Monday, November 30, 2015 Road Junkies 0 Comments

 Day   1:  Atlanta to Dublin
Gaelic Getaway  (1 Dec 15)

Day   2:  Dublin 

Day   3:  Dublin 
One for the Books  (3 Dec 15)

Day   4:  Dublin to Kilkenny

Day   5:  Kilkenny to Waterford 
Oh Mii, Oh My!  (5 Dec 15)

Day   6:  Waterford, Kilkenny & Cashel 
Castles in the Eire  (6 Dec 15)

Day   7:  Waterford 

Days 8-9:  Waterford 

Day 10:  Waterford to Cork 

Day 11:  Cork & Kinsale

Day 12:  Cork to Bantry 
Breaking the Bank  (12 Dec 15)

Day 13:  Bantry & Mizen Head
Coming to a Head  (13 Dec 15)

Day 14:  Bantry to Kenmare
An Arthurian Tale  (14 Dec 15)

Day 15:  Kenmare to Cahersiveen 
A Familiar Ring  (15 Dec 15)

Day 16:  Cahersiveen to Dingle
Dingle All the Way  (16 Dec 15)

Day 17:  Dingle to Tralee
The Road to Ruins  (17 Dec 15)

Days 18-20:  Tralee to Dublin
   
Day 21:  Dublin to Edinburgh
A Devil of a Day  (21 Dec 15)

Day 22:  Edinburgh
Down the Royal Mile  (22 Dec 15)

Day 23:  Edinburgh
Love It or Loathe It  (23 Dec 15)

Days 24-25:  Edinburgh
Off to See the Wizard  (24-25 Dec 15)

Days 26-27:  Edinburgh to Glasgow
Glorious Glasgow  (26-27 Dec 15)

Days 28-29:  Glasgow
Head Over Heels  (28-29 Dec 15)

Day 30:  Glasgow to Stirling
Over Our Heads  (30 Dec 15)

Day 31:  Stirling to Dundee
Rain Date  (31 Dec 15)

Day 32:  Dundee to Edinburgh
Course of Study  (1 Jan 16)

Day 33:  Edinburgh

Day 34:  Edinburgh
A Sunday Drive  (3 Jan 16)

Days 35-37:  Edinburgh to Home
space
space

Monday, November 09, 2015 Road Junkies 0 Comments

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, Chapter 7:
IN WHICH WE GET BEHIND THE WHEEL 
      
Saturday, 7 November
      
After pounding out more than 40 miles on the sidewalks of New York this week, we decided that we had earned a slow day.  Since we left at intermission the last two nights, we were ready to take a break from theatre as well.
      
Having been to New York many times, we enjoy seeking out new places to visit each time we return.  From our observations, the city has an inexhaustible array of worthwhile attractions.  On Saturday, our sights were set on Grant’s Tomb.  
    
Located on Riverside Drive at 122nd Street, the final resting place of President Ulysses S. Grant and his wife Julia is the largest mausoleum in North America.  Officially called the General Grant National Memorial, the granite and marble domed structure stands as a prominent architectural landmark visible from the Hudson River.
      
General Grant Memorial
Upon retirement from the White House, the Grants embarked on an extended world tour, moving to New York City when they returned.  When Grant died of throat cancer in 1885, he was a figure of worldwide renown, widely recognized as one of history’s great leaders and the pre-eminent American of his time. There was general agreement that his final resting place should reflect his stature.
      
New York City’s mayor offered to set aside space in one of the city’s developing parks for a memorial, and the family chose Riverside Park, one of Manhattan’s highest elevations, overlooking the Hudson River.  Amidst an outpouring of public grief, Grant was transported to the park in a massive funeral parade viewed by more than 1.5 million.  He was interred in a temporary tomb in the park.
     
Mosaics featured in lunettes around the circular crypt depict important moments from Grant's life, including the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appamattox.

