New York City, last day

Tuesday, October 21st, Manhattan -- East River Esplanade Walk and our third musical show, Maybe Happy Ending.  The cold front has passed and the rain has moved northward, missing the city, so today is clear and sunny, with mild temps.

For breakfast, I went out and got bagels from a corner shop, which we ate in our apartment.  We lingered but finally decided to go for a walk up the east side of Manhattan on the East River Esplanade.  Our first attempt once reaching the walkway was terminated after two blocks -- the trail was interrupted within sight of the its continuation.   The only way to cross over the gap was to walk back one block, go north about 3 blocks and turn back toward the river, which we did.  We walked the esplanade for about 1/2 mile until it ended again due to construction.  

The esplanade is elevated over the East River which is the white structure in this photo.  The first leg of the route ended almost at that white structure, but did not connect to it.  Go figure.

Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge over the West Channel of the East River to Queens, crossing Roosevelt Island.  

 A tram runs between Manhattan and  Roosevelt Island next to the bridge.

The tram

There are lots of dogs in NYC.  Fortunately the dog owners are polite (i.e., not much poop on the sidewalks) and the dogs are calm and rarely bark at people or other dogs.  Many of the dogs are very cute, like this quartet.  We passed a number of dog parks, with dogs playing happily with toys or each other or just lying in the sun.

Proof we were on the correct path.

The detour this time required returning a block west (not to 1st Avenue but to York Avenue, which should have been called 0 Avenue given the NYC grid pattern), walking north about 10 streets, and then returning back to the river side.  While we could have done that, Betsy declined and we ended up walking all of the way north to 87th Street before rejoining the esplanade.  At this point, it passes through Carl Schurz Park, with Gracie Mansion at the northern end.  Gracie Mansion is the home of New York City mayors.

First view of Gracie Mansion -- the mayor doesn't have much of a view.

Gracie Mansion again with a peekaboo view of the river.

Third photo of Gracie Mansion - do you see the hint of yellow?

The front of Gracie Mansion -- clearly this is not a tourist destination.

We rested a bit in the park and then used the last of our MetroCard credits to ride a bus back south to our apartment.  We enjoyed a late lunch/early dinner of leftovers before heading for the theater district.

We attended the last of three musicals Maybe Happy Ending, a light bit of charming fluff about two young-looking robots who were given up by their owners, are living out their remaining "shelf life" at a retirement home,  get connected emotionally (something that is not appropriate for robots) and go on a journey to Jeju Island.  The show won six Tony Awards this year for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score, Best Direction, Best Scenic Design, and Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Darren Criss).  Here is quote regarding the show: 

Maybe Happy Ending (Korean: 어쩌면 해피엔딩; RR: Eojjeomyeon haepiending) is a South Korean musical with lyrics written by Hue Park, music composed by Will Aronson, and book written by both Park and Aronson. The musical, which is performed without intermission, follows two human-like helper-bots, Oliver and Claire, who discover each other in Seoul later in the 21st century and develop a connection that challenges what they believe is possible for themselves, exploring relationships, love and mortality.

The show was presented at the Belasco Theater (see photos).  Darren Criss, the original male lead, had been replaced.  We liked it as did the entire audience, the music was catchy and light, and there were the required highs and lows in the plot, followed by a 'sort of' happy ending.  Robots are logical, non-emotional things and should not relate to other beings, so while the main characters connect during the most of the show, they "reset" their hard drives in the end.

The exterior of the Belasco Theater

The main (only) characters.

The interior of the Belasco Theater.

The ceiling of the theater.

A high priced box in the theater.

After the show and walking back to our apartment, we decided to celebrate our trip and our anniversary by going to the Ophelia Bar atop the Beekman Towers.  We enjoyed drinks and "divine chocolate cake" for an exorbitant price.  Here are the views.  Despite the splendid scenery, we only lasted an hour because the piped-in music was loud and annoying - aimed at much younger listeners. 

Looking east to Queens and the southern tip of Roosevelt Island in the East River.

