For nearly a year I have been wanting to visit the Brooklyn Museum, but for some reason or another I've never been able to make the trip. With another unusually warm day for late November upon me, I figured I had to be outside today, so why not go to Brooklyn to check out the museum and surrouding area. The museum itself is located on the outskirts of the infamous Propsect Park and neighboring the Brooklyn Botantical Gardens, so perhaps I might have enough time to visit those as well I thought.
Thought on a map it seems like a long journey from the Bronx to Brooklyn, with the subway the ride only took about an hour. In fact, due to some weekend construction there were plenty of service issues with most train lines and I still made it there timely. The building itself was larger than I antipated, there's five floors worth of exhibits. In front of the building there's benches and stairs used by skateboarders to practice their new tricks. The suggested donation for entrance was twelve dollars, so I paid with a twenty dollar bill in hopes on getting a suggested eight dollars back in change. They do allow for pictures to be taken, but naturally the flash has to be turned off, and pictures may only be taken for certain exhibits. For purposes of not wanting to be guessing all day what can I photograph and what can't I photograph, or find myself being scolded by a guard for incorrectly taking a picture of something I shouldn't have, I decided to not take any pictures inside whasoever.
The museum itself has a little of everything on display and doesn't behold itself to one singular theme or category. On one floor there are old European paintings, on another floor there's a modern sculpure, then another floor will have pottery from the Turkish Empire that's over five thousand years old(not sure exactly how old the Turkish Empire is, just a guess). In Manhattan museum terms, it's a mix of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of Modern Art all buddled together. Unlike most of the museums in Manhattan, the Brooklyn Museum doesn't have nearly the same amount of visitors or pesky tourists that either block views or cause one to have to move along quicker from seeing an item than one wanted to. There were times I felt I had an entire area or floor to myself and could take as much time as I needed to view the exhibits. The only drawback was I arrived around 2:30pm, with the museum closing at 6pm, so I couldn't be as leisurely as I would've liked to. Another good aspect of this museum was that most exhibits are in plain sight and visitors are allows to get up close to the point of almost touching them(although touching is not allowed, of course). A great number of ancient works are behind protective glass, but then again there's just as many ancient and/or priceless artifacts that are right out in the open and one could put their face right up to it.
Of all the items on display, the star of the show for me was the Egyptian wing. For the reasons mentioned above, there were ancient tablets, wall pieces with hierogliphics, and sculptures/busts right out in the open. In fact, it was so out in the open I walked extra slowly in case if my head was turned, I wouldn't accidently walk into one and knock it over. There were also all the other usual suspects in terms of an Egyptian wing such as mummies, tools, scrolls, and pottery. I found this section the most intruiging and it was where I spent the bulk of my viewing time. Another noteworthy mention of the museum was its housing displays. Meaning, they had rooms from American houses dating back from the 1700's through the 1900's on display fully equipped with all the furniture and details that existed during those periods. One room was litterly a dressing room taken the White House before rennovated by then President Andrew Jackson(on the twenty dollar bill I paid the suggested twelve dollars with). Another room on display was a dining room taken from a South Carolina plantation home from the 1800's. There was also a room dedicated from the home that John D. Rockefeller had in New York City around the time of the turn of the twentith century.
The time was 4:30pm when I had finished seeing all five floors, so it took me about two hours to check out the museum and see about everything on site. There were some parts I rushed through or didn't spend as much time on as I would've liked, but overall I saw mostly everything there and did it with time to spare. In the back of my mind I was still hoping I would have a chance to see either the Botantical Gardens or just walk through the wooded Prospect Park with enough sunlight to take pictures. Unfortunately, this time of the year the sun goes down early so by the time I exited the museum, it was well on its way to being dark out. The Botantical Gardens was out of the question, and although joggers and bikers were still entering the park, it would be too dark for pictures and I wasn't sure my way around the place, I felt best to leave the park for another time. It would have been underwhelming to come all the way out to Brooklyn and just visit one place, so since I didn't have lunch and wanted something else to do, I decided to walk around to find a unique place to eat.
After walking about five blocks and only seeing apartment buildings, I was beginning to think that maybe this was a bad idea, but luckily I came upon 7th Aveune which turned out to be a lively stretch of blocks filled with all sorts of establishments. After passing the corner of 7th Avenue and 7th Street I came upon a Turkish place called Stanbul. With the Turkish Empire fresh in my mind from the museum, this was the perfect place to eat at. It was before normal dinner hours so the place was almost empty at the time. They bring out warm bread and olive oil to dip it in for starters, plus I ordered a glass of Turkish red wine called yakut(I was surprised I pronounced it correctly). For the appetizer I had little liver cubes served with onions, and that was actually a meal onto itself that could've filled me up. The only complaint I have with that one was they serve the onions cold and uncooked, I prefer my onions cooked when it comes to liver. The main course was called manti, which are little dumpling cubes with shredded lamb meat and onions inside. For some reason I though the meal was going to be more breaded-style than dumpling style, but it was still tasty enough.
There was no way I was going to leave the place without having Turkish coffee, which is one of the strongest coffees in the world. They did also bring out a dessert tray, and even though I was stuffed from the liver and manti, I selected a slice of chocolate pudding cake to go along with my coffee. Turkish coffee has a very muddy texture at the bottom of the cup when finished, and its part of Turkish folklore to turn your cup upside down on the saucer when finished for a few minutes, then after lifting the cup the muddy residue leftover makes and image that's supposed to reflect your future. I couldn't remember at the time if one must look at the impression on the saucer or at the bottom of the cup. It turns out its the bottom of the cup as I only took a picture of the saucer, and it was a mess. Hopefully inside the cup had a better outlook. When it came time for the check they actually brought it to me in a small chest which I found quite amusing. As I was getting ready to exit, then more of the dinner crowd started filing in, leaving the waiters with more people to tend to instead of watching me taking pitcures of my food, possibly breaking Turkish custom...
