Cloisters

My older daughter sent me the following information about one of her favorite places in NYC:

Beautiful, peaceful, and less than an hour away from Manhattan, Cloisters is one of the crown jewels of the NY museums.
A museum within a museum, it was pieced together from five European medieval abbeys and contains some wonderful and rare examples of medieval art that date from the twelfth through the fifteenth century. Among Cloisters' masterpieces are an early fifteenth-century French illuminated book of hours, The Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry; a richly carved, twelfth-century ivory cross attributed to the English abbey of Bury Saint Edmunds; stained-glass windows from the castle chapel at Ebreichsdorf, Austria; and of course, the famous Unicorn Tapestry.

The moment you step in, you feel like you're transported back into the Middle Ages and even if you're not much into medieval art, the museum collection is admirable. Don't forget to check out the Cloisters' Treasury, a room tucked away in a corner of the museum, right before you step out into the gardens. It's where the real gems of the place are stored, including the Cloisters Cross. Seeing them all in one room may take your breath away. They are incredible in real life! If you're lucky, you may catch one of the staff-guided tours during the visit. The schedule of the tours is available at the front desk. The Cloisters museum and gardens offers highlights tours, gallery talks, family workshops, and special events for visitors of all ages. During our visit, we were able to listen to a child's author read his book about a medieval knight and then take part in a "spot that piece of art" treasure hunt that enabled the kids to learn more about the legends and history of the Middle Ages.

I think it's best to visit the Cloisters in the summer, when the gardens are in full bloom. The beautiful grounds right outside of the abbey's walls also make for a great picnic area and get that picnic basket ready because- and this is the only downside to this wonderful place- the cafeteria offers very limited, very expensive, and very unappealing choices!

Museum's suggested entrance fee for adults is $25, which of course means that you can pay as much as you would like. To learn how to get there go to

http://www.metmuseum.org/en/visit/visit-the-cloisters/getting-to-the-cloisters.

The High Line in NYC

I’d like to invite you for a nice walk on The High Line along the Hudson River. 

The High Line is a public park built on a 1.45-mile-long elevated rail structure running from Gansevoort St to W. 34th St. on Manhattan's West Side.
What used to be a freight rail line in operation from 1934 to 1980 has been turned into a very pretty park raised above the city streets with views of the Hudson River and the city skyline.
The High Line runs through three of Manhattan's most dynamic neighborhoods: the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea, and Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton. You can find the detailed map on http://www.thehighline.org/about/maps. 

You can bring you own food basket or enjoy the various eateries along The High Line  from http://www.thehighline.org/about/high-line-food.

By the way, New York’s City’s hugely successful High Line isn’t the first elevated urban railroad bed to be converted into a much-loved linear park.  The elevated park in Paris la Promenade Plantée was the model for the High Line.

Projects similar to the High Line are now in early stages in St. Louis, Philadelphia, Jersey City, Chicago, and Rotterdam.

Time off

Because this is a holiday week and many have taken off, I have decided to take off as well. I hope everyone enjoys their holiday and time off. Stay cool during this heat wave. I will see you all next week.

Storm King Art Center

Storm King Art Center www.stormking.org is one of the world’s leading sculpture parks and has welcomed visitors from across the globe for fifty years. It is located only one hour north of New York City, in the lower Hudson Valley. It is a beautiful, peaceful, very sunny place, different and great during all seasons.

My advice: after parking the car take your time walking through Meadows to Museum Hills.
After that, take the elevator down and get on the tram (running every 30 min). You'll give a rest to your feet and learn some interesting facts from the commentary provided on the tram.
The tram makes many stops on its way, but there is no guaranty the seats will be available at every stop. You can go all the way and come back to the elevator (this stop is close to the South and Upper Parking lots) or you can get off at the Three Legged Buddha or Storm King Wall (author A. Goldsworthy)., After walking around South Fields you can take the tram or walk to your parking lot.

Hours: Beginning April 4, 2012, Wednesday through Sunday, 10:00 am to 5:30 pm (grounds remain open until 8:00 pm on Saturdays, May 26–September 1, and on Sunday May 27 and Sunday September 2; until 5:00 pm in November). The place closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, except for the Monday holidays marking Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and Columbus Day. Open only on weekends after November 11 (November 17–18 and 24–25). The 2012 Storm King season closes on November 25.
Fees:  Adults $12
           Senior Citizens (65 and older) $10
           College Students (with valid id) and Students (K-12) $8
           Children under 5 Free
The complimentary map is provided at the entrance.

