Barbra's New York and DC Vacation: UPTOWN

Feeling rather energetic, I walked from Chelsea to Times Square and then keept going up to Central Park. Central Park is known for it's horse drawn carraiges and more recently, Yoko Ono's tribute to the Beatles: Strawberry Fields.

Central Park was the first landscaped public park in the United States. Central Park is bordered on the north by West 110th Street, on the south by West 59th Street, on the west by Eighth Avenue, and on the east by Fifth Avenue. Along the park's borders however, these are known as Central Park North, Central Park South, and Central Park West, respectively. Only Fifth Avenue retains its name, as it delineates the eastern border of the park.

 

Many celebrities live and have lived on both the west and east side of Central Park.
One of the most famous was John Lennon and Yoko Ono at the Dakota.
The Dakota still boasts an all star celebrity docier including Yoko Ono, Paul Simon,Lauren Bacall, Connie Chung and Maury Povich. Madonna wanted to buy an apartment here but was turned down by the board.

The Dakota is one of the most famous apartment buildings in Manhattan. The Dakota was built between 1880 and 1884 and was designed by Edward Clark. The Dakota building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

Continung Northward, towards Harlem, we pass the Museum of Natural History (next time maybe), Cathedral of St. John the Devine, Grant's Tomb and the famous Apollo Theater.

A little more on the Apollo
In 1935, Bessie Smith made her debut at the Apollo followed by an unknown vocalist by the name of Billie Holiday. Soon thereafter, the Apollo Theater quickly became known the place “Where Stars are Born and Legends are Made”™ and “home” to thousands of major performance artists, fans, and patrons of the arts from around the world. The legendary venue has launched the careers of icons such as Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, James Brown and Lauryn Hill.

Continuing back to Central Park West, I decided to go to some of the great Museums along Museum Mile. My first stop was the Guggenheim.The featured Show was Kandinsky during the time he was teaching at the Bauhaus.

Continuing my stroll up 5th Avenue, I was happy to discover the Metroplitan Museum of Art was a few blocks from the Guggenheim.
The museum features several "Period Rooms". Absolutely breathtaking. One of the rooms was totally made out of inlayed wood, rather like a fine marquetry, depicting a.....room.

Period Rooms:

Click here for more specific information on this room	Sagredo Bedroom from the Palazzo Sagredo in Venice.

After leaving the museum, I continued walking down 5th Avenue towards the Frick, stopping at Strawberry Fields Tribute to the Beatles:

And then I caught a bus back to Times Square. Here are some assorted shots of landmarks:

Madison Square Garden	Wall Street Bull
Penn Station 24 Hour Post Office	Trump Tower in a rear view mirror

 

on to Washinton DC