Meanwhile, a committee was formed to raise funds and come up with the design for a grand memorial.  More than 90,000 donors from around the world contributed in excess of $600,000 for the project (almost $16 million in 2015 dollars).  The tomb was completed in 1897 and dedicated with great ceremony and another large crowd.  Julia Grant was interred beside her husband upon her death in 1902.
      
Just a couple hundred yards south of the Grant Memorial stands Riverside Church, a soaring Gothic cathedral.  With a bell tower that reaches almost 400 feet, Riverside is the tallest church in the United States.  Inspired by the architecture of France’s 13th century Gothic Chartres Cathedral, which took the better part of a century to build, Riverside was completed in 1930, just three years after construction began.  
      
Riverside Church (center) with Grant's Tomb on the left
Supported by a steel frame characteristic of skyscraper design, the church is faced with limestone decorated with exterior “buttresses” reflecting traditional Gothic cathedral elements.  Continuing its Gothic influence to the interior, the church sanctuary is ornately decorated with detailed carvings, engravings, stained glass and icons.
      
Riverside Church sanctuary
The church was conceived by John D. Rockefeller Jr. and a Christian liberal minister Harry E. Fosdick, who envisioned a large “interdenominational, interracial and international” congregation.  Indeed, the church is home to an interdenominational congregation comprised of more than 40 ethnic groups.  With its founder’s passion for social justice, Riverside has served as a focal point of national and global activism since its inception.  
      
With no plans for theater Saturday evening, we returned to Crossroads restaurant for dinner and turned in early.  Total walked:  4.5 miles
      
Sunday, 8 November
      
Sunday found us doing something else we’ve never done in New York City—renting a car.  We arose early and walked a mile south to pick up our vehicle at the 34th Street office of Hertz.  As with many activities, this one was inspired by letterboxing.  There were some boxes in cemeteries much too large to navigate by foot.  And Sunday morning was the only time we’d consider driving in this busy, busy city. 
      
Green-Wood's Gothic entrance at 25th Street
Our first destination was Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.  Founded in 1838 as a rural cemetery, Green-Wood covers almost 500 acres in western Brooklyn.  By the 1860s, Green-Wood had more than 100,000 burials.  With its lush landscaping and impressive monuments and sculptures, Green-Wood was attracting half a million visitors annually, second only to Niagara Falls as the nation’s most popular tourist attraction.  
      
Horace Greeley went east to reach his final resting place
Today the cemetery has 570,000 permanent residents, and we were there to find the graves of two historic figures, one well-known, the other not so much.  The first letterbox tribute we found was to Horace Greeley, founder and editor of the New York Tribune, who was known for his vigorous articulation of the North’s antislavery sentiments during the 1850s.  Despite his vigorous efforts in support of a medley of reforms, economic progress, and the elevation of the masses, Greeley is best remembered for a phrase he made famous in his advocacy of western expansion:  “Go West young man, go west.”
      
Bergh's unusual monument certainly made it easier to find
Unlike Greeley, whose name is remembered more than his work, Henry Bergh, whose grave we sought next is little remembered by name.  Yet most are familiar with his work.  In April 1866, Bergh founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (ASPCA) in New York City.   Modeled after Britain’s Royal SPCA , it is the oldest animal welfare organization in the United States.  Through the efforts of Bergh and other animal welfare pioneers, anti-cruelty laws were soon passed.  Today the nationwide organization provides direct assistance to half a million animals annually.
      
Calvary Cemetery
At Calvary Cemetery in Queens, we learned about another memorable New Yorker.  Like Green-Wood, Calvary was established as a rural cemetery in 1845.  It was founded by the trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which still manages the Catholic burial ground today.   Entrusted with more than 1,750,000 interments, Calvary is the densely populated cemetery visible from the expressways leading from LaGuardia Airport into Manhattan.
      
