Category — Special Places

The Cloisters Museum & Gardens

99 Margaret Corbin Drive
Fort Tryon Park
New York, New York 10040
212-923-3700

First, how to get there:
By Subway/Bus

Take the A train to 190th Street and exit the station by elevator. Walk north along Margaret Corbin Drive for approximately ten minutes or transfer to the M4 bus and ride north one stop. If you are coming from the Museum’s Main Building, you may also take the M4 bus directly from Madison Avenue/83rd Street to the last stop. (Please allow more time for this option.)

By Car
Take Henry Hudson Parkway northbound to the first exit after George Washington Bridge (Fort Tryon Park–The Cloisters). This exit is only accessible from the northbound lane; if coming from the north, take Henry Hudson Parkway southbound to exit 14–15, make a U-turn, and travel north one mile to the exit marked Fort Tryon Park—The Cloisters.  Parking is free.

Admission for adults is $20.00.  It is considered a donation, and they will accept any donation that you can afford.  This is such a wonderful place that it seems only fair to be as generous as you can!  The admission button also admits you to the Met’s main building on Fifth Avenue.

The Cloisters -- A view of the main building

The cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,  is devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe.  It is set in a beautiful park at the northern tip of Manhattan close to the subway station at 190th Street.

Here is how I wound up spending the day here.

Most of my friends know the story, but I was born in Manhasset, New York.  My father was British Vice-Consul in New York, and he worked in the Empire State Building commuting from our house in Manhasset.  During this time, he got to know New York well.  He painted in Central Park in winter and visited all the museums in the city.  We left New York in 1956 when I was only two so I was not really at an age where these treasures meant much.  My father renewed his enthusiasm for New York and its museums when he was Consul in Havana in the late sixties.  Quite often, diplomatic service business would take him up to New York from Havana where he’d spend a week doing business and enjoying everything New York had to offer.

When I came to live in the United States in 1981, he’d often talk about The Cloisters and he’d rave about what a wonderful place it was.  I went last Friday (July 16, 2010), and understood exactly what he meant.  My joy in the beauty of this place was just slightly tarnished by a sense of shame.  How could I have been so stupid as to have lived in the United States for so long without paying a visit to this extraordinary museum?

Unfortunately another appointment in Manhattan meant that I couldn’t get here until after three in the afternoon.  Even though I knew the place would close at 5:15 PM, I determined not to rush it — I just wanted to absorb the beauty.  It was quite an emotional experience to be among these ancient treasures and I confess to shedding a tear or two as marveled at the collection and mourned the loss of both my father and mother who would never have allowed their enthusiasm for this collection to fade.  And I thought about Ben and Lydia, my dear brother and sister, who very probably saw this collection with my parents.

The first thing that struck me was the size.  When my father had talked about it, he described a reconstructed medieval cloister, which would have been worth seeing if this was the only thing there.  But this place is quite enormous with over 5,000 items on display!

Cuxa Cloister

I spent a long time in the largest quadrangle the Cuxa Cloister, the largest part of the museum.  This 12th century cloister is a reconstruction of a much larger cloister from a Benedictine monastery called Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa at the foot of Mount Canigou in the northeast Pyrenees.  It was lovely to sit here with my music (Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony), photograph the flowers, and look at the various doors, pillars, sculptures, and fonts that decorate the place.

After leaving the Cuxa Cloister, there really wasn’t all that much time left before the museum closed, but I did take a good look at the tapestries, some of the stained glass, and a few of the sculptures.  Two hours allowed me only enough time to know what the place is about and to discover what an amazing place it is.  But I need to come back to look at all the treasures exhibited here.

Here are just three of the pieces that caught my attention:

Stained glass depicting the martyrdom of St. Lawrence

The stained glass in the picture above depicts St. Lawrence.  You can see the fire beneath his feet, which is a departure from most portrayals of this saint, in which he is seen lying on the grill.  Legend has it that Lawrence was grilled to death and placed on a barbecue.  He was said to be so brave that half way through this torture he told his captors that they could turn him over as he was “done” on the side that being cooked.  This piece of stained glass was made in Canterbury (England) between 1175 and 1180.

Head

The sandstone head shown above was carved in the late thirteenth century and comes from Strasbourg.  It may have been from Strasbourg cathedral or possibly another church in the same city.  I was amazed by its perfect condition.

