Our second stop (after visiting the Astoria Bakery for almond cookies) was to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I've always wanted to visit the Met, but always seemed to end up going to the Museum of Natural History instead. Ben is a little young for museums, but I thought he might get a kick out of the Arms and Armor exhibit -- all the swords and "boomers" (i.e., shields) and knight outfits (i.e., armor). He definitely enjoyed it. He and Dad spent some extra time in this section together. I believe Scott read the country of origin for all the suits of armor to a very eager Ben.
Abby has been repeatedly asking to visit this particular museum since it is prominently featured in one of the books we read together, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. We never found the exact bed that Claudia and her brother slept in while they ran away to the museum, but the Egyptian exhibit was well received. Actually, Abby was disappointed that we could not stay in this section longer, so we'll have to visit again.
I was a bit surprised that Caroline most enjoyed looking at the paintings. She really took her time in the 17th and 18th century paintings. My favorites were the 19th century French impressionist paintings (Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, etc.), which we unfortunately had to zip through since Ben was ready to go outside and play on the playground. Overall, though, the Met is incredible. It's immense and treasure-filled!
Van Gogh's Wheat Field with Cypresses
(This is an actual photo of painting that Brian took with his phone -- amazing, right??)
After being somewhat restricted volume- and speed-wise in the museum, we let the kids run free on one of the many fabulous Central Park playgrounds and enjoyed some Hot (not wet) Nuts. That sweet, nutty smell gets me every time. $6 for a tiny bag of sugar coated cashews. Totally worth it!
Although taking the bus was a fallback option, we thought we'd give a 30 block walk a try, straight down 5th avenue at dusk to watch the city light up. New York at Christmas is worth the trip! Abby didn't even notice the distance because there was so much to see. The lights on the buildings alone are over the top. The amount of people as we approached Rockefeller Center was really hard to believe -- a traffic jam of human bodies. You know the scenes from New Year's Eve with the streets filled to capacity with people waiting for the ball to drop? It was like that. I really don't feel like I need to go to NYC for New Year's Eve now since that amount of people is a little unsettling from all the jostling, but, on the other hand it was kind of fun being in "the place to be" for a while.
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