This week has been filled with classic Summer specific NYC experiences, so not on the cards for you and Marcelina when you visit in October but no worries, New York has plenty to offer in the Fall (including comfortable weather). It was Labor Day weekend, a holiday, from what I can gather, to celebrate the working masses... by having a day off work. Apparently, most New Yorkers leave the city, but Ed and I remained, in order to experience it for the first time.
On Friday night we ventured to the Lincoln Center to sit in the square and watch a recording of The Met opera on the big screen, outdoors, in the balmy evenings that persist into September here. I've seen opera, live, in Verona, and it was enchanting and impressive on an epic scale, but there is something so New York about watching the opera accompanied by the dulcet sound of traffic and street vendors nearby. It was a great evening and we're already planning a live Met opera experience with Barney.
On Sunday we kayaked on the (absolutely massive) Hudson River and the view of the George Washington Bridge was incredible. Sadly there are no pictures from me as there was no guaranteeing that I wouldn't fall in... I didn't, but I was thoroughly soaked with all the splashing I was doing (there is a picture proving I was there though, at the end of the post). This was a recommendation from Ed's current supervisor, so we joined her on a beautifully sunny kayak trip down the river... during a hurricane. Well, I guess technically there wasn't a hurricane in Manhattan, but there was a hurricane warning that was intense enough to scare off seasoned New Yorkers... So I'm going to say that it was in a hurricane even though the weather was incredible enough for me to get a little sunburned despite the suncream (I know, water + sun = rookie mistake).
Oh and I forgot to mention - the opera and kayaking... FREE! New York offers some of the most incredible opportunities without having to dig into your pockets. Yes, it can be an extremely expensive city, however, it's super easy to have an amazing time without spending a dime.
So, to this week's photography. The first thing that I wanted to say is congrats on the awesome Something Old, Something New pic that you posted last week. I love the composition and it really made me want to up my game. However, you present a problem, the composition and style would have been exactly what I would want to produce and 1. I wasn’t sure if I could take a competing shot and 2. I don’t want to reproduce someone else’s style, I wanted to challenge myself to find a new perspective.
And now comes the reason why I’m a bad blogger and my Dear London post is late. I couldn’t find anything that I was passionate about. I took my camera out and took tons of pictures, but there was nothing that I wanted to be my shot on the chosen theme. None of the images inspired me.
This presented me with the question ‘Do I still want to put something out there, just because…’ and my answer was no. It really bugs me that I posted late BUT I was determined to find something I was proud of. I thought about Something Old, Something New and eventually found a perspective I liked and yesterday I walked ninety blocks down the Hudson Greenway to find it on the Highline, an old, above ground, railway line that has been transformed into a beautiful and most probably unique park.
I was really excited about the theme for last week as the exciting juxtaposition of old and new architecture is one of Ed’s favorite things about New York, he even suggested it a while ago and it was going to be my suggested theme for this week. So, I'm taking an image that would have fit perfectly into last week's theme and creating a new title: Iconic Buildings.
Happy Snapping.
New York x
p.s. Proof that I kayaked on the Hudson River in a hurricane... it turns out that taking a picture through a plastic bag looks like a hurricane filter worthy of Instagram..