Enthroned Virgin

This enthroned virgin is from Tuscany and dates back to the first half of the fourteenth century.  Made of terracotta, it is probably a workshop model rather than a finished piece.  Possibly it was to be used by a goldsmith who was working on an altar piece.

I highly recommend The Cloisters to any visitor to New York.  It is wonderful to escape from the pace of the city and contemplate in peace.

After my visit, I took the M4 bus to the main building of the Met on Fifth Avenue.  The bus was probably a mistake as there was a long wait and the ride took a really long time.  I should have taken the subway.

Ringo Starr's gold drum

I had a quick but delightful visit today to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York,

I decided to take a look at the section with musical instruments — partly because my interest in instruments had been stimulated by my recent very enjoyable visit to the Musical Museum in London.

Click here to see an account my trip to London’s Musical Museum.

They had a number of instruments owned by famous people, including a clarinet owned by Benny Goodman, but today’s special attraction was a drum that belongs to Ringo Starr.  This gold-plated snare drum was a gift from Ludwig because Ringo’s insistence on Ludwig’s logo being prominently displayed on his drums did wonders for this American drum company.  They had to work round the clock to keep up with demand after the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show!

The drum came on display on July 7th, Ringo’s 70th birthday, and will stay at the Met until December.

399 High Street
Brentford
Middlesex
TW8 0DU
ENGLAND
Telephone:- +44 (0)20 8560 8108

Fax:- +44 (0) 20 8847 9383

http://www.musicalmuseum.co.uk/

Our plans for the day went a little wrong because of the weather.  We wanted to spend the day around the river Thames with a possible visit to Kew Gardens, but it was a cold, windy, and rainy day.

We wound up at The Musical Museum not quite knowing what to expect, but it turned out to be a fascinating day.

Gallery at the Musical Museum

This photograph was provided by The Musical Museum.  The Musical Museum reserves all rights to these photographs including the copyright.  They may not be copied or reproduced without express permission in writing from the museum.

First there was a live exhibit with people demonstrating war-time jitterbug dancing.  Excellent!  They called on the audience to join in, but I politely declined as I rarely dance for humanitarian reasons.  (The museum’s website is advertising free ballroom dancing lessons in July!)

The next part of the visit was a tour of the museum’s fascinating collection of automatic instruments.  Our guide was knowledgeable and infectiously enthusiastic as he showed us around collection, which is one of the world’s foremost collections of music machines.

This lecture and demonstration opened up a world that I knew nothing about.  I was particularly interested to see that some of the pianos reproduce precise recordings of music as played by famous pianists and composers, including Gershwin and Rachmaninoff.

An altogether fascinating afternoon and well worth the admission fee (8 GBP with concessions for senior citizens).

There is a cafeteria where you can get sandwiches, beer, and wine.  The museum is also well adapted for people with disabilities — a member of our party is a wheelchair rider.

With Kew Green, Strand-on-the-Green, and Kew Gardens nearby, I find this to be a delightful area of London.  The Musical Museum is one more reason to visit!

Strand-on-the-Green

For visitors from abroad, an excursion to this areas reveals a beautiful part of London that is a little different from where tourists usually venture.  This is an especially nice excursion for anyone who is waiting around for a plane at Heathrow Airport, you can easily get here by taking the Heathrow Connect train from Heathrow to Ealing Broadway.  At Ealing Broadway, take the 65 bus, which stops at the door of the museum.  After your visit to the museum, take a walk down Strand-on-the-Green, a five minute walk from the museum, stopping at one of the pubs for a drink and a snack.  (Ask carefully, but you’d probably need a layover of six to eight hours to get here, enjoy the museum, visit Strand-on-the-Green, and get back in time for your next flight.)

Click here for directions to The Musical Museum from other parts of London.

The Hawa Mahal

Built in 1799, under the Maharaja Sarai Pratap, the Hawa Mahal, or the palace of the winds, is one of the must see tourist sites in Jaipur. It is a five-storied building, with two main courtyards. It is called the palace of the winds due to the winds always being stronger than elsewhere, as they are brought in through the hundreds of windows which the palace is so famous for.

