HIdden Gem #1

I live in New York. Everyone knows about the world famous landmarks like the Bronx Zoo, the Brooklyn Bridge and Broadway, so I thought it would be fun to write and post  a few blogs about some more hidden yet fascinating places.   I am starting at the subway stop called “81^st St- Museum of Natural History.”

 “What? Come on!" You are saying that, aren't you?  Anyone who has ever visited New York or even thought of visiting knows about the museum. Who can resist the dinosaurs? Or the great blue whale? Who hasn’t seen Night at the Museum? Or Splash?

Ah, but we are not visiting the museum here. We are visiting the subway station.

You emerge from your train and are greeted by huge and dazzling wall mosaics  of wild animals.  That’s suitable for this stop, of course, a bow to its main attraction.

Look again. Behind each one, there is another, shadowy, gray, and you soon realize it is a prehistoric ancestor. An inspired combination of art and science is at work here.  Have fun identifying  the living species and its forebear.

Look up and you may discover tree dwellers

Look down and you will discover ocean dwellers.   Keep your eyes open for insects too.

And if you go down a level, perhaps to catch a train going back to where you started, you will be greeted by a look at whole other world.

Welcome to my favorite subway station.  And look here in a two weeks for Hidden Gem #2.