Morgan Library

The building on the right in today's picture is part of a complex of buildings that make up the Pierpont Morgan Library, which I visited last weekend in the hopes of getting some photos. Unfortunately I didn't get many, so I thought at least I'd show you part of the outside. The Library has an interesting collection of artistic, literary, and musical works and they have a great exhibit there now of Irving Penn portraits. The brownstone on the right is mid-19th century and was lived in by Jack Morgan (according to their website.). The building on the left is the Polish Consultate.

Traffic

Just a picture today of some typical New York traffic. Actually this picture was taken on a Sunday, so it wasn't all that bad. But some days can be terrible. They have been talking about a "congestion pricing" plan where they would charge per car to enter midtown. It's been very controversial, but it might not be a bad idea.

Gramercy Park

I took this picture last weekend of Gramercy Park. It is one of two private parks left in New York City. The residents of the surrounding buildings have keys to the park and they are the only ones who have access to it. (I stuck my camera in through the fence!) It used to be open to the public one day a year, but they stopped that last year. There are some lovely buildings surrounding it. I'll have to go back in the summertime and take another shot.

Arriving Train

Not much to say about this one today, other than I think it's a typical New York scene with the elevated train and the water tower in the background. I've been trying to experiment with the black and white effect lately. I look forward to seeing all of your photos this week!

Downtown Buildings

Well, I've run out of photos again! This is just a picture of some random buildings in downtown Manhattan. I have nothing special to say about them, unfortunately! It is amazing how tightly they can squeeze them in though. I hope I can get out and get some new photos this weekend. A good weekend to everyone!

Pedro Silva Benches

As Olivier mentioned in his comment yesterday, there are some beautiful mosaic benches around Grant's Tomb, created by the artist Pedro Silva. They are quite beautiful and here is a close-up of one of them. Silva was born in Chile and moved to New York in the 1950s. If you'd like to read more about him, you can visit www.psilvastudios.com

Here is a larger view of one of the benches. I wish it were a better photo, but you get the idea!

General Grant National Monument

Do you know who is buried here? Well, actually no one. But, General Ulysses Grant and his wife Julia are entombed here and it is now a national monument. I don't live all that far from here and just saw it up close for the first time last weekend. It is on Riverside Drive in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan.

Meandering Path

Central Park is looking pretty bare now, but even in the wintertime I think it is beautiful and a wonderful place for a stroll. On the day I took this photo it was very cold and it felt like I had the Park all to myself!

Green Globe

If you have used the subway in New York you've probably noticed these lights at the entrance to many subway stations. They were intended to indicate to passengers whether an entrance is open at night and has a token booth. The green ones mean the station is open and red ones mean it's closed, or is just an exit. I noticed this one yesterday, but it looks like it could use some cleaning! I hope you all have a nice week ahead.

Grimaldi's Pizza

To end the week I'm showing a picture of some of the guys working in New York's best pizza place, Grimaldi's on Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge. I really wanted to show you a picture of the pizza, but none of my photos turned out, unfortunately. It is delicious though and Grimaldi's is worth a visit on your next trip to New York! Have a great weekend!

Pier 17

Here's a sunset shot today of the South Street Seaport and Pier 17. A while back I showed a photo of one of the boats that is kept here as part of the museum. The seaport is mostly shops now and a museum too. I haven't been in a few years but walked past and snapped this shot from the Brooklyn Bridgel.

New Museum

I'm sorry I don't have a better shot to show you, but here is a picture of one of New York's newest museum buildings. This is the New Museum for Contemporary Art, which opened in its new location last month. (It's been around for much longer, but this is its new home on the Bowery on Manhattan's Lower East Side. It was designed by a Japanese architectural firm and is really quite interesting, inside and out. It reminds me of some shifting boxes. Anyway, I would recommend visiting it if you are in NYC and like contemporary art.

St. Paul's Chapel

This is a photo I took of a window at St. Paul's Chapel in lower Manhattan. I just read that St. Paul's Chapel is Manhattan's oldest public building in continual use. In fact George Washington worshipped there on his inauguration day. The chapel has an interesting cemetary outside too. Someday I'll go back and get a photo of the inside of the church to show you.

Bridge Painter

Well, this week it's back to New York pictures. Here's a picture taken last month of an artist making a painting of the Manhattan Bridge. I couldn't get an up close look at the painting though! Here's to a good week ahead! (P.S. Barb thanks for the new year's resolution challenge. I'll have to think about my list!)

New Year's in Vienna

To top off our wonderful time in Europe we spent New Year's Eve in Vienna. They turned one street into the world's largest ballroom, complete with outdoor chandeliers, which were beautiful!!

We heard a terrific outdoor concert right up until midnight with "Mo & die schonste Band von Welt. They were great!

And on New Year's Day we went to an outdoor showing of the famed New Year's concert with the Vienna Philharmonic and to the New Year's market at the Rathaus. It was a wonderful trip to a beautiful place and I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the pictures. A great weekend to all!

Wiener Staatsoper - Inside and Out

We had the good fortune to attend a performance at the Vienna State Opera while we were in Vienna. It was a performance of Die Fledermaus that we saw on New Year's Day. It was really great. The picture above is the opera house from the outside. The one below is a picture at the end of the opera!

And...another picture I took in Vienna of the Hapsburg Palace. Beautiful! (One more day of Vienna pictures and then it's back to New York!)

Hofbrau Haus

Okay, I know I'm skipping around now since this photo is back in Munich, but I remembered I wanted to show you this photo from of the famous Haufbrau Haus. Doesn't it look like a nice place to have a good German Beer?! It was quite the scene. I thought the ceiling was beautiful too.

And, here is another picture from Salzburg. Do you remember this scene from the Sound of Music?

Salzburg at Night

Salzburg was such a lovely city and wonderful for exploring. The fortress that you can see on the top of the hill was built in 1077, amazing! I read that it is the oldest fortress in Europe that has survived intact. We went to a concert in the fortress and thought we might have to spend the night up there after they closed the lift. But luckily we made it down!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all! I'm back from my trip and I thought I'd show a few photos this week from Munich, Salzburg and Vienna. It's so beautiful there! Here are some little marzipan pigs from a shop in Munich. They are good luck symbols at new years time, along with chimney sweeps, four-leaf clovers and horseshoes. Looking forward to catching up on all of your pictures!