The entrance fee is 50 rupees per person, and you will receive numerous offers from guides (costing about 25 rupees per person) who hover about outside the main entrance. I opted to explore without a guide, and was pleasantly surprised to see 2 information boards inside the palace.

I was slightly underwhelmed by the palace, both in terms of size and detail, probably due to me having read too much hype about it beforehand. However, I still feel it was still definitely worth the time and entrance fee.

One thing that really struck me whilst I was at there was just how impressively cool the palace was. Coming from the blazing afternoon sun outside, the cool dark corridors of the palace provided a blissful break from the heat. There were wonderful views over both the old and new parts of the city, as the Hawa Mahal is just on the outskirts of the old city and actually now overlooks a busy road.

The most impressive side of the palace (the wall made entirely of ornate windows) is in fact best seen from the new city, from the opposite side of the main road, which you need pay no entry fee to access. The whole wall is a lovely pinky-red shade with white detail, though is slightly marred by the many shops and stalls blocking the bottom part of the wall (or you could say this makes for an interesting contrast). Unfortunately, it is now almost impossible to catch a good photo of this side of the wall because of the busy traffic on the road.

Amber Fort is about 11 km from the city of Jaipur in Rajasthan, in Amber, which takes its name from the common local stone of the area. It was my first major tourist site in India and I was not disappointed

The impressive visit began with having to queue for an elephant ride, which was taken full advantageof by the many salesmen wishing to sell you paintings, postcards, marionnettes, or else some form of rudimentary sitar. Prices, even for the same things from the same seller vary wildly, depending on how much they think they can get out of you, and it is not uncommon for a seller, having got a no from you for buying something for 20 rupees, to then jump up to 50, somehow belieing you’ll be more likely to buy it for that price than 20!

The elephant ride was an exciting and delightful, though slightly saddening and mildly disgruntling experience. The seats that are placed on top of the elephants for tourists at Amber Fort are simple constructions that manage to fit 2 people per elephant in a mildly uncomfortable sideways position. The ascent up to Amber Fort gives the passenger an ever inceasingly spectacular view of the surroundings and the 18km wall that goes around the fort, which is the third longest complete defensive wall in the world. As the slope steepens, you find yourself having to constantly readjust yourself as you slip towards the back of the elephant.

Looking more carefully at the other elephants as you continue up- particularly whilst looking into their eyes- you will begin to feel uncomfortable as you see how sad and tired they look. The healthy dark grey colour that you usually see of elephants’ trunks had faded into a peachy, pigmented sort of look on most of the elephants there- perhaps a mark of ill treatment? Surely they are not meant to be this colour?

As you follow the pathway up, there are at least 3 photographers along the way, seemingly desperate to get your photo and calling out or you to smile and look in their direction. The confusion we all felt at this soon cleared as we were leaving the fort and men suddenly jumped out clutching photos of us on our elephant, and, thrusting them into our hands, tried to sell them to us for as much as 2 for 250 rupees (about £4). In the end, bought 3 from one photographer for 50 rupees (just under £1), which I thought was quite reasonable.

Even if you have already paid for the elephant ride itself, you will certainly be asked for a tip as you are getting off. We gave the driver 10 rupees, which doesn’t seem like that much, but considering the average weekly wage in India is Rs. 500 or Rs. 600, I didn’t it seemes like too little. The driver protested that this wasn’t enough, however, so we gave him another 10 and asked to get off. He then proceeded to refuse to let us off until we paid him further more, a move which made me feel uncomfortable, a bit angry, and highly resisitant to the idea of giving him more money. We refused and though he kept us up there quite a while more, I realised that it was not in his interest to keep us there too long, as he evidently would make more money by moving on to transporting new customers as quickly as possible. That soon proved to be true, as he gave up and we were let off in the impressive first courtyard of Amber Fort.

Having been stuck in the unpleasant disagreement for the last part of our ride on the elephant, we had not yet had a chance to appreciate being inside the fort itself. We were taken around by a guide which I would say is definitely worth spending the extra on, particularly if you are a larger group, as there are not many signposts around the fort and you get so much more out of the experience, if you know more about it.

