The museum, owned and maintained by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is simply beautiful. The artifacts are breath-taking, but my favorite part was the building itself and the park surrounding the area. Fort Tryon Park is one of the jewels of Manhattan, in my opinion.

After viewing the stone effigies in the chamber, we wandered throughout the halls to admire the stunning architecture and ancient art. As I mentioned in Part 1, the building is an amalgam of several original buildings from France, dating back to the 13th century. Most of the artifacts date about that time, as well. All art during this period was religious, as medieval society was governed largely by the Catholic Church.

This Polyptych Nativity is beautiful. Because so few could read, artists depicted Bible events in images. And, of course, the Catholic Church regales images as objects of worship (icons). This piece was crafted by Belgian Rogier van der Weyden in the mid 15th century.

Other works were crude imitations of their more delicate Italian counterparts. This “Pieta” is carved from lindenwood, a common material for many of the artifacts of this period.

Here is another striking carving, of St. Margaret and made of pine.

When perusing a museum’s artifacts, I gravitate toward the “everyday” objects, such as dishes, clothing, tools and such. Some of these pieces are spectacular. This is the Valencia Brasero, a Spanish earthenware dish glazed with copper and tin. I can definitely deyttect the Middle Eastern/African styles in the Spanish art.

Here is a Nasrid tile. Definitely Moorish.

This is a very unusual reliquary case from Switzerland or France. It’s made of leather and iron.

The Cloisters has many types of reliquary cases, some extremely ornate. This one was one bedecked with beautiful jewels (since taken). A reliquary case held relics, religious objects of worship. This unusual arm-shaped reliquary case held the arm bones of an old saint. The bishop or priest would slip this case over his arm, similar to the “We’re Number One” foam hands seen at sports stadiums today, and wave it before the people. This was supposed to bless the people. Don’t ask me where on earth they got all these rituals…

Here’s something incredibly interesting– a liturgical comb! What is a liturgical comb, you ask? I have no idea! If you have a clue, please let me know. I’m very curious. Was it to comb hair shirts? The beards of the priests?

Some were made of bone, others of ivory. The carvings are exquisite. Are those griffins carved on this comb?

This next object was my favorite piece. It’s the Manuscript of the Apocalypse (Book of Revelation), made of vellum. It was made in 1330 in Normandy, probably for a noblewoman who was unusually devout. Oh, it’s so lovely.

I’ll end our journey here, for now. Come back for Part 3, with many more photos and quirky stories! Thanks for reading.

It’s been a long-time goal to see this fabulous museum. As a student of medieval history and art, visiting this museum — one of North America’s most extensive collection of medieval art and manuscripts — was one of my big travel goals.

The Cloisters is an extension of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, situated on four lovely acres in Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan’s beautiful Washington Heights area. There are several footpaths, paved and unpaved, that afford splendid views of the beautiful gardens and magnificent Hudson River.

It’s a popular area for joggers, parents with children and couples to enjoy a little greenery amidst the “concrete jungles” of Manhattan Island. The park is so beautiful and elegant.

As for the building, The Cloisters is constructed of a handful of European abbeys, including the Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, Bonnefont-en-Comminges, Trie-en-Bigorre, and Froville. These building were meticulously disassembled piece by piece and rebuilt on location from 1934 and 1938.

The architecture is simply… words fail me. I love medieval architecture so I was reveling in the glory of it all. And despite the muggy heat outside, the building was marvelously cool.

Visitors are allowed to wander on self-guided tours. You can rent a small audio device that offers pre-recorded narrative of the building and its contents.

The Cloisters has an interesting history. The artifacts and works of art were once the private collection of an American sculptor and medieval art fanatic, George Grey Barnard. After World War I, Barnard opened his collection for public viewing in his Washington Heights home. Barnard sold his collection to Manhattan tycoon John D. Rockefeller, who then donated the art to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Rockefeller purchased several thousands of acres of land in New York and New Jersey for the construction of a building to house the art, as well as for a park. His land purchases in New Jersey ensured that the extravagant views cross the Hudson would forever remain unspoiled.

The Cloisters currently maintains over five thousand European medieval works and manuscripts, most of the items dating from the 12th to 14th centuries. The museum itself is also an ancient work of art, too!

We wandered throughout the museum haphazardly. I felt a little lost navigating the museum, as the halls are rather labyrinthine and the rooms were glutted with crowds of visitors. We pushed our way through two enormous wooden doors with fantastic iron work. This was the entrance to the chapel.

Up atop one of the columns I perceived two heads, sculpted in an unusually clear and recognizable form. Was this King Henry and Queen Eleanor?

