Beginning of New York

Riverside Church

Grant's Memorial

Statue of Liberty (yes, my own photo! taken from a cruise in 2010)

The thing about having a travel blog is that I only post in it when I'm travelling. I never write about the places that I actually consider home (well, sort of home, since I move around a lot). I've been in New York for about 2.5 years now, and though I know the subway system pretty well, I still don't feel like this city is my home. I mean, I get excited when songs about New York come on, but it's more like a...yes, I'm part of that party type of thing. To me, New York is like the speakeasy that everyone knows about. I have that slight feeling of smugness that I live here, similar to that feeling of smugness that I have about knowing where the speakeasy is, but at the same time, there are tons of other people living here, most of whom have been here longer than I have and know the city better. Similarly, while I'm quite proud about my speakeasy knowledge, at this point in time it's not something innovative, and pretty much every other New Yorker not only knows it, but knows of several more like it. So in sum, I do live in New York, but I'm really more of a poser than an actual New Yorker. After all, I root for the Red Sox and the Patriots, so I guess this analysis wasn't even necessary given my sports allegiance.

The point is, New York is a part of my travels (even though there is a great possibility that I'll keep living here for some years), so I should include some information about it!

But where to begin?

I guess I'll start with Harlem and Morningside Heights. When I first arrived in the city, I was on the subway looking for directions, and I asked some random guy how to get the 125th street. He looked really confused, and said, "that's Harlem. Are you sure that's where you want to go?" Apparently I don't look tough enough to be someone who should be going to Harlem, but anyhow I found my place in Morningside Heights. The area is okay to live in, but I don't really see a reason to visit unless you have to. There are a lot of tourists around Columbia University, which is actually gorgeous in the Spring when the trees bloom. I've been meaning to take a picture of that, but always forget. I'll make a mental note to do it this April.

People who are really into US Civil War history could also visit the Grant Memorial, and there's also Riverside Church and St. Paul's Cathedral, both of which have intricate stained glass inside and carvings on the outside. I really like the sculpture garden outside St. Paul's, which has one of my favorite sculptures of all time (it's a crab and a sun and a unicorn, all sorts of stuff mixed together).

Oh yes, I realize the problem with writing about New York--I don't have any pictures! That's what happens when you live some where. So I'll post what I have, and I'll continue this series of posts later!