Things To Do This Weekend

I'm starting off the weekend early since I'm meeting up with friends on Friday. I was thinking about what we should do since it looks like it's going to be lovely out. I perused this blog to get some ideas. 

Go on a Tenement Museum tour, which is always fascinating.

Or head uptown and walk aimlessly around Central Park.

And while we're at the park, go up a little further up north to the tranquil Central Park Conservatory Garden.

Would be fun to take my guests to The Earth Room just so I can see their reaction when they see the room. If you haven't been, go there soon before they close for the summer months!

And stop by the Neue Galerie to get a bite to eat at Cafe Sabarsky.

But maybe we'll just take a little stroll and lounge around the High Line and enjoy the weather and a little people watching.

Dilemma, dilemma.

American Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History is a place where you can go every day for a week and find something new each time. Which also translates to me spending about 20 minutes trying to find an exit every. single. time. I can't grasp the layout of the place. A Museum Highlights Public Tour is the perfect way to get introduced, or get reoriented to the museum no matter how often you've visited before.

Right across from Central Park, walk up the steps to the main entrance. They'll check your bag when you go through the doors so have them ready to be inspected.

The free public Highlights Tour meets on the first floor by the entrance to the North American Mammals every hour from 10:15AM - 3:15PM.

Every tour guide gives a slightly different tour. Ours started with the dioramas of the North American Mammals. 

The animals displayed were all real animals, not reproductions. The only parts that were not original to the animal are the eyes, nose, and mouth since they're made up of soft tissue. 

I looked for small doors to the sides of the dioramas and couldn't find one. Turns out they remove the entire glass partition if they need to get inside. They do this for any light vacuuming (!), or for any work that needs to be done. 

We looked at a total of four dioramas then moved to the Hall of Ocean Life.

Spotted on the way to The Blue Whale.

The Blue Whale is HUGE and quite a sight. It's impressive each time I see it. Definitely a highlight.

Then up to the fourth floor to see the dinosaurs. I think most of what I know about dinosaurs came from watching Jurassic Park. I'm not proud of that fact. 

At the main entrance is a dinosaur but that's all made from casts of bones, due to security issues, but on the fourth floor, about 85% of the dinosaurs are made up of real fossils. 

The tour lasts about an hour and we ended ours with the dinosaurs. From there, I headed to the Our Global Kitchen exhibition. (Get tickets at the admission desk since it's an extra cost.) 

The birds led the way to the exit. Would it kill them to put up some more signs? 

Next, at Our Global Kitchen. I did not love this exhibition. The best part though was the interactive cooking table where you can watch international recipes being made. That was nicely done. 

Here's a close-up of the cooking table screen.

There's a small kitchen inside the exhibit and I was really looking forward to trying out interesting food, but it was a total bust. I got a Dixie cup sized portion of green tea and a tiny piece of fig on a toothpick. Thanks, but no thanks. (Confession: I drank the tea and ate the fig.)

Bottom line? Our Global Kitchen was a disappointment and underwhelming.

Once again, as I spent 20 minutes trying to leave, I encountered these animals, who I would never win a staring contest with.

INFO: American Museum of Natural History | Central Park West at 79th Street | New York, NY 10024 | 212.769.5100
ADMISSION: $19 (General), $12.50 (Our Global Kitchen)
TOUR: Public Highlights Tour is free with admission. There are additional tours for an extra charge.

Neue Galerie & Cafe Sabarsky

I didn't know that the Neue of Neue Galerie was pronounced "Noy-ah" until I went on the tour. Just a couple of block up from The Met, is Neue Galerie ("new gallery"), a museum for early 20th century Austrian and German art. 

The entrance is on 86th street, right off of Fifth Ave. Carrère and Hastings, the architecture firm that designed this building in 1914, also designed the New York Public Library and the Frick Collection (my favorite museum). The building was renovated to house the museum in 2001. 

Walking in, it feels very much like you're entering someone's house (albeit a multi-million dollar one), instead of a typical museum. Straight ahead is the admission desk and a staircase that takes you to the gallery space upstairs.

The museum galleries are on the second and third floors. The second floor covers Austrian art and showcases paintings by Klimt and the third floor houses German art with works by Kandinsky and Paul Klee. It's not a huge museum and it feels intimate and manageable. No photos are allowed ANYWHERE on the second and third floors (BOO!), so you'll have to check out their website for images. 

The public tour starts at 2PM and it is offered on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. Tours are free with admission. Unfortunately, I did not like the tour. The information was great, but the delivery was not. Our tour guide had a batch of note cards, which she read off of from start to finish for the entire 40 minute tour. It was like she was reading her book report to the class. I guess I've been spoiled by great tour guides who are experts in their field who can rattle off information with ease. I didn't ask any questions since I just assumed she wouldn't know the answer.

However, with that said, I would still recommend the tour since I did learn a few things I would not have learned otherwise. Audio guides are free with admission, so you can take that route instead, if you prefer.

One of the highlights of the museum is their cafe to the right of the lobby, Cafe Sabarsky. Remember my visit to Cafe Kristall? Both places are run by chef Kurt Gutenbrunner. Take a step inside and feel like you're in Vienna. 

During lunch hours, you'll see a line and a wait for a table. It's worth it. 

Started off with a Roasted Bratwurst with Riesling Sauerkraut with Roasted Potatoes & Dijon. Excellent! I cleaned my plate. Completely hearty and perfect for a cold day.

This house-made Viennese Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream in a double walled Bodum cup lured me away from my usual cup of tea. 

