Posts tagged #NYC Parks

In The Rearview Mirror 2019 pt. 4

Flashback Friday

October

    Our friends came and visited us in October, and we ventured out to a wide variety of museums and art galleries. Early October was actually a bit chilly and you could definitely tell that fall was on its way. But as always, temperatures fluctuated a lot this year too. We went through Central Parks many times in October and it’s always great to see the colors change as time passes. We also went to a light show by Columbia University. It was ok, not spectacular in any way though. Morningside Park has raccoons that we see from time to time, and in October we saw one again. One of the streets we take to work is always full of nice Halloween decorations, so it was always fun to stroll through that part and check out all the various decorations for this year.

November

    In November fall colors were still lingering in Central Park, and we still had warmish temperatures. It’s interesting how fall seems to hang on forever in New York, compared to other places we have lived. If you venture out in Central Park on some of the trails it almost feels as if you are in the middle of nowhere even though you are in one of the largest cities in the world. I made some cardamom buns and finally made them perfect! I also managed to make my first macaroons. We went to W’s grandma for Thanksgiving and hung out there for a couple of days. It’s always nice to be able to have those days to recuperate from the big city life.

December

    December came with a thin layer of snow, and that is about everything we got. I went to the ballet and saw the nutcracker and I made some saffron buns, absolutely delicious. W and I explored some old and new bars before we headed out to Montuckey for Christmas. We did a lot of hiking, per usual around Bozeman. Actually more than usual because of the thin layer of snow. We rented an Airbnb in Gardiner after Christmas and spent a couple of days in Yellowstone National Park. We checked out some bars in Gardiner and the next day we finally went skiing in northeast Yellowstone! On New Years Eve we went to bed already at 9.30 but we had big and early plans on January 1st.

Posted on May 22, 2020 by Ann Rumbleinthearctic and filed under Flashback Friday, Rearview Mirror, Life in New York and tagged rearviewmirror Central Park Museum Christmas Fall NYC NYC Parks Manhattan rearviewmirror2019 Montana Bozeman Yellowstone Winter X-Country Skiing Skiing in Yellowstone National Park 2020 Life in NYC.

A walk Through Central Park - NYC

A Stroll through Central Park

The Weekly long Walk

We take weekly long walks here and they usually end up in one of the larger parks. We have only been venturing out once a week, but I am starting to second guess that descion now, since it’s starting to get to us. Technically you are only “supposed” to go out when you have to, which is why we have kept it at about once a week. It takes about 15-20 minutes for us to get to any of the larger parks around us, so that is also another reason why we don’t do it that frequently. 1.6 million people live in Manhattan, so even though all the tourists are gone, you can imagine what it would look like if everyone tried to get to the parks at the same time.

The Loch

We usually start at the north end of Central Park and walk behind the ice skating rink/swimming pool, and there the Loch starts which is one of my favorite trails in the park. That ice skating rink just melted after the city shut down in March, and unfortunately the swimming pools in the city will be closed this summer. I know it is for the best, but I feel sad for all the kids (and adults) that wont have a place to cool off this summer. The Loch attracts a lot of birders, or people in general who want to get away from the larger crowds. We encountered a group of enthusiastic birders and photographers when we walked by, they had spotted a Virginia Rail. We quickly passed that group of people and continued our long walk. You can go in all different directions from the Loch, of course, and we tend to move towards the west side of the park. To the east you can continue to the Conservatory garden which always have many pretty flowers. There is a small avenue with many benches along both sides there, and public restrooms. You can continue on the Loch until you pop up right by a waterfall (the second waterfall you can see on this walk) and the Pool (the name of the big pond). If you continue straight south though, you’ll reach the tennis court and additional public restrooms.

Cherry Blossoms around the Jackie Kenedy’s Reservoir

We finally arrived by Jackie Kennedy’s Reservoir, and all the cherry blossoms. The Okame cherry trees were blooming already in March (a month early) and they are long gone now. The cherry trees that are blooming now are mainly the Kwanzan, and a couple of Yoshinos are still going strong. Naturally we walk south on the west side of the reservoir, and when we go north we walk along the east side. The northern part of the park is pretty empty now, although everything is relative. The reservoir on the other hand is crowded, like always, and so even now. I mean everything is relative, and I thought it was crowded based on the fact that we technically are not suppose to congregate. I guess my photos are showing the less crowded parts, since that is where we try to walk.

