A cultural experience - To say the least. NEW YORK

Where do I begin? I must go back. There was too much to absorb and not enough time. It's different than any city I've been to before.










From the air, New York pervades power. I may interpret that simply from forms the buildings take while ambitiously reaching toward the sky.














However, below the cities streets, there was a richness difficult to define. The subway was another first time experience for me. There was a sense of dank grime which was overshadowed by the human energy that swirled about. It was a common place where many classes and cultures are present. I was delighted to hear a band playing and singing Beatles songs in the subway. Music is a vessel of sensation to me. And this would have been exciting even without The Beatles being played. But, that just added another element to support the joy in this experience.














This is a night view of New York from the Brooklyn side. We were at the River Cafe.





This was the raising of the ball (first). Then, the Ball Drop at midnight on New Years Eve. And man, was I disgusted that the ball spectacular could not be fully enjoyed because there was an advertisement for Spartacus right behind it! I understand that Times Square is the advertisement capital of the nation. But come on! This event happens one time a year and for only a few minutes at most. One might think the ball drop would take precedent over an ad. I REFUSE to watch Spartacus simple because it interfered with my view of the ball. Ridiculous!


The Empire State Building was so cool. It was extremely cold and winds were bone chilling, but the view was incredible. It was also fun to experience a place which has been synonymous with romantic scenes in so many movies I've seen. I could have spent so much more time up there. I also would have enjoyed a daylight view from atop.















Frank Gehry's IAC building was pretty enamoring, as well. I'm not a huge Gehry fan, but this building was less flamboyant than some of his other works. I am not very receptive haughty displays of egotism.

Finally, the experience of Central Park was quite nice. We took a guided tour through the whole park and it was very informative. Our guide was well versed in the architecture and buildings surrounding Central Park. However, I will say at one point I interrupted our guide to explain that I would be more pleased if he refrained from informing me of all the "man-made" characteristics of the park. Again, I think that a park is to preserve natural beauty and consciousness of the environment. A particularly somber feeling overwhelmed me at the John Lennon memorial. Though a bit before my time, Lennon's music has been a powerful phenomena within my being. And it would have been interesting to see cultural development, had Lennon not been killed. Music, like many arts, inspires the soul where science and truth can not hold a flame. However, man-made or not, Central Park was successful in creating a peaceful haven within a "city that never sleeps".



Coincidentally, today JD Salinger died. Who is that?-He wrote "Catcher In The Rye." Why is that book important?-Because Mark David Chapman, after shooting John Lennon, sat down and continued reading this book until police arrived to arrest him.