No burial at sea for Kate
We went to Calvary to find the grave of Miss Katherine Gilnagh (later, Katherine Gilnagh Manning.)  Kate’s sister Mollie had emigrated to the United States from Ireland in 1911 and found work in Manhattan.   Once she settled in, Mollie sent word for her sister to join her.  Sixteen-year-old Kate bought third-class passage on the Titanic and boarded in Queenstown, the ship’s last port of call.  
      
On the night the ship sank, Kate struggled to make her way onto a lifeboat because the ship’s crew prioritized the rescue of higher fare passengers.  Eventually, she secured a position on a lifeboat after claiming her sister was on the same vessel.  Kate recounted later she did not comprehend the magnitude of the disaster and naïvely thought that this was the regular, if difficult, way to make it to America.  Once united with sister Mollie, Kate settled in New York and soon met the Irish immigrant who would become her husband.  She died in 1971 at the age of 75. 
      
After our explorations of these magnificent cemeteries, we finally made our way back to Midtown Manhattan and returned the car to Hertz at 3 pm.  We walked to SW44 restaurant for dinner and returned to the hotel to pack up for our return home.   Miles walked Sunday:  4.0
      
Monday, 9 November
      
After a morning at the hotel catching up on some personal business, we caught a taxi to LaGuardia at 1:30.  Our flight left late but arrived early in Atlanta.  And all was well when we arrived at home.
     
SATURDAY, 7 NOVEMBER - MONDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 2015
With sunset before 5 pm, we had a good look at the city's lights when our flight left New York at 5:30.

  

Friday, November 06, 2015 Road Junkies 0 Comments

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, Chapter 6:
IN WHICH THE GRASS IS GREENER ON THE NORTH SIDE
      
If it’s Friday, it’s time to explore some of New York’s green spaces—and find some letterboxes, of course.  We started in Central Park, where the clues for our hidden treasures took us to parts of the park we hadn’t visited before.  Though it’s only the fifth-largest park in New York, it is by far its most visited with about 40 million visitors annually.  In addition, Central Park is by far the most filmed location in the world, having scenes featured in more than 500 films.
      
Central Park's Dairy
When the park was opened before the Civil War, the southern portion was considered the “children’s district” by designer Frederick Law Olmstead.  At that time, the park’s location was rather remote from the heart of the city below 38th Street, 30 or more blocks south.  Since one of the critical needs of children in that era was fresh milk, a dairy was constructed so families could find a ready supply of milk near the entrance to the park. Still called the Dairy, the building serves today as a visitor center and provides the public with information rather than milk.  It also serves as the official Central Park gift shop.
      
Central Park Mall
The next letterbox took us on a stroll down Central Park’s Mall, designed as a formal promenade and gathering space.  Said to be the only straight path in the park, the mall is lined with American elm trees, selected for their curvy branches, which create a canopy that mimics an architectural space.  In the late 19th century, numerous statues of renowned writers such as Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott were placed along the mall’s southern section, giving it the nickname the Literary Walk.  
      
Robert Burns on the Literary Walk
Central Park is so expansive that it even includes a yacht club, albeit the boats are only models.  From March to November, members of the club race their model boats across Conservatory Water, the pond adjacent to the clubhouse.  Unfortunately for us, the races occur on Saturday mornings so we were a day early but did see some sailors enjoying a cruise.
      
Model yachts on the Conservatory Water
Though our aversion to musicals has quashed any interest in Broadway’s 2015 uber hit show Hamilton, our interest in history propelled us to visit the summer country estate of the real Alexander Hamilton.  In 1798, Hamilton purchased 34 acres of farmland in Upper Manhattan.  The picturesque property was wooded and watered by two streams. Its 200-ft elevation offered expansive views of the rivers bordering Manhattan on both the east and west.  Completed in 1802, the Grange was named for the ancestral Hamilton home in Scotland.
      
Hamilton Grange
Subsequent to Hamilton’s death in 1804, his widow moved to Washington, DC, and sold the home.  As the city grew around the house, time brought many changes to the Grange—different owners, uses, and even locations.   Finally in 1924, it was purchased by a preservation group and turned into a museum.  
    