Touring Storm King by bicycle is another great way to experience the art and landscape Storm King offers. Visitors may rent adult bicycles. For details about go to http://www.stormking.org/visit/bike-rentals/.

For navigation systems, MapQuest, or Google maps, please use the following address:
1 Museum Road, New Windsor, NY 12553.
Finally, very important: there is Storm King State Park and Storm King School you probably see on your way - please do not confuse them with Storm King Art Center.

Great News

With summer in full swing, I'm receiving many questions about possible destinations for vacations, long weekends and one day excursions. I am always more than happy to help with advice, however I realized that even though some places I think would be worth a visit have been described previously on my blog, they might not be easy to find right now, since so many articles have been posted over the past ?? years/months?.

Therefore, I created the Geographical Archive, dividing all posts, old and future, into 3 categories:

Tristate area (NY-NJ-CT)Around the US Around the World.

I also created the Helpful information tab, where you'll find different general information about traveling, i.e. websites, travel insurance, and hot travel deals of the week.

All 4 tabs are now located right under Blog title on the home page - next to "Contact me" tab.
Each post's title has the month and the year the post was originally posted. To go to particular article you would like to read, click on right site of the page on the month of the year the article was posted and you you'll get to desire article, without browsing the entire blog page by page.

The future posts will continue appearing on the home page and at the same time will be added to Geographical Archive for future reference.

Finally, I'd like to remind you that there are two ways to keep in touch with my blog:

One - to go directly to www.friendstravelclub.blogspot.com and check the new posts every week- you might want to place this web address in your Favorites for quicker access.

The other - go to www.friendstravelclub.blogspot.com, type your e-mail address in Follow by e-mail field and follow the prompts. Once you confirm you want to be subscribed to my blog, every new post will be automatically delivered to your e-mail address.

If you'd like to make a comment to any of the articles, just click on Comment below that article.

And last but not least- I want to thank all those who send me stories and information about the places you visited to share with my readers.

Have a great summer,

Liliya

lemkovsblog@gmail.com

Barcelona, Spain

My younger daughter's friend Victoria sent this article:

I would like to share my recent experience in Barcelona.  I was there 5 days at the end
of April.   The weather was perfect for walking; there was no need for heavy coat or to hide in a shade every 10 minutes.  Five days was not enough to see all of the city but perfect for the major attractions.  Firstly the Gaudi houses, Casa Milà and Casa Batlló, unfinished church Sagrada Familia, and Park Güell are must see!  The vision of this architect is unbelievable and leaves you breathless because of the immense imagination of this man.  The recommendation that I would make is when going to the park, if it is during warmer months, plan on having a picnic there.  The park is huge and beautiful.  It overlooks the city.  Get some tapas, a bottle of wine and enjoy! 

Speaking of food, the must go to place for incredibly delicious tapas and wonderful sangria is Ciudad Condal ( Rambla de Catalunya, 18, Barcelona).  The food was so unbelievable that I had to return to the restaurant again before leaving the city.  Walking around the city it was also absolute pleasure to stop in at one of the restaurants with outside seating and enjoy a glass of Cava, (Spanish sparkling wine remarkably similar to champagne), while people watching. 

Another wonderful part of the city is the old town, which you can enter from Las Ramblas, one of
the most famous boulevards in the world. Get lost a bit in the old town, and come to the Barcelona Cathedral, which is remarkable inside and allows one to go up to the roof with an incredible view of the city. 

The other must see place is Montserrat .You can get there on your own or take a tour.  If you choose a tour make sure it allows you enough time to roam inside the monastery.   Please do not miss the market in Montserrat on the way back to the city.  Local farmers sell their products there.  The cheese was unbelievable!!!  For practical information about visiting Montserrat go to http://wikitravel.org/en/Montserrat_(Spain).

Finally, last recommendation I have is to visit a Flamenco show.  The show I visited was at Tablao Flamenco Cordobes (http://www.tablaocordobes.com/tablao_flamenco/general/en/1/), which was spectacular and powerful.  The seating was a bit uncomfortable but the show was so breathtaking that you forget about being so close to your neighbor.

