Review: Cloisters New York

In early spring I had the opportunity to visit New York city and went up to visit The Cloisters Garden and Museum.  My New York friends were very skeptical of taking the long train ride. However, noting that they had lived in NYC for nearly a decade and needed to do something new, they acquiesced with my request :)

History 

The Cloisters, New York Mar 2015

The 66.5-acre Fort Tryon Park was kicked off by the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in 1917, when he hired Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., to create the park, which he later donated to New York City in 1935. The museum and adjacent gardens were built in 1934-39 on 4 acres of the park and were created through grants and endowments from Rockefeller. With insight to future development, Rockefeller bought and donated hundreds of acres of the river front property across from the museum, the New Jersey Palisades to the State of New Jersey. The view is awesome.

The building itself looks original to the rocky point and so old. With good reason, the building was designed by Charles Collens using parts of five cloistered abbeys. Talk about repurposing :)  . Further old building from Europe were disassembled and shipped to the site where they were reconstructed and integrated into this beautiful museum.  The photos below give a small sense of the integrated feel and medieval ambiance!

Getting There

From SoHo we took the A train to 190th Street., My friend felt like they were going to Canada! The exit of the station is a strange - by elevator. We then had the opportunity to walk along  Cabrini Blvd for the views over the cliff to the river. Plus the full garden :) 

What we loved about Cloisters

As you can tell I adored the building - and I also loved the garden. However, I think I was probably a few weeks too early to enjoy the spring blooms. In summertime I would think this is a great escape from the city. 

Cloisters Herb Garden, March 2015

I liked all the people walking and jogging through the park. I loved the art and the gold items in the basement and especially the herb garden!  Plus I liked that there were small spots to just relax and soak up the experience ;)

And nearby- check out the Mexican restaurant. It was just a block or so away (north, on Broadway I recall) and easy walk. The Sunday Brunch had plenty of classic Mexican and popular treats. The drinks were exceptional too. Very crowded and fun atmosphere. 

Have a great day - my garden is calling. It's spring and there are hours of joy to be had prepping my garden today.

Teresa Marie