on looking

imagine my delight at discovering the perfect timing of a book long on my list:  "on looking:  eleven walks with expert eyes" by alexandra horowitz...i didn't know it was all about manhattan until i started reading it the week before my new york trip!

we went to amazing places (times square, the highline, chelsea market, strand books, brooklyn, a play, museum of modern art, biking central park) but HOW we went was what interested me so much.  i would highly recommend reading this book, or one like it, a few chapters at a time before, during and after a trip to fine-tune your senses.

horowitz walks the same manhattan neighborhoods but with eleven different people:

1) her toddler-aged son
2) a geologist (you can use the glacial carved direction on rocks in central park to find your way)
3) a typography expert (separating the good, the bad and the ugly signs among us)
4) the artist maira kalman (i bought one of her children's books at strand books)
5) an entymologist
6) an animal behavior researcher
7) a leader for the PPS, project for public spaces, (who designed the park where i ate my hot dog)
8) a doctor specializing in gait (this is especially intriguing as you synch up with foot traffic)
9) a blind friend
10) a sound designer
11) and finally, her dog (so many smells, so little time!)

to me that's part of the joy of traveling, whether abroad or in our own backyard, not only the art of paying attention, but of fresh perspectives.

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