When the National Park Service gained ownership in 1964, the home was sandwiched between a church and an apartment building.  In 2008, the Grange was moved 500 feet to St. Nicholas Park, within the boundaries of Hamilton’s original parcel.  After a complete restoration to its original design, it was opened in 2011 as Hamilton Grange National Memorial.
      
The last stop on our park tour today was Fort Tryon Park .  Located on a ridge above the Hudson River, the park was gifted to the city of New York by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.  With a series of private property purchases, Rockefeller assembled a 67-acre parcel for his vision of a public park overlooking the river.  Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., the son of Central Park’s visionary, was hired to design the park and oversee its construction.  Extending from 192nd Street north to Riverside Drive, Fort Tryon Park was dedicated for public use in 1935.
      
Fort Tryon Park
Fort Tryon, named for the last British governor of the colony of New York, had been established at this location, and a November 1776, battle was fought here between American colonial forces and Hessian mercenaries.   American soldier Margaret Corbin, for whom the southern entrance road to the park is named,  became the first woman to fight in the war and was injured during the battle.
      
The letterbox we found which honors this early American hero offered additional information about her.  “Among those killed that day was a man named John Corbin, of the 1st Company of Pennsylvania Artillery. His 25-year-old wife, Margaret, was with him at the battle. She saw him killed by British fire, and when he went down, she took over his position at a small cannon. It was a vulnerable position, and she soon was wounded by grapeshot. She survived the battle, and all were impressed by her bravery.”
      
TKTS guides advise theater patrons waiting in line to buy tickets.
By the time we left Fort Tryon, we had walked more than seven miles and were ready to hop the subway for a return to our Times Square hotel.  One of the advisors at the TKTS booth recommended The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night and convinced us to buy tickets.  We later learned that his taste in theater and ours were not compatible.  Even though the play has garnered rave reviews, it just wasn’t for us and we left at the first intermission.
     
FRIDAY, 6 NOVEMBER 2015 

Central Park's Turtle Pond

Thursday, November 05, 2015 Road Junkies 0 Comments

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 
Chapter 5:
IN WHICH A LEGEND REVEALS HIS FEET OF CLAY
       

Ken had kindly agreed to accompany me to visit some New York sites related to Project Runway today.  First up was Parsons School of Design.  Located at 7th Avenue and 40th Street W, Parsons has been the home of the Project Runway workroom and runway since the show’s inception in 2004.  
       
PR’s beloved mentor Tim Gunn, who was an instructor at the school, initially joined the show as an off-camera advisor.  The rest is fashion TV history as Gunn moved on screen and became an accidental break-out star of the popular show now airing its 14th season. 
        
The old Parsons School location
Wondering whether we’d be permitted to visit the PR spaces, we were both surprised to arrive at 7th and 40th to find a demolition project underway.   The familiar tan exterior featured in PR establishing shots now boasted scars where the signage letters had been and a shroud of scaffolding.  The building is being demolished so a 29-story hotel can be built there, and Parsons School has moved to Greenwich Village.
       
Swatch turned out to be one of those TV stars who doesn't engage with his fans.
A short five-minute walk from the old Parsons location, the Mood fabric store, made famous by dozens of televised shopping trips by Tim Gunn and the PR designers is still fully operational in the heart of the Garment District.  We even had a chance to meet Swatch, the store’s Boston terrier mascot.  Of course, like all PR fans, we left the store imitating Tim Gunn’s standard words of departure: “Thank you, Mood!”
       
The original Morgan Library building
Next stop was a place on Ken’s list, the Morgan Library in the Murray Hill neighborhood.   After he became one of America’s wealthiest financiers in the late 1800s , J. Pierpont Morgan began investing his personal fortune in fine art.  To dodge American import taxes on the art, he stashed his impressive collection in his English country home.  His acquisition targets turned to rare books after he discovered that these were exempt from such taxes.  
       
