Good Friday & Even Better Saturday

March 28-31, 2024

New York, New York

One of the greatest joys parents can have is getting to spend time with adult children. Getting a few days to be with our Eric, getting to know his city, was a gift.

E lives in Brooklyn and we stayed in an Airbnb about a mile or so from him. We spent Friday walking around Brooklyn and checking out “the good parts.”

Even in this very high-density area, nature has some surprises.

So many flowers were blooming!

Friday’s step total was equivalent to 6.9 miles.

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I have been intrigued by the Met Cloisters for years: the idea of seeing art that’s almost a thousand years old seems like a dream. I mentioned this idea to Eric months ago and he remembered.

Fort Tryon Park is right next to the Cloisters; both are on the Hudson River. This is a part of Manhattan that’s far removed from the stereotype of a bustling urban area.

I probably could have spent an entire day here, looking at all of the art, architecture, and artifacts.

There were lots of sculptures from buildings and some effigies from tombs. I also found a painting of Christ in Limbo that seems to place his very near an alligator (although I suspect it’s a serpent of some sort).

The Cloisters also house the Unicorn Tapestries, massive wall-hangings woven in the 1500s. The detail on these is incredible – I can’t imagine the thought and time it took to create these.

Every room had stunning works of art. I was also drawn to this wooden sculpture depicting the death of Mary. It was carved in the late 15th century.

The Cloisters also has a small display of illuminated texts. Photos can’t do them justice. The detail on these show the determination and dedication of the friars who labored over them.

Very close to the Met Cloisters is Inwood Hills Park. Eric had previously mentioned how this park made it easy to visualize what the New York settlers must have encountered. It’s really serene there.

There’s a small marker here to commemorate the purchase of Manhattan. It’s smaller than I thought it would be, considering how important that moment is to present day.

There’s also a bunch of black squirrels here. Apparently they’re a little rare but not uncommon.

The Mysterious Black Squirrels of NYC

While we were in Manhattan, we also viewed a couple of independent movies. There was also an opportunity to hear a Q&A with the director of the second film, but since the film didn’t resonate with us, we left.

So many folks were on the train back to Brooklyn…

We walked seven miles on Saturday.

John and I are already thinking about the places we want to see the next time we visit Eric. Eric seems to have a mental map of the city with public transit lines memorized. Having him as our tour guide made our trip even better than I hoped. What a gift it is to have this time with our E.