Enjoy this wonderfully charming city! 

DuPont Sites in Delawere, Part 2

Once a DuPont family country retreats, Winterthur's 1,000 acres encompass rolling hills, streams, meadows, and forests. Founder Henry Francis DuPont (1880-1969) developed an appreciation of nature as a boy that served as the basis for his life's work in the garden. He selected the choicest plants from around the world to orchestrate a succession of bloom from late January to November. For a listing of Winterthur plants that flower, berries, and foliage in summer and fall, go to Summer Color in the Garden or Fall Color in the Garden on the Winterthur website www.winterthur.org/

If you are going to Gardens with kids, do not forget to visit Enchanted Woods, a unique children's garden. In a three-acre plot of the Winterthur Garden, the fairy folk created a magical landscape for children of all ages!

Winterthur has now a new exhibit “Uncorked! Wine, Objects & Tradition” on view until January 6, 2013.The exhibition features wine-related materials totaling more than 300 objects associated with the history of wine drinking, especially in Britain and America If you are into wine or even if you’re not the variety and descriptions of the items are fascinating.
You can also raise a glass in toast to this fascinating exhibition by participating in various related events. There are guided gallery walks of the exhibition every Saturday and Sunday at 11:30 am, 1:00 pm, and 2:00 pm. To get more details about this exhibition go to www.winterthur.org/uncorked.

Winterthur offers the variety of dining and visitors are welcome to picnic on-site.

We had only about two hours to spend in this beautiful place, so we are definitely planning to come back. Besides, we were not able to visit the most beautiful of the DuPont Mansions- Nemours Mansion, for which advanced reservations are highly recommended. The reservations office is open Monday through Friday, 8:30AM - 4PM. To make reservation, call (302) 651-6912 or e-mail to tours@nemours.org.

Finally, I’d like to recommend the hotel where we stayed during out trip, Hotel Super 8 in Pennsville, NJ. The reason we booked it was the rate, great location just off I-295 at the foot of the Delaware Memorial Bridge on NJ side, and reviews on various travel sites. Upon check-in, the room we were assigned did not have a working TV remote and telephone. To make up for the inconvenience, within 15 minutes of reporting the problem, we were offered a suite. The front desk personnel recommended a great place for dinner – Riverside Inn, located within 2 miles from the hotel. The restaurant boasts live country music, delicious seafood, and a breathtaking view of Delaware River, and Delaware Memorial Bridge. If you do not want to drive to Riverside Inn, there is Applebee's right across from the Hotel.

It was a great trip! 

DuPont Sites in Delawere

Last weekend we decided to go on a mini getaway. We started our trip on Saturday morning, and returned on Monday afternoon. Our first stop was Grounds for Sculpture, one of our favorite places. We have not visited it in several years. In that time, many new sculptures and a new visitor’s center have since been added to the park. We took a short tour with a volunteer guide (which is available every Saturday at 1 pm). The tour was very enlightening. For example, we learned that the founder and creator of many sculptures, Seward Johnson, is part of the Johnson family that founded the Johnson & Johnson Company. Every visit to Grounds for Sculpture gives you the opportunity to discover new sculptures.  This time we discovered a sculpture called “Employee Shower”. Given the fact that showering is a private affair, the sculpture was well hidden. We encountered some people that were searching for this particular piece, having learned about it prior to their visit. Intrigued, we followed them, and understood why they were searching for it: see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaJwJTOOgas. To find the statue, look in the area between the lake and Rats restaurant.

Our final destination was DuPont sites in Delaware. The area surrounding Wilmington, DE is home to the mansions belonging to the DuPont family. There are several mansions worth mentioning & visiting. We were only able to visit two from that list – Hagley Museum and Gardens, and Winterthur Gardens. 

Hagley Museum and Gardens tell the story of the DuPont family. We had no idea that the DuPont Empire started with an immigrant who built this large facility for manufacturing explosive powder. What an interesting slice of history. The grounds are really fun to walk around and there is lots of material for picture taking. We took a tour of the grounds which had something for everybody: The DuPont ancestral home; gardens; river-side setting; antique automobiles; gunpowder manufacturing facilities; a vintage machine shop; a worker's home; school, etc.

You are allowed to walk most of the grounds, and there is a free shuttle that runs about every half hour throughout the area. If you get hungry, Belin House serves a quick menu of sandwiches and lighter fare at reasonable prices.