And for dessert, the server recommended this Seasonal Fruit Crumble Tarte, and she was right, it was delicious. Topped with a generous amount of berries, my friend Kelli and I shared this dessert and were making plans to come back to the cafe in between bites. 

Note: Check hours before you go since the museum and cafe have different hours of operation. Museum is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

INFO: Neue Galerie | 1048 Fifth Ave. (entrance on 86th Street) | New York, NY 10028 | 212.628.6200
ADMISSION: $20 
TOUR: Free with admission, free audio guide with admission

INFO: Cafe Sabarsky | Menu | 1048 Fifth Ave. (entrance on 86th Street) | New York, NY 10028 | 212.628.6200 

Rubin Museum of Art

Rubin Museum of Art is right in my neighborhood, just a couple of blocks away from my apartment. It's on the same block as Haven's Kitchen on 17th Street between 6th and 7th Ave. but because it's closer to 7th Ave., I usually forget it's there. This time I remembered. It was my first visit and will not be my last.

Rubin Museum of Art—one of the few museums that doesn't add "The" in their name—covers Himalayan art. 

Right around the corner past the admission desk is grand spiral staircase. It's Guggenheim lite. Just like the Guggenheim, it's a good idea to take the elevator to the 6th floor and visit each floor/exhibition and walk down the stairs. Above, I'm on the 4th floor landing.

There are daily guided tours: a Highlights Tour at 3:00PM and Exhibition Tours at 1PM and 4PM. Each tour is different depending who your tour guide is. 

I went on a weekday afternoon when there's just the usual mix of senior citizens, tourists and...me. The museum was fairly empty and luckily, I was the only one on the tour. Love that. 

Since it was my first visit, I went on the Highlights Tour which gives a nice introduction to Himalayan art. If you want to know anything and everything about Buddhas, you're in the right place.

My tour guide did a fantastic job walking me through the Gateway to Himalayan Art permanent exhibition where he pointed out a bit of history and meaning of the symbols and important figures. The same figures, postures, and gestures can be seen in a lot of works of Himalayan art, so it's a good foundation.

Don't forget to check out the stunning Tibetan Shrine Room on the same floor. It's hiding a bit around a corner, so keep an eye out. 

One of the many things I learned was that Buddhas leave the earth as soon as they become enlightened through meditation. But there are Bodhisattvas, "awakened beings," who purposely remain on earth to help others achieve enlightenment. 

Buddha Shakyamuni is the primary figure and founder of Buddhism. He is shown in various poses and gestures in sculptures and paintings. 

After the hour-long tour, I went up to the 6th floor and saw the other exhibitions not covered on the Highlights Tour. Back at the first floor, I went into Serai, the museum cafe for a quick bite.

The tea served is from T Salon and I got a pot of White Earl Grey, which was excellent. It's has the same familiar bergamot notes of Earl Grey, but it's lighter since it has a white tea base. To go with my pot of tea, I ordered a Apple Crumb, which was just eh. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't good either. However, I will say that the service at the cafe is really excellent. Super friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable. You order at the counter and they give you a place card with a number so they can bring the food to you. I wasn't sure how to tip, but then noticed the tip jar at the counter.

INFO: Rubin Museum of Art | 150 West 17th Street btw 6th Ave. & 7th Ave. | New York, NY 10011 | 212.620.5000
ADMISSION: $10
TOURS: Free with admission 

U.S. Custom House & The National Museum of the American Indian

I've gone past the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at Bowling Green so many times and I didn't realize until recently that it houses The National Museum of the American Indian. I just remember it as being in one of the Ghostbusters movies. 

With seven floors, only the bottom two levels are used for the museum and the rest are offices for the Army, the Navy and the Bankruptcy Court. Remember this as you enter this federal building and you go through a security checkpoint. 

I visited the museum on Tuesday afternoon and went on two separate guided tours. One was for the building itself, and the other was a tour inside the museum. The building tour, which starts at 1PM, lasts about an hour and gives you access to the Collector's office, an area that's roped off to the public. Led by Bob, it was just me and another woman so it was very much like a private tour. Since I didn't know anything about the Custom House, I found it fascinating. 

Since the building was where all international duty collection took place and with its location by the water, there are a ton of nautical themes to be found all over. You can spot Poseidon, dolphins, shells and ships if you look for them.

The Collector's office is a room is quite opulant. Again, nautical motifs are everywhere. Now, this room is used for special events.

There's Poseidon looking serious.

Ask to see the closets that are hiding out in the open when you're there.

Before the building was fully restored in 1994, it was left abandoned for years and was to be demolished. On the tour, we got a quick look at how the building was before the restoration.

After the building tour, I wandered through The National Museum of the American Indian. There are three exhibitions, one of which is the Infinity of Nations, their Permanent Collection. The exhibition tour is at 3PM and I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't a highlights tour. Instead, it's more of an in-depth look at a few pieces in the Permanent Collection. Led by Loretta, her tour was about masks and she goes over five selected pieces. This tour lasts an hour. 

There isn't a guided highlights tour, however, they offer free audioguides that covers the highlights of all their current exhibitions. (Make sure you bring ID if you want to use the audioguide.) Or, you can download the Infinity of Nations app.

Note: Tours are given daily and there are more than the two I went on. See times and schedule.

INFO: U.S. Custom House & The National Museum of the American Indian | One Bowling Green | New York, NY 10004| 212.514.3700
ADMISSION & TOURS: Free