Central Park Sunset

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I have a conference call that goes until 6pm. So I usually can't go out and run until it's dark. But today I decided to see if I could take the call from the Park. It turned out to be a great decision.

I was still home when the meeting started. Based on the agenda, my part wasn't until the end. So I walked over to the Park and listened while the other presenters talked. I watched the geese and admired the hazy skyline.

By the time my turn came around, I was on the East side of the reservoir.

It was relatively quiet where I was, until a few helicopters flew overhead. I hadn't planned on that.

The meeting ended just as the sky was starting to glow.

Perfect timing. I ran up the track a little to put the clouds where I wanted them in relation to the El Dorado Towers.

I think I'll do this every week now.

Reservoir Reflections

My ankle has been messed up lately so I haven't gone running. I'm trying to rest it. But I had to get out of the house tonight. I went for a walk in the freezing cold (it's colder when you're not running!) over to the Reservoir. I always love the midtown skyline.

I left the shutter open for a minute to get these shots, which apparently is too long because the stars moved. It was quite the challenge to time it so I didn't get any planes or helicopters in the shot. Most of the pictures looked like this:

I don't like the streaks through the picture.

This was also the first time I noticed how pretty the Upper East Side looks across the Reservoir. I'm always so mesmerized by midtown that I never really pay attention to the east side. But I should...

Can you see the Guggenheim? It's just right of center.

And that's about all my hands could take because it got even colder. So I walked home. Good night! :)

Great Lawn and the Met #EveryPath

I had planned to knock out the entire section from 86th down to 79th, but after the sun set and the wind picked up, I bailed on the west side. I'll get those paths later.


Running every path in an area takes a lot of retracing steps. If you click on that strava map, you can drag your mouse along my pace on the bottom and see my little dot run around and around in circles. I try to make big circles so it's not as obvious, but I think the kids playing basketball figured I was up to something when I ran straight through mid-court.

The first photo-op I ran into today was the Obelisk. Did you know this thing is legit 3465 years old? I read up on it this evening.

I love the part about how they just spent two years cleaning and preserving it and when they removed years of dirt and pollution they found new hieroglyphs they didn't know about before.

Next stop was the Turtle Pond.

Which, you gotta wonder, where do the turtles go when the pond freezes over?

Turning out to the East, you go through this arch...

...and then out to the Met, where you'll see these three bears.

I took a mildly wrong turn and ended up running down the Bridle Path (remember that's "bridle" as in bridle your horse, not "bridal," unless you're referring to your fiancée as a ball and chain). The Bridle Path has to be the only path in the Park that was never plowed.

It was slippery and wet.

Sunset started up and it was iffy whether or not we'd see any colors tonight.

After a cold 30 minutes of waiting, it didn't disappoint.

It was hard for the camera to capture the scope of it, so I tried my phone's panorama.

The lower dark clouds came rolling in, but the upper clouds were still shining bright.

And in one fleeting attempt at a little more color, the lower dark clouds got a touch of pink.

And then I started to freeze so I ran home.

The Bund

The Bund is a term meaning the river bank. It is on the edge of the major river that runs through Shanghai, the Huangpu. It faces Pudong/Lujiazui so it doubles as a cool attraction in itself and the best viewpoint of the famous Shanghai skyline. It does not disappoint.

We actually stopped by the Bund twice today, because we wanted to see the skyline in the daytime and nighttime. Our daytime trip was quick, as we wanted to get over to Yuyuan Gardens with enough time to properly explore it, but here is a pic in the daylight...

The river is insanely busy with boats, mainly barges and other commercial shipping vessels. Far busier than I've ever seen the Harlem River or even New York harbor. It's ridiculously difficult to get a picture with no boats.. You've got to have a lot of patience. Which I do.

Isa and I spent a few hours walking almost the entire length of the Bund in the evening, and it was fun to see the skyline change from the different angles.

Shanghai did an amazing job on both sides of the river with its lighting and atmosphere. We fully enjoyed our time in both places.

From here, we took the metro over to the other side of Shanghai to eat at one of the craziest, most yummiest restaurants ever: Fu Chun Xiao Long Bao. SO good. SO fun.