The Great Walk

I am not entirely sure when the inspiration hit. It could have been while at work, or over dinner, or as I was drifting off to sleep. And since I don't know the true origin of my grand idea, and for the purposes of adding a little drama and flare to the story, I will say it happend while I was up in the air.  30,000 feet and descending, as I headed back to New York from Chicago on January 3rd (our one year wedding anniversary).  It was a clear night and I always find myself rather contemplative while in airplanes (does this happen to anyone else?), and as I looked out the window I could see the entire island of Manhattan illuminated. I found it amusing how you could see the pool of lights surrounded by the flat, black, glass like  river and it formed the shape that was identical to that of the subway map. As if I thought in real life it should look different and completely unlike some cartographers hard worked sketch.  Regardless, I was drawn in to this island, which from the air appears so small. Like you could skip rocks across it, or do a few cartwheels and you would end up on the other side.  I wanted to walk it. From tip to tip, and Jürgen was going to come with me.

Jürgen being the cool cat that he is was totally down with my crazy adventure idea, and we decided as soon as the weather turned pleasant we would set things in motion to traverse the island. It had seemed like a lofty idea until last Thursday when I was awoken to the dulcit tones of Jürgen saying "today is the day."  I hadn't mentally prepared myself for the journey, but I decided it was best not to fight a man decided.  It was a beautiful day, and frankly I needed a bit of adventure and challenge in my life. So we hopped the train and found ourselves all the way at 225th street. The journey began.

I am waxed poetic about my newfound love of walking recently, but this was the ultimate in walks as far as  I was concerned.  According to googlemaps the distance from 225th to Battery Gardens is 13.6 miles (give or take a bit depending on your preferred route), however we did a bit of sightseeing and zigzagging along the way, so while neither of us donned pedometers we think we logged almost fifteen miles of foot traffic.  There are many different paths you could take to complete this journey, but we tended more towards the west side of the island following Broadway and then spending a decent amount of time on 6th ave (which if we ever decided to do this again we would avoid), until we reached Battery Gardens with a view of Lady Liberty in all her glory.  It took about seven hours to complete, and I felt the effects of this half-marathon distance walk for days.

It was an awesome experience, and one that I will truly never forget.  It's amazing to see how the landscape changes, culturally and physically, as you travel through the various neighborhoods. At one point I even proclaimed "it's amazing how 'un-New York', New York feels!" and it was really true, there  were times I almost forgot I was in Manhattan.  This really is an incredible city and I am glad we took the time to really travel through it, with the sun on our faces and the wind at our backs.

We took quite a few pictures along the way, and since I recently learned how to make photo slideshows, I have another one! But first here is a list of the few sites we visited, some planned, and some happy accidents.

The Dyckman Farmhouse Museum
The Cloisters
The Morris Jumel Mansion Museum
Alexander Hamilton's Country Home
General Grant National Memorial
Riverside Church
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
The Cross at Ground Zero

(I am sure there are many more sites we could have seen, however once we hit Columbus Circle, it was less about the journey and more about the destination...at least thats what my feet were telling me!)

Spring in your Step

There are many things I miss about Chicago, however there is one thing which surprisingly I do not miss one bit: driving.  Yes, it would have been convenient during the monsoon on Saturday do be able to hop into a vehicle and save the life of an umbrella, but for the most part I am quite happy to rely on my two feet and the NY Subway System.  I do love the car that waits patiently for me back in Chi-Town, it's sleek, fuel efficient, I bought it all by myself, and heck I even knocked a brick wall down with it just to see what would happen.  It's a good car, but I am happy to be apart from it, for now anyway.

Most often as I walk through the city I am usually pretty destination focused. Which subway stop will bring me closest to my desired end point? How many avenue blocks must I walk? That kind of thing.  It's a fairly common affliction here in NYC, we are busy people with places to go and people to see.  However, last week when the gods above decided to give us a sampling of spring weather, Jürgen and I accidentally indulged ourselves in a walk with no real destination.  I say "accidentally" because our afternoon didn't start out with "wandering" on the agenda.  We happened to be in the city at Macy's so I could return something, and we suddenly found ourselves with two hours of free time before either of us needed to be at work.   So we started to wander, which I wil admit didn't come naturally to me from the onset.  "What are we doooing? Where are we goooing?" were typical statements from me as we started, but thankfully I took a self prescribed chill pill and began to enjoy the crisp fake-spring air, and vitamin-D enriched sunshine.

We walked past the empire state building, stared up at it and made ourselves dizzy. We gazed into store windows, we even stopped into the NY Public Library and took in a free exhibit on maps. Yes maps. Not thrilling, but informative, and free, can't argue with that. Plus I had not seen the inside of the library before and it really is quite beautiful.  After the library we found our way to Bryant Park, which I of course knew all about (ooohh fashion week...fancy!) but never knew quite where it was.

