Museum weekend

I went to the Cloisters today (part of Met, admission by donation). My friend was late, so I decided to take the scenic route. It turned out to be a very long walk through Fort Tyson Park and Heather Garden! I reached the peak of the park, wrongly thinking I'd find the museum by walking upward. The views were breathtaking. Apparently Rockefeller bought the land in NJ across the Hudson and donated it back to the state. No construction is allowed on it, preserving the pristine view from the Cloisters. We were on time for a walking tour but we quickly became bored as the speaker stood in front of one exhibit for 10min and went on about what she thought was the general meaning of relics. It was difficult to see that exhibit too since there was a swarm of people around it. After getting a free audio tour yesterday at the Morgan Collection yesterday (admission was also free), I've become a fan of audio-guided tours. I can stare at the exhibits while listening to the narrations which are often more detailed than the placards and contain music, and I can go at my own pace. I paid $7 for an audio-guided tour today at the Cloisters.

Favorites:
The Morgan: cylinder seals http://www.themorgan.org/research/collectionsSeals.asp
Cloisters: a very detailed rosary bead http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/170004327

There were free bag checks at both the Morgan and the Cloisters.

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It was a pleasant day, except I had a little too much stuff with me bc I thought I would be going directly home to bklyn after the museum. But I got distracted by scenic MTA bus-riding (The M4 makes a nice circuit from the northern tip of Manhattan, around the N and E of Central Park, and down to Herald Square) and shopping and came home to the manhattan apt instead. Wow... it's pretty awesome to have homes in these two places.

I love walking around the city and finding random sales!

I bought a ridiculous amount of frozen king crab legs... my comfort food...