"The Cloisters" is less than 10 blocks away from my current residence. Last week, a friend from Washington DC joined me to explore this branch of the Metropolitan Museum, up in Inwood, that some call as "upstate manhattan." I pointed to her the trees that cover the hilly part where "The Cloisters" is located. I knew from her reaction that she had second thoughts about the vertical hike from my apartment building to that hill. But the foliage can actually be deceiving. When we got inside, we went gaga over taking photos of what we saw inside. Unlike the bigger and main Metropolitan Museum, this branch can be visited in half a day, at the most, or even less than 2 hours. I have another friend who'd find it crazy to go up all the way to visit this part of Manhattan, which he considers really THAT far already. Actually, by subway, Inwood is just 30 minutes worth of travel time to Times Square. I have another friend who have planned with me to visit the Cloisters over a month ago, but up to now, we have yet to finalize the schedule. And I've grown aware that a lot of New Yorkers (plus visitors) have yet to visit this very interesting museum, primarily, perhaps, because of its distance from the main tourist attractions of NYC.
What do you see there? A lot of interesting medieval architecture fragments, overall platform and styles, that are European in origin. A lot of historically interesting installations. Plus a great, well tended garden in a courtyard. There are also the marvelous tapestries, including that one of a unicorn which I love very much, even in the little light allowed on it inside the walls of this museum. You'd see a lot of religious objects, installations, and articles as well. You actually don't need to get inside the museum if you're offended by religious objects, or even for some reason. You may just appreciate from a good distance the building which is called "The Cloisters." The park that surrounds "The Cloisters" is also sitting very close to the Fort Tryon Park, a few feet away, actually. Both parks actually afford the visitor to enjoy a grand view of the Hudson River, and New Jersey. Some friends have told me, you'd actually think you're not in Manhattan, when you get to see this part of the city. I can see that these parks are worth visiting, even during other seasons, just to see how the foliage have changed and gone. I once visited these parks with another friend, on a spur-of-the-moment decision on where to go here in Inwood, and we chanced upon finding ourselves after a quarter of an hour of walking under the arch of the wide spans of the very tall granite-made concrete bridge that connects the highway that runs on the West Side of Manhattan. I didn't have my camera then, but I remember it's one of those photo opportunities that I've missed. An angle that will certainly be kept in good memory. But I'll be back very soon, next chance I've got.
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