Thoughts & Reflections

Tag: Bronx

Chihuly at the New York Botanical Garden

On a hot June day, I hopped aboard a train and headed up to the Bronx. It was the weekend after the New York Botanical Garden’s Rose Garden Weekend but the roses were still in full, vibrant blooms and I wanted to catch the flowers while they were still in peak color. One bonus to visiting the garden was to check out the Chihuly exhibit currently on display.

My first experience (and the only one that I can remember) with Dale Chihuly was at the Victoria and Albert museum in London. Suspended from the ceiling in the rotunda was a big, beautiful blown glass sculpture hanging down like a neon chandelier. It’s one of those amazing works of art that one can see only once and not really forget. That was years ago and it’s still there to this day.

The NYBG’s exhibit allows visitors to get more up close to each work of art, and the pieces are scattered around the garden. Some are camouflaged amongst the plants in the Conservatory while are others are floating in a lake or standing boldly on the grass or fountains. My personal favorite was the “Float Boat”, a small wooden boat floating in the lake by the Native Plant Garden and carrying what appeared to be giant marbles.

Many of the sculptures are located in and around the Conservatory and the style of the pieces there varied. There were tall, elaborate and curvy pieces shooting out from water or into the sky, while others were shorter and more stick-like, resembling yards and yards of neon tubing. I wasn’t really interested in the latter since they were a bit dull compared to some of the other pieces.

And right outside of the Conservatory entrance was a reminder of the London sculpture. This was my second favorite piece in the garden, and just looking at it, one can really appreciate the skill and time it must have taken the artist to create such a work of art like this. On certain nights, the garden remains open till 10:30pm and the artwork is all lit up so that’s another fun way to view and interact with the art. I do recommend people going to check it out; the exhibit runs through October 29 so there’s still plenty of time to see it.

July 4, 2017
A Visit to Wave Hill

As summer begins to wind down, I’m still trying to take advantage of the long daylight and experience the great outdoors on days that are not so warm. To that end, I finally made the journey up to Wave Hill. It’s not easy to get to, since it involves riding a train to the end of the line in the Bronx and then hopping on a shuttle van that takes visitors to the front gate.

Wave Hill is one of the lovely gardens I’ve been longing to check out for many years but it’s always been inconvenient (it still is) to get there. A friend and I were considering a visit by car but plans changed and I ended up going one Saturday morning by myself. There is free admission to Wave Hill on Tuesday and Saturday mornings; I was originally going to visit on a Tuesday since there would be less people but that day has fallen in the midst of heat waves every week so Saturday it was instead.

With the weekend subway construction, it took me about an hour or so by train and then another 15-20 minutes for the shuttle (including the wait time). The minivan could only accommodate about a dozen people and there were nearly twice that number the morning of my visit (everyone was trying to take advantage of the free admission) so the driver had to make two trips. Luckily, I was in the first group.

After passing the gate and parking lot, a path leads visitors right toward the Great Lawn and Pergola with beautiful views of the Hudson River beyond. It really is breathtaking and more beautiful than similar views I’ve seen at the Cloisters and Fort Tryon Park.

The gardens are actually smaller than I thought they would be. I think I managed to see all the major displays in an hour’s time, even when I lingered on some parts of the gardens over others. Out of all the lovely areas, I think my favorite was actually the less exciting woodlands. I just love being surrounded by the trees, which offered a brief respite from the sun. One could walk down quiet paths and hear nothing; it’s very much like walking through a forest. There weren’t many people on those trails and it was fun to be on roads less traveled; the only thing that wasn’t pleasant was the appearance of a rodent ahead of me on the path at one point… I ended up running as fast as I could past the area and did not like enjoying hearing the creature in the bushes nearby.

But the lovely pergola and overlook was another highlight of my visit. I’ve seen photos of it for years and it was nice to actually walk through it and admire the beautiful flowers and plants that hung above or grew along the trellises. There are also Adirondack chairs scattered across the lawns for people to sit and enjoy the views. Most of these were occupied though I did manage to sit in one that was shaded by a tree near the Conservatory. It’s definitely relaxing.

I didn’t stay too long because I had to wait for the shuttle to take me back to the subway station. The shuttle vans run only once per hour so I didn’t want to miss the next one. It’s only a few minutes ride between the gardens and the train station but it involves going up and down hills as well as crossing a busy highway; if the route was straighter, I wouldn’t have minded walking instead.

September 8, 2015
A Walk on the High Bridge

Many years ago, during one of the earliest Open House NY weekends, I traveled uptown to tour the High Bridge Water Tower. The views from the top of the Tower were wonderful and one thing I saw that caught my eye was the old High Bridge. The bridge had been closed for several decades and I had hoped the city would reopen it one day—and that day finally arrived last week.

