However, when I planned my trip I neglected to look online to see when The Cloisters was open. Imagine my surprise when, after taking the Megabus, then suffering the indignity of the New York subway system, I reached the building, only to discover that, no, The Cloisters is not open on Mondays.<\/p>\n
What kind of museum isn’t open on a Monday? :-\/<\/p>\n
I had no Plan B, though. This was, frankly, all I’d come to New York to see and do. I figured I would spend two or three hours at The Cloisters (medieval European history being a particular interest of mine), buy a book on the Lewis Chessmen<\/a> at the museum’s gift shop and read it while sitting in a lovely spot along the Hudson, make my way back downtown to catch the bus back to Baltimore, and call it a day.<\/p>\n Instead, I found myself with six hours to fill, and nothing to fill it with. So I wandered aimlessly.<\/p>\n The only thing I knew to do was to find Strawberry Fields, the part of Central Park dedicated to John Lennon. However, Google Maps told me that Strawberry Fields was not<\/i> in Central Park (as I believed it was), and so, following its directions I went off into the city. Realizing that the Googles are not infalliable, I then wandered the concrete canyons, down Madison Avenue and then back up Park Avenue, taking pictures here and there. I especially liked the incongruity of churches nestled between the skyscrapers.<\/p>\n I made it back to Central Park, found Strawberry Fields, and soaked in nature for a little while.<\/p>\n Then I wandered back in the direction of where I needed to pick up the bus. I ran into my friend Terri Osborne, and en route to her subway station she showed me a few touristy places that, if I ever come back to New York, I should probably visit. Also, a LEGO store.<\/p>\n And then I went home.<\/p>\n It may not sound like the most exciting day in the world, but it was fun. I didn’t have any place I needed to be. I didn’t have any responsibilities. I could just be<\/i>. And being is a good thing. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n Some pictures: The Cloisters: A picture taken in the general direction of midtown and downtown from The Cloisters:<\/p>\n For people who work down thataway that I didn’t get to see, I was waving in your direction. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n The Hudson River:<\/p>\n The New York City Subway Map, on the A Train. What struck me about this was how much Manhattan resembles a flaccid penis with Brooklyn is its testicles. This explained so much<\/i> of world history. No wonder Wall Street led the world to the brink of financial ruin a few years ago; the financiers of the world are overcompensating for the psychological impotence of living and working on a limp dick.<\/p>\n Remeber the Maine<\/i>!<\/p>\n I haven’t smelled so much horse manure since I moved away from Amish country a decade ago:<\/p>\n A church nestled among skyscrapers:<\/p>\n The plaque at Strawberry Fields:<\/p>\n The Imagine Mosaic:<\/p>\n The Dakota Building:<\/p>\n One final thought on my New York outing.<\/p>\n I’ve not seen so many Yankees caps since I moved away from Raleigh. This won’t make sense to anyone who doesn’t know the Raleigh area, particularly how Cary, the place where I worked, is jokingly called the “Containment Area for Relocated Yankees.” \ud83d\ude06<\/p>\n I, of course, was wearing my battered and faded St. Patrick’s Day Cubs hat. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n I’m slightly sunburned, I’m malnourished, and I think I lost half an inch off my waistline. Nevertheless, I had fun, and I didn’t think about work once. Which is how days out and away from the office should be. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday, being a lovely spring day with nothing to do at the office, I took a vacation day and went to New York City. Why? Because I wanted to go to The Cloisters to see the Lewis Chessmen. However, when I planned my trip I neglected to look online to see when The Cloisters wasContinue reading “On Allyn’s Adventures In New York”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[77,168],"class_list":["post-6126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-john-lennon","tag-new-york-city","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"cloisters-1\"](\"http:\/\/draftsauronpac.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/cloisters-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"cloisters-2\"](\"http:\/\/draftsauronpac.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/cloisters-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"general-direction-of\"](\"http:\/\/draftsauronpac.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/general-direction-of.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"the-hudson-river\"](\"http:\/\/draftsauronpac.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/hudson-river.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"subway-map\"](\"http:\/\/draftsauronpac.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/subway-map.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/draftsauronpac.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/uss-maine-memorial.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"buggies\"](\"http:\/\/draftsauronpac.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/buggies.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"church-architecture\"](\"http:\/\/draftsauronpac.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/church-architecture.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"plaque\"](\"http:\/\/draftsauronpac.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/strawberry-fields.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"imagine-mosaic\"](\"http:\/\/draftsauronpac.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/imagine-mosaic.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"dakota-building\"](\"http:\/\/draftsauronpac.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/dakota-building.jpg\")
<\/lj-cut><\/p>\n