By 1902, he had filled the basement of his Madison Avenue home to overflowing with these artifacts and decided to build a library on the adjacent property to house the collection.  The library was built in a classical style based on villas of the Italian Renaissance and faced with Tennessee pink marble. Morgan wanted the most perfect structure that human hands could build and didn’t care what it cost.  For example, he added $50,000 to the cost by ordering the use of dry masonry, with the marble blocks cut to fit together so precisely there was no need for joints or mortar.  (That’s $1.35 million in today’s dollars.)
       
Morgan Library rotunda
Completed in 1906, the building served as Morgan’s personal library during his lifetime.  In 1924, eleven years after his death,  J.P. Morgan, Jr. transformed the library into a public institution, fulfilling his father’s ambition of making the library and its collection available to scholars and the public.
     
In Morgan’s day, visitors entered the library through the rotunda, with its monumental marble columns, intricately patterned floor, and opulent mosaic panels.  Ceiling paintings depict great literary eras represented in Morgan’s collection—the Renaissance, Middle Ages, and antiquity.
       
Morgan's East Room
The exquisite East Room was designed as a repository for Morgan’s rare printed books.  With three-story walnut bookshelves and ornately embellished ceiling, the room exudes the essence of the treasury that it is.  
       
The West Room
During his later years, Morgan spent many hours in the West Room, his richly decorated private study.  This was where he relaxed and met with associates.  His portrait hangs above the fireplace, and many of his favorite woks of art adorn the walls.
       
Since it was opened to the public,  the library, which has expanded into several adjacent buildings, has continued to acquire rare materials and manuscripts.  A major expansion to the campus was completed in 2006, adding exhibition space, a performance hall, restaurant, shop and other facilities.  The addition connected the various buildings with a lofty steel-and-glass court.
              
Morgan's court brings disparate parts together.
Around the corner from the Morgan, we enjoyed a delectable lunch at Franchia, a vegan café, before heading back toward the Doubletree at Times Square.  On the way, we detoured a bit to find a couple of letterboxes hidden at the esteemed main branch of the New York Public Library, one inside the building and one outside nearby.
       
Admirable in its own right.  New York Public Library main branch
Back at Times Square, we broke our own rule and paid full price for tickets to tonight’s performance of China Doll with Al Pacino at the Schoenfeld Theatre.  After a rest at the hotel, we returned to Crossroads Restaurant in the Marriott Marquis.  Just can’t stop going back for the incredible cauliflower “steak.”
       
We’ve admired Al Pacino’s work in film for many years, so we were pretty excited about seeing him perform live.  Ten minutes into act one, we realized that though his glory hasn’t faded (yet), his acting certainly has.
       
In this David Mamet two-actor play, Pacino played a besieged billionaire who bullies his cowed assistant.  Most of the seasoned performer’s lines were spoken into a telephone, at various volumes.  Even while seated in a chair, he seemed to stumble from one line to the next .  Later we read a rumor that he was being fed his lines through the phone prop.
       
"What's my line?"
Naively, we were shocked.  The production is still in previews, so we’ve had no opportunity to see any reviews, which are not published until after the official opening night.  One of us made it to the first intermission; one fled to the lobby before the end of act one.  Ushers confided that audience members are fleeing the theater at the intermission every night.   We walked back to the hotel disgusted at the princely sum we paid for tickets to this drivel.
       