High Bridge is the oldest in the city, dating back to 1848. It used to carry water from the Croton Aqueduct into the city; the design of the bridge was to mimic old Roman aqueducts and it must have looked grand in its heyday. About a third of the original stone arches were demolished (sigh) back in the 1920s so boats could navigate the Harlem River more easily so we’re left with clashing architectural features; I suppose it could have been worse and at least some of the stonework remain intact.

I traveled to Highbridge Park on Saturday and then made my way to the stairs that lead down to the bridge. The descent is pretty steep with lots of steps and I was already dreading the climb back up when I was ready to leave. There is a slightly easier access via another road in the park but it went further south than I needed to be.

Currently, a thank you sign greets visitors at the base of the stairs, and people have added their names and their thanks to all the organizations that have helped to reopen the bridge. From there, make a left and soon the bridge comes in sight. To be honest, the Manhattan side of the bridge itself isn’t much fun to look at; most of the original stone arches are located on Bronx side.

The day was really nice and the views up and down the Harlem River weren’t shabby. On the north side were views of more bridges while the south side offered glimpses of downtown and midtown skyscrapers depending on where one stood.

The bricks on the walkway have been replaced but the original layout was kept; I noticed that the design changed where I presumed was the midpoint of the bridge.

All along the walkway were metal plaques embedded into the brickwork. Each one showed a different facts about the bridge, such as when it opened and how it was constructed. Some of the illustrations on the plaques were really nice; I liked the scene depicting visitors who came to see the bridge on a day trip.

I walked all the way to the Bronx side and admired the view from there, with the Water Tower dominating the landscape. It would have made sense to just take a subway from there downtown but the train I needed to take was back on the Manhattan side and I didn’t mind crossing the river again. And once I finally caught my breath after ascending those dreaded stairs, I snapped a parting shot of the Water Tower.

June 15, 2015
Springtime at the New York Botanical Garden

With a free one-year membership to the Botanical Garden, I’ve been taking full advantage of it and heading up there far more often these days. My most recent visit was to check out the Antique Garden Furniture Fair that was held last month.

That weekend was one of the warmest to date. With the sun shining down from clear blue skies, the garden was a good place to spend time outdoors. The antique fair was interesting to browse (and imagine spending a ton of money on) but I was much more interested in catching the peak blossoms of the flowering trees, from cherries to magnolias and others.

A walk through the exhibits in the Conservatory revealed some very interesting specimens as well as more familiar plants.

I also took a stroll through the Rock Garden, one area I had somehow missed on previous visits. Since I took different paths around the gardens, I ended up finding the entrance to it this time. There were other people wandering around that area but even so, it was still pretty peaceful. I think the highlight for most people was the waterfall there.

Flowers were blooming everywhere and Daffodil Hill was probably the showiest area of all. Gently sloping hills were covered with hundreds (maybe thousands) of yellow and white daffodils. There were plenty of people—kids and adults alike—sitting amongst the flowers and taking pictures. It’s a little bit like Alice in Wonderland, sitting right in the middle and surrounded by flowers and leaves as tall as you; too bad the flowers can’t talk back.

And right before I left, I hiked up to the Rose Garden but there wasn’t much to see. It was off-limits to visitors during my visit but with nothing in bloom there just yet, it really didn’t matter too much. The roses should be popping up soon.

May 18, 2015
Kiku at the NY Botanical Garden

For the past few years, the NY Botanical Garden has hosted a Japanese Chrysanthemums exhibit. Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Garden is held in the Conservatory, which is filled with chrysanthemums of all sizes from diminutive flowers to big, showy blooms that are wired to keep them from falling off their thin stems.

I read somewhere that this might be the last year the show is being held for now so I finally made it up there before it closed.

There were so many varieties and in so many colors on display, though most seemed to be in shades of yellow, white and purple. There were a lot in red and oranges too, and they remind me of the cooler weather outside, a very vivid reminder that autumn is here. Personally, I think I prefer the smaller flowers than the larger ones.

October 28, 2014
NYBG Rose Garden Festival

I recently headed up to the New York Botanical Garden with a friend, finally taking advantage of a perk I’ve received not too long ago. I hadn’t been up to the Bronx (and the garden) in a while and with the warm weather and clear skies, the timing was perfect. We went specifically to check out the Rose Garden Festival that was held that weekend; I had been wanting to visit when the roses were in bloom but never got around to it until now.

It was exceedingly warm and with rainfall from a few days before, most of the roses were already at peak or just past. There were still plenty of buds yet to bloom but I thought it didn’t look as nice when so many flowers were already beginning to wilt and there were a lot of oversized blooms that were starting to droop. Visiting the garden a few days before the festival might have yielded an even prettier landscape. Ah well, lesson learned for next time (hopefully next year).

There was a lot of variety in the garden but I have to admit that the flowers started to all look the same after a while. And I was also getting bored with the color palette: too many pinks and pale colors, not enough bold hues for my tastes. It also didn’t help that the strong sunlight washed out the subtle shades on some of the plants. But at least I did find the time to stop and smell the roses!

June 17, 2014