We were first shown around the hamman, or Turkish baths, which were only allowed to be used by the king (or raj) and whichever of hisqueens (rania) he happened to favour more at the time. The baths were complete with running hot and cold water and a steam room, which seemed so much more spectacular to me after just the few days I had been in India so far. Even staying with a host family who were very well-off (the husband was a doctor), we had still been limited to one bucket of cold water each per day due to ever increasing water shortages in the area. Running water was only available one hour per day, and our hosts told us that the Indian goverment have announced that water will soon only be available once every 3 days all across India. Whilst wandering through the maze of the bath complex at Amber Fort, it was bizarre to think that the raj was bathing here in whole pools filled with hot water back in the early 19th century.

Sheek Mahal (mirror palace) second largest mirror palace in the world after Versailles.

The secret corridor around the appartments of the 12 rania, so that the king could see one of them without the others knowing. Appartments around a pavilion where the 32 children of the 12 ranis played.

The natural cooling system on the side of the palace facing the mountains- waterfall of scented water behind a screen, and as it runs the room on the other side of the screen is cooled because of the cool winds coming through the waterfall into the room.

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Albino Squirrel

I saw an albino squirrel today in Georgetown!

We have lived in the Baltimore/Washington area for almost thirty years, and we have regularly gone up to New York.  But I have to admit that we tend to stick to the rather glamorous area around the Rockefeller Center.  We walk up and down Fifth Avenue; sometimes we slip into St. Patrick’s Cathedral; and quite often we take walks in Central Park.  We visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and occasionally wander over to Times Square.

Now that I have resolved to visit New York once a month until further notice, I have decided I want to get to know New York really well.  So, in the future, I am just going to explore.

On Friday, one of my goals was to walk — and walk a lot.  I also wanted to go away from out usual stomping ground.  So, when my Megabus arrived at Penn Station, I decided to walk west — down 34th Street until I was almost at the water’s edge.  Then I turned left on 11th Avenue — eventually moving back east one block, and I walked down 10th Avenue until I reached the High Line at 20th Street.  After walking along the High Line, I ended in Chelsea Market where I had lunch.

Here are some pictures I took along the way.

Joe's Tavern

Drugs, guns, kids

Light of the World

AVI Taxi Repair

Limoux, an interesting little town about 25 km south of Carcassonne, has long had an international reputation for 2 things: its famous Blanquette wine and its legendary carnaval (French) or fécos (Occitan, the traditional language of the area).

Blaquette de Limoux is officially the world’s oldest naturally-sparkling wine on record, as its production and distribution were described in 1531 by the Benedictine monks at the nearby abbey of Saint-Hilaire, who are rumoured to have discovered the wine themselves (see http://louisandlouisa.com/2006/07/st-hilaire-blanquette-de-limoux-2003/ for further details).

The Limoux Carnival is thought to be the oldest carnival in the world, running anually since at least the 16th century. There is no agreement as to exactly how or why the carnival started, but one (admittedly rather tenous) theory is that the bubbly wine inspired such merriment and party spirit, that a carnival was invented in its honour. Another theory is that it is derived from a pagan winter festival.

The carnival here differs in many ways from the common French summer festivals of many other towns and villages. Firstly, the Limoux carnival is much longer lasting than most, as it takes place every weeekend for ten consecutive weeks; secondly it runs in the winter from January until Easter; and thirdly, the ’sorties’ or performances, occur three times a day.

The first sortie is at 11 in the morning, and has a political theme; its general purpose seems to be to mock any of the year’s news stories. The second sortie is at 4 30 in the afternoon and the thirs is at 10 at night. Each sortie begins with the band (made up of local musicians only) entering the first café of the 4 it will enter on its way around the square.

Behind the band come the dancers (pierrots) who will be dressed in a different costume every year, but are all uniform.

Whilst following the band around the square, the pierrots perform the traditional festival dance, the fécos (after which the carnival is named), which involves moving your arms but not the rest of your body (except for moving forwards or revolving on the spot).

Every pierrrot comes armed with a bag of confetti, and seems to think it their duty to ensure that no one returns home without having had a handful thrown in their face at least once. In fact, if you recieve a facefull of confetti yopu have got off lightly- dancers are often seen rubbing handfuls in people’s hair, or esle shoving it down the back of their necks.

Spectators beware: towards the end of the evening, the dancers may try to grab people from the crowd and encourage you to dance with them- great if you’re up for it, but if you’re not, make sure you’re not standing right at the front!

