All The Places We Went Pt. 1 | New York City

I am still having a tremendously difficult time wrapping my consciousness around the fact that we went to New York. I'm sure everyone and their father-in-law's half sister twice removed knows that we went. In a true "sorry-not-sorry" fashion, I haven't been able to stop posting pictures from it over on Instagram. And yet, somehow, it all still feels like an elaborate daydream. In an equally elaborate way, I'm about to walk you through all the major places we went to as a way of pinching myself to confirm that it wasn't just lucid reverie. 

THE GUGGENHEIM

The Guggenheim was the first museum that we went to, and by no means did we walk out of there disappointed in the slightest. Seeing the structure from the outside was enough to leave me satiated so walking on the ramps that fundamentally make the architecture the revel that it is made my heart skip a beat. What more for the actual art that I found myself in the midst of. Kandinsky, Picasso, van Gogh, Monet -- we were in the presence of the greats. And though I felt a strong sense of reverence, I also couldn't stop thinking of art history memes -- truly embodying my classic millennial status. 

Surprisingly enough, my favorite pieces from the museum were not by the big names I knew of already. Funnily so, Anne and I fell for the same artist: Henri Rosseau. We stared at The Artillerymen and The Football players for ages, charmed and amused. 

CENTRAL PARK

We spent a late afternoon walking through Central Park. The route we followed took as right along the reservoir and gave us a picture perfect view of the Upper West Side skyline, including The Eldorado. Although we walked through the horizontal length of the park from E 85th to W 86th, do not be fooled. In our eyes, we saw loads of sights, but our time there was not nearly enough to see even a sliver of all the rest the park has to offer. Ultimately though, it was pretty surreal to be in the heart of such a prominent park. 

Above is a picture of Anne that I took just after we spent some time in silence as she people-watched and I wrote on my journal. I snapped the shot to freeze time and so that I can fondly remember this version of us on Ezra's bench, feeling nervous and giddy concurrently. 

TIMES SQUARE

Although Times Square is another quintessential New York sight, I consider it more to be a quintessential New York experience. Sure, it was pretty neat to stand in the midst of such tall buildings. However, at the end of the day, I was more enthralled by the experience of it all. It was hard to forget that the skyscrapers surrounded me, but truthfully, it was the hustle and bustle gripped my attention more. After looping in and out of the busy streets of Midtown, we piled onto a concrete block on the street corner and essentially sat there for an eternity in New York minutes as we people watched. 

Our favorite people that we watched were this couple we affectionately dubbed Gary and Steffany. We watched for ages as Gary played the perfect role of Instagram husband/boyfriend taking the same shots of Steffany over and over again. With grace and patience, he adjusted his camera settings and angles repeatedly. Eventually, we deduced that he was probably getting frustrated with the incessant retakes. We began to think that Steffany was stringing him along for too long and that he was ready to leave only to be curveballed when they switched roles and Gary became the center of the show. "Ah," I thought to myself, "a symbiotic relationship." 

ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL 

Despite coming all the way from Bed-Stuy, Brookyln, Sunday mass at St. Patrick's was one of the very first things we solidified on our itinerary. It was one of the very few times during the trip that we had to be somewhere at a specific time. Because the metro, and the streets were still so foreign to us at that time, we were left willing the subway to go quicker as time passed. We ended up running through the streets of Manhattan just to get to mass. 

When we finally got to a pew, I was desperately trying to silence my heavy breathing. It took a while, but when it did, I was finally able to look around and come to terms with the sheer beauty of the cathedral I found myself suddenly in the midst of. Everything about St. Patrick's was grand and intricate, filled with faith and history that filled me with awe.;

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

I try not to think about The Met too much because it floods me with emotion. After having spent an entire day there, I felt as if I saw everything but didn't see everything. Having taken art as an elective when I was high school all throughout the five years, it was mind-blowing to see pieces that I have only seen in books and online like van Gogh's Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat and the classic pointilism piece by Seurat. Beyond that, I saw The Temple of Dendur and ancient Egyptian artifacts. 

I walked through a hall filled with gods and goddesses, and warriors alike -- where Aprhodite stood, along with the Three Graces. I wandered through a vast collection of European paintings and portraits of people throughout history including Juan de Pareja and various depictions of Christ and Mama Mary. Then there was Thomas Hart Benton's mural America Today that had Jackson Pollock in it, and then seeing an actual Pollock itself. I could ramble on and on about everything that I saw but I could also ramble on about everything that I didn't see.

Since I not nearly adept at describing art, and since not everyone can just take a trip to trip to The Met to see the actual pieces, we're sharing a link to Artsy, which is a resource that aims "to make all the world’s art accessible to anyone. We may not be standing in front of a Pollock right at this moment, but [their] Jackson page provides [you] with his bio, over 60 of his works, exclusive articles, and up-to-date exhibition listings. The page also includes related artists and categories, allowing [you] to discover art beyond just Jackson Pollock." 

While I was in there, I time traveled as time stood still within the museum's walls. However, that didn't mean that the day wasn't bleeding into night outside in the real world. We stayed until closing, and I was left wanting more.

ROCKEFELLER CENTER

The first instance of the trip in which I felt that I was well and truly in "New York, New York" was when we reached the Top of the Rock. With the city lit up below us, I felt paradoxically small and invincible. We stayed up there for quite some time, looking out from each lookout floor with the same interest and intensity as if the view would be drastically different. In truth, the three levels were fairly similar. It was just me who was changed (figuratively) the higher we got. 

Towards the end of it, we sat on a bench and hysterically laughed about anything and everything -- backdropped by the city so bright that it lit up the dark night sky well enough to release a glow in the atmosphere. I'll never forget that view, and the feeling I had while looking at it -- I know that to be true. 

Stay gold,

Kimberly