Goal #6: The Met & The Central Park Zoo

Last week my friend Chelsea came to visit me in the city. I had been basically nailed to my bed with the black plague for the whole week leading up to her arrival, so when she got here, it was a bit of a struggle to drag myself out of bed. But I did, and since she’s not from the city, that meant we got to do touristy things, which helped me on my goals list. Vunderbar.

Our first stop was The Central Park Zoo, to which I was a virgin. It was a lot smaller than I expected, and they didn’t have lions, but I still enjoyed it.

We first saw sea lions, which are situated in the middle of the zoo right upon entry. Then we went to the bird room, which was very, very warm. I always love the bird room at zoos, because they get so close to you. Although a 5 foot peacock flying directly over your head is bloody terrifying, it’s also pretty darn cool.

Here’s a picture of a sweet bird with a mohawk.

After the bird room, Chelsea got very excited about some swans that were outside, while I stared at the map hoping that would make lions appear. It didn’t, so I placated myself with the red pandas. On my trip to DC earlier this year, I saw Giant Pandas at the National Zoo, and they were pretty freaking awesome, but what’s cool about red pandas is that their exhibits are generally outdoors and completely open, and they get so close that you could basically touch them if you really wanted to. So we spent quite a while looking at them, I took pictures, but it was hard to get their faces:

Even from the back they are just the most adorable things.

If you couldn’t tell, I am like a ten year old boy at zoos. They just fill me with such glee. Our last stop was the polar bears, who immediately became my best friends. Obviously, they’re my cousins after all.

After the zoo we went to NINTENDO WORLD, where I got a LUIGI MUG, an experience that unfortunately does not count as a museum, zoo, or otherwise monument, but was freaking cool anyhow.

The next and final stop on the culture tour was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

I’m in love. I wish I could go there every single day. The place is absolutely HUGE. One day is not nearly enough to soak it all in, so I will have to go back soon. But some highlights include:

Warhol!!! Oh Andy, How I love you. They had a couple of his pieces out, and they just made me all twitter-pated. And now that I’ve said “twitter-pated,” here’s a picture of Mao Zedong.

There was also a great impressionist exhibit out with Monet and VanGogh. So obviously, I stood in front of VanGogh’s sunflowers for an hour and smiled at them.

Look, it’s me. I’m a cute girl and not a bear in real life. How fun.

There was also a kick-ass photo manipulation exhibit of manips done before the digital age. Another favorite was a giant glass atrium with a reflecting pool and an Egyptian tomb.

All in all, a generally kick-ass day. And that’s 2 places of culture down, 48 to go!

 

 

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