THURSDAY, 5 NOVEMBER 2015

Wednesday, November 04, 2015 Road Junkies 0 Comments

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, Chapter 4:  
IN WHICH WE EXPERIENCE MISERY OF ONE KIND AND ANOTHER

Having trudged almost 20 miles around the streets of New York in the last three days, we began the day a bit fatigued, which we offer up as an excuse for our repeated disorientation and missteps today.  As the day began, we walked to the 50th Street subway station and took the #1 train north.  After a couple of stops, we realized we were on the wrong train and got off at 66th, grabbing the correct train back south to Christopher Street.
     space  
Our quest at the corner of Christopher and Seventh Avenue was a letterbox commemorating a quirky bit of New York history.  The iconic Village Cigar Store has been located at that corner since the early 20th century. On the sidewalk directly in front of the entrance is the Hess Triangle, a tile mosaic trod upon unnoticed by thousands of people each day.  Wording on the plaque reads, Property of the Hess Estate which has never been dedicated for public purposes.
     space  
The Hess Triangle
The plaque is the remnant of a dispute between the city of New York and David Hess, a landlord from Philadelphia, who owned a five-story apartment building that once stood at this location.  In the early 1910s, the city decided to widen Seventh Avenue and extend the subway to Christopher Street.  Invoking its power of eminent domain, the city condemned and demolished 253 buildings in the area, including Hess’s apartment house.  
     space  
Hess fought the action in court, losing the original case and several appeals.  Thanks to a surveying error, the defiant landlord was able to get the last word.  He discovered that when the seized property was platted, a small corner was left off the city’s new deed.  Hess claimed ownership of that tiny piece and had the tile mosaic installed.  
     space  
It comes as no surprise that Hess refused the city’s request for him to donate the tiny parcel to New York.  The spot remained the smallest piece of property in New York City well into the 1930s.  Figuring the point had been made, the Hess estate sold the tiny triangle to the owners of the cigar store in 1938 for $100.  Owners left the Hess triangle intact as reminder that you can fight city hall, even if you don’t gain nearly as much as you lose in the process.
     space  
A reminder of Spain on Perry Street
Mr. Hess vs. City Hall was a perfect example of the kind of letterbox we enjoy most.  Even though the box itself had disappeared, we still had the opportunity to learn a fascinating tidbit of New York history.  Just around the corner from Mr. Hess’s statement triangle, we did find a letterbox near another reminder of New York history.  During the 19th and 20th centuries, numerous Spanish immigrants came to the city.  Many settled in an area known as Little Spain, which extended along the Hudson River from Christopher to 23rd Street.  
     space  
Of the many expressions of Spanish culture in the area, one at 88 Perry Street stands out—a striking blue and white tiled blind arch on the side of an apartment building.  Constructed in 1868, the building was purchased in 1970 by Manuel Jimenez, who opened a Spanish antique shop in the ground floor storefront and added the blue tile mural.  The tiles contrast brilliantly with the building’s painted red brick façade.  The date 1868 on the mural reflects the year the building was completed.  And, for the record, we did find the letterbox whose clue took us to this interesting spot.
     space  
The Jane Hotel
Our next letterboxing clue introduced us to another fascinating bit of New York heritage, also in Greenwich Village.  The Jane Hotel, located fittingly on Jane Street, began life in 1908 as a hotel specifically for sailors with rooms resembling ship’s cabins.  In 1912, survivors of the Titanic stayed at the hotel during the hearings into the ship’s sinking.  Survivors from the crew held a memorial service at the hotel four days after the disaster.  
     space  
In the 1940s, the YMCA took over the hotel.  When that organization moved elsewhere some 40 years later, the Jane became a popular place with New York’s bohemian culture, hosting numerous rock-and-roll events.  Today, the hotel prides itself in appealing to guests with “more dash than cash” as its rooms, which still look like sailor’s quarters with shared bathrooms, have changed very little since it opened.   For the record, the letterbox here was missing.
     space  
The High Line
More awaited with the next letterbox clue, which took us to a place we had been wanting to visit since we first heard about it several years ago.  The High Line is an elevated linear park and trail created on a viaduct built for rail traffic in the 1930s.  Many proposals had been advanced to demolish the structure since it fell into disuse in the 1980s.  But locals united to advocate transforming the former rails to a trail and park area. 
     
