Queens View

Here's a view of Queens I saw recently as I took this photo from the subway car. The sun was setting and was refecting so nicely on those buildings. Queens is a huge borough (its the largest of the five boroughs in terms of size.) There are lots of nice places to visit too, like Corona Flushing Park and there are several nice museums. There are a lot of good places to eat in Queens too. I wish you a good weekend and see you Monday!

Pathway

From a recent walk in Central Park...no signs of spring here yet. I was experimenting with the glow feature in Picasa. Nothing more to say about this one other than it was a pleasant walk. Hopefully these trees will start turning green soon. I'm tired of winter!

Broadway Ads

These broadway ads in Times Square caught my attention recently. Unfortunately Broadway is suffering along with the rest of the economy with several shows closing. But hopefully all of these shows will make it. I guess I need to support them and go out and see some musicals!

Times Square Heart

Specially for Valentine's day the Times Square Alliance commissioned this pulsating heart as a public art installation in Times Square. Completely made by New York artists, architects and manufacturers, the heart will be displayed for just two weeks and has been a big hit, to judge from all the people admiring it when I was there. If you'd like to read more about it there's a New York Times article about it here (with a better picture!): http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/a-ove-themed-spectacle-for-times-sq/

Another Otterness Statue

You may remember that I showed some works by the artist Tom Otterness. Here's another that I saw in Brooklyn Heights. I don't know the name of it, so you'll have to use your imagination. The building that you see in the background is owned by the Jehovah's Witness, a religious sect that owns a huge amount of real estate in that part of Brooklyn and has its worldwide headquarters there.

Bikes

I guess a lot of people in this Brooklyn neighborhood have taken to riding bicycles. I don't know, some of them look like they've been there a while. I've never tried riding a bike on the streets of New York. I think I'd be too afraid with all of that traffic! Anyway, enjoy your weekend.

Benjamin Franklin Parkway

Okay, last photos from Philadelphia I think. This the Washington monument is in front of the Philadelphia Museum and we are looking down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway towards downtown Philadelphia.

And this is a close up shot of the detail on the monument. That's Benjamin Franklin on the right. Now I have to find some NYC photos!

Reading Terminal Market

There is a wonderful market in Philadelphia called the Reading Terminal Market and it is full of great sights and delicious foods. A market has continually been on this spot since 1860 and three of the vendors there now are descendants of original vendors. According to wikipedia, over 80 merchants offer fresh produce, meats, fish, groceries, flowers, baked goods, crafts, books, clothing, and specialty and ethnic foods.

And this guy was making a traditional Philly cheesesteak. They were delicious! (P.S. Yesterday I said it was my 500th visit, I meant to say it was my 500th post. I haven't been to Philadelphia that many times!)

Philadelphia Museum

Last weekend I had a wonderful visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, one of the largest museums in the United States. As you can see from the banner, they are about to open a big exhibit on Cezanne, but unfortunately we missed it by a few days! Oh well, I'll have to go back. According to what I read on Wikipedia: "Each year the Museum puts on 15 to 20 special exhibitions and is visited by 800,000 people. Widely regarded as a world-class art institution, the Philadelphia Museum of Art includes not only its iconic Main Building, but also the Rodin Museum and several other historic sites." (I just realized this is my 500th post. I never thought I'd make it that far!)

Macy's Organ

Since I spent the weekend in Philadelphia, PA, I'll have to show you photos from there (at least for the next couple of days!) This is a photo of the organ in what was originally the Wanamaker's Department store in Philadelphia. (It's now a Macy's department store.) The organ was made a historic landmark in 1980. They still play the organ twice a day and more at Christmas time and for special events. It's the largest operational organ in the world. We heard it when we were there and it sounded beautiful. Have a good week!

Young Love

Since I won't be doing a post on Valentine's Day, I'll take this chance now to wish you all a sweet day! I spotted this amorous couple enjoying a sunny afternoon recently. They looked very happy (even if that concrete didn't look so comfy.) Have a happy Valentine's Day tomorrow and see you Monday!

Another Building Top

I wish I knew more about this building. I was imressed by all of the details at the top like the carved figures, the lightning bolts and the other finishes. I don't know what building it is, so if any can identify it, that would be great. (I think it's around 48th Street and Lexington Avenue in midtown.) I usually miss the details like this until I remember to look up!

Hotel Chelsea

The Hotel Chelsea on 23rd Street is a place with a colorful history, which continues to today. Here is some information about the place excerpted from their website: The hotel has always been a center of artistic and bohemian activity and it houses artwork created by many of the artists who have visited. Owing to its long list of famous guests and residents, the hotel has an ornate history, both as a birth place of creative modern art and home of bad behavior. Bob Dylan composed songs while staying at the Chelsea, and poets Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso chose it as a place for philosophical and intellectual exchange. Other visitors and residents of the Chelsea Hotel include Eugene O’Neil, Thomas Wolfe, Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen, Jimi Hendrix, and the Grateful Dead passed through the hotel's doors in the 1960s. Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns and Arthur Miller stayed here too.

If you want to read more about it you can visit http://www.hotelchelsea.com/.

Fifth Avenue Clock

I spotted this clock while coming up out of the subway at Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street in the Flatiron district the other day. I'm afraid I haven't been able to find out much about it, other than ornamental clocks used to be placed outside on the sidewalks to attract customers, especially outside jewelry stores. I believe this one has been in place since 1909 and I think it still works. Behind where I took this photo is the Flatiron building. I should have taken this shot from the other direction!

Ukrainian Institute

This beautiful building houses the Ukrainian Institute of America, an organization that promotes the art and culture of that country. Located on Fifth Avenue at 86th Street, the Ukrainian Institute is diagonally across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its architecture was inspired by a Loire Valley chateau. You can take a virtual tour of the inside of the building on their website. Can you imagine when this was a single family home!

Hot Chocolate!

Couldn't you go for some right now? Yes, it really is as delicious as it looks! I had a wonderful cup of hot chocolate at the cafe at Fairway on the Upper West Side recently. (This cafe is on the second floor of a grocery store.) I think it was the best hot chocolate I've ever had! Their poster doesn't even do it justice. :) I hope you have a wonderful weekend. See you Monday!

Arms and Armor

They have the most amazing collection of arms and armor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I haven't been there often, but stumbled upon the room during a recent visit. Can you imagine wearing one of these? Here is a brief description of the collection from their website:

The collection of armor, edged weapons, and firearms in The Metropolitan Museum of Art ranks with those of the other great armories of the world, in Vienna, Madrid, Dresden, and Paris. It consists of approximately 15,000 objects that range in date from about 400 B.C. to the nineteenth century. Though Western Europe and Japan are the regions most strongly represented.

Building top

Here's another of the photos I took from the hotel terrace. Can you guess the building in the photo? Okay it's the Chrysler building. We weren't all that close, but at least I could zoom in to get this shot. I wonder if you can go to the top and peer out from these windows?

Bird's Eye View

I had friends staying at a hotel in midtown last weekend who got upgraded to a room with a great terrace. Lucky them! I got to visit them and take in the view and snap a few photos. This is a view looking downtown on Lexington Avenue. The cars looked so tiny! I'll show you a few more photos from the terrace this week.

Super Bowl Black and Whites

The black and white is a classic new york cookie that I've shown before on this blog. This weekend I saw these "black and whites" in the colors of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals. Maybe Monday they'll only sell them in black and gold because of the Steelers big win!