May 23, 2013 - Upper East side & The Metropolitan Museum

The day started warm, hazy and humid like the last few, with severe storms and rain forecast - the tail end of the horrible weather that hit Oklahoma. We walked up Park Avenue. Wow, this is serious money territory. Near Madison Avenue we went past the Scientology Celebrity Centre. I guess this is where Tom Cruise comes when in NY. We spent the rest of the day in the Metropolitan Museum. You could easily spend several days here. We saw ancient Egyptian stuff, early American stuff, some paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Monet, Renoir, etc. We...

May 22, 2013 - NY Central Park & Upper West side

We began the day with a bike ride through Central Park. The park is well manicured and has many interesting fountains, gardens and sculptures. We saw John Lennon's memorial, Strawberry Fields, which was smaller and more low key than I expected. It took us under 4 hours to ride around the park at a leisurely pace with many stops for exploring and photo opportunities. After lunch in the park, we visited the Museum of Natural History. They have a good dinosaur exhibit, and I had trouble fitting in some displays in photos as they were huge. The...

May 22, 2013 - What are you doing in Indonesia???

So many people have asked me to write when I get to Indonesia that I decided to create this travel blog.... so I can write everybody at the same time! People have also been asking very rational, intelligent questions about my summer-long adventure. "What are you going to be doing in Indonesia?" is the one that I hear most often. The answer I usually give is the most accurate, which is that I have no idea. But my elevator speech says that I got a research grant to study music and interreligious culture. It actually comes directly out of my...

May 22, 2013 - Rochester, Eden , Buffalo

George Eastman - what an interesting guy. His Dad died when he was 7 - Mom took in borders to provide for him and his 2 sisters - he went to work at age 13 - and had a hobby - photography. After chemicals ruined his clothes in a suitcase, he was convinced that he could improve on the process of producing photographs. He quit his job at the bank and by 1879 he got his first patent for a chemical coating machine for film. He and a partner went on to design a film that could be rolled on a spool - a spool that could fit all cameras. In 1888...

May 21, 2013 - Erie Canal Museum

Explored Syracuse New York today and it didn't disappoint. My first stop was the Erie Canal Museum which has been operating since 1962 in the only existing original Weighlock Building left. The Erie Canal was 363 miles long starting at Albany in eastern NY and ending in western NY in Buffalo. The museum has a replica of a boat in the weigh chamber and explains how it would be weighed empty and the weight would be recorded and filed as part of the annual state registration. Thereafter, a toll was assessed only on the difference in weight of...

May 21, 2013 - NY day 4 Downtown

Today we explored the Downtown area. We began with the 9/11 memorial, which was an ordeal to get to because of the huge numbers of other tourists, but surprisingly respectful and understated - not a single American flag in sight. We saw the nearly completed Freedom Tower last night on the cruise, but it was good to see close up. It will have an observation deck and be the latest tallest building in the city. A short walk took us to Wall Street and the US Stock Exchange. Unfortunately a great part of the beautiful facade was covered by a...

May 20, 2013 - NY day 3 Greenwich Village & Flatiron district

The weather forecast for the week was grim, with Monday being the best day, so we tried to pack many outdoor activities in today. As it turned out, it was a beautiful day, a bit misty at first, but warm and sunny by mid morning. Not a thundery shower in sight. We began with beautiful Greenwich Village. It is a very genteel, orderly area very different from chaotic Midtown. Washington Square Park is lovely, and the huge numbers of squirrels are fun to watch. We found another gourmet supermarket. It is certainly possible to eat well here. The...

May 19, 2013 - New York day 2

Our luck with the fine weather had to end sometime, and today was the day. It did not stop all day, making the crowded streets even harder to navigate with the umbrellas. We started at MOMA, the Museum Of Modern Art. We arrived early hoping to beat the crowd, but so did the crowd. Thanks for the tip to buy a New York Pass, Amy. We got to skip the queue. As with most modern art, some was good, most was beyond us. We saw some Monet waterlilies that brought back memories of Paris. We caught a train to Grand Central Station, which lived up to...

May 19, 2013 - New York!

Saturday we made it to Florida, New York, Black Bear Campground. We went through so many mountains that day! I never realized God gave us such a beautiful country. Sunday morning we enjoyed a nice service at a nearby Bible Church. In the afternoon we did laundry, grocery shopping, and other chores. Tomorrow we do a short tour of NYC!

May 19, 2013 - Brooklyn Tabernacle

Nasty weather but great service. We made our way over to Brooklyn Tabernacle by taxi. This is a great New York experience. The choir is almost 200 alone and the Tabernacle holds thousands. They also have multiple services throughout Sunday. The worship songs and singing were amazing and it was great to be there. It is very multicultural. In an adjacent hall they were baptising 100 people. Pastor Jim Cymbala gave a great message on the Holy Spirit from Galations 5. This message can be listened to on Podcast at www.brooklyntabernacle.org For...

May 18, 2013 - David's birthday and Ground Zero

Its David's birthday today and a Happy Birthday to my lovely husband. The weather has turned a bit dismal as we made our way to Ground Zero at the World Trade Centre site. Sort of goes along with the mood you have when you visit the Visitor Centre. There was a huge wait to get into the grounds of Ground Zero and see the official Memorial waterfalls so we gave that a miss and had some soup at a local diner. (Not a bit like the Brooklyn Diner in Times Square). Plastic bowls and cardboard cups and lots of noise. We walked along to St. Paul's...

May 18, 2013 - New York day 1

Well, after an interesting arrival, here we are in New York city. Our apartment is in the Garment District. Today we just wandered soaking up the atmosphere. We walked to Bryant Park, a small oasis in a large urban jungle, past the grand New York Library that we intend to tour tomorrow, through maniacal Times Square, even at midday, and onto the Ninth Street Food Festival. This was mostly street food, not too much gourmet stuff to be had. Kevin had his first New York hot dog. We walked up to Central Park along 59th Street and down 5th...