I haven't spent too much time in NYC, which sometimes surprises me, given how close it has been to me (comparatively) all these years I've been in PA. Once we visited when I was in ninth grade and we ended up walking from Battery Park to Little Italy because the family we were sightseeing with was convinced there was a scenic bus we could catch. We never found it, so we walked and walked and walked. In college I went to the Met and Chinatown but I've never just gone and walked around for the fun of it. (And I just remembered, I've been to PA Society twice, but since that was for my old job I blocked it out. Besides, I didn't see much of the city, although seeing power structures at work was certainly educational.)
Now the States has Megabus, though (this would have TOTALLY changed my college experience had they gotten here sooner), so my friend and I decided to just go up to NYC for the day. Getting up early and standing in line in the cold air reminded me of the times I took the Megabus to London. I don't usually travel on buses. My friend went to sleep but I like watching the scenery and I had brought some reading (which I actually did and I felt glee because it went perfectly with my thesis thoughts).
Philly is quiet so early and everyone is so bundled up because of the chill. Everything looks new in the rising sunlight. The scaffolding around Independence Hall looks like a wat (temple) out of the corner of my eye. So many overlaps. There was an elderly lady in a smashing trenchcoat sitting across the aisle from us; I want to be her someday, just jetting off to another city on a bus with a friend, regardless of age. We passed a billboard for free Qurans and a number for those who are curious to call. I wondered how many belligerent callers they get.
I love the curves of highways and the way they offshoot and interconnect (especially when I am not driving because then I don't have to worry about getting swept off the wrong exit). New York's skyline is beautiful and it amused me as we got closer that, for a city where people supposedly don't drive, there are a lot of cars. Then we got off the bus and the city swept us away.
It was a wonderful day. We had a vague plan (mostly involving where we wanted to eat) so we ventured into the subway system and promptly went the wrong way twice. But it didn't matter because we were on a timeless time table so we sorted ourselves out and made it to Shopsin's General Store, which was this tiny little stall in a Reading Terminal Market-type setting that had the BEST food ever. I had mac'n'cheese pancakes, which was a combo I personally would never have considered but was fantastic. Then we went to Sunshine Bakery and got cupcakes, which were pretty much heavenly. And then we walked a lot.
I had never been to the MoMA before. (Also, I love having a student id again!) There were some really interesting exhibits. My friend wanted to go to one on kitchens, and how they revolutionized women's lives. It was actually really interesting. One of the architects they showcased was a German lady who was passionate about improving the homes of the working class poor, and her desire for more efficient kitchens was to improve their lives and bring about a more egalitarian society. She was later ostracized after WW II because of her continued membership in the Communist Party. Fascinating. We also wandered through some amazing photo exhibits. One was comprised of women photographers from the late 1800s to the present and the other focused on the connections between photography and sculpture, and how early photographers wanted to draw connections between the two art forms. (I have to confess, as I walked through this exhibit, all I could think about was Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" and I KNOW I AM SUCH A NERD.) Also, there were some cool paintings. (Starry Night!)
It was raining when we got out of the museum. I know I'm just in love with cities at the moment, but it really was beautiful, although very cold. The umbrella forest was a bit annoying, of course. And our bus stop had randomly moved a street over so we were glad we made it! And then we had to sit, wet and shivering until we got back to the Mainline. But it was totally, totally worth it.
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