Day 7: "Serendipity"

This vacation is everything I wanted it to be. And more. I can't believe I'm here and doing everything I've been doing.

And in celebration of my having been in the city for a full week, I tried wearing my bangs on my forehead again and they didn't get sweaty at all!

I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For 6 hours! It was amazing! So huge!!! I paid $5 and went to the Met!!!! I literally cannot believe it! There are 2 floors, and while you may think, as I foolishly did, only 2 floors; 2 floors stuffed full of art and relics, it's so incredible!!!

I started on the first floor and had no idea where I was going even though I had a map. But I figured it was better to wander and get lost than to try and figure it out. The only thing I wanted to see was the special exhibit called "American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity." It was on the second floor so more on that later.

The museum has an incredible collection of Greek and Roman Art and I started there. I LOVE all the marble, it's completely gorgeous! There were troops of school children in matching outfits all laughing at the naked statues. Every corner I turned there was some kid giggling over marble junk so I, being the mature adult I am, started to laugh too.

I haven't studied art. I don't know what I'm looking at. My complaint of the Museum of Natural History is the same for the Met. There's so much to see and learn that I can't take it all in. I knew, but it wasn't at the forefront of my mind that all of these were recovered and refurbished from ruins. Most of the statues were missing heads, arms, chunks of thigh, but all still so beautiful and amazing!!! The people who analyze the pieces are experts, but in the descriptions it's very clear they're not sure what or who we're all looking at for the most part. Some are clearly identifiable because they had a signature or a name engraved in them, or because of where they were located, but most were described as "possibly being from" or "probably a statue of." I still enjoyed looking at it all.

I also wandered through the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Medieval Art, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The American Wing, and the Egyptian Art areas. The Met has an incredibly extensive collection of Egyptian art including the Temple of Dendur which has been there since 1978, so it's nothing new, but I had no idea what was on display there.

All of this was on the first floor!! My favorite though was the Arms and Armor collection where they had all kinds of suits of armor, swords, daggers, original Colt and Smith and Wesson guns, helmets, suits of armor for horses, it was incredible! And I didn't think I'd enjoy it but somehow it was my favorite. The shot guns were ridiculously huge! I have no idea how anyone used to use them, but they were so cool to look at. The Colts' used to be decorated by Tiffany's. Tiffany's the jewelry--those weapons had serious bling! They were both deadly and gorgeous. I loved them!

I rushed through the last little bit of the first floor because I wanted to make sure I had time to find and walk through "American Woman" and I had already spent 3 hours on the first floor alone. I couldn't believe it when I checked the time and it was 2:30. So I found some stairs and made my way to the second floor where I went through the collection of Asian Art which includes Chinese, Southeast Asian, Korean, South Asian, Central Asian, Islamic, Ancient Near Eastern Art, Cypriot, and Japanese. I honestly could not tell the difference unless I noticed a sign telling me I had changed rooms, but I guess the Japanese Art spoke to me because every time I took a picture it was of something Japanese.

I tried to skip straight to "American Woman" but it was impossible to not walk through the 19th and Early 20th Century European Paintings and Sculptures. Huge rooms with giant paintings on every wall. Not all are my taste, but at the same time I don't paint so I'm not sure what makes them so amazing aside from their incredible size or subject although I'm pretty sure some of the subjects weren't famous or important. Still, it's interesting to see the changes through time as styles differ between artists and within the subject being portrayed. There was also some crazy Modern Art. Weirder than the lady sitting in the chair staring at people. There was a shark, a real one, in a tank filled with formaldehyde. Yeah. There were some parts of the museum where photography wasn't allowed and this was one of them. It's probably for the best.

"American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity" was not at all what I expected despite the fact that it's description is in the name. The exhibit detailed women's fashions beginning in the 1800s through to 2010 (that's this year) and had m.annequin's wearing dresses from the time period. They were stunning! It was amazing to see how fashion itself has changed. But more importantly the exhibit describes the developing perceptions of women and how the population went from fighting for the right to vote and social and political change, sexual emancipation and how that was reflected through "Screen Sirens" all of which and more has led to what and who women are today. It was a wonderful exhibit, if a little short; definitely right up my alley.

Because it was so short I had extra time, about an hour before the museum was set to close so I wandered back into the Paintings and consulted my map and found there is a section for musical instruments. I love musical instruments so I headed over there and spent my last hour looking at the early instruments used by Americans and people the world over. My absolute favorite thing, the instrument that made me pee a little was Benny Goodman's clarinet. The last one he played in session before he died in 1986. I got pictures of it and the other instruments my sisters play including flutes, horns, brass instruments of various names I will probably mess up. But Benny Goodman. "The King of Swing." That was a sight to be sure.