Looking west to mid-town Manhattan.

This is the end of our visit to New York, the Hudson River, and NYC.  We are spending our last morning packing before traveling to the Newark Airport for our late afternoon flight to Portland.  Here's hoping the various legs of this journey go well.  Thanks for reading and viewing to the end and we will see you on the next trip.

Cheers!

New York City

Monday, October 20th - Museum day.  The weather turned a bit -- cloudy all day and with 55% possibility of rain, but no rain while we were outside.  We rode the MTA buses, first north along 1st Avenue to 86th Street, then a second bus at right angles, from 1st Avenue to 5th Avenue.  We got off and walked 2 1/2 blocks to the Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum.  This is one of four Guggenheim Museums, the others are in Venice, Italy (which is named after Peggy), Bilboa, Spain (just Guggenheim), and Abu Dhabi, UAE (under development and just Guggenheim, too).

The Guggenheim is just off the east side of Central Park and was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  It has a very neat interior spiral that goes up 5 levels, with more normal galleries branching off from the spiral.  The art exhibit on the walls of the spiral was from a single modern artist - Rashid Johnson.  Two of the four galleries were closed but the remaining two galleries hold the Thannhauser Collection.  The paintings in this collection are impressive and include pieces by many famous artists -- Degas, Manet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Pissarro, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Matisse, Kandinsky, and Monet.

The interior spiral ramp.

Rashid Johnson - footprints going in circles.

Vasily Kandinsky - Lion Hunt, 1911, reverse glass painting.

Pablo Picasso - Fernande with a Black Mantilla, 1905.

Another early Picasso - Moulin de la Galette, 1900.

Vincent Van Gogh - Roadway with Underpass.

Paul Gauguin.

Camille Pissarro - The Heritage at Pontoise.

Wassily Kandinsky - Blue Mountain.

Axe in the wall or Hard Day at the Office by Rashid  Johnson

The plants are hanging on cables from the domed ceiling.

The featured artist.

Rashid Johnson's art.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto -- Falling Man.

The Lobby and first piece by Rashid Johnson.

Even the water fountains look artistic.

Panoramic view of the interior.

After leaving the Guggenheim, we walked a few blocks down "Museum Mile" Street to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, known as The Met.  It is an "encyclopedic art museum."  It is the third largest museum in the world, the largest in the Americas, and had nearly 6 million visitors last year.  The museum was founded in 1870 and has 17 separate departments -- Greek, Roman, Egypt, Asian, American (art, furniture, modern art), Europe, African, Oceanian, Byzantine, Islamic, Musical instruments, etc.  Pretty much every well-known artist's works are on display.  The Impressionist Galleries were a big draw today.  There are several special exhibitions open -- today's was one entitled Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.  It displayed a wide variety of Black men's fashion, think Walt "Clyde" Frazier, the former NBA player, who was an inspiration to much of the fashion that came after.

I was overwhelmed by the visual richness and didn't take many photos.  It would have been impossible to edit them down to manageable number.  But I did take some photos of classic furniture.

A wind vane -- early American craftsmanship.

The famous and classic oval Shaker box.

Andrew Jackson's table with intricate carvings and inlaid marble on the top.

A 'slipper' chair with delicate carving and bent-wood elements.

A sideboard with amazing carvings.

The detail of the carving on one door panel.

A nicely proportioned Arts and Crafts-style chest.

A Stickley tall clock.  Stickley is probably the most famous Arts and Crafts maker in the US and influenced many woodworkers, both professional and amateur.

A Stickley 6-sided table.

And a Stickley chest.

Something for the music lovers -- a Stradivarius violin. 

A colorful display of wind and horn instruments.

My one and only art photo from the Met -- Georgia O'Keefe.

The Met as we left.

We felt like we needed to stretch our legs after the moseying and standing in the museums, so we started walking.  We ended up walking all the way back to the apartment (2.4 miles).  We picked up take-out dinner and enjoyed it at our apartment.