A walk in Central Park, Part 1

Today, because I felt like it and I can do what I want, I drove to the Big City to meet blogger friend, Daryl and then meet up with my son for lunch.

I’d been wanting to visit Central Park, as I’d never been there before. Since my son moved to NYC in the fall of 2007, I’ve visited the city several times and have a rudimentary knowledge of where I am when I’m there. And now that I have the added bonus of meeting a blogging friend and visiting her when I’m there, it makes it even more fun.

So let’s visit the small section of Central Park that I was in today, shall we?

We’re going to the Conservatory Garden. We’ll pass the brick wall that bears the inscription “Girls Gate”, on 5th Avenue & 102nd Street. Did you know that there are 20 gates to get into the park? [link].

It’s a beautiful September day in New York, a little warm when walking about, but cool breezes to be found everywhere plus plenty of shade.

We come to an ornate gate.

This is the Vanderbilt Gate, which originally stood at the mansion on Fifth Ave. & 58th St.

I cropped the crowd below out of the picture. There was a bridal party as well as a Canadian tour bus that had just pulled up. The park is a busy day on a beautiful Saturday in September.

The Italian style garden is directly through this gate. The conservatory consists of 6 acres and is divided into three different landscape styles: Italian, English and French.

Upon entering through the gate, the expansive lawn of the Italian garden greets you. What a beautiful oasis this is. Note the steps on either side of the fountain. They lead to a pergola that is absolutely beautiful.

The Italian garden is bordered to the north and south by allees of crabapple trees. But something’s not quite right with these trees. Besides the fact that the ivy is climbing up their trunks, there’s dying off of the top branches.

Still, it makes a nicely shaded walk with the ornate benches waiting for you to take a quick rest.

To the north is the classical style French garden, with sculptor Walter Schott’s beautiful statue, ‘Three Dancing Maidens’ at the center. This is the Untermyer Fountain, donated to the park in 1947 by the children of Samuel & Minnie Untermyer.

I’ve made a collage of the fountain on my Picture A Day Blog because I was just so taken with it. More to come tomorrow of my walk in Central Park! Check Daryl's blog also, as she and I saw the same things and have different perspectives.

Until then, my friends . . .