Some pictures from a trip to Brooklyn my wife and I took to see our younger son, who is a grad student at NYU. His first year he had one year only semi-subsidized housing in Manhattan, but he’s now in his second year, and on a grad student’s lowly earnings he had no choice but to migrate to Brooklyn. This was the first time I had been there, except to help him move in. I liked it. It has a more working class feel to it than Manhattan. We went to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and the Brooklyn Art Museum, for which I have always had warm and fuzzy feelings after it got Rudy Giuliani into such a lather some years ago.
We were presently surprised when our older son made a surprise appearance, so the whole family got to see the sights and see each other. Anyway, here’s a few pictures, with running commentary. (If you click on any picture, it should open up full size in your browser).
First, to set the stage, all week we had been hearing dire predictions of drenching rain. In the event, the weather was nearly perfect. If anything, too hot, considering the contrast with what had come before.
Despite the dreary winter, spring is coming, and the cherry blossoms at the Botanic Gardens were in full bloom to prove it. We arrived before noon, so entrance was free, another bonus for the day. This is a view a short way from the entrance.
The Cherry Blossoms in all their glory.
I wish I had a wide enough angle lens to catch this stately old tree in all it’s glory.
There were desert, temperate, and tropical greenhouses. Guess where this picture was taken:
This is a temperate plant, though I’m damned if I can remember what it is.
Actually, according to the sign, it was a “warm temperate” greenhouse, which included this pomegranate tree, which according to the sign is actually native to the Himalayas.
A few more views of the grounds:
Once again, I have no idea what these flowers are, but they were blooming outside.
It’s easy to forget you’re in the city, but all you have to do is look up to remind yourself.
After the gardens we took in the museum, which is well worth a trip. It seemed a bit more relaxed than the Manhattan museums, though it’s an imposing edifice on the outside:
As we approached the entrance we saw a number of people talking pictures of an exhibit in the entrance hall:
Which on closer inspection turned out to be this, which I decline to interpret:
As we entered, I learned from the fellow who inspected my backpack, that the above was the only exhibit that you were not allowed to photograph. This was somewhat at variance with what I’d observed so far, but he explained to me that he was the only one there, he was checking bags, and he wasn’t about to do two jobs (check bags and tell people not to take pictures), so pictures were taken without and perceptible adverse effects to the …ummm …work of art.
I didn’t really get any good pictures inside. I’m always hesitant to use a flash in places like that, and the light was too dim for using just available light. We spent most of our time looking at early American art, and perusing the visible storage room, where you can see much of the art they have stored away.
As we left (going down the stairs, in lieu of the elevator) who should appear outside a window but Lady Liberty, in all (actually maybe 1/20th) of her glory.
