NYC Day 2 Part 1

Continued from NYC Day 1.

Woke up this morning still having sinus issues for the both of us. I’ve got a cough, and RL still has fluid in her ears. Still feeling unsettled here in NYC and not quite in our traveling groove yet.

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Time to get going, even though not feeling 100%.

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The plan today is to hit up a couple of museums then be back at our hotel for a nap before dinner. This means, we visit a coffee shop nearby our hotel for a quick breakfast and then we are on our way to the museums when they open at 10am.

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They didn’t have my usual chocolate croissant, so a regular one will do.

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Now heading towards NYC’s overtly complicated subway system.

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Cool building.

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It took us a while to recognize that many of the subway entrances have the half green half white round lights. I wish their entrances were more consistent like subways in other cities. Sometimes there are these round lights, sometimes it just says “subway”, sometimes it’s tucked inside a building with a subway logo, but a logo not seen anywhere else.

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Upper East Side. Much calmer here than around Times Square.

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There are probably some really amazing penthouse apartments here.

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Not many nice cars to look at in Manhattan. This is one of the very few sports car that I saw during my time here.

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Lots of tulips in NYC.

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You can barely make out the corner of the first museum here.

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Ahhh, the Guggenheim toiletesque museum.

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Shit, there’s a long line to purchase tickets…

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I guess I’ll just purchase tickets online on my phone and pick them up at the will call counter which has no line.

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And we are in with our last minute online ticket purchase line skipper. Nice.

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The wide angle fisheye lens comes in handy yet again. I love it.

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It’s pretty crowded here. Lots of foreign tourists here. Lots of terrible foreign tourists here. One lady tried to skip the line by entering through the will call entrance. She claimed that her husband was inside already. The security lady manning the door turned her away and told her that the answer is still no. I don’t believe I’ve seen any caucasian tourists as terrible as the ones here in NYC. Lots of extremely rude French tourists. The French tourists here are the equivalent of the Chinese tourists in Japan.

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This is part of the main exhibit by the conceptual artist Danh Vo…Let’s just say that RL and I are less than amused by this exhibit.

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Yes, part of the main exhibit….sorry, I just don’t get it.

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Oh Frank.

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Such a cool building.

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I’m going on almost 3 years now. We miss our kids.

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More conceptual art…

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Conceptual art.

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This is the engine from the artist’s father’s Mercedes Benz.

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Conceptual art.

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Malfunctioning conceptual art.

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Looks awkward while sitting there.

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Art

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Firewood…errr, I meant logs…errr…I meant conceptual art.

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Conceptual art. Actually, it just terrible ergonomic restroom with the pillar right in front of the toilet. I could not physically stand in front of the toilet to pee into it. I wonder if the original toilet that they had picked for this building were smaller and therefore made more sense for this tiny awkward space.

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Love the fisheye lens.

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More conceptual art. RL and I are done with the Guggenheim. Last time I came here, they had an awesome exhibit on Russian artists. During that exhibit I saw Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Ivan Kramskoi, and it’s still one of the most striking piece of art work I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately the exhibit here today is conceptual art that I think is just kind of lame. Sad.

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RL pushed the L button on the elevator. She thinks she’s staff…

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Danh Vo, you took my breath away, by choking away my enthusiasm for the Guggenheim today.

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Time for coffee break. The cafe is situated inside what used to be the family chapel of a church.

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Super cool, and super crowded.

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The weather is just about perfect today. It’s 10 degrees cooler today than yesterday, so this morning it’s in the mid 70s and overcast. Feels amazing sitting out here.

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Refueled, time to take a short stroll through Central Park, on our way to The Met.

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Out of my way duck!

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We were taking a serene stroll when all of sudden out of no where we heard a lot of loud angry yelling laced of profanities. Found the source. It was this lady yelling on her phone. She said, “You and your wife are not my fucking music. I even gave you a black lady!” At least that’s what RL heard. The lady(if that’s what I can call her) was livid and was a really odd contrast from what looked like a normal rich lady walking her dog. WTF is going on here?

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Oh well, back to enjoying our stroll.

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Crazy angry lady who made a scene by herself gets off her phone and is back to being normal again. So weird, I wonder what she was so angry over.

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Look at this old school playground in Central Park. Look at all those hard sharp surfaces. They don’t make them like they used to.

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So much to see, but not enough attention span to see it all. We’ll only see a small portion of The Met today.

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So…The Met has been free every time I’ve visited it. But no more. There was a $25 charge per person this time for out of state visitors. I looked it up, and apparently this was a new policy change since March this year. I miss the good ol’ days.

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RL, for size reference.

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It’s 11:40am, we need to grab a quick bite to eat before the lunch crowd hits. We made a beeline for the roof top cafe here inside the museum. For some reason, RL and and I couldn’t find a suitable quick lunch dining option up here on the upper east side. Many places are not well reviewed, and the well reviewed ones are usually super expensive.

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Not a bad place to have a light lunch. They also have a small drink/sandwich stand up here. Perfect quick lunch for us.

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That’s the smallest sandwich I’ve ever had. It was $14…

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Tastes like a $3 sandwich disguised as a $14 sandwich.

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Also a $14 sandwich…I guess the view is worth it. Though, we could have come for the view for free…

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The guy in the white shirt is a Met employee, and he has the worst job in the building. He’s having to constantly yell at unruly tourists who try to touch the art work. Again, NYC has some of the worst tourists I’ve ever seen short of giant Chinese tour groups.

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One last view, then we descend back down into the belly of The Met for art overload.

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RL feels better after lunch with a view.

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RL has griped at me in the past for posting way too many photos from museums. I’ll try to cut back this time…maybe.

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Gift shop, not art. Or…conceptual art if you are at Guggenheim. Which is actually more interesting conceptual art than what was at the Guggenheim.

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Neither of us like the wood grain of oak…but don’t think we’d mind if this was the oak floor in our home.

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Saw a few people setting up to paint a copy of the originals.

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Boobs.

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To be continued at NYC Day 2 Part 2.