we got up at 4am to catch a 6am flight.
arrived at 7:30 am and caught the M60 bus out of LaGuardia to 125th and St. Nicholas to catch the A train. This is the first time i took the bus and i must say it's definitely worth not spending $35 dollars on a taxi. we then bought an all day unlimited subway pass for $7, which proved to be a great investment.
we went to the Chinese consular office to drop off our documents and quickly headed to the MET. although the admission policy states $15 RECOMMENDED, most people miss the recommended part and pay the full $15 per person. for a family of four that ends up being $60! last time my mother went, she too paid the full price because no one told her it is not required. as long as you make SOME kind of donation, even if it's dollar, you're in. so that's exactly what we did, being that i'm super broke, and i tried to inform a few other tourists of the misinformation. they were kind of pissed that they ended up paying so much money when they didn't have to. my feelings are, if you are going to make the admission to the MET donation only, make that well know to the visitors. don't trick them into paying $15 dollars without letting them know that they have an option to donate just a few dollars.
once inside, we were able to catch a free tour and saw some of the museum highlights.
here is the outside of the MET. it reminds me of the Spanish steps in Rome, where everyone goes to hang out and pick up members of the opposite sex. (well probably the same sex too)
ancient samurai gear.
my knights in shining armor.
this was part of the house that the tiffany's creator built. in the 50's the house burned down and this is all that is left.
this was acquired from Egypt, where it was submerged under water for 3/4 of the year because of a small damn on the Nile. when they decided to upgrade to a much larger damn, this would have been submerged entirely, forever, so instead they decided to donate it. both the Smithsonian and the MET fought over this structure. the MET won because it promised to build an enclosure (the one that is pictured here) in order to protect it from the elements, whereas the Smithsonian was going to have it displayed right on the mall in D.C.
this is a tiffany fountain. it is a beautifully constructed mosaic. the entire piece is constructed from tiny pieces of colored glass (and possibly colored stone, not sure). but it is absolutely amazing.
some stained glass windows, salvaged from some really old church.
we stumbled onto some kind of television production on Broadway. it was for some new show airing on TNT. as much as i wanted them to turn the camera on me, and make me the star of their new show, they did not seem as enthused about the idea as i was.
this seems a little inappropriate for public display....don't you think?
here we are chillaxing (credit to hodown) in front of the CBS building, waiting to get into MOMA. faben seems to be having a case of the sneezes.
we then headed to the MOMA where the lines were huge!
ok, here is the thing. i appreciate art, but i don't understand some kinds of modern art. i don't get how you can paint a canvas one color and call it art?
faben was so aggravated with this that by the end of the visit she was in a foul mood. she could not understand how so little effort, can get so much recognition.
and here are a few pieces of three dimensional abstract art stuff, which i still didn't comprehend.
this stuff was a little more interesting.
here is a monstrous Pollack piece with faben pondering (again) why this is art.
things got a lot more interesting when we got the the upper floors. this is where all of the Picasso, Klimt, Van Gogh, etc. stuff was.
Kandinsky
Klimt
i don't know who this is, (forgot to look) but we've seen it before and can't place where exactly, (maybe a children's book?) can anyone help me out here as to who this is?
Seurat (the guy who painted with dots)
Gauguin, a friend of Van Gogh's who hung out in the south pacific islands and took a 13 year old as his wife.
the infamous starry night by Van Gogh.
in between the museums we went back to the Chinese consulate and picked up our visas. the whole process went a lot smoother than i expected. being the uber bureaucratic country that china is, i thought we'd have to jump through a lot more red tape. although i suspect that the process was not as smooth for others, as i over heard a man throwing all kinds of fuck's and shit's at one of the Chinese representatives. somehow i tend to think that yelling fuck this shit, in a Chinese consulate office is not the best way of getting YOUR way....don't know...might be wrong...but that is just my general hunch.
we caught the 10 pm flight home, which as delayed by a half hour, and were home in 45 min. i slept for 10 hours that night.
p.s. new user sound.....the chemical brothers with beth orton, where do i begin
good user sound.....
and priceless works of art.
my favorite pictues are of the Knight and the Samuri Gear. I myself have never gotton abstract art. Some abstract that kinda looks like what it is a picture of makes sense but everyone has there own taste in art so I won't bash it here.
cool pics of the MET. i have not made it there yet, and i have only been to the MOMA when it was in queens during renovations in manhattan. glad you had a great trip to nyc.
yah, it is a bit like the Spanish Steps. Only smaller, with no flowers, and no hot men calling out to you :) Oh yah, and EGYPT KICKS ASS!!
thanks for the tip, mrmike, but since those services charge per person, paying $19 dollars for three people is just not very economical. from now on i'll stick to the $2 bus fare and the $2 subway fare, can't go wrong with that price, and you also get a nice tour of queens and harlem, which can be very entertaining :)
Better yet let me know next time youre in town and ill just call a company car to get you!
Thanks for the tour. The pics are great, even the monochromatic ones. There is a subway that you can connect with at Jamaica station from the airport so you don't get hosed for the $35.00. for future reference. Going out to the airport, there is a a service that charges $19 and will deliver you to your airline, but you are sharing a van with others.