Probably the wettest day since we’ve been here: the weather has really been a mix. A few sunny days. Icy cold days and mild wet days. It’s good to be able to experience all weather types, and today was wet, wet, wet. 

We headed out for our noon tour of the Cathedral of St John the Devine 

The cathedral is located on the upper west side at 110th street. It’s been in a state of build for over 100 years and has a few claims to fame. FDR was on the board of trustees. On 6 December 1941 he was about to embark on a major rebuilding exercise, but the events of 7 December stopped him. Sadly no major building or restoration work has occurred since then exactly 73 years later. 

We enjoyed a vertical tour, which took us up above the floor and up close with the architectural secrets of the building. Including the winding staircase of 175 steps, the inner roof area and the roof. We had a birds eye view of the floor and the vast size of the internal space of the cathedral. The Statue of Liberty could stand in the centre of the hall and not hit the ceiling. 

The building is all stone, no metal frames, which means the gothic arches serve both decorative and structural purposes. It is really a feat of architecture of the day. 

After the tour we spent some time in the statue garden next door. Some amazing and weird statues. Check out the photos, especially of the devil being decapitated. 

The garden was also interesting for its animal themed statues and gates. 

We had five guys burgers for lunch and walked a little bit of the upper east side. 

We then caught a bus and visited the museum of New York City. We hadn’t been to this museum since 2010 and they had an interesting advertising themed display from the 1960s which we were keen to see. We also looked at the other exhibits including a history of high society balls in NYC and an exhibition on gilded NYC. We also saw a video presentation depicting NYCs 400 year development shown over 22 minutes. 

When we finished the rain was still coming down, so we caught a bus to 44th street and made our way home, with hot chocolate in hand. The weather was getting really wet by now so we had a night in and watched a movie. 

Another interesting and different day in NYC.

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