New York City Trip: Day 4

Original Post Date: March 16, 2006

We got in early enough last night that I could get everything organized for today. That was nice. Today will be an easier day. We won’t be outside as much. Today is “Culture Day”! But first, some little tidbits I’ve forgotten to write about so far:

HOMELESS MAN ON SUBWAY:
Kinda creepy. Begging for 99 cents to buy a burger to eat, but you couldn’t miss the overwhelming smell of alcohol. I sat there thinking, Lay off the booze, buddy, and you’d have money for food. It was sad. He stood there and talked for like 5 minutes while we all tried not to make eye contact. It’s the only time I have been a little scared the whole time we’ve been here.

OUR NEW CATCH PHRASE:
There are people whose job is to stand on the street and either promote something or just hand out fliers. They are always trying to get our attention. I now just say “No, thank you.” I’ve probably said it about 100 times. I’m actually to the point where I don’t even acknowledge them unless they shove the flier in my face. Then I use my catch phrase, “No, thank you!” This also works with street vendors. We could have bought handbags from a guy on the pier. They were all wrapped up in a big sheet. Something tells me they weren’t going to be real Prada.

ASHLEY’S PHONE CALL:
So, Ben Layman called Ashley on Tuesday to set up an appointment with Bishop Hatch for Wednesday. Instead of calling Ben back, she called Bishop Hatch’s cell phone and left the following message:

Hi, Bishop Hatch. This is Ashley Stieber. Ben Layman wanted me to meet with you tomorrow. I lost his number, so I’m just calling you. Yeah, tomorrow will be fine. I can do it at 10:00 am and you’ll just need to meet me at the Statue of Liberty. Oh, and I’m calling you from the top of the Empire State Building, so that’s why it’s so windy. Okay, see you tomorrow! Bye!

SCARF ENVY:
A homeless woman at Starbucks liked my scarf. Should I feel like a true New Yorker? I’m not sure. Maybe it’s good luck, like if a pigeon poops on you. (Thank heavens THAT hasn’t happened yet. KNOCK ON WOOD!)

And now, my adventures with Al Roker! We got up extra early and were able to make the 7:30 ferry. We got up to the Rockefeller Center to where The Today Show films. There’s this little alleyway across from the skating rink. They film right in the middle and surround the whole place with barriers. There were a lot of people there already by the time we arrived. The prime spot was directly behind the two mini-vans they were doing a segment on. We obviously couldn’t push our way to the front there. Shauna and I ended up just to the left of the revolving door. Great for taking pictures, but only if the crew members didn’t get in the way. When Al Roker came out, just after 9:00, he went straight across. Then he walked along to the left as he was doing the weather. Suddenly, he came right towards us! There were some people with a sign just to our left and he talked to them. I practically leapt in behind them. I’m not sure how long I was on camera, but I was DEFINITELY on TV! I’m hard to miss, too, with my bright green coat and fluorescent hat. We’re not sure if Shauna made it on. We’ll find out from Mom later. We called and had her tape it. Woo hoo! I was on TV!! We stuck around after that, thinking the minivan segment would be next. Half an hour later, after almost freezing solid, we finally got to see Al again. Katie Couric and Matt Lauer didn’t come out, but we saw them through the window. Janice Lieberman did the mini-van segment with Al. I didn’t really know who she was, but the lady to my right knew her and called to her. Janice came over to talk to her and I got a good picture. Better than most of the pictures of Al.

Next we caught the subway to Grand Central Station. It was so cool! Absolutely gorgeous inside. And HUGE!! We then walked a couple of blocks to the United Nations. It is really amazing to see all those flags flying out front. There were some neat sculptures, too. We opted to just take pictures from the outside and then call it good. None of us felt like going through security again, especially when we weren’t sure what we would be able to see.

Our next adventure was hailing a cab. It took forever, but they finally got one to stop. (Shauna and I let the other girls get the cab, since she had figured out the subway.) The cab that stopped was a mini-van, but he could only take 4 passengers. Shauna and I had to get our own, and lo and behold one had parked like 10 feet down the street!

We took the cabs back to Grand Central and ate at their food court. All kinds of food to choose from, but way, WAY too overpriced. And I did not get my money’s worth. My turkey sandwich was a little dry.

