant to today's visitors. 

Looking out through the top-most level

View of Manhattan from the roof - on a clearer day you can see the Empire State Building

Tour guide Bill, explaining different aspects of the grounds to us

Up on the highest level of the roof, Bill told us that the property (about a dozen acres) was originally bought for $885,000 before the turn of the 20th Century. New York City real estate prices were through the roof even back then! After a brief sojourn on the roof, we ventured back inside to check out what's above the grand arches in the cathedral below.

The arches from the top

We stood on some (totally secure but still wobbly) metal platforms (that started freaking me out after about two minutes) while Bill explained some interesting facts about the arches below and the modern roof overhead. Not quickly enough, we climbed down the 200-odd stairs to get back to ground level. And, I will say, you don't realize how many stairs you go up until you're forced to go back down them. Such teeny tiny spiral stairs ...I might have had a better time with smaller feet.

We checked out the lower level of the cathedral a bit before stopping in the courtyard and heading home. 

Just some of the organ pipes - there are over 8,000 total

Statue in the courtyard: The archangel Michael is featured on top;
the devil's head is severed and dangling from the crab's claw on the bottom

Later that evening, after a bit of relaxing at home, it was time for dinner. Now, for some reason, I have had it in my head for the past couple of weeks that I wanted to try chicken and waffles. (Truthfully, the reason we spent the day in Harlem was so that we could have some really good chicken and waffles as part of the day.) 

Chicken and waffles became popular during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s - 1940s, when jazz was also flourishing. Wells Supper Club in Harlem began offering the dish as a way to cut down on food waste. They could pair the leftover fried chicken from dinner with a sweet waffle on the late night/early morning menu for those who were looking for something to eat after leaving the jazz clubs. It was a hit and other restaurants started offering it on their menus as well.

I picked Sylvia's for my first foray into chicken and waffles. Though she passed away last summer, her recipe remains. Sylvia began the restaurant after moving here from South Carolina and it has become a Harlem staple. 

                                                                   

I, of course, ordered the Harlem Style Chicken & Waffles (white meat only) with a side of collard greens. I was happy with both choices! The chicken was delicious - tasty breading, perfect crispiness, and the chicken was moist and flavorful as well. I wasn't exactly sure how to delve into such a meal, but I did my best and tried the chicken with a little syrup. Maybe I'll have to try it for breakfast some time.