Our 2013 American Trip: Columbia University, NYC

First of all, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my American friends.  I can't think of anything that makes me happier than being thankful.  I'm thankful for you who stop by to read and comment.

May your cup runneth over with Joy, Love and Laughter.

(image from our Brooklyn Bridge day in NYC, last post)

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The very next day (October 8), after blustery, misty weather on the Brooklyn Bridge, we awakened to glorious sunshine.  This was the day earmarked for our walk to Columbia University from Robin's apartment at 72nd and Riverside Streets...to 116th Street.  On a beautiful day, you can walk forever!

It's called the Upper West Side.

We didn't walk along the river but you get the gist.

And we took our good ol' lazy time.

You know me and architecture!  

See what I mean about a glorious day?

As we say, it's all in the details.

(I always try to get the forest and the trees...one or the other of which I sometimes miss.)

The brownstones.  The brownstones.  It wasn't hard to spot them.

But it was the water towers I feasted on that morning walk.

Did I hear there is talk now to start covering them? 

PLEASE SAY THIS IS NOT SO!

The low-down on NYC's 10-15,000 wooden water towers is here.

Do you like to people watch?  You've come to the right place.

No matter where you go, there you are...in friendly NYC!

How friendly is that!  See what I mean?

And suddenly we were outside the gates of Columbia University from 1754.

It's NY's oldest institution of higher education, and the nation's 5th oldest.

On Amsterdam Avenue...of all places!

And why there, you ask?

Because my mom got her Master's there in 1939, that's why!  

I wanted to see what she saw.

Almost immediately, after passing through the gates, you see Low Memorial Library.

It's the administrative center of the university, built in 1895.

Inside was where I got directions to the university archives, to find my mom.  

That was my goal for the day:  Find Mom's name in print!

And that would be directly across the campus in the Butler Library, from 1934.

You get a great point of view on it from the steps of the Low Memorial Library.

And there...EUREKA!  I found it, finally, with the help of this nice lady.

It took some doing.  I even called sister Ruth at Michigan State.  HELP.

Barbara Nelson Bennett

She graduated in 1939 with a Masters in Music Education from the Teacher's College.

She had graduated from Smith College in 1937 with a History degree.

She was always a woman ahead of her time.

As we walked around campus that morning, I had tears in my eyes, thinking of her.

(center image is from Astrid)

1939 seems like forever ago but I 'spect some of this was there for Mom to see.

The Scholar's Lion statue was presented to the school in 2004 by alumus and sculptor Greg Wyatt.
I bet Mom would have loved it...since the school's mascot is Roaree the Lion.

And did she ever step foot in this St. Paul's Chapel, dedicated in 1907?

So many questions I'd love to ask her now that I've been there!

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On that note, we walked down Amsterdam Ave. from Columbia University to the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine from 1892..and first found a café across the street where we ate lunch.

After lunch, we first stopped at the Peace Fountain next to the cathedral.
The sculptor is the same Greg Wyatt who made the Scholar's Lion above, at Columbia!

The sunken plaza of the fountain was its own outdoor cathedral, basking in the sun.

We could have stayed there for hours...but we had miles to go....

The entrance to the cathedral reminded me of the grand cathedrals of Europe.

Right there in NYC!

No wonder Robin knew we'd want to see it!

And as if to plant a seal of approval on the day thus far,

this wife-n-wife wedding party greeted us as we left the cathedral...

...and made our way to the High Line (to be continued).

Irish Beer and Mrs. Brown

Before our guests from England arrive later this afternoon, here's another quickie from my short trip to Dublin last week....

Without getting into the whys and wherefores of how we think of beer and Ireland almost simultaneously, let me just show a bit of what I saw.  And tasted, yes!

 First of all, Catherine and I had rooms at the Blooms Hotel, across the street from Trinity College.

Location, location, location, as they say!

It so happens this hotel gives all its guests a free drink at their Vat House bar (with the hat).

We chose a Guinness, of course, just to pamper me.

Did you know it starts out light when first poured (middle-left) and then "settles" before becoming black!

Neither did I.

 Throughout my 3 days, I saw enough beer vats to drown the sorrows of many armies.

It probably helped that our hotel was in the Temple Bar area of the city, known for it's night life.

But to be honest, there are over 1,000 pubs in Dublin...enough for everyone anywhere.

So, don't be shy.  

Whether a beer or whiskey, you'll be sure to find something you like.
Even a Dutch Heineken!

I know I showed you this in my last post but...I did like my TWO Guinnesses.

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Now switch gears to something fun we saw when Catherine, Robin and I were walking around the area.  Remember that Catherine is Irish and actually lived in Dublin once upon a time.  So to have her lead us around to non-touristy places was for Robin and me..."the luck of the Irish!"

One such place was the Moore Street Market, Dublin's oldest food market.

The people who work the stalls have a witty and friendly reputation; 

they and their food stalls are Dublin institutions; and they speak in a strong Dublin accent. (Wiki)

And the women bring their produce in baby buggies!

But THE surprise of the day was finding a TV production filming a segment for Mrs. Brown's Boys.

Yes, that's Mrs. Brown, a.ka. Brendan O'Carroll, Ireland's famous drag-queen/comedian matriarch.

Catherine sent me the very first episode of the sitcom, if you want to get a taste:

 HAHAHA!

