old new york

every year or so i get this nagging desire to go back to new york. i've been there probably half a dozen times by now, each time for only a day or two. and, while it would have been nice to get to attend the opening of the new islamic art wing in the met (i don't know how i got invited either), i figured sometime after i got back would have to suffice. so from boston i hoped a bus down to new york - and at $12 it was more expensive than both my legs from dc to boston combined. i should preface this by saying that this is by no means a 'what to do on your first trip to new york'. it's not a statue of liberty/empire state/museum (well okay i went to a couple of those) kind of visit. each time i'm in the city i cross a few more items off my never-ending list of its offerings.

can't go wrong with tiles

i arrived in the city around midday and made my way to brooklyn where i was set to stay at my bombay roomie's former place. it's a great place right in fort greene, with bay windows and apparently a rotating group of students and young people cycling in and out over the summer. so one more person didn't seem to matter much. i quickly headed out to grab a late lunch and ended at up at olea, a self-described mediterranean taverna. and what's dining in new york good for if not feeling like you're somewhere else? i had some kind of flatbread with tomatoes and nuts and enjoyed the discarded NY times.

mixed media

then it was over to manhattan, where i was all set to meet some friends for a trip to the met. we'd first met while spending a summer in jordan studying arabic so i had hoped the islamic wing wouldn't be too uninteresting for them. we were not to be disappointed. i wouldn't have expected anything less, frankly, with a reinstall taking as long as this one did. quite literally every time i went to the met (in other words every time i'm in new york) i checked the second floor in hopes of finding the islamic wing finished. always, i was disappointed. i believe this reinterpretation was eight years in the making. well worth it. the many galleries were grouped thematically and geographically, and even included a section for contemporary art. architectural elements are incorporated wherever possible, as with the little tiled niches (originally mihrabs) or the complete moroccan courtyard. (check out this video for some idea of the level of detail that went into its construction.) my friends were just as captivated as i was (or they were very good sports) and put up with my incessant picture taking and endless lingering over ceramic tiles. i was very happy to test out my iphone - much easier for museum photos, and quite a good camera too.

circle takes the square

after thoroughly soaking up the islamic wing, josh, randa and i set out for an evening snack before they had to head back to new jersey. we enjoyed some fancy soups and then unfortunately had to go our separate ways, just as some rain started to fall. i made my way downtown and met the new roommates for a movie at the IFC center, where i had fond memories of seeing the helvetica movie. that's right, people, i paid eleven dollars to watch a documentary about a typeface. here instead it was kumaré, a documentary about a man posing as a guru. having just returned from india it brought up a lot of conflicting emotions about the exploitation of exported indian culture and people's idea of spirituality in general. we discussed this, appropriately, over dosas at a little indian cafe where i had to physically restrain myself from singing along with the faint hindi tunes i could hear. from here i followed the brooklynites to a number of bars that could have easily been in richmond - a mix of craft beers, PBRs and bar games.

torana arches on a jain temple or park slope, brooklyn?

the next day i was up and out the door early to enjoy the brooklyn flea market, conveniently located about a 2 minute walk from my temporary apartment. i couldn't bring myself to shell out the 12 bucks for the lobster roll i'd heard so much about but instead treated myself to a dulce de leche donut. probably the first donut i'd had in.. years? i wandered the market, both admiring the wares and appalled at the prices. if there's one thing i know it's appropriate flea market prices. (no matter, i found a yard sale a few blocks away and scored some necklaces.) i did, however, get a few vintage buttons that should make an awesome ring.

there's probably some metaphor for meditation here

from there it was back to manhattan and into midtown. i began at the rubin museum of art (just can't get away from south asia) where i saw lots of buddhas, and thankfully plenty of other deities too. and some lovely mughal manuscripts too. from there i bounced around the flatiron district, popping into cafes for the occasional scone with lemon curd or cup of coffee. up to the flatiron building, which has to be one of my favorite landmarks, across from which i stopped for a break. i realized i was just opposite the famous shake shack and tried to determine if my low to moderate hunger was worth the wait in the enormous line. in the end my impatience won out. walking again under the shadow of the flatiron i spied a crowd starting to gather. it was none other than heidi klum, filming what looked like a commercial. i ogled for a minute or two and then continued walking over to the strand - 18 miles of books, and i can't seem to leave with out one or two. it's like south bombay all over again.

harbor dusk

after a much-needed respite and very overdue phone date in union square i was feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the evening. that meant meeting up with aforementioned hosts at the south street seaport. i don't think i'd ever been there. and frankly it's pretty cheesy. sort of baltimore's inner harbor meets shopping mall plus probably a bubba gump shrimp restaurant for good measure. but the view of the boats on the river and skyscrapers behind was unique. and the sunlight fading behind the brooklyn bridge? well that's pretty magical. we lingered there and half heartedly listened to the live music accompanied by a handful of tourists breaking out their moves. then realizing we were hungry and that we'd rather not eat at TGIFriday's we set off on foot. we weren't sure where we were headed at first but eventually ended up in little italy, probably about a mile away. and cheesy as it might be, there's something rather lovely about dining al fresco, enjoying your spaghetti bolognese under the perpetually hanging lights. with the stream of tourists walking past and the late day summer heat lingering in the air, you could almost believe you were in italy. a fitting end to any trip to new york; some things never get old.