I like the turtle pond and also the Belvedere castle which will guide you towards the Ramble, my second favorite trail in the park. Right behind the castle is also where one of the weather stations in Manhattan sits, if you are into that jam. I really like the architecture of the Belvedere castle. It sits on the top of a hill and you can view the upper east side from here. I have never ever seen the castle so empty, I mean there is a pandemic out there but still. Quite the contrast from the number of people we saw around the reservoir.

The Ramble and Bow Bridge

We continued south, walking along the Ramble which has a ton of different small trails. Eventually you pop out right by the Bow Bridge that will take you over to the Bethesda Terrace. Even though the area around the reservoir was busy, the area around the bow bridge was surprisingly empty. If you have ever been to the Bow Bridge, have you ever seen it empty? An old man was sitting on the other side of the bridge playing some sad songs on his accordion, we gave him some money before continuing. I could see another old man feeding the ducks in the Lake to the west. So many lonely old souls around here.

Bethesda Terrace and the Fountain

It was almost empty by the Bethesda Terrace and the Fountain too. Already in 1868 people were able to enjoy the views of the terrace and the fountain, designed by Olmstedt and Vaux. My favorite part is right underneath the terrace, all the beautiful colors there are amazing. Some small groups of people were sitting with face-masks talking to each other, complaining about people who are not keeping their distance or just about life in general. They were all wondering when this is going to end, and shared information about businesses that are closing and they were all wondering who would still be there when this is all over. You hear random people strike up a conversation, because we are all in this together, and people are getting lonely.

As we walked north again the number of people increased and that uncomfortable feeling arose again, or was that because we were walking by the field hospital, or because 2 hours had passed and more people were out and about? I wonder what it will feel like once everything opens up again. Will we always be scared of being too close to one another or will we forget about how all of this was after a few months. Maybe we should start to go on daily walks, but then again, doesn’t that defeat the purpose in some way? People are starting to move around more, and especially now when the weather is getting nicer I wonder how this will all play out. They are talking about opening up larger streets to make room for more people, but my guess is that more people will still wanna go to the park. I mean who wouldn’t want to sit in the grass on a blanket in Central Park right now? Just like we could do before this pandemic.

Posted on April 28, 2020 by Ann Rumbleinthearctic and filed under Life in New York, Nature, Photography and tagged Walking through Central Park Cherry Blossoms in Central Park Cherry Blossoms New York City NYC NYC Parks 2020 Life in NYC.

The spring that came and then got cancelled - New York City

IMG_6615-March 14, 2020.jpg

The Spring that Sprung

This winter and early spring has been so fun. We have explored so many new and old restaurants and bars in the city but also got to go to Montuckey, Sweden and Colorado. And now we are about to go into “stay at home” mode, a modification of “shelter in place”. You can still go for a walk, go to get groceries etc, and we have more or less been in that stage for a couple of days already. I am not sure about going to the laundry mat so I am grateful that we have a washer at home!

We are already one month early with spring this year and yesterday it was 73F outside. Spring has been breaking through for a few weeks here in NYC and I have tried to follow it in Riverside Park, around Columbia University and in Central Park. I even saw a bunch of snowdrops already in February. It feels a little sad now that we have the “stay at home” order. I am not sure if we will be going on any long walks anytime soon.

But last weekend, we did venture out to Central Park. We watched spring slowly making its way through the park. A Wood duck and a turtle were sunbathing along the Loch trail. And by the reservoir you could clearly see the Cherry trees blooming.

At this point the cherry trees have been out for three weeks. You can definitely tell that spring is about a month early here in NYC. Before heading back home we took a stroll through the conservatory garden, and the Magnolias were partially blooming there. You can check out one of my posts from last spring as a comparison.

W works from home two days a week on a regular basis, so he has an office space set up in our back room/tv room/guest room. After we all got the work from home instruction on Saturday I ordered a desk, computer chair and office lamp to set up my own little nook in the living room. It’s hard to get into working from home, especially when you are a lab manager. There are of course things you can still do, albeit limited, so we will see how things evolve during these 6-8 coming weeks (or more?). How are you preparing for the coming weeks?

Posted on March 21, 2020 by Ann Rumbleinthearctic and filed under Life in New York, Nature and tagged 2020 New York New York City New York Life Central Park Spring Colorado NYC Parks parks Cherry Trees Magnolia Snowdrops plants Nature buds budburst Life in NYC.