Notes from a Native New Yorker

Although we have lived in the same house in Phoenix, Arizona for 50 years, I found myself in a New York state of mind during my recent 10-day trip ‘back home’.

Hiking up and down the NYC subway staircases was good training for our hiking days / years here in Arizona. We reached great heights: Flatiron Superstition Mountains, Humphreys Peak, Camelback, Piestewa, Grand Canyon R2R in 13 hours and many other awesome hikes.

Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) - Little Dancer by Edgar Degas - Photography by Paula G. Cullison

New York, New York remains a 'helluvatown'. During my stay on both the Upper Westside and Upper Eastside, I enjoyed visits to 5 museums: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum, Guggenheim and Cooper-Hewitt Museum. It was like visiting with old friends: Vincent (Van Gogh), Edgar (Degas), Paul (Cezanne), Claude (Monet), Pablo (Picasso) and Marc (Chagall). Viewing / getting lost in their awesome works always lifted my spirits during those stressful college years. To that point, I recommend you read All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley who left the New Yorker Magazine to work as a security guard at MMA for 10 years.

Buena Vista Social Club was AWESOME - It was like being back in Havana, Cuba.  Attending theater in NYC is a special treat: two Tony Award winners, Purpose and Buena Vista Social Club, and the Off-Broadway Counterfeit Opera at the outdoor Little Island Amphitheater, were sheer delights.  Walking through the parks, namely, Central Park, Hudson River Park, Riverside Park, and even the small (vest pocket park) Paley Park with its waterfall, allows one to take a respite in a relaxing oasis.

Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) I and the Village by Marc Chagall

I stopped at St Patrick’s Cathedral where we were married in 1967, and then walked over to Rockefeller Center, down 5th Avenue, and through Greenwich Village where I had my first two apartments and where my brother still lives. The energy of the city is invigorating. And yes, I rode the subway several times a day, even took the E train to JFK as a farewell departure.

Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) - Cantor Roof Garden Bar

I shopped twice at Trader Joe’s on the Upper Westside and found the prices are surprisingly the same as they are in Phoenix, AZ. As you would imagine, NYC has a plethora of restaurants offering cuisine from countries near and far.  If you decide to go …. ENJOY!

More travel articles / photographs at: www.paulacullison.com Questions / comments: paulacullison@aol.com

Paula (Giangreco) Cullison