What's the best thing about a long weekend? An extra day to see and do so many more things! This morning's activities include a decent grocery store breakfast in the hotel room, and no running for the bus, which is always a good way to start the day. It also includes an express bus ride into New York, because it's Monday, so we get in to the city with plenty of time to wander before our morning's planned activity - more on that later.
Again, we return to Chinatown, this time by way of the City Hall subway station, and take a walk around the majestic gothic archways and facades of the Woolworth building. We can't go in, as it is private residences now, but it is just as impressive out here. The rain, which has been threatening all weekend, finally begins to fall, and we pull out umbrellas to make our way to some random pastry shop, and custard buns. You can't beat custard buns for a mid-morning snack. Plus, as we exit the shop, a whole tour group enters, so clearly we chose the right place!
Around 11, we head to the old Immigrant Savings Bank, now turned into the Hall des Lumières, a multimedia space being used for artistic exhibitions. We are attending their inaugural exhibition on the art of Gustav Klimt, known for his expressionism painting style and generous use of gold tones. But this is not just any art exhibit - the art is being splayed across every surface of the interior of the old bank halls, projected on the walls, the teller booths, the floors, in a show of colour and light and movement, and all set to a powerful classical soundtrack. You can sit on comfortable benches, or on the floor, you can walk through the space and observe how the art curves over ever surface, you can even move to a lower level where the experience is even more immersive, with mirrored columns and ceiling. In this space, the music is much louder, so you feel completely submerged into the experience, almost becoming a part of it. It is a new and very different way to see art. I believe there have been shows similar to this, with Van Gogh or Picasso's art, but the fact that the space it is set in is a veritable work of art itself, make the show that much more interesting.
 | | Inside the vault |
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 | | Full immersion basement |
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 | | Full immersion basement |
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 | | Full immersion basement |
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 | | Upstairs mezzanine |
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 | | Upstairs bank hall |
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 | | Upstairs bank hall |
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 | | Upstairs mezzanine |
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Though the show lasts about an hour, we stay put for a second set, looking at the art from different angles, attempting to find comfortable positions on the giant bean bags in the basement. We visit the vault, which is open, and the whole inside is covered in mirrors. We sit on the lone bench and are surrounded by projections of a black metallic world coming to life. It's really trippy.
We depart Gustav Klimt in search of something to eat, finding the solution in the rather large and generous salad bar at the Whole Foods near the World Trade Center. I fill a box with arugula, corn, feta, tomatoes, adding in a white bean and chicken salad, some stuffed vine leaves, grilled asparagus. We head to the cafeteria on the second floor to eat, and watch through the windows as the sky goes black and the clouds open up, dumping their contents all over the city. What timing! We stay at Whole Foods a little bit longer, enjoying the salad, and the dry spot - we almost took our salad to the park to eat! Imagine that!
Afterwards, we walk the city: We head through the memorial gardens and fountains at the World Trade Center - curiously, one of the great fountains is not running, and we can't figure out why. We ponder, for just a moment, the idea of visiting the top of One World Observatory, but the 50 dollar price tag(US!)for an elevator ride is a pretty good deterrent. We head into the Oculus, a great white winged creature that hides a giant shopping mall hidden in its belly, along with the subway and train station to New Jersey. We debate whether we might have taken a train from our hotel to this station, then get a coffee instead.
 | | Inside the Oculus |
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We walk underground, through long white hallways to another mall, and then another one, until the point where, if we keep walking, we will end up in the Hudson River. So we start walking along the riverfront, along boardwalks and walkways that run the length of the long island. Once dotted with piers for industry and boats, there are far fewer now, and many places where the water is dotted with just the tops of rotting wooden piles. The piers that are left have been turned into parks, or gathering spaces and restaurants. One that still looks like a rusty industrial building hides a brand new sporting complex inside.
Past all of these piers we walk, from 25 to 57, reaching the Little Island we picnicked at last year. We head inside to the High Line, and continue our walk there, among the wild flowers and foliage. Plus, we have to stop at our favorite little water feature, the sideway that pour running water from side the the other, to soak our tired feet and cool our toes. It's good to see more people giving this little fountain a chance, and we call out to other walkers watching us, telling them the water's just fine, and that they won't regret it. We convince one or two of the adults to join in the fun. All of the children join in.
And just like that, we've walked all the way to Port Authority and find ourselves back at the bus, but not before indulging in one last slice of cheap pizza from our favorite place, 2 Bros. Pizza, at the back of the bus station. The place is empty, but like Mario says, a crowd draws a crowd, and so at the sight of us at one of the outside tables eating the big floppy, foldy pieces of cheese pizza, people begin to stop and go inside, and order their own, and soon the whole place is full.
Back in New Jersey, it's a little to early for dinner, so we relax in our room for a bit, and the rain comes down hard and fast, the sky flashing with lightning and the ground rumbling with thunder, like a subway passing underneath. We have a coffee and I blog. Eventually the storm passed and we go for a walk.
Like I said yesterday, of course we went back to Natoli's, this time opting to eat in, though missing out on trying out their hidden backyard dining tables. Mario is offered the option of trying the Chicken Parm sandwich, a real winner according to some of their regulars. I stick with the idea of a plate of fried calamari, adding in a plate of the delicious broccoli rabe, because we always need our veg, and Mario will not be finding it in his giant sandwich! The food is good, but I preferred the homeliness of our takeout meal yesterday to this one. I might be a little swayed by the fact that the dining room was frigid, and the overhead fan cooled off my meal way too quickly, but the service was fun and friendly, and Mario insisted on repeating that it was a good thing we did not live nearby, as we would likely be there all this time! We will definitely keep Natoli's in mind for future trips!
We finished the night with full bellies, splayed out on the bed in the hotel room like anacondas after a big meal, trying to digest a week's worth of food. We pack our bags and clean up. Tomorrow, we have a long drive home.
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