American Museum of Natural History [eng]

New York has a lot to offer for a tourist. I've already written about some of these things in my other posts, linked below.

Read me: Everything near Battery Park
Read me: Series in Greenwich
Read me: Bouncing in Brooklyn
Read me: Silly at Staten Island
Read me: Nature in Central Park
Read me: Cold at Coney Island

On this post I'd like to talk about the museums of NYC, well mostly of the American Museum of Natural History. 

We started our day from having lunch at the steps of the Met. Because I am a series freak, I wanted to do what they do in Gossip Girl, hilarious! Fun fact, those steps are heated, so even tho it was april and relatively cold, we could just sit down and enjoy our coffees.

We had alot to do that day so actually decided to only go to one museum in this area. The choices were The Met, or AMNH. I have no objections for art, as I am an artist, but for some reason the history of animal kind is even closer to my heart. So our choice was clearly, the American Museum of Natural History. And of course, in "Friends" this museum in mentioned:

Rachel: I had one glass. Chandler: I had about a mug full in this lovely “I Got Boned at the Museum of Natural History” mug.

The museum was awesome, very beautiful, great pieces, interesting and god damn how huge can one place be! We figured we would be there like an hour. And at some point they announced its closing time. Oops.

This whole trip we had been walking _a lot_. Every day, we were up at 8am and walked the whole day and back to bed after midnight. So in the museum with all that walking we somethimes sat down. We sat a lot in the museum, so our legs actually did rest for a bit. At one point, we had to take our shoes off, and the stank of our socks banished the people sitting next to us. Whoever you were, we are so sorry.

American Museum of Natural History

I am a little sad that we missed the The Met, but those wore expencive to get in, we didnt have the time - Or that much interest to spend our time there. I figure, now if I ever go back, I can take my time and go there. Since everything else cool in NYC is done already!

Before enrering the Natural History museum remember to check your bag, so that you don't have any bewerages and/or food with you, they need to be tossed at the security check up point.

You should really take your time with this place, so if you are tired/too wired to stop and read the info cards - plan this to another time. There is lots to see so really make a day of it. If you love animals, find history interesting and need a wifi - this is the place for you!

I don't want to spoil it, nor would I remenber witch way is what since we ran in circled all day. It has multiple stories and wings so keep track of your goings. I recommend this place with a full heart. 5/5

American Museum of Natural History
200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024

https://www.amnh.org/
40°46'52.5"N 73°58'26.9"W
The National Lighthouse Museum

Nature in Central Park

One of the things I was definatly looking forward on our trip, was going to Central Park. Breath in the nature, walk on something other than concrete, and just chilling and letting my legs rest.

I'm still not totally aware of how big Central Park was, and how big all of New York is. You look it in a map and think like "Okay so like three buildings, we can walk that easy", but the distance is way more, buildings are bigger and suddenly it's an hour walk.. Well you know what I mean! Even if Central Park is something to see, so is a lot of things inside it, so take your time with it. There are salesman outside of it selling you cart rides to all the sights. We did ride one bike-cart for like a minute, till he got a flat tire, sorry, we just had burgers!

Just remember, the Friends fountain you find, is fake. but there is also adorable Balto statue, some sketch-for-a-dollar artists, amazing nature, music, and street arts. It's a lot to take in.
When we visited the "Movie bridge" - Bow Bridge, it was lovely, there was a man playing the violin, and I was about to give him some tip, but thought to first take a picture of this lovely set up. He instantly stopped and said something like "Pay." I was a bit stunned, and just said "Was about to, not anymore". They must get thousands of tourist listeners, so I get the frustration. But then again, if you want a solid paycheck and no walk by listeners, you should pic different job.

Getting myself drawn like that was an experience! Definitely. Only thing, it was suppose to be a quick two buck sketch and we were there so long the lights went out and I was freezing standing still! But I did get a awesome memory out of it, maybe I'll hang it in my bathroom, so that every guest has to look at me while they poop. Pure evil. 

I have to say that Central Park was one of the top 10 sights in NY. Maybe because I love nature? That was kind of an obvious one, wasn't it. Well my mood was killed 10 minutes after it, when we found ourselves at Times Square. But more on that later! 

Series in Greenwich

So when visiting New York as serious series freak like me, there are couple of things that are beyond must. Two of these series-related places, were in Greenwich area.

Great way to start this walk, is to walk the highline. It is beautiful, usually not very crowded, and no traffic lights! You get almost straight to your first stop at the end of it. The first stop being Carrie Bradshaw's apartment in Sex and the City.

After you take a picture, please leave a dollar (+) to help animals in the donation box near the steps.

Right next to Carries apartment, there is a awesome, cheap little Italian place. The food was so good, I could have had two plates of it. After this you want to direct your route to the Friends-house.

It is literally 500m from Carries place to the Friends place, so if you do one, you gotta do them both. This Greenwich area is gossiped to be a place to see celebrities. So keep those goggles open. The Italian place where we ate, is called Aria Winebar, so if you fancy a quick Ravioli Ricotta before moving forward? This is your place. 

It is amazing to me, to actually visit the steps they acted on, or the building shown right before an indoor scene. I love series, and I have watched Friends like over a hundred times over, and now I am here, right next to the house. Or in these steps. It feels like home to me.

For dessert, just walk another 200m and you will arrive at the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop, that had a dozen thrilling flavours with nutella and rainbows. Right across the street, there is a Gay Liberation Monument that is totally worth your time. 

