Monday, November 4, 2013 – My New York Marathon
It began early on Saturday morning with a hearty breakfast
(hot oatmeal and cold pizza) before boarding a bus bound for New York
City. As soon as the bus pulled up on
West 33rd Street, I was off and running. Actually, I hopped onto the subway to get to
my first destination – the New York Historical Society on Central Park
West. Part of the reason I scheduled
this trip was to see a special exhibit commemorating the 100th
anniversary of the Armory Show. In case
you haven’t brushed up on your art history lately, this 1913 art exhibit, held
at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue, marked the official
introduction of modernism to the America public. It was a show that featured well over a
thousand American and European works of art, in many media, all displayed in
the Street Armory. There was amazing
diversity in the work displayed, ranging from the traditional to the extremely
avant-garde. For many who visited the
exhibition, this marked their first exposure to post-Impressionism, cubism, and
fauvism. Although these styles are
accepted without question today, they were initially met with scathing
criticism by many figures in the art world.
In my art history class at George Mason University, we’ve
been studying this time period and I was eager to learn more about the Armory
Show and to see some of the works in person.
One of the works that drew a lot of negative attention in the 1913 show
was Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, and the Historical Society
was able to obtain it on loan for the current exhibit. For some reason I expected the painting to be
much larger than it actually was. I was
thrilled to see paintings by American artists such as Joseph Stella, Robert
Henri, Marsden Hartley, Charles Sheeler, Arthur Davies, and Maurice
Prendergast. A John Marin watercolor of
the Woolworth Building, an early New York City skyscraper, was also included in
the show. European artists were
well-represented, with works by Picasso, Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, and Munch. Matisse’s fauvist Blue Nude was nearly as
disturbing to some viewers as Duchamp’s painting. It surprised me to learn that the biggest
seller in 1913 was Odilon Redon, who found a very receptive audience for his
somewhat mystical paintings.
Before I left the museum, I watched a 20-minute film on the
history of New York City, and discovered that the Historical Society is the
oldest museum in city of New York. I
also learned that the biggest battle in the American War for Independence was
fought in New York. It was known as the
Battle of Long Island, and it took place in Brooklyn Heights in August of
1776. Another tidbit I learned is that the
construction of the Erie Canal in 1850 made New York City the busiest port in
the country. There’s always something
new to learn! In short, it was a very
enjoyable and worthwhile couple of hours. I should also mention that the museum has a
great shop, with lots of New York themed items.
The weather was remarkably warm on Saturday, considering
that it was the 2nd of November, so I wanted to spend more time
outdoors while there was still daylight. Since the Historical Society is
located right across the street from Central Park, I decided to cut through the
park on my way to the subway. Stepping
into the autumn glory of the park, I could easily forget that I was in the
midst of a major metropolis. Because of
Sunday’s Marathon, there were barricades everywhere, scads of uniformed
security personnel, and a sea of flags and banners. I even crossed the finish line, which is
probably the closest I’ll ever come to running a marathon.
By 6:00 p.m., the sun was low in the sky, but my day was
barely beginning. I walked as far as
Radio City Music Hall, then caught the subway down to Lower East Side. Elisa and Christian had been busy doing
wedding related activities all day and we were all ready for a little
relaxation at their apartment before walking up to the East Village for
dinner. E&C are excellent restaurant
researchers and I can always count on them to come up with exciting new places
to try. We had a 9:00 p.m. reservation
at a popular Greek restaurant called Pylos (which is the name of a Greek city
as well as the Greek word for “clay”, which explains the clay pots hanging from
the ceiling). For me, 9:00 is a very
late hour for dinner, but that’s clearly not the case for a lot of mostly young
New Yorkers. We shared a wonderful meal
– an artichoke heart moussaka with caramelized onions; grilled haloumi cheese
with grappa and grapes; giant beans baked in a honey-scented tomato-dill sauce;
two grilled fish dishes – all complemented by three different Greek wines. Our dessert was a dish of thick Greek yogurt
topped with walnuts and preserved sour cherries.
Since it was Saturday night and I was in New York, I stayed
up to watch Saturday Night Live. Kerry
Washington was amazing. Fortunately, I
had an extra hour to catch up on my sleep because of the change back to
Standard Time. Elisa and I had to get
out early Sunday to make our way over to Brooklyn for a trial hair and makeup
appointment. Brooklyn is still somewhat
foreign territory for both of us. The salon
was in the Greenpoint neighborhood where we’d never been before. Getting there seemed fairly
straightforward. At least it looked that
way on the subway map and on the internet.
Of course, the information wasn’t accurate. We got thoroughly confused, and what should
have been a 45 minute trip ended up taking us two hours. I think I swiped my subway card through the
turnstile at least five times as we went in and out of subway stations, trying
to reach our destination. Eventually, we
got to the Greenpoint station, which was right on the marathon route. We sprinted down a few blocks and tumbled
into the salon where, over the course of two hours, a pair of hair and makeup
specialists showed Elisa how they could enhance her natural beauty on her big
day. It’s always a little scary to put
yourself at the mercy of an unknown stylist, but we were both pleased with the
results and Elisa made arrangements to have them come and help us get ready on
the day of the wedding.
Then it was time to dash back down the street and cheer the
marathon runners. Since we were starving
by then, we didn’t want to linger in Greenpoint. Instead, we hopped on the subway and headed to
a section of Brooklyn that’s filled with little restaurants and cafés. Lunch, coffee, and a pair of delicious macarons (pistachio and cassis) revived
us. By then it was 3:00 p.m. and I had a
5:30 bus to catch. I’d originally
planned to visit the Cloisters on Sunday, but there clearly wasn’t time to get
there on this trip. We took the F train
back into the city. Elisa got off at
Essex and Delancy and I stayed on until 34th Street. For my last hour or so in New York, I did a
little retail therapy in Uniqlo, the Japanese clothing store that unfortunately
has no outposts in the DC area. It was a
very productive session – 5 tops, 1 pair of leggings, and a jacket, for only
$128! Shopping bag in hand, I rushed off
to find some portable dinner as darkness fell and the lights of the city began
to twinkle. It was a sleepy ride back
after a marathon weekend.
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