Beginning at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Central Park South, Lewis, Diana, and I strolled uptown through the park to visit the Metropolitan Museum's new exhibit about Versailles. On that summery day, we were quite a fashionable group.
Created in 1857 by America's preeminent landscape artist, Calvert Vaux, the park is a national landmark. It's gorgeous. We passed Gapstow Bridge, which was built in 1896 and straddles The Pond.
Walking past The Dairy, we admired his "gingerbread" craftsmanship. It harkens to 1871, when animals grazed nearby. (That's why a region is named Sheep's Meadow).
Nowadays, the only wild animals exist in the Central Park Zoo, which is on the eastern border.
At that point, East 65th Street cuts through the park, so pedestrians must converge to use overpasses to avoid the cars.
Real rock-climbing occurs in Central Park, but we saw kids romping on other rocks for pure fun.
If you prefer something less straining--and shady--there's the Chess & Checkers Pavillon.
Still using an ethnic slur, the "Indian Hunter" statue mis-names the Native Americans as Indians.
The figure's musculature is matched by men playing volleyball.
Our trio segued onto The Mall, which is a tree alée (not a shopping mall), designed to let people be flaneurs and admire each other. You can always see sketch artists and musicians sharing their talents for tips.
As we approached Bethesda Fountain, we descended under the terrace to admire its tiled mosaic ceiling. It always feel cool down there--a respite from the summer sun.
Completed in 1873, the masonry and stonework of the terrace always wows me.
The fountain is the centerpiece of the plaza.
The sailors were probably looking to "get busy"... just like the lovey-dovey turtles.
North of that, we crossed a rustic area named The Ramble. During the centuries when homosexuality was illegal in the USA, gay men "cruised" through it seeking casual sex. America begrudgingly legalized homosexuality in 2003, yet gay men still prefer that area. You will still notice men rendezvousing and "cruising" the area. In the image below, we unsure if he was "advertising" for a quickie, or if he just finished one.
Next, we crossed the 79th Street Transverse, which lets the city's traffic cut across the park. Thankfully, the street is lowered, and people can pass over via rustic bridges.
Perched atop the other side of the street is a fairytale castle named Belvedere Castle. Lewis and I love pausing there to admire its beauty. It was built in 1869 as a military lookout. Now, it serves meteorologists of the Weather Bureau, and it has offices for NYC Park Rangers.
The doorway is adorned with a wyvern: a type of dragon from old English mythology. Castles and dragons seem to mix well.
Lewis chose a route that gave us time to admire the ancient Egyptian obelisk, made in 1475 BC by a pharaoh named Thutmose III. Full of carved hieroglyphics, the granite shape weighs 200 tons! We love sitting under it during summery Central Park Concerts by the NY Philharmonic.
It's prettier than the one we saw at Vatican City, but the Vatican positioned theirs in a grandly-noticeable area (whereas NYC put its behind a museum). To see it, please use this link:
Veering to the right, we headed east and walked under Greywacke Arch, which was built in 1862. Lewis and I love the ornate tunnels that are found randomly throughout the park.
We saw one of NYC's fat policemen above the tunnel. Perhaps he was pretending to "patrol" it, or he used the bridge to hold himself up.
The path curved around the south side of the museum. Natural landscaping morphed into a shapely allée of trees, leading to the museum's entrance.
The queue is usually long at the main entrance.
As a local, Lewis knows a shortcut to use the "side entrance" that everyone else overlooks!
We joined throngs of visitors who palavered through the levels and eyed sculpture, portraits, ancient metalwork, and craftsmanship from around the world. Certain things are more eye-catching than others... Ha ha!
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Lewis and I always enjoy seeing the woodsy-symmetrical room that was entirely designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
In a new exhibit, we learned that ancient South Americans valued feathers more than gold! The panel below is made entirely of feathers.
From a Grecian era of very little clothing (above), we moved to an era of overdone clothing and monumental hairdos: the French 1700s.
Just like the Statue of Liberty falsely attracts immigrants...
...into a trap of high taxes, hidden fees, overindulgence, overeating, corrupt sanitation, neglected health conditions, and overspending, Versailles started out nice but fell into grimy slovenliness within two generations.
I was reminded of my grandfather's photographs of Versailles, taken when he visited it as an Allied soldier during World War Two.
Gifts to the French palace included ornamental attire and jade from the Chinese emperor.
We descended the grand staircase and exited through the grandiosity of the main hall.
The sun began to slip lower in the sky.
After French history, we wanted a French dinner. The setting sun sent us scampering to dine at Café d'Alsace, located in a neighborhood named Yorkville. It is on the Upper East Side.
Its menu is evocative of the Alsace region. Famous for its gorgeous capital of Strasbourg, it is a part of France that borders Germany and Switzerland, with a mix of cuisines.
We ate a truly summery Alsatian meal: rose wine, Beef Tartare, wing of Skate, and Choucroute Garnie. That is a classic! It consists of sausages, smoked pork belly, Riesling-braised sauerkraut, and steamed potatoes with Dijon mustard. It looks like this...
We love it!
We felt like we were in Strasbourg!
Supposedly, I have some Alsatian heritage from a time when the region was joined with Lorraine as the "Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine". Seized from France by the Germans, it existed from 1871 to 1918.
Afterwards, both regions regained autonomy (like Slovakia and the Czech Republic).
Returning home, Lewis and I slept soundly.
Thanks to the positioning of sunshine and a glass doorknob, we awoke to miraculous prisms on my ceiling!
We were scheduled to meet my hair stylist, Dragan, at Socrates Sculpture Park. He had never set foot in it before! It was a nice day for a leisurely walk to the park.
Certain falling tree blossoms resembled snowflakes!
The night before, I got a message from a local baker (selling her wares in the park's weekend Farmers' Market).
We were delighted with her handmade sourdough, but her cookies were less than mediocre. We will not buy from her again. While awaiting Dragan, we noticed a sign indicating an upcoming Oyster Farm! Let's hope it actually happens.
Suddenly, Dragan texted me because he was lost; his taxi dropped him off at the wrong park. (We were surprised he used a taxi instead of walking). He was at Athens Square, instead of Socrates Park. Forgetting the name of our meeting place, he told the cabdriver to take him to a park "named after something Greek". Ha ha! He was too pooped to walk the mile to get to Socrates Park. So, we walked to him and agreed to meet inside Astoria Coffee. He pre-ordered for us, and it was his treat.
Dragan's good deed was surprising us with his homemade Bread Pudding! Superb! My good deed was giving up our seat so that a larger group could enjoy the tabletop, and we took a smaller one. They were all so appreciative, and Dragan got one of them to visit him for a haircut!
After saying Goodbye to Dragan, we accidentally discovered a longstanding shop called Cassinelli Foods, which sells handmade pasta! I bought Bucatini and Pappardelle. From the Green Market, we chose farm-fresh tomatoes to make sauce.
It was a delightful stroll homeward!
Each day was like a beautiful rose. Passing a sidewalk sign, it truly recapped our weekend escapade!