"How many people have died for these two little statues to be put in the park to recognize gay people? How many years does it take for people to realize we're all brothers and sisters in the human race? We're all in this rat race together." - Marsha P. Johnson

For a easy planning:

Carrie apartment SEX AND THE CITY

66 Perry St, New York

Friends building F.R.I.E.N.D.S

90 Bedford St, New York

Aria Winebar

117 Perry St, New York

Big Gay Ice Cream Shop

61 Grove St, New York

Silly at Staten Island

In Sex and the City, the girls go to Staten Island to judge some firefighters. So obviously, we also had to visit there. Not judging firefighters tho!
Sometimes I really don't like big masses of people, so just imagining Manhattan on a Friday seemed too busy, so it was great to get out of the city. The ferry to Staten Island is free, takes about an 30 minutes and goes twice an hour.

It isn't a huge sight place, but that's why I liked it. There was awesome graffiti art, few statues, lovely vibe and we even stopped at a lighthouse museum that was interesting. I wasn't so interested in the mechanics, but like sometimes if the man died, their wife would adopt the job of a lighthouse keeper, and run it all by them selves. Strong people. Strong women.

The museum is right next to where the ferry stops, and only cost like 5 dollars. We had a nice lunch near the pier just behind the museum. Very calm and nice way to spend an afternoon in Staten Island.

Everything near Battery Park

I divided our trip plans, into locations. "These things are near each other, so lets do them in one day" -kind of way. You get my point?

Our very first day was in the surroundings of Battery Park and Wall street. One of our obvious places to visit was the Statue of Liberty. So we got our asses out of Brooklyn and landed in Wall street. Got a cup of coffee to go and lined up to jump in to the ferry. It was an hour of waiting, and watching as another line was opened up right next to ours that was moving nicely. After a while we did get to the ferry.
Because of the windy weather we were rocked by the waves to the Liberty Island, and then it started to pour. We walked around the statue, soaking wet and back in to the line it was. Statue was smaller than expected and if you want to go to the top of the crown, you have to buy an advanced ticket (fyi).

From there our regular ticket took us on the Ellis Island, and the museum of immigration. Very interesting visit, and a nice walk indoors to let our clothes dry off.

After Battery Park we headed towards dinner. And my series knowledge and familiar names -side wanted to eat at TGI Fridays. The vegetarian "Beyond meat" hamburger was really just too close to actual meat that instead of success, it was little sickening. Oh and on the way there, you can spot the charging bull statue.

Other things you want to see & visit near Battery Park? Sure. We absolutely had to visit the World Trade Center memorial. I've seen a lot of memorials in my travels, but this has been the most breathtaking. Square deep hole, with waterfall walls, size of the lost building. You can really recognize the damage that happen there.

And for us Titanic lovers, the Titanic Memorial Park is worth checking out. Lovely lighthouse memorial in the middle of the concrete jungle.
When you think about it, this was very historic day. Love that.

Cold at Coney Island

Not making the headlines match on purpose, but we were freezing when we got to Coney Island!

Our trip to NYC was a cold and windy one mostly. I was picturing that we would sit and hang in the pier, but we got there little after sun went down, and the only thing we did on that pier was exercising so that we wouldn't get gold. Felt bad for the fisherman who had to listen to our laughing and bouncing. But then again, felt bad for the fishes too!

When I was in Scotland in 2016 and in Holland in 2017, I found shells, and now in 2018 we, once again found shells! And it gets better, Scotland with Mimmi, Holland with Sini and now New York with both of them. Superb.

It was nice to see the sky without buildings, and the It's Sugar store was awesome. Overall, nicer weather would have been a plus.
It wasn't what I expected of it, but I got a kickass memory of us exercising, running up and down the pier and listening to some forgotten early 2000's songs.

Bouncing in Brooklyn

Now that our New York trip is over, I want to write about the different areas we visited. Our Airbnb was in downtown Brooklyn, so we always visited some shops on our way to the subway or bus.

Our very first night in Manhattan, we walked the Brooklyn Bridge back. The lights of the city were amazing. And because it was night, it wasn't crowded, it was only us and few people who walked by. Amazing.

We followed my printed out maps carefully, but after a subway ride to Utica, we started walking into the wrong direction, and walked for 40 minutes in the cold, dark streets of Brooklyn with our phones dead out of battery. Panicky thoughts came into our minds, but we did it. A helpful Delhi guy gave us a ride home and our faith in humanity was restored.

We mostly saw downtown Brooklyn in the morning before going to Manhattan, and midnight when coming back. But one day we visited the so called "whiteside" of Brooklyn when visiting a rooftop bar in the Wythe Hotel. Entry is free, but drinks were expensive. But for that view, why not have a one drink. Near Wythe Hotel, we had drinks in this down to earth, messy bowling place called The Gutter. Got two very different experiences.

On our last day, we had breakfast at the Brooklyn Bridge park (near pier 5 so not that near to the bridge), with an awesome view once again. Shopped at Goodwill and gave back. And because I am a series freak, I wanted to visit familiar named places, or have familiar named foods. Like our lunch at Ihop. They sure did look good but after a while, tasted like cardboard.

I loved Brooklyn. I think we got a whole different experience because we didn't stay at Manhattan. We
got a great memory of the living there, more than visiting there. Know what I mean?