And that reminded me of Mr. Charlie Brown from Atlanta, Georgia, our famous drag queen.
Oh dear me.  We took daughter Amy there many eons ago and had a hoot.
He's now 60-something and is even better than I remember.


If you want to see a good Tina Turner impersonation, this is it.
I kid you not!

To be continued after the Brits leave....

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland

So, I made an executive decision!  Trier, Germany, from early July (2 months ago!) can wait.  Let's see Dublin first.  It is too much in my blood right now to stand waiting.

But, because our two "boyfriends" from England (Chris and Chad, from our Shutterchance blog) are arriving on Tuesday, staying till Friday, I can only give you an appetizer today.

In fact, this is how I ended my short Dublin stay this past Sunday-to-Tuesday...with the Christ Church Cathedral, just a 10-minute walk from my hotel before heading back to the airport.  My girlfriends, Catherine and Robin, were already off separately for the day.  I was on my own....

Isn't she a beauty, facing the sun like that!

Born in 1030, she's the elder sister of Dublin's other medieval cathedral, St. Patrick's, from 1191.
(Let's save St. Patrick's for when Astrid can join me.)

Upon entering any church/cathedral, I always go for the "first impression" of space.

Heighth (68 ft.) and breadth, front and back, ceiling and floor.

Then the details quickly follow!

And because design enthralls me, I was mesmerized by the medieval mosaic floor tiles.

And the chairs!

Astrid was the one who noticed the 3 together...for Catherine, Robin and me.

And Astrid wasn't even there (unable to take time off work)!

Besides the pulpit (bottom center), I saw 3 lecterns.

The one near the pulpit (top center) is medieval...old enough.

But the one on the right, in the crypt, is supposedly Ireland's oldest of them all.
(To be honest, I'm confused...because the one on top may be a replica?)

Speaking of the crypt, it's the largest not only in Ireland but in all of Great Britain.

It's also Dublin's oldest surviving structure, from 1172-1173.

It houses the 2 oldest known secular carvings in Ireland
as well as memorabilia from King William III and James II.

But what takes the cake is the mummified cat & rat, found trapped in an organ pipe in the 1850s.

And that was the end of my short Dublin trip!
Soon you'll see the rest, with these teasers...

This is from Catherine's phone, taken by the Murphy's ice-cream man.
L-to-R:  Ginnie, Robin and Catherine.
Did I mention we're all from Vision & Verb?
Catherine is Irish and Robin lives in NYC, on a business trip with her hubby.

See.  Bloggers really DO meet up and have loads of fun!
Robin is the one who visited us in the Netherlands a year ago,
but Catherine was a "first" for us both.

And because I promised myself at least one Guinness,YES, I DID IT.

As we say, the proof is in the pudding.  (Thanks, Robin.)

(Actually, I think I've already acquired the taste.  HA!)

To be continued....

ANTWERP, Belgium: Part 1

True to form, it's taking me two weeks to get all my Antwerp photos processed!  So, let's start at the very beginning....

Antwerp is only an hour's drive, 100 km, from our apartment here in the Netherlands.  To give even me some perspective, it took us an hour to get to the airport from where I used to live in Atlanta.  That's nothing!  But when you think about it being in another country from where we live now, it just seems farther away.  But it's not!

If you need to cover your eyes, do it now and skip this collage....

but if we can't take a joke, right!?!

This was the first corner where our cameras got busy as we walked towards city center!

Robin had already warned us about it when she was there recently.

 By now you know that the market square is the center of these wonderful European cities.

The town hall and the guild houses mark the perimeter of the square.

The huge Christmas tree was up, ready to be trimmed, probably the following week.

And see that statue (bottom left above)?

Yup.  That's the giant's hand being thrown into the Scheldt River. 

The giant, Druon Antigoon, severed the hand of anyone who wouldn't pay his tax to cross the river.

Eventually, he was slain by a young Roman soldier named Brabo, 

who cut off the giant's own hand and flung it into the river.

Thus the name of the city, Antwerpen = hand and werpen = hand throwing.

And with that history, we were ready for our koffie met appeltaart!

Energy for the Church of Our Lady, to be exact....

Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, a Roman Catholic church.

One of those churches you see from almost everywhere in the city!

And then you go inside.  Very Roman Catholic!

In fact, more Roman Catholic you cannot get.

Besides, the country itself is a Roman Catholic country

(compared to the Netherlands, which is Dutch Reformed).

So, Madonna niches were everywhere as we walked around.

Everywhere means everywhere!

(Does it make up for the first collage???)

Don't you love how some things really catch your attention?

Umbrella in Dutch and French is parapluie.

See how it stands in the shadows of Our Lady!

 Robin had also told us about the Goossens bakery from 1884.

The site tells you to be prepared for a long line.  They're not kidding.

But it was totally worth it.

And how can you resist these penguins just waiting to be captured!

By then our appetite was fully whetted.

Astrid had been dreaming of mussels for as long as we were planning the trip!

She can have them!  And I enjoyed my pork medallions.

Lovely.  At De Kleine Post. 

We then took our time, as it started getting dark, to walk back to our car.

Lots of window shopping, getting ready for Christmas.

We got a good night's sleep at a nearby hotel and prepared for the next day.  To be continued....