MAY 1
well i woke up bright and early - birds a chirping, cars a honking. it was swell. i hopped in the shower and then got ready for my day. i had big plans for central park and then to go to times square. before i headed out though, i bought an umbrella from the front desk of my hostel. figured id need it given the grey skies. later on i was glad i put in the $5 for a little bit of cover from the random showers.
i then made my way out down the beautifully crafted streets of residential manhatten. i couldnt get enough of the architecture of the buildings. they all seemed so surreal and left me in awe. about 4 blocks later i reached central park. it wasnt at all like i expected. i could probably best sum it up as the most organized and rigid park i have ever been to. first off, the park is completely surrounded by a wrought iron fence (save for a few designated entrances) thats emeshed with bushes and other plantlife to make it seem more "natural." at the entrances to the park there is a board that states all the rules that a park-goer must abide by. they include things such as:
• all dogs in city parks must be restrained by a leash no longer than six feet in length.
• unless otherwise prohibited, dogs may be unleashed within designated parks or portions of a park between the hours of 9 pm and 9 am.
• all dogs must wear a license tag and proof of vaccination against rabies.
• no dogs (leashed or unleashed) are permitted in any playground; zoo; swimming pool; fountain; ballfield; or basketball, handball, or tennis court.
• any event with more than twenty people requires a permit from parks.
• all persons must walk/run in a counterclockwise direction around the jackie onassis reservoir
• permits may be required for doing sporting activities within central park
• sporting activities can only be participated in the specified sporting areas
sheesh. i spose with 8 million people, one has to have some sort of order to how the park is maintained, but talk about making a walk in the park become as complicated as learning to drive. it definitly took the relaxation out of it for me. i beetled on through - especially after the incident in which i walked CLOCKWISE around the reservoir and got quite a few glares from those going the "right" way. it wasnt until i noticed a sign indiating the direction of travel did i understand why i was getting such dirty looks.
i figured i should move on. and i did. all the way to the MET (metropolitan museum of art). i knew that i had kept my old student card from mount royal around for a reason. i got in for the student rate. sweetness. i entered the building and stood in awe. i didnt even know where to begin. it was like a whole nother world of art. from every possible facet of the creative mind. there was statues and disware and jewellery and paintings and photography. you name it - it was there. i walked. i saw. i experienced. ive never seen so much art. i went until i could no longer feel my feet. and then i figured it was good enough time to go and grab a hot dog from one of the hot dog stands outside the met. it was a good enough time as any as when i exited the maze of creative thought there was hoards of people getting ready to come in.
i sat for a bit and enjoyed a hot dog before i found a starbucks, bought a drink and my very own copy of the new york times. had to do it. most boring paper in the world - but hey, i had to do it. from there i checked out my map and realized that it would be a good time to go check out ground zero instead of times square. so i went on the subway and made my way back downtown and then through the maze of skyscrapers to reach the site of which september 11 has become so famous for.
i was moved beyond words.
there is something about standing there that really is just so awe-inspiring. to be there, where it all happened and know that almost 8 years ago someone else was probably standing where i was, only when they looked up, they didnt see a big gapping hole in the middle of the skyscrapers. instead they saw two planes fly right into the world trade centre. you can sense the fear. the terror. envision the sight. the smells. the dust. the sound of screaming people and screeching metal on metal. i imagined what it must have been like to be running for my life from the buildings that would moments later come crashing down. sends shivers up my spine to think about it.
i couldnt get enough of it. so i decided to check out the memorial too. turns out they charge $5 to get in. that was just the student rate. i was infuriated that people have decided to try and turn a profit over such a tragic event. it should be remembered. not commercialized. that was when i backed out and around the corner - i saw it. a public memorial to which the firehall had designed a wall mural to go up and people had been able to put up pictures and flowers of things in memory of the world trade centre. THAT was what i would call a memorial.
