MuseumChick | Danee Gilmartin

Moving back to NYC, what I'm most excited about is finally being in one spot long enough to get a puppy. I will be meeting him/her in the beginning of September and then bringing him/her home just in time for my birthday in the beginning of October.

But first I must do some prep work; how do I live in and explore NYC with a dog?  I'm sad to think I will not be able to bring my new puppy to my favorite museums but I'm on the search for interesting places and cultural spots to visit with the pup and blog about later.

Here are some places in NYC I will be visiting with the new pup and you can expect blogs about in the future.

10 things I can do in NYC with a dog:

1. Find a lookalike portrait at the William Secord Gallery- This is the only gallery I've found that is dog friendly! Not only that, but they even offer dogs a welcoming biscuit. This gallery specializing in 19th century dog and animal paintings is located at 52 East 76th Street.

2. Show solemnity at the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial- Since this memorial is outdoors in Riverside Park at 83^rd Street, dogs are allowed to pay their respects to the victims of war.

3. Don't Chase the Birds at the Riverside Park Bird Sanctuary- Prominent ornithologist, John James Audubon once owned this land and lived just north of the now Riverside Park Bird Sanctuary.

4. See the city on a horse and carriage ride at Central Park- they allow dogs to jump in the seat too. Or, I'll have to find my little pup a boyfriend/girlfriend for this romantic ride.

5. Find out who is buried in Grant's Tomb- at Riverside Drive and West 122th Street.

6. Join a Zuckerman Travel and Leisure Walking Tours- Although I won't be a tourist, I still like doing walking tours. I can always learn something new, even about my own city. This one is not only dog friendly but is even lead by a Golden Retriever named Tawny.

7. Release pent up energy (due to living in a NYC apartment) at one of the many dog runs- My favorite are the Union Square Park dog run and Washington Square Park which has separate small/large dog runs. Also, these parks usually have artists or dancers entertaining the crowd!

8. Pondering with the Eleanor Roosevelt Monument- Artist Penelope Jencks constructed this monument out of bronze and stone. Strolling around Riverside (dog friendly) Park at 72^nd Street you will come across Mrs. Roosevelt sitting on a boulder, looking as though she is in deep though. Some interesting facts about this monument: It is the first public statue of a president’s wife in the US and the second public statue of an American woman in NYC.

9. Strut the cat dogwalk at Pet Fashion Week- This year the show is on Aug. 21-22. Since my little one will only be about 2 months old, I will have to skip this year's, but next year will be checking out 2011's hottest collars.

10. Remember France at the Joan of Arc Monument- This bronze statue is sculpted by Anna Vaughn Hyatt. She stands at Riverside Park and 93rd Street. The artist's aim was to depict Joan of Arc "as spiritual rather than warlike."

*All images courtesy of Metro Dogs, the best dog walking and sitting service in the NY Metro Area (owned by my great friends Adam and Michelle Cox).

©2010 Danee Gilmartin All rights reserved

This is my last post I will be posting as a French resident (the French gov. gave my husband a 3 year visa, but me only one year, eligible for renewal. I guess they thought he might want to escape me for a few years). But first, I can’t leave without a proper goodbye to the building that has greeted me every morning from my window.

So, here are 10 interesting facts about the Eiffel Tower followed by my 10 favorite photos I took of it throughout my year in Paris:

1. It was inaugurated March 31, 1889 and built for the Universal Exhibition in celebration of the French Revolution. The construction took 2 years, 2 months and 5 days.

2. That makes it 121 years old.

3. The contractor is Gustave Eiffel & Cie and the architect Stephan Sauvestre.

4. The weight is 10,100 tons.

5. The height is 324 meters to the top of the flag pole.

6. If you are brave enough to climb it, there are 1665 steps.

7. It is owned by the City of Paris.

8. It gets entirely repainted every 7 years and has been re-painted 18 times since its initial construction

9. Eiffel encouraged research into radio transmission by using the tower as a radio mast. Today the tower holds many antennas, including a television mast.

10. It’s made of iron and protected from oxidation by many layers of paint. It has changed color several times and is slightly shaded off towards the top to ensure that the color is perceived to be the same all the way up.

©2010 Danee Gilmartin All rights reserved