Friday morning, another sleeping in day. Pam actually woke up before I did. We walked down to 34th and Broadway where we shopped at THE Macy's store. Pam bought a Tignanello leather purse. The store was massive, and almost too much to take in. It was very crowded with people from all over the world.
After Macy's, we made our way to the NY Public Library, the one with the giant lions guarding the entrance. The building, we discovered, was celebrating its centennial, and it was beautiful. The murals and fresco paintings reminded us of something you'd find at The Met.
After having fun at the library, we found a corner food stand and ate at Bryant Park. Pam had a Philly cheese steak and I had lamb gyro. The park itself was extremely crowded, appearing to be filled with school kids and office workers taking their lunch breaks. There were several different areas for free public games to be played, including a diverse group playing ping pong. Good lunch in a great atmosphere.
Pam and I then went back to the hotel to pack while we watched some of the Djokavich- Federer match, which Federer eventually won. We said good bye to the hotel, took a cab to La Guardia, and then said good bye to New York, at least for now.
This was an awesome trip and an excellent way to celebrate our 25th Anniversary. This won't be our last such trip, but it will be one of the most fun and special trips we've taken.
Here's to you, New York, New York!!!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Day Four: From Central Park to Paris Opera House and a Phantom
This morning, Pam and I slept in and enjoyed it immensely. After a relaxing morning, we made our way to the subway and went to the south of Central Park. We did a little shopping near Carnegie Hall and then caught a pedicab for an hour tour of the entire park.
Our driver was a 25-year-old from Turkey named Umat Sevil--he said to call him Matt. He's going to hunter college studying computer science. He made the tour very fun and informative. We saw everything from Poet's Park to the San Remo, where Steven Spielberg owns the top floor. We stopped a couple times along the way to enjoy the very cool weather and the terrific surroundings. One of the stops was in Strawberry Fields, outside the Dakota where John Lennon was gunned down. The pedicab was definitely a great idea. We saw the entire park and did little walking.
After the park, we found the Brooklyn Diner, a trendy little place on 7th and 57th where we had mozzarella balls and a corned beef sandwich--let's just say the corned beef is not at all like the corned beef I've had from the supermarket. At the diner, we were surrounded by the flavor of New York. We felt like we were on an episode of Seinfeld or something. Very cool.
Pam and I decided to walk back to Times Square, which turned out to be a great idea. It really was only about 10 blocks, and the cool weather made it very comfortable. Along the way, we stopped at a jewelers called Martinique, where Pam purchased some Pandora beads and I splurged for an Ingersoll watch, which will be for Father's Day and my birthday--well worth it, though! We were walking by a catholic church and were able to sit in for part of an organ recital before evensong. Really cool. We then went back to the hotel and rested. I later went down to the center of Times Square and smoked a cigar and enjoyed being in the midst of the many cultures of people.
For the evening, Pam and I purchased tickets to The Phantom of The Opera, playing now for 24 years at The Majestic Theatre. We ate at a place where we split a seafood special, which contained clams and oysters on the half-shell, lobster tail, and shrimp. The french press coffee was excellent.
The play was outstanding and lived up to our expectations. The Majestic is like attending a play in a museum, and we felt a part of all the many thousands of people who have ever attended any play there. After the play, we went to Juniors and splurged on dessert and espresso. Pam had a huge hot fudge sundae and I had a chocolate mousse cheese cake. Neither of us could finish, though we tried! After dessert, we went back to the hotel and watched a most improbable Mavericks comeback over the Heat, coming from 15 points back with about 5 minutes to go.
Our driver was a 25-year-old from Turkey named Umat Sevil--he said to call him Matt. He's going to hunter college studying computer science. He made the tour very fun and informative. We saw everything from Poet's Park to the San Remo, where Steven Spielberg owns the top floor. We stopped a couple times along the way to enjoy the very cool weather and the terrific surroundings. One of the stops was in Strawberry Fields, outside the Dakota where John Lennon was gunned down. The pedicab was definitely a great idea. We saw the entire park and did little walking.
After the park, we found the Brooklyn Diner, a trendy little place on 7th and 57th where we had mozzarella balls and a corned beef sandwich--let's just say the corned beef is not at all like the corned beef I've had from the supermarket. At the diner, we were surrounded by the flavor of New York. We felt like we were on an episode of Seinfeld or something. Very cool.
