You would think that since I was born and raised in Brooklyn New York, I would know all the places to go and see in NYC. After all I’ve been to the city many times growing up and after I got married my family and I still go down often.

Not so though. There are places in NYC that I have never been to. Places I didn’t know were there. It wasn’t until the other day when my husband asked me what I wanted to do in NYC for my birthday, that I found out about these places.

Places like The Cloisters, Cathedral of St John the Divine, the Tenements Tour and Grants tomb. I had absolutely no idea these places were in NYC. What I did know was I didn’t want to do our usual walk around Times Square and fifth avenue. I wanted to do something different and these places were without a doubt different.

The Cloisters is pretty impressive. It reminds me of the old Monasteries we saw in England.  (Since they have taken rooms and other architecture from old monasteries in Europe and put them in the Cloisters that is probably why!)

The Cathedral of St John the Divine was cool to visit as well. I don’t understand why Cathedrals like this one have so many small chapels surrounding the main area of the Church, but they are always nice to walk through. This was on par with the big Cathedrals we have toured in Europe but we didn’t have to travel nearly as far.

The Tenement walking tour was interesting. It gave us an idea what it was like for Irish immigrants to live in NYC in the 1700’s. they have a number of different tours and we did the Irish one.

As for Grants tomb. We didn’t get the chance to see it. Or should I say we didn’t have the time. I really wanted to visit it. Guess that will be on our next trip to the city.

OH, I almost forgot! We also went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This place We did know about. What we didn’t know about this place though was the fact that they have a European Furniture section. This section has French (and other) hotel rooms taken from Europe and put in the museum. It made me miss France. We also got to see the painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware. (And a few Vermeer paintings, which my husband is obsessed with and I do find interesting. We played “find the map” on the Vermeers but that’s a blog for another day.)

These are just a few of the places I had no idea existed in New York City. Or knew about them, but not about everything inside them. I know there is more stuff in NYC I don’t know about.

That gives me a good reason to go back and do more exploring. I’m wondering how many of you who are reading this blog know about these places? If you’ve never heard of them either you should check them out.