Sunday in New York City

Yesterday, I was finally able to properly explore New York City again after over a month of not being able to. This time, I visited on a Sunday, and the experience was completely different. While I usually visit towards the end of the day during the workweek when the city is packed with all sorts of people, this Sunday the city felt unusually quiet. This was a large juxtaposition to when I had to take the train into the city last Monday morning and found myself in the stream of Corporate America: a blur of suits, ties, neatly ironed blouses, and perfectly combed hair. From the trains I was swept towards the subways without even thinking about where I was going. It’s scary how I became so much a part of that crowd.

Sunday in New York City was much less crowded, but of course, there were still a lot of people. Walking through the residential parts of the city actually felt like I was walking through a place where people live, making a usually common sound of a car horn feel a bit out-of-place. Additionally, crossing an avenue during a red light is usually completely impossible, but as I walk defiantly across Park Avenue the lack of cars seemed a bit eerie.

This time I was with my family, who kept telling me that I am a very slow walker. When I am in New York City by myself, I never really notice my pace. I always thought that I walk at the same rate as the other general flow of people around me, but apparently I walk slowly. This is quite surprising, especially since I am almost six feet (182 cm) tall, and generally consider myself quite a fast walker. As I became more conscious of my speed, I noticed that I actually look around quite a lot. I guess I try to be observant and appreciative of my surroundings, and there is just so much to take in, but in New York everyone always looks forward and everyone always has somewhere to go. Maybe I stick out because of that and I don’t even realize it. Oh well.

We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and saw an exhibit on Catholic inspired clothing during the Medieval and Renaissance times, as well as one about the Versailles palace in France. I normally do not like taking photographs. I’ve tried, and maybe because my phone doesn’t have the highest quality camera, but the photos I take never give art the credit it deserves. Regardless, I was sometimes tempted to comply with all the other eager tourists snapping away on their phones without really looking at or appreciating the art, and here are my favorite photographs:

Stained Glass Windows at the Met

Here are some  photographs I took of New York City:

Notice how few cars there are!