MOV00195

Behind the official dancers in matching costumes come the ordinary people dressed up in various costumes who dance behind (goudils)- anyone is allowed to join on the end as long as you are in some form of fancy dress! The more bizarre the costume the better!

On the final sortie of the last day of the carnival (21st March this year), the spectacle doesn’t end after the band, pierrots and goudils have finsihed their laps of the square. At midnight, the king of the carnival is put on trial. This trial is held entirely in Occitan, whilst the effigy of the king is tied to a stake, awaiting judgement. Up until this year, the prosecution had always won and therefore the burning of the king has always followed. For the first time in the carnival’s history, the king was let off this year.

The pierrots still proceeded to gather in a circle on their knees around the fire however, singing their mournful and chilling chant of “Adiou paure canaval, tu t’en vas e iu demori jusqu’à l’annada que ven” (Farewell poor Carnival, for you depart, and I shall remain until the coming year), while the effigy was burned.

The carnival is altogether a very odd combination of sinister yet jolly; historical yet current; and gauche yet elegant. It is without a doubt truly unique and authentic experience however, and an event I would encourage anyone in the area to go and witness.

View of Baltimore's Inner Harbor from Fells Point

I spent most of the day working at a friend’s apartment in Fells Point in Baltimore.  I used to work in the neighborhood, and being here for the day filled me with nostalgia.  This is such a lovely part of Baltimore.  No visitor to the city should leave without taking a walk around this lovely area!

As I am currently staying in Verzeille, this village was the start and finish point of my walk. Excluding a couple of kilometres where I had to walk back on myself, this walk follows a circular route, totalling approximately 15 km.

I passed through 5 different villages on my walk, all of which are small traditional villages of the region: pretty and interesting to have a quick look round, but lacking anything to keep you entertained for any longer. Just nice breaks on a day’s walk.

The stretch between Verzeille and Pomas is pretty but not particularly note-worthy, though there is a charming little side road you can take which crosses the river virtually at water level. I presume it is actually more of a ford when the water is higher. As it was, I could just wander across on foot.

The first vilage, Pomas, 3.5 km south-west of Verzeille, is the largest of the 5 villages, and therefore is complete with a shop, a post office, a ‘cave’ selling cheap local wine, a school, a Mairie, a church, and an old château.

The château is not open to visitors. Furthermore, it doesn’t seem to have been looked after in any way, and it is locked up.  However, I somehow enjoyed peering round the castle more because of this.

Not a lot is known about Pomas’ castle. The first mention of it was written in 1319, when the Lord of the castle was Simon de Goloin. Indeed, much of the castle seems to date back to that period.

To access the castle, you have to cross a rather rickety bridge, which one would be well justified in questioning the safety of. I carefully picked my way across and found myself at the main gate of the castle.

The next village, Cornèze, is 4km north of Pomas. The walk follows a beautiful and virtually deserted little road. On the way, you will see almond trees, vineyards, picturesque hills in the background, and, on a clear day, even the Pyrenees.

The village itself is absolutely tiny, with the narrowest, most cobbly little streets I’ve ever seen in the western world. It is hard to believe that you are in 21st century Europe whilst wandering this village!

Couffoulens, about 3 km north of Cornèze, is a slightly larger village, though still small enough for a small church to be its dominant feature. The river Lauquet, which is a tributary of the Aude, runs through the village, and its banks make for a lovely spot to rest or picnic.

The 3rd stop of my tour, Leuc, is only 2.5 km from Couffoulens, in a south-easterly direction. This stretch of the walk is highly enjoyable whilst you are still following the Lauquet, but becomes slightly uneventful after that until you come to Leuc.

Leuc is a very small village which surrounds the road you will come in on. The wall paintings along the walls by this road, which depict many scenes of everyday village life, are charming, and a true highlight of the village.

Leuc also has a castle, which is used officially for administration purposes, and isn’t open to the general public.

The castle’s gardens however, which are very green (rare in this area!) and pretty, and border the river, are open to all, and even have a car park to make them more accessible.

The last stretch of the journey back to Verzeille is short at only 2.5 km.

This walk is suitable for any level of walker really, as there are very few hills, and they are not steep.

Here is the route plotted on google earth.
View Larger Map