after i had paid my dues, i made my way south to figure out where the port was to take a ferry to libery island, where the statue of liberty stands. i didnt exactly feel like taking the ferry as that would be a deliberate action according to the "i am a tourist" roll. i didnt want to play that roll. but - once i got there and weaved my way through all the tourist booths and the tourists themselves who were all geared up in their "i heart ny" t-shirts and statue of liberty foam hats i realized that i couldnt get a decent picture of the statue from the shore line. sucky. so i checked the prices of the ferry and found out that it was a measily $12 for the ferry ride that takes people out to liberty island, drops everyone off, then when ur ready to go, the ferry comes and takes everyone to ellis island (another island with a national monument on it) and then will take the people back to the mainland. i figured it was worth it. and it was. it was pretty cool to get to be that close to the statue of liberty - so long as i ignored the swarm of tourists around me that each thought THEY had the most brilliant idea in picture taking - each of them would pose with the statue of liberty in the background and then raise up THEIR right arm as if they were holding a massive flaming torch.
how original.
eventually i made it back to the mainland and figured it would be time enough to start making my way into queens, where the apw art gallery was located. well that just turned out to be one big adventure and a half.
i started taking the subway and then realized that all the maps (both the one i had and all the ones posted up in the subway stations) cut off their viewing space once the subway lines crossed over to queens. fabulous. so i was just blindly going into queens without a clue on which stop to get off at. i asked the guy sitting next to me to help me out and he tried, but didnt quite know what to say. useless.
he then stated that i must not be from around there. i agreed and told him i was from canada. he then said, "well dont you have subways where youre from?" i told him that we do, but that theres just pretty much ONE that goes straight across the city. above ground, no less. not 200 million subway option s all built on different levels underground... okay. maybe it wasnt THAT much, but in looking at my transit map again - i counted a total of 26 options. 26!! thats crazy!!
i finally just got off one one particular stop as i could only go off of my vague sense of the map i had looked at weeks ago on my home computer of how to get to apw gallery. once i reached the ground again, it was pouring rain. i opened up my umbrella and walked to the first person i saw. i asked for directions to van dam street and she stated that i just had to go up a block, across the road bridge and i would see it by a hotel. i thanked her and off i went.
well - about 4 blocks later, im seeing no signs of anything related to what she said, so i asked another guy at a gas station. he said i just had to go up one more block, turn left, and id be on van dam street. i did what he said, turned left and all i saw was thompson street. i turned left and asked the next guy. he stated that i just had to cross the bridge in front of me and then it would be there. i crossed the bridge. still no damn van dam street. *sigh*
finally, i asked my final victim for directions. he said, not to worry - i was ON van dam street. i informed him that all i saw was signs for thompson street. he was like, yeah - this IS thompson street. i asked for clarification, as i was completely confused. if the street i was on was van dam street - one should advertise it as such. a street can not simply have 2 names. he finally got what i meant and informed me that i had to walk another 2 blocks and turn right (AWAY from thompson street) and i would be on van dam street. geez. apparantly new yorkers need directions on how to give directions --- i had just walked in one big square for about 15 blocks.
eventually i made it to the apw gallery, soaked pretty much head to toe as it had been raining a better part of my trying to find the gallery and, well, umbrellas only cover so much when traffic would drive through puddles and send a wave of water horizontal in my direction with no escape in sight.
the exhibition was pretty cool - lots of interesting art. the biggest thing i learned was that i completely underpriced my art. i had mine posted at a max of $50 usd and the average person there would price between $200-300 dollars. there was some as high as $1000 there. for a record! it was crazy.... but hey - that was the whole point of me going in the first place - as a learning experience.
i didnt stay long, as through all the walking i had done that day, i was exhausted. i made my way back to the subway (only 2 blocks away from the gallery) and went directly back to my hostel. i promptly fell asleep.
***
all my new york pics can be viewed at:
album 1
album 2
album 3
***
0 comments:
Post a Comment