Great letterbox tribute to New York's newest park
The first phase of the transformation was completed and opened to the public in 2009, with another section added last year.  With more still to come, it has become one of the city’s favorite green spaces, and we could see why.  Finding two letterboxes hidden in the park gave us a good opportunity to explore this innovative addition.
     space  
The colorful Lion yarn store
Walking to 15th Street to search for a letterbox at a yarn store, we again took a couple of wrong turns due to fatigue.  After finally locating the box, we walked to nearby Union Square for a picnic lunch, followed by a ride on the Q train back to Times Square.
     space  
After a brief rest at the Doubletree, we walked to the TKTS booth and bought tickets for the 2 p.m. matinee for Misery.  We noticed that a long line of people had already formed on the sidewalk at 1:30, comingled with the line for Matilda, which was playing next door.
     space  
People lined up to experience Misery
We debated getting in line and asked a woman who seemed official about the line.  She offered dire warnings about not being in line and the doors closing at performance time.  So we joined the queue and chatted with a couple from New Jersey.  When the doors opened, the line moved quickly, and we were in our seats by 1:50.
     space  
Bruce Willis and Laurie Metcalfe in Misery
Never having read the Stephen King book or seen the movie with Kathy Bates, we found the performance excellent.  Laurie Metcalf was convincing as a crazed fan, and Bruce Willis was okay as writer Paul.  The ingenious revolving four-section set allowed the audience to follow the action from room to room and even to the cabin’s “snowy” exterior.  Riveting music—often just one note on harp or base repeated with effect—added to the suspense. 
     space  
After the performance, we had dinner nearby and returned to the hotel.  Exhausted, we fell into bed before 8 p.m., hoping extra rest will revive us for tomorrow.
     
WEDNESDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 2015

Tuesday, November 03, 2015 Road Junkies 0 Comments

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, Chapter 3:  
IN WHICH FERRIS BUELLER TAKES THE DAY OFF

We left the hotel just after 9 a.m. and went around the corner to catch the R train to Whitehall station.  Walking along the battery, we passed the Staten Island ferry and Liberty ferry on our way to Castle Clinton with its collection of exhibits relating the fort's history.
   space   
Castle Clinton
The sandstone fort was built in 1811 as one of five forts erected to defend New York Harbor.  The fort originally stood on a small island that was linked to Manhattan by a 200-ft wooden causeway and drawbridge.  In the 1850s, landfill extended Battery Park to this point.
     
The D-shaped fort held 28 cannons, but never saw military action.  In 1823, the U.S. Army gave Castle Clinton to New York City, which used the structure for a variety of purposes over the next century.  After its designation as a National Monument in 1946, Castle Clinton was restored to its original appearance as a stone fort, and now serves as a National Park Service visitor center. 
    
Cool Globes
From Castle Clinton, we walked to Pier A and saw the Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet public art installation.  The brain-child of founder Wendy Abrams, Cool Globes is her way of capturing the public’s attention to the complex problems that face our planet today. Begun as a Clinton Global Initiative commitment in 2005, this non-profit organization first premiered in Chicago before moving across the country. In 2009, Cool Globes began its International tour in Copenhagen. This month, in sync with Climate Week, Cool Globes arrived in Battery Park City.
   
While the Chicago exhibit featured more than 125 globes, the current installation at Pier A in Battery Park City consists of twelve. Each of the globes is five feet in diameter and carries a message on the accompanying pedestal. The globes have been designed by a variety of people. Not just artists, but musicians, actors, athletes and even elected officials. They are divided into categories with thirty of the overall globes titled “Voices”, whereby prominent individuals lend their voice to this project, and thirty titled Solutions,” highlighting simple ideas that we all can adopt.
    
Trinity Church
Continuing north, we stopped at the magnificent Trinity Church, a historic Episcopal congregation at the corner of Broadway and Wall Street.  First established in 1696, Trinity is now in its third building, erected from 1839 to 1846.  It was the tallest building in the United States until 1869, as well as the tallest in New York City until 1890.
   
