Exploring home

I find it particularly interesting (and mildly sad) that while people are extremely eager to explore every inch of a city that they’re visiting on vacation, they are much less willing to explore the cities they spend every day in.

I am guilty of this myself, and am quite ashamed of my lack of NYC exploration — especially since I have the opportunity to live in a city that a lot of people spend lots of money and time to come and visit.

Alix and I on the Staten Island ferry (which I had been on
before ... A LOT) checking out Lady Liberty

Two years ago, my friend from London, Alix, came to visit for the week of Thanksgiving, and she, much to my embarrassment, knew of more things to do in New York than I did! And we had a blast. I showed her some things, she showed me others, and I learned a lot about the city that I have lived in or around for pretty much my whole life.

I had a similar experience this past weekend with my boyfriend exploring Fort Tryon Park (located at the very top of that little sliver of land on the West Side that points up to the Bronx). All it took to get there was an elevator ride up from the 190 St. station on the A line — the stop I get off at practically every other day when I stay with him — and all of a sudden, I was in what seemed like a completely different city, with a gorgeous view of the Hudson River and the beautiful green space across the river in New Jersey. Honestly, I felt like I was in a park in Europe.

The weather was better than perfect, and we spent the majority of the afternoon walking through the park up to the Cloisters — an actual European cloister up on a hill in the park that serves as part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and houses a significant chunk of the Met’s medieval art collection, including the famous “Unicorn” tapestries. Needless to say, I had a great day exploring a part of my own city that I honestly didn’t even know existed. And, frankly, I was pretty sad to leave my newly discovered little city on a hill to go back down to Washington Heights and the gritty streets I’m so familiar with.

I think it’s very easy to take for granted being in a wonderful, vibrant city when it’s the place you call home. Exploring Hyde Park in London is exciting and new; and yet exploring Central Park or Prospect Park doesn’t seem to be (even though there are areas of both that I’ve never even stepped in).

My weekend experience fueled in me the desire to find more hidden, not-so-hidden, treasures in and around NYC ... and at least I got a blog post out of it ;-).

What are some of your favorite spots in the cities you live in that not everyone might know about?