That was my last stop. They called out a 10 minute warning so I made my way back towards the Great Hall (that's what it's called--so Harry Potter) and back out to 81st St. and 5th Avenue. There was a guy playing a saxophone on the street, not especially well, but everyone seemed to be enjoying it. After consulting my map, I decided Serendipity3 wasn't too far from the museum and I could walk there. And walk I did.

Through Central Park.

It is a beautiful park. The people who go there, not so much. Kidding. I only saw 2 homeless people and one guy with his shirt off and an orange on his lap. It was a strange combination. Once you're inside, it is essentially silent. At least the noise of the traffic, people talking on their cell phones, the smells of hot dogs, and random wafts of trash on the street, are all gone. It's just a park. On a lovely May day. The sun shines through the trees and the humidity climbs because there's water nearby. I looked at the map for the zoo and they have Polar Bears. I'm going.

I called Erin to say hi and sat on a bench. When I looked up there was a statue of a dog. A dog named Balto. It's real! It really exists! I knew Balto was real, that that story had actually happened, but I had no idea the statue was really there, but it is! I got some pictures of him when he wasn't crawling with kids or adults who may or may not know who Balto is but wanted to climb on the dog's back anyway.

I stayed near 5th Avenue because I didn't want to get lost inside or get mugged as my Dad likes to keep "warning" me. Mostly lost. I think I trust New York. I feel like I do whenever I'm in a crowded area, just keep one hand on your purse and be aware of your pockets. The only frustrating thing is that everywhere in New York is a crowded area. Nowhere is free of people! You're never alone here! You turn around you're in someone's way or they're in yours. It's exhausting.

When I emerged from the trees I was at 60th St. right where I needed to be. I proceeded to walk towards Park Avenue and Serendipity3. After Phantom, I knew I had to come here. It's a tourist trap but I love those! This restaurant is famous for its Frozen Hot Chocolate and deserts, made known to me by the movie "Serendipity" with John Cusack, who I love, and Kate Beckinsale, who is also good. Leading up to this visit I had read reviews to see what I was getting myself into because as we know, tourist traps are not like regular places. The rules are different. People may pretend it's just a restaurant but we know better. It's thee place for Frozen Hot Chocolate. It's thee stop you must make when visiting New York.

The reviews I read were horrible. I was going to go yesterday but chickened out because I was scared of how mean the wait staff supposedly are. To those who wrote those reviews: It clearly says both on the website and outside the restaurant that there are no carriages or strollers and once you get inside you can understand why. The place is tiny and cramped, like New York, and stuffed with tables and people. I got there by 7:10 and was seated immediately. Only because I was by myself. Lonely riders get to go everywhere quickly. They also get to sit by the kitchen. But I don't mind. I think I'm in too good a mood to let little things bug me right now.

My server was nice enough, very busy he only talked to me 4 times; 1) to get my order, 2) to give me my order, 3) to make sure it was ok, 4) to ask if I was still ok or if I wanted a bill, the last one was sort of yelled across the room. But I could clearly see he was busy and I'm one person, with one meal, and one Frozen Hot Chocolate. I don't need to have my hand held.

I got a BLT because I love them, but I needed to eat. I thought I might just have desert but that seemed unrealistic without other stuff in my body too. Frozen Hot Chocolate was a must, it was the reason I went, and desert was hanging like an unanswered question above my table.

I read plenty of reviews that said this place was overrated. Of course it is! And it was. But I loved every overrated second! The Frozen Hot Chocolate was wildly expensive and it was essentially a giant chocolate malt with whipped cream and sprinkles. And by giant I mean giant. It came with a plate underneath it because it was melting and slopping over the sides. The BLT was also huge. Thick toast, LOTS of bacon, 3 huge tomatoes, lettuce and sprouts. Mayo on the side (everywhere you go, not here,if there's a menu there's a calorie count before the price it's crazy!) and a piece of cucumber. I thought it was a pretty good meal, if a little pricey, but I paid for the ambiance, the experience. And I enjoyed myself.

And that was my day. I walked back to the train station and came back to Queens. I like Queens. It's calm. But Monica and Alex may have a new neighbor with a baby who hates life and cried through most of Glee. Unacceptable.

Tomorrow's Goal: Brooklyn. TKTS. Junior's. I'm going to take the train to Brooklyn and try to get some tickets to see a few shows before I leave then go to Junior's to see if they're cheesecake is better than mine, and by mine I mean Mom's made by me. I don't think it will be. Then I want to walk back over the Brooklyn Bridge. This terrifies me because 1) it is very high up and b) it's only built on the foundation on one side. The other side is in the sand. Lazy bums who built this miracle bridge couldn't find bedrock when they were drilling and decided to stick with the sand. You know that I'm going to set foot on it and the whole thing's going to come crashing down into the East River. P.T. Barnum and 21 elephants can cross but I won't be so lucky. But, when on the bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan right?

A few of my favorite pictures:

Central Park.