goodbye, brooklyn

 

big apple, little bite

so on wednesday of last week my mother and i rather spontaneously decided to go up to new york for the weekend. after a few hours we had booked our bus and hotel and were ready to go. friday night we went to chinatown, grabbed a salad from chop't (huge and delicious!) and hopped onto the 8.00 bus (a mere $35 round-trip). after a four-hour nap with plenty of room to spread out, we arrived at penn station right around midnight. we walked the two blocks to our hampton inn, very pleasant overall.

having already been to new york several times this wasn't the typical touristy, see-everything type trips that i usually make. that said, we started off heading all the way up to the bronx to find the new york botanical gardens. we made it before 12, excited to take advantage of the free admission. come to find out that was only to for the grounds; a visit to any sort of conservatory or other building would cost us a whopping $18 (and that's the discounted rate). we decided to see if the grounds alone were worthy of our free admission. in the little area we explored there was an english-style garden with a nice mix of herbs and unusual flowers. the weather was beautiful and we stumbled across a wedding party with bridesmaids with parasols and very well-dressed guests.

after our short trip in the bronx we headed back downtown for a stop near columbia university. first, though, we stopped for a new york slice (no, not sbarro). actually 4 of them, plus a soda which still came out under $10. and, sorry, but new york pizza beats chicago's deep dish any day; it was delicious. we continued on to riverside church which were lucky to be able to go into before the wedding. the interior was really lovely; the clerestory windows were apparently modeled after chartres and the wrought-iron light fixtures were particularly cool. unfortunately we couldn't go up the 400-foot tower (home to the largest carillon bell in the world) as it's apparently been shrouded in scaffolding for 3 years and counting. scaffolding continues to be the bane of my existence. still, a nice church nonetheless. perhaps my favorite in new york though there isn't too much competition. (st. john the divine has some scaffolding issues of its own..)

we continued downtown, stopping at union square and passing through the farmers' market. we walked over to the strand and strolled the '18 miles of books' until we were too tired to go on. we each found a book and probably would have found many more given enough time. even the islamic art section was impressive. we continued walking on to washington square park where we spent a while leisurely reading and enjoying the view of the fountain (where local children frolic/bathe?). from there we headed up towards murray hill where we were hoping to find something good and quick (indian?) for dinner before our show. we rushed around trying to find something suitable. we went to a little chinese place where we got noodle soup and chicken curry. we ate quickly and, again, cheaply before walking the remaining blocks to the theater district.

the show we had decided to see was called 'reasons to be pretty'. i'm still not sure why they chose that particular title. it's a new play and has been nominated for three tonies which, as it turns out, were the following night. the acting was pretty good (not great) but the writing itself didn't seem all the great. the jokes struck me as a little sitcom-y. the audience seemed to enjoy it though.

we walked home through times square, part of which is currently blocked off. there's a pedestrian zone right through the middle of the area with lawn chairs. it's a bit surreal to be able to park yourself in the middle of one of the busiest streets in the world. on our way home we picked up some glazed nuts and drinks (i love all the delis that stay open late). then back at the hotel we relaxed with an SNL rerun. how 'new york' of us.

the next day we set out earlyish in search of flea markets. i was mildly devastated to discover the brooklyn flea market i was so looking forward to checking out was canceled for that weekend only. it starts back up next weekend under the brooklyn bridge. oh the injustice. at any rate we wandered to another one just blocks from our hotel that it turns out my mom and i had both been to before. man, we're like natives we're so good. there was a lot of good vintage clothes and my mom even scored a piece of british royal memorobilia (nevermind).

we hopped down to chinatown where we walked allll the way down canal street in search of a purse. amazingly even in that mecca of questionable designer accessories (gucci? prada? louis vuitton?) i did not find what i was looking for. but i did brush up on my ignoring street vendors' come-ons. wouldn't want to get rusty.

by the time we hit bowery we were pretty exhausted and hungry. we turned down the street in search of dim sum. the first placed we found was packed so we continued on. the next place we found seemed good and slightly less crowded. the clients were all chinese so we figured it had to be authentic. and when i say all chinese i mean, quite literally, we were the only white people in there. half the servers bringing around food had to grab someone to translate their contents into english. we had a serving of shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings and some steamed buns. between those little dishes we somehow ended up very full. i would have taken photos had i not been intimidated by the other couple sitting at our table. that couple, incidentally, put us to shame, order seven orders of dim sum to our three (all different than ours). i imagine they finished after we left but i'm not sure how they managed. apparently we had good reason to be intimidated.

after some subway mishaps (wrong way twice - yes it's possible - and a system malfunction) we had only a little time to wander around greenwich village. i had hoped to find papaya dog for a refreshing fruit drink and, in an uncharacteristic stroke of good luck, we happened upon it right outside the subway exit. we wandered and enjoyed our mango and piña colada (so cheap). we also managed to find a deli to pick up some dinner for later. this nicely rounded out our weekend of eating cheaply but well. though we did have to make a special stop for dill pickles ($1 apiece).

we got our bags from the hotel and walked the few blocks to penn station where the bus was already waiting. apparently the 5.00 back to washington is a popular one and it was full. we managed to sleep most of the way back, waking up around 8 for our dinner of authentic new york deli sandwiches, packed with more meat than i could ever hope to eat in one sitting, and a bag of sundried tomato pesto chips (classy, right?). i only made it through half of the sandwich but in attempts to appease my 'healthy' side (ha) i had an apple too. the rest of the ride was largely uneventful, aside from a jerky bathroom door and a somewhat dysfunctional family. pretty much par for the course on a bus. then it was back to chinatown and the familiarity of the dc metro. good to be home.