The Metropolitan museum in New York City

[fbhjr]

Huricane Arthur was still dumping a bit of rain on us when we got up this morning, but by the time we set off this morning, skies were blue.

Of course in the rear view mirror you could see Arthur heading north to Canada.


brickhousewench joined us for the trip to NYC and was willing to get to our place quite early in the morning for the trip. It’s about 175 miles/280km, so it does take a bit to get there.

As we headed south the weather got better and better.


A year and a half ago I took video of us going into the city in time lapse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FZCGfRXsVQ
Because of camera problems, that is only the last half or so of the trip from a rest area in Connecticut. It was mentioned that this way into the city it looked fairly rural until you reached the city itself.

As that way is under construction this year, we went in the other way going down the east side of Manhattan instead of the west side. I hadn’t gone this way since 1977. It is the way that leads to the UN building, but we didn’t follow it that far down the island.
For comparison, I started filming at the same rest area as in March of 2013.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVGrT3QHzPg

Anyhow, we got to the city without much trouble.

The only real trouble was the east side tolls are even more expensive than the west side. ($7 to cross the bridge into the city instead of $5.)

This is the weekend when many folks in NYC go somewhere else for the national holiday. So, it is the perfect time to go into the city.


We got to the museum just before it opened and it was practically empty.


We had to stop at the "Urn of Planning" to decide what to see and in what order.

Apparently it isn’t officially the Urn of Planning. Only for us.


I wasn’t after seeing any particular thing this trip. So, what I took photos of is pretty random. (Like it isn’t always that way…)
And, being an engineer and all that, how I view art is not necessarily the way some others do.
But, I do like it.
So, this is just some things I thought were cool.

Like this turban.

Imagine having to wear that for the sittings in days without air-conditioning!

I think that is Tyrion Lannister up on that horse.


This is NOT Christopher Columbus! (It was painted 13 years after he died…)


Look! Benches!


A big open room with statues of naked people in it.


Since I had been studying small sword only a few days ago, I looked at a few. Other than being fancier than ours, they aren’t that far off.


At one point I turned around and my wife and Brickhousewench were gone. So, I went and sat at my favorite place for a while.

Then I realized they might not know this is on the shortest path from where we had been to the next thing my wife wanted to see, so I moved on to the next stop and met up with them.

My wife likes this screen.


She also liked all the carved jade in the special Chinese carving exhibit. Tomorrow is its last day there, so it is one of the reasons we went back.


It is very nice.


We ate at the cafeteria there.
It was pointed out to me that I picked a desert that was red, white and blue on Independence day weekend.

I had not intended to do that.

The mens room is in a little room under the stairs.


My wife also likes the Italian Renaissance Drawings.


I liked this painting.

It does make me wonder what is going on over on the right side…


But, back to the big naked room for a while.



Then, off to look at the armor.


It seems that the only armor fully functional is the emperors.


He’s got something all the others lack…


We also went over to see the Faberge exhibit, which was very small.
But, I still like the eggs.


Some parts of the museum were roped off.

No idea why.

When we went to the giftshop, Brickhousewench bought a book that must have been special.

The cashier held it up for all to see several times.


I guess I did not buy the right kind of book to get that treatment.

By 2PM the museum was getting more crowded, so we decided to escape.


The day was still good and we got out of NYC without any problem.


We got home about dinner time and the sky was clear and blue.

A good day out all around!

Comments

[endlessblush.livejournal.com]

Looks like a fantastic day and great weather too! :D

Your dessert was very patriotic :D

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

Hoooray!

Fascinating about the "Columbus-Probably-Not-Columbus" painting, I had no idea!
Although the "authoritative-ness" of the portrait is indeed true, as that was the same image I had
in my history books in JrHS and HS. Go figure.

Seems so strange to have sections in the MET roped off. Always seems like they're happy to cram as many people
in there as possible.

[randomposting.livejournal.com]

That DOES look like Tyrion Lannister! Great find!

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

Maybe not so much up close, but from across the room it made me say "Tyrion? Is that you?"

[randomposting.livejournal.com]

Maybe more like George originally intended before Peter Dinklage bewitched us all.

[ravena-kade.livejournal.com]

love the Urn of Planning.

Glad the weather cleared up for your travels.

[hindustar.livejournal.com]

Oh my the carved Jade was gorgeous.

[chaquir.livejournal.com]

LOL @ the dessert! :o)

Cool pics. Makes me want to visit a museum again some day.

[postingwhore.livejournal.com]

Would wearing a turban really be that hot? Sikhs in India seem to be able to do it without complaining....

What kind of dessert did you have?

It seems that the only armor fully functional is the emperors.
What do you mean by this?

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

The turban looks hot to me. I do know sikhs who wear them all of the time. They don't seem to wear ones as large as that one.
But, it is probably a case of what you are used to.

The desert was Key Lime Pie. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_lime_pie
it does not normally have fruit on top of it.

The Imperial armor has some protection between the legs the others lack. This type of protection was actually common on armor, but is not usually displayed as some people find it offensive. As the museum is full of naked paintings and statues, I'm not sure about that logic.

[morgan-lafaye.livejournal.com]

They might not have that piece of the suit for the others?

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

Maybe. A lot of the suits are not complete.
But, I find it strange that none of the others had one.

[meathiel]

Yep ... looks like Tyrion ... *lol* Great find!

When did you leave home to be at the museum before it opened???

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

It's about a 3 hour drive. So, we left around 6:30 and got there about 9:45 with stopping for snacks half way down.

[morgan-lafaye.livejournal.com]

I like the facade at one end of the room of naked.
Looks like you had a very nice visit.

[liminal-space.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful documentation of your trip! Thank you for sharing. :)

[merilune.livejournal.com]

I like the carved jade stuff. Lovely colour.

That dessert also looks really good!

[katefinn.livejournal.com]

Lovely pictures. The museum looks a really must visit when in NYC!