The trees clearly aren't ready to donn their spring green just yet, but they sure looked stunning with their branches intermingling to form a canopy above the park. We sat at a table below the trees and took in the  scene, and I realized: had we not allowed ourselves to simply walk, with no real agenda, we may not have thought to stop here.

A similar thought crossed my mind a few weeks ago when Jürgen's parents were in town, when we took the subway down to battery park and spent a few hours walking. We saw:

The Statue of Liberty in all her Glory.

We walked into St. Pauls Chapel, an Episcopal (represent!) Church which was crucial to the volunteer effort at Ground Zero.  Inside the church is decorated with all kinds of memorabilia from that time:

Letters from Children offering words of hope.

Healing paper cranes from Japan

A chausble pinned with hundres of badges in honor of those who were lost.

It was incredibly moving, and I had no idea it even existed.

We also walked to water street where we saw some majestic boats,

And finally we weaved our way through the financial district and happened upon a historic federal building which housed all kinds of information about Alexander Hamilton, and this stone:

I am not sure if you can read the inscription, but this is the very piece of stone upon which President George Washington took the oath of office.  

All of this was discovered because we simply put one foot in front of the other.  I know it seems obvious, but if you are looking for free entertainment, try taking yourself on a walk! Even if you don't live in a big city, you can always find unique neighboorhoods, or some pretty trails where you can literally stop and smell the roses. It's an activity you can do solo, if you want some personal time, or you can always find yourself some walking buddies. The possibilities are endless, and so many new expierences await you!

Any other ideas for great (and cheap!) Spring entertainment? I am all ears.

Things that make me feel like a New Yorker...

Meeting up with your friend for a "power catch up" at Grand Central Station, drinking tea and eating an almond biscotti.

Very New York if you ask me. 

A Week Retrospective

A week ago yesterday I moved to New York.

As I closed up shop at work last night, I walked outside and headed towards the train.  I could look to my left and I could gaze at the trees in Central Park, to my right my eyes could be blinded my the lights of Times Square.  I am in New York.

I realize it’s going to take time to feel like I live here, because at the moment it all seems a bit fuzzy and unreal.  I haven’t even come close to grasping the trains, or the grid system.  When people tell me where they live I smile and nod because nine times out of ten I have no idea what they are talking about.  As someone who likes to know whats going on around her, it’s a bit of an adjustment to be naïve. 

I have been thinking a lot about how it felt to move to Chicago and how long it took me to feel as though I understood the city, to feel like a Chicagoan.  The major difference between then and now is being a student provided me with a set of “walls” in which to  grow.  Whether they be walls of a dorm room, a classroom, or the invisible walls around a campus street, I had an environment I immediately understood.  I could slowly step out of these streets, as I felt comfortable, and begin to understand this new city that I now called home.  Now there are no real walls to speak of, I just have to figure it out.  I know I can do this, I just have to be patient.

Ah patience, a virtue I have never possessed.

NYC just got here this morning...

NYC Just Got Here This Morning....       

Three bucks, two bags, one me!

Actually I arrived at 4:45pm, had three bags, and it cost me five bucks to buy one of those luggage trolley thingy’s at the airport.  Clearly the lyrics to that song (can you name that tune?) need to be updated.

I am twenty seven today, and I have come to decide that the only thing more uneventful than turning twenty seven, is turning twenty six. 

Also, I am in New York now.  I haven’t moved to a new city since 2001 when I set my sights on Chicago, where I would earn an extremely marketable degree in Acting.  Aside from brief stints in London and the small town of Readfield, Maine I have basically stayed put.  Heck, growing up the farthest I moved away was about a five minute drive.  I may crave adventure, but I am also very satiated by stability.  It’s a constant struggle to find a balance between these two halves of myself.

Thankfully I have a few people who can provide me some stability as I settle into the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple.  This cast of characters include: My fabulous brother Neill, my bestest friend Brittany, and of course Jürgen, my better half.  They will certainly be making many guest appearences in future blog posts.  Brittany greeted me as I arrived in Queens, and like the good friend she is she came bearing gifts in the form of alcohol.  Score.  We sipped Prosecco as I cleaned myself up and then we joined Neill and Jürgen at City Winery for a little birthday nosh.  Loved ones and wine, it doesn’t get much better than that.

On the train ride home Jürgen mentioned “I don’t have anywhere to be anymore,” and my heart hurt a little.  Anytime a show closes an actor goes through a bit of a grieving process where you force yourself to re-adjust to real life.  So much of your time is taken up with rehearsals, performances and social time with your cast that it’s easy to forget there is a big wide world outside.  However this time was very different and we both knew it.  This was a premature ending.  A chord was cut surprisingly, unknowingly and it sure gave a shock to the system.  

Happy Birthday to me!

Despite the shaky nature of my first day as a twenty seven year old, I don’t go to bed sad.  I spent the morning with my parents and the evening with my New York Posse.  I received many calls, texts, and facebook messages from people all over the country.  I feel loved, thankful and hopeful that twenty seven could be a rather eventful year.