All the art in the museum is religious. Medieval Europe in the 12th century was very Catholic, although from what I have read, religious duties were largely left to popes and bishops and priests, while the laity did as they pleased.

We made our way to (I think) the Langon Chapel, a semi-circular room with several stone effigies. Oh this was so rich with history!

Here lies young Jean d’Alluye in mail, a lion guarding his feet. His sword in in its scabbard and the shield rests at his side. Young people were often portrayed at rest in a position of prayer.

This is the head of an “effigy of a lady,” presumed by many to be the resting place of Margaret of Gloucester, wife of Robert II who was baron of Neubourg. The detail of her face and clothing were stunning.

There was much, much more to see! I’ll show you more in the next post. Thanks for reading!

You enter the door from the right side of the building (into what was formerly the basement). Admission is free and there is a small gift shop near the counter. This floor is comprised of one small display area and a media room with chairs and a large television. The display areas are all plaques detailing highlights of Hamilton’s life and The Grange. ile we were here, two groups of school kids were also taking a tour.

I especially liked this plaque.

The media room shows a 20-minute educational video on the life of Alexander Hamilton. It’s geared toward schoolchildren and for people unfamiliar with Hamilton. After the video, a park ranger, Mr. L. Strain, fielded questions from the school kids. The questions were very poignant, such as “Why did Hamilton purposely turn his gun away from Burr during the duel?”

After the kids had gone, we were treated to a nice little tour of the upstairs. This is what I was waiting for– as a fond admirer of architecture and history, I love wandering through old homes and seeing how everything once was “in the old says.”

Hamilton’s house is very small (HOW he and Eliza ever squeezed eight kids and their adopted orphans in here is quite the mystery) but very elegant. When you go up the stairs, you enter the original entry hall to the house. The floors are rather moderne, painted canvas tiles in a cosmopolitan style. A large painting of a young Hamilton looms over the hall (Hamilton did not display a portrait of himself, however).

Two formal rooms flank the hall: the parlor and the dining room. Both are magnificent with enormous windows and cheery colors.

Very few of Hamilton’s belongings are here. Many of his articles were given to family members after his and Eliza’s deaths. This pianoforte, however, was Hamilton’s.

The museum had a reproduction of the lovely silver wine cooler that George Washington gave to Hamilton in 1797. The original belongs to a private collector.

I found it sad that so few of Hamilton’s personal mementos are here. They all seen to be scattered and haphazard, which is indicative of the honor due Hamilton as a brilliant and sacrificing founding father.

Hamilton saw clients in this house (he practiced law after the Revolution, or, as he called it, “the art of fleecing my neighbors.”). He had a small study off the formal rooms. The vibrant green color is the same color Hamilton chose for this room. It’s quite a sensory experience! The color is reminiscent of his early years in the West Indies and must have been a very cheerful room during gloomy, cold New York days.

We stayed and chatted for quite some time with Mr. Strain who was delightfully knowledgeable of Hamilton’s life. He even knew of Hercules Mulligan, one of our favorite characters from the Revolutionary days! Mr. Strain showed us a video of how the Park Service moved The Grange from its old location on Convent Avenue to here. The house was elevated 30 feet in the air and rolled down 141st Street! The video and learning about the move was perhaps my favorite part of the visit.

Thus ended our visit. It was so short and brilliant, much like Hamilton’s life. I hope the museum continues to grow and is able to acquire more of Hamilton’s possessions.

Admission is free and the paths outside the house are very pleasant.

While he was planning and building the house and surrounding property, Hamilton embraced homeownership with typical Hamiltonian zeal and energy. His letters are filled with ecstatic details of his ideas and plans, including a small garden with 13 sweetgum trees, representative of the 13 new states in the newly formed United States of America. He oversaw every tiny detail, enlisting the architect John McComb, Jr. (architect of New York’s First Home, Gracie Mansion, and New York City Hall).

Unfortunately, Hamilton would enjoy only two years at The Grange. His life was tragically cut short in 1804 by Vice President Aaron Burr in the now infamous duel. To add to the tragedy, Hamilton died in debt. His widow, Eliza, and their eight children had no means of support, and Eliza was going to lose her house. Thank God, some friends of Hamilton pooled together, purchased the house and sold it back to Eliza for half the price. The house remained in the family for about three decades when Eliza could no longer keep it up. The house has a number of owners including Samuel Ward, brother of Julia Ward Howe who penned Battle Hymn of the Republic.