Thought on a map it seems like a long journey from the Bronx to Brooklyn, with the subway the ride only took about an hour. In fact, due to some weekend construction there were plenty of service issues with most train lines and I still made it there timely. The building itself was larger than I antipated, there's five floors worth of exhibits. In front of the building there's benches and stairs used by skateboarders to practice their new tricks. The suggested donation for entrance was twelve dollars, so I paid with a twenty dollar bill in hopes on getting a suggested eight dollars back in change. They do allow for pictures to be taken, but naturally the flash has to be turned off, and pictures may only be taken for certain exhibits. For purposes of not wanting to be guessing all day what can I photograph and what can't I photograph, or find myself being scolded by a guard for incorrectly taking a picture of something I shouldn't have, I decided to not take any pictures inside whasoever.
The museum itself has a little of everything on display and doesn't behold itself to one singular theme or category. On one floor there are old European paintings, on another floor there's a modern sculpure, then another floor will have pottery from the Turkish Empire that's over five thousand years old(not sure exactly how old the Turkish Empire is, just a guess). In Manhattan museum terms, it's a mix of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of Modern Art all buddled together. Unlike most of the museums in Manhattan, the Brooklyn Museum doesn't have nearly the same amount of visitors or pesky tourists that either block views or cause one to have to move along quicker from seeing an item than one wanted to. There were times I felt I had an entire area or floor to myself and could take as much time as I needed to view the exhibits. The only drawback was I arrived around 2:30pm, with the museum closing at 6pm, so I couldn't be as leisurely as I would've liked to. Another good aspect of this museum was that most exhibits are in plain sight and visitors are allows to get up close to the point of almost touching them(although touching is not allowed, of course). A great number of ancient works are behind protective glass, but then again there's just as many ancient and/or priceless artifacts that are right out in the open and one could put their face right up to it.
Of all the items on display, the star of the show for me was the Egyptian wing. For the reasons mentioned above, there were ancient tablets, wall pieces with hierogliphics, and sculptures/busts right out in the open. In fact, it was so out in the open I walked extra slowly in case if my head was turned, I wouldn't accidently walk into one and knock it over. There were also all the other usual suspects in terms of an Egyptian wing such as mummies, tools, scrolls, and pottery. I found this section the most intruiging and it was where I spent the bulk of my viewing time. Another noteworthy mention of the museum was its housing displays. Meaning, they had rooms from American houses dating back from the 1700's through the 1900's on display fully equipped with all the furniture and details that existed during those periods. One room was litterly a dressing room taken the White House before rennovated by then President Andrew Jackson(on the twenty dollar bill I paid the suggested twelve dollars with). Another room on display was a dining room taken from a South Carolina plantation home from the 1800's. There was also a room dedicated from the home that John D. Rockefeller had in New York City around the time of the turn of the twentith century.
The time was 4:30pm when I had finished seeing all five floors, so it took me about two hours to check out the museum and see about everything on site. There were some parts I rushed through or didn't spend as much time on as I would've liked, but overall I saw mostly everything there and did it with time to spare. In the back of my mind I was still hoping I would have a chance to see either the Botantical Gardens or just walk through the wooded Prospect Park with enough sunlight to take pictures. Unfortunately, this time of the year the sun goes down early so by the time I exited the museum, it was well on its way to being dark out. The Botantical Gardens was out of the question, and although joggers and bikers were still entering the park, it would be too dark for pictures and I wasn't sure my way around the place, I felt best to leave the park for another time. It would have been underwhelming to come all the way out to Brooklyn and just visit one place, so since I didn't have lunch and wanted something else to do, I decided to walk around to find a unique place to eat.
After walking about five blocks and only seeing apartment buildings, I was beginning to think that maybe this was a bad idea, but luckily I came upon 7th Aveune which turned out to be a lively stretch of blocks filled with all sorts of establishments. After passing the corner of 7th Avenue and 7th Street I came upon a Turkish place called Stanbul. With the Turkish Empire fresh in my mind from the museum, this was the perfect place to eat at. It was before normal dinner hours so the place was almost empty at the time. They bring out warm bread and olive oil to dip it in for starters, plus I ordered a glass of Turkish red wine called yakut(I was surprised I pronounced it correctly). For the appetizer I had little liver cubes served with onions, and that was actually a meal onto itself that could've filled me up. The only complaint I have with that one was they serve the onions cold and uncooked, I prefer my onions cooked when it comes to liver. The main course was called manti, which are little dumpling cubes with shredded lamb meat and onions inside. For some reason I though the meal was going to be more breaded-style than dumpling style, but it was still tasty enough.
There was no way I was going to leave the place without having Turkish coffee, which is one of the strongest coffees in the world. They did also bring out a dessert tray, and even though I was stuffed from the liver and manti, I selected a slice of chocolate pudding cake to go along with my coffee. Turkish coffee has a very muddy texture at the bottom of the cup when finished, and its part of Turkish folklore to turn your cup upside down on the saucer when finished for a few minutes, then after lifting the cup the muddy residue leftover makes and image that's supposed to reflect your future. I couldn't remember at the time if one must look at the impression on the saucer or at the bottom of the cup. It turns out its the bottom of the cup as I only took a picture of the saucer, and it was a mess. Hopefully inside the cup had a better outlook. When it came time for the check they actually brought it to me in a small chest which I found quite amusing. As I was getting ready to exit, then more of the dinner crowd started filing in, leaving the waiters with more people to tend to instead of watching me taking pitcures of my food, possibly breaking Turkish custom...
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