Not too long ago, someone asked me if I'd been to The Cloisters. I said yes. But in fact I had not, which became clear during my pilgrimage on Tuesday. (Don't even ask how I could make this mistake.)
Even after I exited the subway, I wasn't sure where The Cloisters was. (I know, the "was" is jarring.) And because it was 20 degrees (wind chill, 2 degrees) no human was in sight. I was on my own.
I headed off in one direction, and despite knowing full well that all of my synapses were frozen solid, I quickly changed my mind and headed in another. Soon this vision appeared:
I wasn't sure what a group of cloisters was supposed to look like, but nothing else in the neighborhood looked remotely museum-like. I headed for the building like a starving (and frozen) monk. Soon I saw this:
Uh oh, I thought to myself. Looks as though I've stumbled on Rush Limbaugh's New York estate.
And then I saw this:
Ah, it must be a joke, I thought. A tiny little entrance sign? Something's fishy. If I open that door, I'm probably going to fall through the floor into a dungeon for left-wing democrats. Mark my words.
Sure enough. And here's what my cell mate looked like:
3 comments:
Here's another cool place you could perhaps visit in NYC before you go:
The world's first government-compliant community biotech lab!
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/genspace-diy-science-laboratory/
Now, I can hear you saying to yourself, that's cool, but I've forgotten most of the biology I learned in high school.
Someday, you'll be able to brush up using the free internet "textbook" from the E.O. Wilson foundation called "Life On Earth":
http://singularityhub.com/tag/neil-patterson/
Until then, there's always the Biology section on the Kahn Academy:
http://www.khanacademy.org/
Wait, you say you hated biology in high school? Nevermind.
I would also like to recommend the Intrepid.
http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/
It was a really good tour, though a bit pricey and perhaps downright frigid this time of year. Some of our pictures are at
http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l301/cdobson2000/NYC%20Oct%202010/?start=20
Unfortunately, I posted no pictures of the nuclear missile submarine the USS Growler.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Growler_%28SSG-577%29
If you don't mind cramped spaces, it is a wonderful tour, with several docents in the ship to answer questions. They also have misters spraying authentic smells (engine oil, dirty socks, bad cooking, etc.) to give you a more realistic experience (euwww!). One of the best parts in my opinion was the fire control section. Since the ship was on patrol in the early '60s, it's all analog computing with LOTS of switches and dials. It's amazing to think that they could have actually hit a target with such technology.
Note: the Intrepid Museum has done a terrible job with their Concorde SST. There's next to no information posted, and the docents don't seem to know much about it. The ones I talked to were even unaware that the nose of the Concorde was knocked off in the middle of the night a few years back when the plane was in storage while the Intrepid was in dry dock. They also knew nothing about the trial in France to apportion blame for the one and only Concorde crash. If you go, do me a favor: spend five minutes touring the Concorde, then tell the docents what a terrible tour it was. If they get a lot of negative feedback maybe they'll do something about it.
Definitely will go to the Intrepid and will berate the docent.
Not sure about the biology lab. My dad was a biology professor. Of course I hated biology! The public lab sounds cool, though -- except for the $100 fee! I'd have to be on the verge of some dramatic discovery before I'd pony up that kind of money.
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