One important point: get directions from their website http://www.hagley.lib.de.us/info.html

Like many, we followed GPS directions and ended up at the Library/Soda House end of the facility which is a private area. So many people do this that they have directions on their website to get you to the correct entrance.

I'll tell you about the rest of our trip next time...

Maui, Hawaii

Carol S. just returned from a family reunion held in Hawaii and this is her review:

“With its gorgeous beaches, tropical flowers, beautiful waterfalls and plush golf course, it's no wonder Maui is called the Magic Isle, and anyone who visits, falls in love with it instantly. The weather in Maui averages 80 during the day, but a cool breeze off the ocean makes it very pleasant -just use sunscreen or sunblock to protect your skin from the strong sunrays.

Maui has 30 miles of beach where you can snorkel, scuba, water ski, surf board, paddle board, and parasail. You also can board a boat to watch the whales or board a submarine to see the colorful sea life. A tram ride around a plantation will show you how pineapples, sugar cane, palm trees, and coffee trees grow.
For the more adventurous take a ride in a helicopter to see the island or go zip lining; take a ride to Hana to see the gorgeous scenery, waterfall, flouring rainforest and beautiful seascapes. And of course, make sure to bring a camera!
Travel to the top of Haleakala volcano to watch the sunrise (be sure to bring a winter jacket or a blanket); watch the sunset during the torch lighting ceremony at black rock beach; hike or camp in Haleakala national park.

Kaanapali is favorite resort area on the west coast of Maui with its white sand beaches, blue green water and its variety of activities. Although there are numerous resort hotels, I recommend renting a condo if you plan to stay a week or more. The apartment comes with a bedroom, a sofa in the living room, and a completely equipped kitchen. Room service is provided daily. The condos have their own beach, pool, and restaurant. If you go sightseeing or spend time on the beach, it is easier to eat breakfast in the room and pack a picnic lunch. The condos also have an area for barbequing. The condos have free shuttle buses to take you into town, but if you rent a car you can travel at your leisure. To make a reservation go to http://kaanapalialii-px.rtrk.com/

In Lahaina at the Maui theatre (http://www.mauitheatre.com/) you can see Ulalena - a wonderful live show depicting the story of the Hawaiian people in song and dance.
There are also numerous restaurants and shops in Lahaina. You can eat inexpensive dinners at Cool Cats, Hardrock cafe or Cheeseburger paradise. Mama's fish house serves excellent food with a setting on the beach. The best shopping is in Lahaina, and Hilo Hatties and ABC stores in Whalers village Shopping Center have wonderful souvenirs. While walking through the town, make sure you see the banyan tree that encompasses the whole park.

Maui is a wonder place for honeymooners, singles, couple, and families. It's a place you will want to visit again and again!”

Crystal Cave in Kutztown, PA

My friend and coworker Mirlene, send me the following story: 

“On Saturday, my husband took the family to Crystal Cave in Kutztown, PA – the most popular natural attraction in Pennsylvania. There, we took the tour that I found to be very interesting.  The tour start in a theater where we learned about the history of the cave from the time it was discovered to now.  Then, a tour guide took us inside and was able to reiterate many of what we saw in the movie as visuals.  For instance, the crystals inside the cave, where the bats live, where people used to have their dance, the various natural shapes formed inside the cave by water dripping…..At one point, he turned most of the lights inside the cave so we can have a sense of what explorers experienced when there was no electricity inside.  
Besides the tour, there are other activities such as mini golfing and panning for gemstones.
Since it was the Mother’s Day weekend, my highlight of the trip was the gift shop where my sons picked my Mother’s Day presents.  Although, the cashier ruined the surprise for me by excitingly telling me that my boys did a great job at picking my presents, one could imagine the boys’ reaction…
I was not allowed to peruse the gift shop too much. I conclude that it must have some inexpensive, beautiful souvenirs.  I was given a set of crystal emerald earrings and a necklace made out of rocks.  Both pieces can be elegantly worn and do not look cheap at all.

Overall, I would recommend visiting this place, especially to families with kids. We got some good exercise from it as we were still tired the next morning.”

Crystal cave is open every day from March 1 trough November 30. For directions please go to http://www.crystalcavepa.com/MapDirections.html.