Empire State Building.

We went up to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. The view was fantastic. We could see all the rivers, the Statue of Liberty, and the many, many skyscrapers. It was surreal to be looking down on all of it. The view reminded us of the one afforded from the observation deck way up in the Tokyo Metropolitan Building: incredible, mind-boggling, and beautiful.

New York City (2): Manhattan.

"First we take Manhattan," Leonard Cohen wrote. Well, we went to and walked all over Manhattan today. We took the subway from Brooklyn to the Museum of Modern Art. We spent a few hours there and then walked around the frigid streets until we found a place for lunch, Heartland Brewery. The beer and food were good, and we were happy to be in from the cold. After eating, we walked through Times Square to the Empire State Building. We went up to the top and took in the amazing view of the city. It was windy and cold up top, but well worth it. We went back down and walked back to Maxie's Bar for coffee and cheesecake. The portions were huge, and we could hardly finish. We finished the day by wandering over to Grand Central Terminal, going through Rockefeller Square on the way. The inside of the terminal is impressive, and we enjoyed just sitting and people-watching for a little bit. Then we took the subway back to Brooklyn.

Note: I'll write separate postings about the different places we went to. Otherwise, this post will have a 'finity of pictures.

New York City (1): Brooklyn.

We spent yesterday walking around Brooklyn. It was a warm day for December, so we enjoyed being outside.

We started by walking to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. We enjoyed the various styles of row houses we saw on the way, marveling at both their symmetry and their slight differences. Although it is winter, there are still many things to see at the garden and the grounds are beautiful. A couple highlights were the Japanese garden and the rock garden. We continued on down the parkway and saw the Brooklyn Library, a large, recently renovated old building. The detailing on the front is magnificently beautiful. We also saw Grand Army Plaza, which includes a huge arch dedicated to the soldiers who fought for the Union in the Civil War. We then walked through Prospect Park. a gigantic expanse of partially wooded and partially open land right in the middle of Brooklyn. We saw lots of robins grouping and squirrels burying nuts. We walked to the other side of the park and headed for Green-Wood Cemetery; however, it was closed when we got there, much to our disappointment. So we headed for the Brooklyn Bridge. On the way we picked up some pastries at Regina's Bakery. They were delicious. We made it to the bridge and walked towards Manhattan. The sun was going down, and it was very beautiful. We could see the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, as well as many, many skyscrapers lit up like incandescent beehives. It was cold on the bridge, and we were hungry. So we went to Grimaldi's Pizza for dinner. The food was amazingly good, and the Brooklyn Lager with which we washed it down was refreshing and tasty. We left the restaurant full and happy. We ambled over to a cinema to see Fantastic Mr. Fox. It was great: a good story, fantastic, intricately detailed stop=motion animation, and an incredible soundtrack. The movie even includes a cameo by one of my favorite musicians, but I won't spoil that for you. It does a really good job exploring ideas of what it means to be wild and how human beings treat wild animals. It also plays with our tendency to anthropomorphize animals. One final thing I think is fascinating is how it gets human beings to cheer against their own species. Anyway, I'll leave it at that. We walked the several miles back to our friends' house after the movie, getting there right around 11:00. We ate the lemon merangue pie we had purchased the day before in Pennsylvania, hung out and talked for a while, and then hit the sack. In all, we walked close to 25 kilometers yesterday. Huzzah!

Today we plan to take Manhattan.