Friday, February 25, 2011

I Ain't Changed, But I Know I Ain't The Same


I've been staying pretty busy lately - classes this semester aren't really much more demanding than last semester, but they seem to be absorbing more of my time anyway. Still, I have been finding time for fun, so that's what I'll catch up on here. Last week we had a couple of totally glorious days of warmer temperatures - up in the mid-sixties. I decided to go walk around (in jeans and a short sleeved shirt!) in Central Park. On the way there I passed a music video shoot. I stopped to watch for a little while, largely out of curiosity to figure out whose music video it was. I eventually gave up. Nobody standing there knew, and it became wildly boring before too long, since they were just doing establishing shots.

In Central Park the ice, piled up after a very snowy winter, was melting so quickly that small rivers were running down all the hills. I visited the once-famous (now defunct) Tavern On The Green.
This used to be THE restaurant for the Broadway big shots to come to after a show. But it went out of business. Now it's a visitor's center (overpriced Central Park t-shirt anyone?). And the famous Crystal Room is shuttered. Technically speaking, the rich and powerful could still get food there, but they're probably not interested in what's on offer.
One rarely observes the glamorous eating from food trucks, even such high quality food trucks as have moved in here.

A couple of days later I visited Momofuku Milk Bar with my friend Michelle (at her suggestion). It is excellent suggestions such as these that keep things interesting. Milk Bar is a dessert spot that serves pretty off-the wall treats - in this picture I'm enjoying an apple pie truffle (small truffle that tastes EXACTLY like apple pie). They have things like blueberry cream cookies, French toast ice cream, cinnamon bun pie, and compost cookies (which have potato chips, pretzels, various candies, and coffee in them). Definitely super delicious, and pretty darn indulgent. A nice little place to visit at the end of a hard week of class work.

Over the weekend, Michelle's friend Marissa came to visit from Toronto, and I went with them to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for Balcony Bar. Every Friday and Saturday evening the Met sets up tables in the second floor balcony area (near Ancient Chinese Art), brings in a string quartet and a piano to play classical music, and serves wine and hors d'oeuvres. We even got all dressed up, and thus had a super classy museum trip.
Marissa and Me in front of the Temple of Dendur
Cheers!

On Tuesday I went with Marissa to The Jewish Museum to see their exhibit on Harry Houdini. It was fantastic! I learned a lot about the life of Houdini, and got to see his handcuffs, milk jug, upside down water chamber, and much more. It was a great display, with tons of artifacts from Houdini's life (which were super cool), old videos of Houdini performing his tricks (which were amazing), and modern art inspired by Houdini (which I was less interested in).

This weekend is a big school work weekend for me. Even though our Spring temperatures only lasted a couple of days, and it's chilly again, they did make me optimistic about the coming change in seasons. Hopefully as the weather continues to improve I can continue having time for adventures.

1 comment:

  1. You look gorgeous at the museum! However that apple pie truffle looks pretty darn amazing too. Love reading about all of your adventures in the Big Apple. Love, Mom

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