Trinity interior
Located just a block from the New York Stock Exchange, Trinity played a significant role during the American Revolution and in the lives of the colonists who would go on to found this country.  George Washington attended a service at Trinity after his first inauguration at nearby Federal Hall, and Alexander Hamilton is buried in the church's graveyard.
   
Federal Hall is dwarfed by the surrounding high-rise buildings.
From Trinity, we walked the short distance to Federal Hall at 26 Wall Street.  The name originally referred to a federal style building on the same site completed in 1703 as City Hall.  The current Greek revival style building, designed as a Custom House, was completed in 1842.  Today it is operated by the National Park Service as Federal Hall Memorial in recognition of the spot where George Washington took the oath as president for the first time in United States history.
    
A 1790 engraving depicting Washington's 1789 inauguration at the original Federal Hall
From Federal Hall, we continued east on Wall Street to the corner of Water Street, where we caught the M15 bus north to the corner of Madison and Catherine at the entrance to Chinatown.  Oddly, we were there to visit a historic New York synagogue.
   space  
Eldridge Street Synagogue
Now a national historic landmark, the Eldridge Street Synagogue was built in 1887 before European Jews moved out and an immigrant community from China moved into the neighborhood.  It was the first great house of worship built in America by Eastern European Jews.  A small group continues to worship there weekly.  

Between 1881 and 1924, more than 2.5 million Jews from Eastern Europe immigrated to the U.S.  Nearly 80% settled on New York’s Lower East Side.  The Eldridge Street Synagogus’s grand design and obvious religious symbols proudly announced the Jewish presence in this immigrant neighborhood.  For many immigrants, it was the first time they were able to worship freely and openly.
      
Eldridge Street Synagogue interior
By the 1950s the congregation had shrunk, and Jews moved away from the Lower East Side.  Eventually it became too expensive for the much smaller congregation to maintain the physical building and it fell into severe disrepair, on the verge of collapse.  
     
In 1986, a project was initiated to restore the synagogue building and open it to the public.  Twenty years later, the massive restoration was completed.  The synagogue’s design combines many styles including Gothic, Moorish, and Romanesque.  
   
The museum is housed in an old tenement building closed to residents in 1935.
After a brief lunch break, we checked out the Lower East Side Tenement Museum at 97 Orchard Street, which memorializes the historic living conditions of immigrants in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  Tours are offered of recreated homes and businesses inside the museum's two restored historic tenement buildings.
     
As close as we were permitted to get to New York city hall
In search of a letterbox, we made our way to New York's City Hall.  When we asked an NYPD guard about visiting city hall, he said it was closed to the public.  Only those with official business can enter City Hall park. That just seemed wrong for what is by definition a public building belonging to the citizens of New York.
   
Ready for some rest, we took the R train north to 49th Street and stopped by the Times Square TKTS booth on the way back to our room at the Doubletree.  After a rest, we went out and had a mediocre dinner at a restaurant near the hotel before walking over to the Cort Theatre for the evening performance of Sylvia.
     
Matthew Broderick and Annaleigh Ashford in Sylvia
On the surface, the play is about Greg, a married man in Manhattan who bonds with a stray dog in Central Park who has a tag around her neck saying Sylvia.  He takes her home, much to the consternation of his wife.  As Greg, Matthew Broderick's performance was dull and wooden.  His tone, pace, volume and intonation defined monotony.  He seemed to have no connection with other actors or his devoted fans.  
     
In contrast, Annaleigh Ashford, who played Sylvia, was convincing as the canine, dashing about in fanciful doggy-like couture, and spouting a constant impulsive stream-of-consciousness dialogue.  She hilariously sniffs strangers' crotches and butt-scoots across the carpet.  And for us, she saved the production.  Our accolades definitely went to the "dog."
     
TUESDAY, 3 NOVEMBER 2015