Fountains

These are some shots from the fountains in front of the Brooklyn Museum. The kids there really seemed to love the water! It was pretty cold that day, but lots of kids were right in the water. The adults loved to watch the fountains too!

Brooklyn Museum

This is an outside view of the museum that I showed you yesterday. The Brooklyn Museum is a real treasure and I enjoy visiting it every time. It is also right next to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, so it makes for a nice visit if you combine the two. They renovated the entrance to the museum a few years ago and added the fountains at the side, which do a very interesting water show.

Murakami

I saw a great exhibition this weekend at the Brooklyn Museum. It was a retrospective of the work of Takashi Murakami an influential and talented Japanese artist. His works are very imaginative and were largely influenced by Japanese anime and popular culture. (You weren't allowed to take photos in the exhibition unfortunately, but this one was in the entrance to the museum.) It was a lot of fun!

Beach Volleyball

No, this isn't the beach in California. These guys were playing volleyball on a recent sunny day in Central Park. It looked like fun. All that was missing was the ocean! (I won't be at my computer on Friday, so I'll look forward to seeing your beautiful photos on Monday.) Have a great weekend!

Shakespeare Statue

Reading that Shakespeare's birthday was celebrated yesterday on April 23 reminded me of this photo I have of the Shakespeare statue in Central Park. There is a pretty garden close to it but it is too early for much to be blossoming there. So in honor of Shakespeare's birthday (a day late!) I'm showing his statue. Here is some info about it from nycgovparks.org

This full-standing portrait of celebrated playwright and poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was made by John Quincy Adams Ward (1830-1910) and unveiled on Literary Walk on May 23, 1872. In 1864, coinciding with the tricentennial of Shakespeare's birth, a group of actors and theatrical managers, among them noted Shakepearean actor Edwin Booth, received permission from Central Park's Board of Commissioners to lay the cornerstone for a statue at the south end of the Mall between two elms. Nothing further was done until the end of the Civil War, and through a competition in 1866, Ward was selected as the sculptor.

Ward combined a classical pose with many details of Elizabethan dress, and he relied on numerous images of Shakespeare, especially a bust in Stratford. The sculpture was cast in Philadelphia in 1870, and due to delays in procuring and cutting the granite pedestal in Scotland, was unveiled on a temporary base in 1872.

Out of the Subway

I snapped this shot coming up out of the subway at 14th Street. Not sure why the picture appealed to me but it did. Not much to say about this one either! Enjoy your Wednesday.

Sheep Meadow

Here's a photo from this past weekend of people enjoying the beautiful weather on Central Park's Sheep Meadow. No sheep anymore, but apparently it was a a place where sheep grazed in the past. (At least I think that is how it got it's name!) We've gone back to the chillier weather, but we had a nice taste of spring on Saturday. I read that on a nice summer weekend as many as 30,000 people can turn out to relax on the Sheep Meadow.

Papal Visit

We were very lucky here in New York to have a visit from Pope Benedict XVI over the past few days and I was fortunate to be able to see him pass by along Fifth Avenue on Saturday. As you can see, he was in his popemobile and was guarded by some very serious looking guys. I had trouble getting a good shot because I wasn't all that close. A huge crowd was there to get a glimpse of him. It's not every day you get to see a Pope!

The Plaza

This is a springtime shot of the famous Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue at Central Park South. It's undergoing a major renovation right now and part of the hotel is being converted into residences, but it is still one of the most elegant places in New York. It is apparently the spot to go for afternoon tea in the "Palm Court." I've never been myself but I've always wanted to. It is also the hotel where the "Eloise" children's story takes place.

Have a great weekend and see you Monday!

Rock Climbers

It was finally warm enough yesterday that there were even people out doing some rock climbing in Central Park (without shirts even!) There are quite a lot of rock formations in Central Park, even though most of them aren't that big.

The type of rock you can see here is called manhattan schist. According to what I read on http://www.greenswardparks.org,/ "although there are three major rock types underlying Manhattan Island, only one of them, Manhattan Schist, is exposed in Central Park. This is a layered rock in which mica-bearing bands alternate with layers composed primarily of quartz and feldspar."

Daffodils

I love that spring is popping up everywhere these days, even along 8th Avenue. Nothing too exciting about this picture, I just liked the cheerful color of the daffodils. Enjoy your Wednesday!

Lion King

I recently wandered by a display in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Broadway show The Lion King. This is a wax figure (or some sort of statue) of one of the characters. It was amazingly realistic! There were some fanciful puppet figures from the show displayed too. I remember seeing the Lion King a while back, but hadn't realized it's been around for 10 years.

Camels

This billboard with a camel perplexed me at first, until I realized that it had to do with the car advertisement below (at least I think it did!). Anyway, it caught my eye, so I took a photo. Nothing more to say about this one, I'm afraid. I wish you all a good week ahead!

Books

You can find lots of book sellers along Broadway on the upper west side of Manhattan, especially ones selling used books. I've never actually bought a book from one of them, though it is tempting to stop and browse the titles. This guy was even selling books autographed by the author. I wish you all a great weekend and see you Monday!

Guitars

It's amazing how you can live in a place for so long and still be discovering new places. I never knew before that there is a block-long section on West 47th Street that is filled with stores selling musical instruments. This shot was from one that specializes in guitars. I didn't recognize any of the signed photos on the walls, but I thought the guitars made for a cool picture.

Springtime on 34th Street

Here is a picture from a stroll on 34th Street last weekend. Don't you just hate it when somebody steps into the photo just as you press the button. Didn't he know this photo was for my blog! Oh well, I'll have to get photoshop and learn how to take him out of the picture.

Botanical Garden Part Two

I had such fun taking pictures of all the flowers yesterday that I just couldn't resist showing a few more.

I wish I knew the name of this orchid, it was quite colorful.

And this was a gardenia (I think!)

Orchid Show

I just love orchids and this weekend I made a trip up to the Bronx to see the annual Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden. This year my dear friend even gave me a special tour of the garden. How lucky! The orchids were absolutely spectacular. My pictures don't do them justice. I wish I could spend every day there amongst the flowers!

Window View

I need to get out and take some new photos this weekend, so until I do, here is an early morning shot from my window. Why is it that the sky never looks as beautiful in photos as it does to your eye (at least in my pictures!) A good weekend to everyone!

Rats!

I don't know if this happens in other places, but in New York when there are labor demonstrations sometimes the unions put a giant rat outside the place that they are protesting. I came across this rat today and thought I'd snap a quick picture. (Sorry it's not such a good photo, I was hoping they wouldn't notice me taking a picture.) But the workers were really nice and even asked if I wanted my picture with the rat! They were protesting against a construction company they felt was exploiting the workers. I hope they win their fight!

Obelisk

This is a photo of the obelisk in Central Park which is known as "Cleopatra's Needle," though it has nothing to do with Cleopatra. I read that it was created for Thutmosis III in Heliopolis around 1500 BC, and arrived in the United States in 1879. So, it's the oldest manmade object in the Park. I wish I could understand the hieroglyphics on it!

Met Opera

I had a lovely night at the Metropolitan Opera this past weekend. I saw their production of La Boheme, which was so beautiful. Here is the curtain about to go up.

And, we had an added bonus when they honored the director Franco Zeffirelli onstage after the second act. (He's the man in the middle with the white scarf holding the microphone.) It was a great night of opera!