If you're in New York City you've just gotta visit central park regardless of the season. This post covers some things you can do around Central Park :)
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| Central Park 77 - 84th Street. |
1. Go on a picnic!
Its summer! The best way to celebrate that is to grab some food and head to the green lungs of the city, Central Park! My apartment was 3 streets away from the park so I went picnicking not once but twice!
Sunlights so great here! And I finally get to wear my halter neck polo ralph top that my mum got more than 10 years back. Its summer all year around in Singapore, and the radio station said temperature might go to a high of 40deg today! But I never get to wear this cos' anything that's not a tee shirt is seen as skimpy, or perhaps I'm just too self conscious to wear this out - asian girls are thin!
Nothing fancy, just some bread, some butterhead lettuce, some mustard, tomato and a hard-boiled (or supposed hard-boiled) egg.
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| Table under the shade near the Great Lawn |
In the early summer, temperatures can dip to 12 degs suddenly and this is especially possible the day after a heavy rain. Been having crazy temperature fluctuation, hence I appreciated a picnic much more! The sun was greatly missed :)
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| Sandwich with Pastrami from Katz's |
No pictures of Katz's but this the restaurant, located in lower east side. This deli was established in 1888 and the pastrami here is fantastic! The man behind the counter gave us a really huge slice of pastrami even after we'd bought some to go. :) Smokey, salty, moist, tender, its everything you'd want in a smoked meat! Haven't had better pastrami. I think its even more juicy than the one I had in schwartz's in montreal (Read about that here)! Of course its not fair to make a comparison like that, so try both out yourself! Montreal is a mere 1.5 Hr flight (of 10 Hr train - Amtrak) out of New York City :)
2. Listen to a busker :)
What's better than a picnic? A picnic with music of course! Totally serenaded by this busker who brought us popular musical theme songs.
3. Visit the Belvedere Castle
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| Mini Castle :) |
The mini castle is the official location for the weather station in Central Park! They've info boards telling you about the biodiversity of the park. And if that doesn't interest you, perhaps this view would! Great photo op :)
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| View from the Belvedere Castle |
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| Playing with my miniature mode - Broccoli |
Check out the people frolicking on the green, its a lovely cool summer day!
4. Visit the Natural History Museum
Check out the map on top, the natural history museum is located on the west of the park entrance between 77th and 81st Street and Central Park West. I did a post on this on my previous trip there, do check it out here!
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| Stegosaurus! |
What? This is the 53rd year that Shakespeare in the park is running! Every year, Shakespeare's plays are performed here.
Cost? Thanks to the Bank of America, we get to watch these productions absolutely free! Nothing ever comes completely free, so you have to queue for tickets in the morning or join the last-min queue in the late afternoon at about 4pm. There is no guarantee you can get tickets so if you're really keen on watching a play, I suggest you head down in the morning.
One saturday morning, I entered the park and saw a queue around 92nd street. Puzzled, I asked what was on and was told its Shakespeare in the park! Means the queue spanned almost 10 streets because the box office is on 83rd.
This year's schedule is here.
I was really lazy to get up early to queue for tickets. It had been raining for 2 days straight now, so I didn't have high hopes that the show was gonna go on. But anyway, I eventually did join the queue at 11:50am (considered very late cos people start queueing at 8 or something - that's what I heard).
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| Standing in line |
When it reached me, they asked how many tickets I needed, and I only took enough. But that gave me the impression that you can actually ask for more, then pass them to your friends. o.o I don't know , if you're planning to queue for like 10 people then you should call the event organiser to check.
Was really happy when I got my tickets! But when I got there I realise I had gotten tickets for the highest row :( I guess, the early bird catches the worm! I woke late so there isn't much I can complain about. It really isn't that far from the stage but it was totally miserable at the top where its windy after the sun set and the temperature dropped to 11deg and I wasn't warmly dressed.
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| W seats are the top row seats! |
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| Cotton Candy Sky :) |
This beautiful sky is filled with planes taking off and landing at the nearby La Guardia airport and people on the helicopter tours.
Was in Central Park in the winter and the atmosphere is very different. In winter, people are balled up in heavy coats, some bury their faces in their scarves. Others enjoy a romantic stroll under the sparse trees which have started collecting snow. In summer, birds sing, ducklings follow their mum across the lake. Dads play baseball with their kids, mums are sitting under a huge shady tree with all the food she's prepared, watching them play.
Summer, oh dreamy summer.
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| Winter before the snow |
Ending my post with a photo of Central Park in winter :) Till later!
