Last year, I traveled up from Florida to visit my sister in New York City for the Christmas New Years holidays. I got to visit many of the NYC landmarks, but as I’m now in academia I try to make it my business to visit campuses where I go, especially if the campuses are world famous. NYC has a few very good schools with campuses in different parts of the city. My sister was doing an exchange with New York University which is down in the lower part of Manhattan, and Columbia University has a lovely campus up on the upper west side.
An interesting feature of visiting New York City is that it’s so international and diverse that you’re bound to run into someone you know. Luckily for me, I got to meet up with a couple of my old travel pals from my Thailand and Vietnam backpacking. As it turns out, my friend – who hasn’t changed one bit in the 7 years since – is studying for a masters in Columbia and so I was taken for a quick visit to Seinfeld’s cafe for a quick bite and a short night Christmas tour of the Columbia campus.
Charming, isn’t it?
The first couple of photos are mobile captures on my Sunday visit to the campus with my mother and sister to see a bit more of the area and try to attend the Sunday mass (though we’re not Christian) here…
Which is just across the street from the General Grant National Memorial…
I really enjoyed that whole area. Hope to come back and visit soon. Who knows, perhaps one day I’ll find myself at Columbia again in a more official capacity.