In 1889, the property (with house) was purchased by St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. The church moved 300-ton house — with a team of horses!– to a new location to make room for some rowhouses. The house was used as a chapel for the church. Later, the church built a stone church building next to the house. A developer built a large apartment building on the other side. The Grange was squeezed tightly between the two for many decades.

American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society bought the house and converted The Grange into a public museum in 1924. In the 1960s, the house was deemed a National Historic Site and a National Memorial, and a new site was sought to restore the building to the period of 1802 to 1804 when Hamilton would have known it. This leads us to today. It’s been a long wait, but The Grange is finally situated at its permanent location and restored.

The empty lot where The Grange once stood.

The house is lovely. It’s Federal style, a breezy and elegant form of early American architecture descended from the Georgian style.

New sweetgum trees have been replanted in the front yard.

The yard is beautiful. It has a relaxing, park-like setting. The City of New York University Shephard Hall building looms from behind over the yard.

After so long, The Grange has finally found a home. We ventured inside to for a wonderful visit. I’ll have that story in the next post!

Long story: Read on.

Note: This is not a sponsored post!

I’ve been seeking some kind of cell phone mount or speaker phone attachment for about a year now. (Yes, it does take me a long time to make my shopping decisions!). I couldn’t find the “perfect” one and the ones that I really liked were extremely expensive ($50 and up). So I kept putting it off. But last week, while surfing eBay, I found the Canada Drive Safe Portable Car Mount w/Vent Clips. It was very inexpensive (about $9 with free shipping) and while it wasn’t “perfect,” it looked pretty close. I especially appreciate the web page and how-to video that the company has on their website (I embedded the tutorial on this product, see below).

Here in New York State, it is illegal to text while driving and talk on a cell phone while driving. The penalties are pretty high, and I can only assume that other states will be adding similar laws and penalties, as well. Besides, it is downright dangerous to fanagle a cell phone while driving. As a traveling mom, I need to maintain contact with the family at home, but it is not always possible to pull over to the side of the road to answer or make a call. Enter this little device.

As you can see from the photo, the mount attaches to the car vent slots. There are several pros and cons to this kind of mount (which I list below), but I preferred the car vent mount. I have seen another kind of mount that uses a flexible arm with one end inserted into the cigarette lighter, but this kind of mount interferes with my transmission stick, since the lighter is near the stick handle.

The Canada Drive Safe mount is sturdy and is well designed. I have seen some pretty flimsy car vent mounts that try to balance a heavy phone on two skinny clips. Not so with Canada Drive Safe– the mount has two sturdy clips AND a thick plastic stand that supports the entire phone and mount. I trust this mount to hold my phone at all times.

The mount also has two soft rubbery pads on each side that extend to fit any phone. I love this! I don’t have to remove my phone from the case to use this mount. That’s probably the winning factor for me. The mount also gives you the opportunity of inserting your own small photo on the back panel, so you don’t have to stare at a blank black panel when you’re not mounting you phone. Cute.

Pros:

• Very sturdy with an extra stand to hold phone in mount.
• The mount fit perfectly in my little car vent slots.
• The mount arms are expandable, so I don’t need to remove my phone case. Terrific design!
• You can remove the mount by taking the pieces apart. This helps prevent the clips from breaking when you want to remove the mount from the vent slots.
• Did I say I love the expandable arms so I don’t have to remove my phone case?
• The bottom shelf supports my thick phone with its case, and gives me sufficient room to plug the phone into the charger.
• It’s very inexpensive!

Cons:

• You can’t use the heat through the vent to which the phone is attached, or you risk overheating the phone. During the winter, I usually don’t use the upper vents, anyway– I use the defrost vents or the foot vents. So this issue us a minor inconvenience for me.
• The mount is difficult to remove the vent. Yes, you can disassemble the device to access the slot holders, but it’s still a pain in a cramped space. So once the mount is on, expect it to stay on.
• The mount holds all sorts of cell phones but not a larger GPS. I have a 5-inch wide GPS and it wouldn’t fit. It’s not a big deal, as I already have a dashboard mount for the GPS, but I was hoping it would fit. The vent mount arms extend to 4 inches, wide enough for cell phones.
• The bottom shelf has two small legs that cover the iPhone speaker and microphone. There are ways around this (set the phone in upside down), but I thought I’d mention it here.

Overall, I think the mount is terrific. It’s well-designed, sturdy, and it looks very nice. It fits all phones — even with the case on! — and sets nicely in the car vent area. I love it!

I include the video from the Canada Drive Safe site. I thought it was pretty cool and it helped me put the device together.