Cabot Goes to a Medieval Festival

Cabot had a great time visiting the annual Medieval Festival held at the Cloisters Museum in Fort Tryon Park, New York in September 2012. This is their 28th year!

  


 Cabot met all kinds of exotic looking people!

There were banners and sword makers…

and more exotic people!

  




There was an odd looking dragon that kind of looked like a rat...

  


There were beautiful horses...

  




and a very nice view across the Hudson River to New Jersey.

The Cloisters Museum if the Medieval Art branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It contains parts of many real medieval buildings, brought here and rebuilt.

In the parking lot they were performing scenes from Macbeth.

There were knights on horseback and jousting.

  



At the end of the day, Cabot met a king and his lady.

But the best part of the day was when Cabot met Umber, a beautiful REAL rat! 

Cabot Explores More of Hudson, NY

Parade Hill, the park overlooking the Hudson and the Catskill Mountains was given to the town for public recreation in 1795. How cool is that.

The view from the Promenade on Parade Hill. In the distance are the cloud covered Catskill Mountains. In the middle of the river you can barely see the Hudson Athens lighthouse, built in the mid 1800s.

Cabot decided to take the trolley down to the park by the river.

These trolleys are, in effect, the local bus service in Hudson. We said we didn't mind when the driver said he had to stop for gas.  He was a little embarrassed that his trolley wasn't cleaner, but we said we didn't mind. All the cars look like this. Sadly he also told us that the trolleys were being replaced by a more modern bus service come the new year. Phooey!

We drove down to the bottom of Warren Street to the Amtrak train station. It was built in 1874, and is the oldest continuously used station in the state.

Behind the station is a beautiful park right next to the Hudson River. In the summer there are free concerts and a paddlewheel boat that does sightseeing cruises.

Henry Hudson did in fact stop here on his trip up the river. Actually he was grounded on the island in the river. Across the Hudson, the Catskills are home to the legendary Rip Van Winkle.

Everywhere you look there is a beautiful view.

Across from the station, we saw a notice put up by Time & Space Limited, a great cultural center in town. They have simulcasts from the Metropolitan Opera and filmed plays from the current season of the National Theater of London and others.

On his way back home, Cabot waved good bye to more country cousins who are lucky enough to have their own Christmas tree!

Cabot on Warren Street in Hudson, NY

In December 2010, Cabot paid a visit to a friend in Hudson. Hudson, NY is about 2 hours north on NYC on the Hudson River, nestled between the Catskills & the Berkshires. It has a famous, Historical District, called " one of the richest dictionaries of architectural history in New York State."The town was founded in 1785, and became an important whaling ports, despite being many miles from the sea. For a while after that, it was an industrial center before going through an economic downturn. More recently, it has become a well known arts and antiques center. 

 Warren Street (the main drag) is lined with fascinating shops and galleries. Cabot is staying in a nice apartment right on Warren Street above a wonderful antique store (the blue building).

So Cabot is going to take a walk down Warren Street to look at the beautiful buildings. The first thing he saw was a car sporting reindeer antlers!

We are at the top of Warren Street looking west towards the river. The colorful building is Mexican Radio, a well known restaurant.

Walking down Warren Street we see beautiful buildings. The one with the mansard roof was built in 1811.

The Spotty Dog, beer, books & art supplies. How can you beat that!

 Nice decorations!

For some reason, the owners of this building tried to make it look like a pumpkin!

Some country cousins in the window. For some reason, people in Hudson like to put toy rats in their windows though these were the only ones Cabot could find.

More beautiful buildings.

 The Hudson Opera House, built in 1855 and NY State's oldest surviving theater. Next to it is Ca' Mea, a good Italian restaurant.

Of all things, a Jamaican grocer! Mmmmm, beef patties!

Nearly at the bottom of Warren Street. Here are the oldest buildings, a few dating from the late 1700s.