Friday, August 30, 2013

New Yawk

Okay, so we were in New York City last weekend, for a lovely three-night stay. We spent some quality time with our excellent friends Brian and Gary, and we also got out for some sight-seeing.

I really wanted to see the High Line, so off we went!


The High Line is a cool public park built on an old elevated freight line on Manhattan's West Side. Gordon looks like he's about to be sucked into that lamp post and off to an alien spaceship! I'm pretty sure the guy in the pink shirt wasn't photographing Gordon. Or maybe he was. Who knows?

Some kids were doing art there when we visited last Saturday. This piece was my favourite:



I go to the city, and what's the first thing I want to do? Find some green space! But the Empire State Buildling is poking up in the background, reminding you that yes, this is the city!



There are lots of beautiful plantings all along the High Line.



And oodles of milkweed bugs on the butterfly weed, in various stages of development:



And naturally I had to photograph some NEW YORK CITY BEES!


I'm sure everyone thought I was nuts, hunkered down with my camera two inches from the bees.



American honey bees are just as beautiful as the Canadian ones!



We walked the High Line in a leisurely hour with a stop for lunch included.


This amused the hell out of me.



This amused me even more. A viewing window over the roadway so you can sit and watch traffic. Gordon thought it was an art installation. I thought it was hilarious: let's visit the park so we can sit and watch traffic! ;)

We also made a stop at the Blue Bottle Coffee stand.


Gordon had an excellent café mocha. Because I don't like coffee (sorry, my Brit parents brought me up drinking strong tea!), I had some yummy hot chocolate.

And then we walked some more...


I loved the water area on the left, and the loungers on the right. Some of them move along the old tracks, so you can rearrange your seating!

And this was heavenly!


Huge jasmine bushes in bloom! I want to know what type of jasmine this is that overwinters in NYC. It smelled divine.

More NYC to come!

22 comments:

  1. It looks like you had a very good time. Looking at your pictures, one feels like going too. I love the sign.

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    1. Good to have a sense of humour in all that chaos, I think!

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  2. Cities have made a tremendous effort to clean up and make things attractive. Chicago is a great city to visit. It's too bad they couldn't do something about all the green house gas emitted by the millions of cars each day.

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    1. I've been to Chicago twice, but not since 1995. I really liked it!

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  3. I love that little art piece too :)
    I have a Jasmine tree in my backyard. It blooms pretty much all the time, and yes they smell divine!

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    1. I am so jealous. I can only grow it indoors. I just LOVE the scent.

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  4. Great photos, Natalie. I love the NYC bee shots and of course, Gordon and his coffee. Awesome.

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  5. What a great place to stroll in the middle of a metropolis! Although I am shocked...nay, SCANDALIZED that you do not partake of the Bean of Wondrousness.

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    1. I know, I know! I love the smell of it but not the taste. Blame my coffee-hating parents!! :)

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  6. All that PLUS a giant advert for Burberry. I think I'll stay in the country.

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    1. I hear ya! I am always happy to get home to the farm. I like a short visit to the city but I could never live in one again!

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  7. I don't do well in the city,but I like the idea of traffic being behind a glass wall...just like in a zoo!
    Jane x

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  8. I'm not much of a city girl but NYC is the exception. There's always something unexpected around the next corner! It's great to see that space returned to something natural.

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  9. So fun to see a lot of nice pictures from New York. I've never been there but one of the sons was there last year.

    Hugs

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  10. New York is an amazing city. You can explore for days and only take in a fraction of the city's wonders. Do share more details from your visit!

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  11. Oh, love this. I've wanted to visit the High Line ever since reading about it in Nat Geographic. And why is it that the sky in NY is always so clear and so blue?

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  12. Fantastic! I love this....

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  13. I'm not a coffee drinker either! I leave tomorrow to travel to New Jersey and watch my grands, but you reminded me why the east coast holds a lot of beautiful and unusual things, XOXO

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  14. Looks like you had a great time at the High Line.
    That sign made my mom-person laugh too :)
    You don´t wan´t to be near my mom-person before she got her morning coffé *mol*
    So she would loved to have that café mocha !

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  15. Great photos. I especially love the one of Gordon about to beam up!

    I still haven't seen the High Line. Maybe next time I get back there. It seems to be one of the most popular tourist destinations.

    Figures you'd go all the way to NYC to take pictures of flowers, bees, and bugs!

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  16. Anonymous11:43 pm

    I'm jealous! I'd love to see the high line, famously designed by Dutch nurseryman Piet Oudolf. I have several of his books.
    Love the sign!

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!