Layne and Kris' Visit

This last week Layne and Kris (Brian's parents) have been in town visiting us. It has been so fun to have family in town again and to get to show them the places we've discovered around the city. Our first item of business was to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, so we headed down south on the number 5 subway. At one of the stops Brian got super excited because Ron Rifkin got on the train. We know him best from the TV show Alias where he played Arvin Sloan the villian. He was wearing round green glasses, orange Nikes and a puffy jacket.  

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This was Brian's and my first celebrity sighting since living in New York, and it was kinda really cool actually. Brian debated back and forth whether to go shake the guy's hand, and finally got up the courage. He walked down the train and said, "I don't want to interrupt but I wanted to tell you that I really like your work" and Ron shook his hand. He was pretty stoked.

We showed them around City Hall a little bit then headed over the bridge. Although the day was overcast and a bit foggy, the temperature was pleasantly cool. The building being constructed in the middle of the photo is the new World Trade Center. It is now the tallest building in the city.

Just across the bridge is a pizza place called Grimaldi's. Ever since we moved here, all we have heard is that we needed to try the pizza at Grimaldi's because it was incredible. So this was our first time eating here. The wait was extremely long, during which some policemen and private security guys showed up in black range rovers to escort a group of people out of and away from the restaurant. We didn't recognize any of the people, but it was interesting to see the security guys talking in their walkies and sporty earpieces. Finally we were seated, on the second floor, where it was so noisy. The music was blaring so we had to yell at each other to be heard. We ordered a large pie with roasted red bell peppers, sausage and sun dried tomatoes. It was fairly tasty, but the best part was the crust. A few days later we went to Brian's and my favorite pizza place, John's Pizzeria on Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village. I like their pizza much more than Grimaldi's. In our opinion it is the best NYC pizza.

We walked around a bit in Brooklyn near the bridges. It is a neat little area, and there are some great views of both the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridge. The picture below is of the Manhattan Bridge.

 We all agreed that this sign for "Yummy Time" sounded like a great idea.

We ended the day by walking through High Line Park. At the end, our feet were really tired so we headed home where we enjoyed yummy Thai food from I am Thai just around the corner from our apartment.

The next day we headed up to the Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park in northwestern Manhattan. It is a gorgeous area, so much more peaceful than the rest of the city. The sun came out that afternoon and it was a beautiful day.

 After heading south on the Subway, eating lunch at a yummy Deli on the Upper West Side and walking across Central Park, we stopped at the Guggenheim. I had been wanting to get a peek of the inside, so we went in just far enough to take a few pictures and see the interior without having to pay.

The interior is just as cool as the exterior. You just walk up the ramp spiraling around the walls to view the art. The ceiling is made up of a large window.

Our last stop of the day was the MET. This is my favorite NYC museum. We've been there five or six times and each walk through was a totally different experience. We took some photos outside the exterior before going in.

I love the lobby of the museum. Every time we go the height of the ceilings and design of the place takes my breath away. It really is amazing.

We wandered around mainly in the New American Wing again. We found this room filled with glass cases full of paintings, sculptures, dishes, frames, etc. They were all labeled, but it was a cacophony of pieces just stuffed together in these cases. We found a large statue of Abraham Lincoln along with multiple paintings of George Washington.

After wandering up to the third floor we found the original painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware. It was gigantic! Kris and I are posing in front of it in the picture below so you can see just how big it is. The painting is gorgeous and it brought forth emotions of pride and patriotism. It's definitely worth seeing.

In a nearby room we found a life mask of Abraham Lincoln's face and right hand. The mask was made in 1860 during Lincoln's first term in office. It was really cool to see what he really looked like.

We took a ride on the Roosevelt Island Tram the next day. We got pictures of each of us on the ride over.

We walked south along Roosevelt Island so Layne and Kris could enjoy the view of the city. There were a lot of boats sailing up the river. This barge was huge and fun to watch.

On the southern tip of the island there was a park with a small field covered in blooming clover. It was so pretty, and made me think of the Primary song I Often Go Walking. I'm teaching that song to the kids in my Primary right now to sing in Sacrament Meeting for Mother's Day. Anyways, there were some Canadian Geese nibbling on the clover and Brian decided to try and get close to them. He got pretty close before they squawked at him and ran away. I'm glad they didn't get mad and come after him.

Later that day we walked through Washington Square Park and  Greenwich Village, ate at John's Pizza and stopped for a treat at Magnolia Bakery. After walking through the East Village we made our way over to Delancey Street, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. We walked around for a little while, but there wasn't much to see, either that or I was just so worn out by that point that I wasn't paying attention. We went home where we had tacos for dinner to celebrate Cinco De Mayo.

Sunday we all went to church together and later that day went to the 9/11 Memorial. Layne and Kris had been there with Brian prior to the 9/11 attacks. So it was good that we could take them to see the Memorial. The day was clear and sunny and the leaves were out on the oak trees planted around the reflecting pools. There were great views of the new towers being constructed.

A view of the memorial plaza from the north pool.

We walked down and took the Staten Island Ferry to get some good views of the Statue of Liberty and the Southern Manhattan Skyline before heading home.

It's been so great spending time with Layne and Kris and we are going to miss them. We love you guys!