Then it was off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art! I’m going to write down cool stuff we see:

-Greek Art, 6th Century BC-An elephant tusk (a huge one!) completely carved with intricate pictures (18th Century Nigeria)
-Mayan carved pillar from 8th Century
-Beautiful works in gold from South America
-A Picasso painting “A Girl Asleep on the Table”
-A tapestry depicting America, commissioned by Louis XVI
-Four panel Screen with views of Vienna (ca. 1820)
-Huge gate in the Medieval Arts Section
-Armory, swords, etc.
-Full Suits of armor
-4 Jousters on horseback
-All types of guns
-Field Armor of King Henry VIII
-An Egyptian Temple
-You can walk inside it! It has “Leonardo 1820" carved in part of it. He must have discovered it.
-Reminded me (a lot!) of Solomon’s Temple
-Lots and lots of Grandfather Clocks
-“Washington Crossing the Delaware” (1851)
-Largest framed painting in the museum.
-Painting commemorates the event; does not recreate it. (Betsy Ross made 1st flag 6 months after the crossing, but there is one in the picture!)

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS:
-Piccolo from 1897
-Ebonite flute-
DRUMS:
-Dadabwaan (Philippines 19th Century)
-Goblet Drum (Burma)
-Slento (Central Java)
-Yunluo (Mongol Yuan Dynasty 1280-1368)
-Tanggu
-Changgo (Korea)
-Kyobanggo (15th Century)
-Kakko (Theatrical Music “Noh” drama, 14th Century)
-Otsuzumi
-Kotsuzumi
-Shimedaiko (THE ONLY NAME I RECOGNIZED!!!!)
-Long Drums (Africa)
-Ngoma ya mukondo (Congo)
-Mukupiela
-Balo Xylophone (West Africa)
-Ngkul (Cameroon)
-Clapperless Iron Bells
-Zarb (Iran - Inscription“When it sounds, it makes everyone in the world happy.”

-Pipe Organ (1830 Boston)
-Gold Harpsichord
-Pedal Harpsichord (1967)
-Oldest of 3 pianos by Bartolomeo Cristofori (1720)
-Original Piano (first with hammer action)

PAINTINGS:
“The Abduction of the Sabine Women” (Poussin)
(“Oh, them women was sobbin’, sobbin’, sobbin’ fit to be tied...”)
“Study for “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” (Georges Seurat)
-Final study before he made the 7 by 10 foot painting. Seurat’s final painting of “A Sunday...” was done using pointellism (all dots). This was small brush strokes. Watch Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park with George”.
“By the Seashore” (Renoir)

There are so many things to see here! You could spend a week in here and not see it all! AMAZING!!!

We left the museum and needed to get to the Lincoln Center. I felt like my feet were going to burst into flames at any moment. They hurt SO BAD! However, we decided to walk across Central Park. I misread the map and thought it was a straight shot across to the Lincoln Center. Well, no, it was a straight shot across to the Nature & Science Museum. The Lincoln Center was about 15 blocks away. DOH!! We walked for awhile and then decided to hail a cab. Ashley, Guizella, & Steph got one fairly quickly, but Shauna, Diana, & I couldn’t get one. You have to be pretty aggressive to get one. And it was Rush Hour. All the cabs were either taken or off duty. We walked for a ways, and then...lo and behold, a taxi stopped right in front of us and people got out! We pounced instantly and got it.

The Lincoln Center is a complex of theatres. The Met is one of them. The first thing we did was go get our tickets for “The Light in the Piazza”. As we were decided who should go & who should scout out food, I suddenly looked to my left. There was the Angel Moroni! The temple is kitty-corner to the Lincoln Center! I remembered immediately that that was the case, but it was a total shock to look over and see the Angel Moroni!

So, we got the tickets (Good seats! Not cheap!) while the other girls went over to the temple. There is no Visitor’s Center. (Bummer!) Just a meeting house. And they didn’t have any free Book of Mormons (which I think is so odd) but we got some Pass Along Cards.

While we were standing by the temple, trying to figure out where to eat, Shauna had a close encounter with a celebrity. She almost ran directly into Rupert G., the owner of the Hello Deli, who is on Letterman all the time! I only got to see the back of him as he walking down the street.

We went to a Pizzeria down the street (and passed the ABC studio where Regis & Kelly is filmed. I’m really bummed we couldn’t go to that show.) Then it was back to the Met. Our seats for the opera were in the Family Circle. We were way up high. The opera glasses came in very handy. The opera was “Cyranno de Bergerac”. Placído Domingo was playing the title role. He was absolutely amazing! It was so cool to see him in person. The opera was very good. Gorgeous score. It sounded a lot like Puccini, which is probably because the composer is the one who edited “Turandot”. The chorus was HUGE! The Met itself is absolutely gorgeous. Gold, chandeliers. It is so grand! It wasn’t gaudy, though, which is very nice.

We were all so tired that some of the girls fell asleep during the opera. We are just totally wiped out. Sore mostly, but I’m suffering from lack of sleep. Luckily, I can sleep later tomorrow morning. Speaking of...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz