The next day we got up early and left for NYC on the 123 bus. We had coffee and a muffin at Port Authority and just watched people for about half and hour. It was unbelievable the numbers of people who were coming down the escalators. We then took the A train to W 4th Street where we transferred to the B train which took us to Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Our destination was the Brooklyn Botannic Garden which was about a four block walk. It would have been a more pleasant walk but it was raining quite hard. Fortunately, there was a lot to see indoors so we spent most of the morning there. After having lunch, we walked back to the subway station and took the B train to 81st Street. We got off and walked across Central Park. It was a much longer walk than we had anticipated as the paths meandered. While resting on a park bench we saw Howard Stern jogging. We eventually got to the other side of the Park and walked to Madison. Because of not going in a straight line we ended up at 71st Street. Our next destination was the Cloisters which was in Fort Tryon Park. This is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art where the Medieval art is housed. Janet had read that a scenic and interesting way to get there was to ride the M4 bus. We got to see a lot of New York (Tom's Restaurant of Sienfeld fame, Columbia University, and Washington Heights). Since the Cloisters is at about 190th Street we had a 120 block, one and a half hour bus ride.
We missed the first 20 minutes of the Guided Tour as we wandered through a few rooms of the museum and read information about Romanesque architecture. Fortunately, we heard voices and were able to join in with the docent and group. She explained select works and focused on one famous tryptic featuring the Annunciation. The details she gave and explanation of symbols helped us appreciate this work of art and others she pointed out. A room of tapestries is a valued collection. The tour ended with our group going out into the courtyard and gardens which overlook the Hudson River. We walked back to the subway and detoured through Fort Tryon Park. There were gardens filled with beautiful spring flowers. We made our way to the subway station and caught the A train to Port Authority. We walked around the Theatre District and then went back to the bus terminal and ate. At about 7:30 we walked to the Shubert Theatre to see our first Broadway musical.
(to be continued)