Pam and I decided to walk back to Times Square, which turned out to be a great idea. It really was only about 10 blocks, and the cool weather made it very comfortable. Along the way, we stopped at a jewelers called Martinique, where Pam purchased some Pandora beads and I splurged for an Ingersoll watch, which will be for Father's Day and my birthday--well worth it, though! We were walking by a catholic church and were able to sit in for part of an organ recital before evensong. Really cool. We then went back to the hotel and rested. I later went down to the center of Times Square and smoked a cigar and enjoyed being in the midst of the many cultures of people.
For the evening, Pam and I purchased tickets to The Phantom of The Opera, playing now for 24 years at The Majestic Theatre. We ate at a place where we split a seafood special, which contained clams and oysters on the half-shell, lobster tail, and shrimp. The french press coffee was excellent.
The play was outstanding and lived up to our expectations. The Majestic is like attending a play in a museum, and we felt a part of all the many thousands of people who have ever attended any play there. After the play, we went to Juniors and splurged on dessert and espresso. Pam had a huge hot fudge sundae and I had a chocolate mousse cheese cake. Neither of us could finish, though we tried! After dessert, we went back to the hotel and watched a most improbable Mavericks comeback over the Heat, coming from 15 points back with about 5 minutes to go.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Wednesday: W stands for Walking!!
Today, we made our way from Times Square past Bryant Park and the NYC Public Library to Grand Central Station. We now have a new appreciation for that term: Grand Central. Lots of different way to go the wrong way. My trusty iPhone app, however, told us to take the 4 train uptown on Lex and get off at 86th. From there, we still had about a 6 block walk to our final destination--The Met!
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was an incredible experience, even though we walked, and walked, and did I mention, WE WALKED! We probably walked about 8 miles today. Pam says 20. She may be right!
Too many works of art to even trey to see in one day, much less mention, but here is a list of some of the artwork we saw: Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Rembrandt, Renoir, Pollack, Warhol, Goya, Picasso, and many, many others we enjoyed. This doesn't even include some of the other artwork we saw, from architecture, to furniture, to Greek and Egyptian pieces of all kinds. There was even a section on musical instruments, which currently featured Ringo Starr's gold-plated snare drum that Ludwig Co. gave him. Pam enjoyed "Blue on a Canvas," which she thinks she could do herself! :)
At a lunch break, we had "dawgs" from a Sabrett stand in front of the museum. Pam also had a very salty pretzel and I had a knish, which was like a fried mashed potato sandwich. During lunch, we were entertained by an African woman who was evidently hot, or perhaps dirty, and she took a bath in a fountain next to us in her clothes while we and several others watched. Interesting.
We enjoyed watching lots and lots of kids at the museum either in groups with a teacher or tour guide as well as on their own having to find certain sculpture and created drawings and take down information. They are in school until June 23rd.
We had to take a bus back to the hotel because of an "investigation" on the exact train we needed, so it took about 45 minutes to get back, but we got to see most of Lexington Avenue shops, residences, etc. After we were dropped off at 42nd and Lex, we walked past a tobaccaria, where we had a nice visit with the manager there whose son is a children's librarian at a public library across the George Washington bridge. He was extremely cordial and kept us entertained while we waited for some renewed strength in our legs--more walking, yes!
After a nap back at the Marquis, we decided to go out for dinner and happened upon Robin Williams in a play, so we took a chance and saw The Bengal of Baghdad, an existential play that was comedic and serious at the same time. Pam and I aren't sure we appreciated the message of the play, if there were one. We sat by an Italian director named Luigi and an actor named Antonio, who wanted us to help translate. Not sure if we could, since the language was not G Rated, which we should have guessed.
After the show about 10, we finally found a place to eat called Brasserie Athenee, a nice French restaurant. Brasserie was just interpreted to mean "bar" by some French girls sitting by us out here in Times Square.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was an incredible experience, even though we walked, and walked, and did I mention, WE WALKED! We probably walked about 8 miles today. Pam says 20. She may be right!
Too many works of art to even trey to see in one day, much less mention, but here is a list of some of the artwork we saw: Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Rembrandt, Renoir, Pollack, Warhol, Goya, Picasso, and many, many others we enjoyed. This doesn't even include some of the other artwork we saw, from architecture, to furniture, to Greek and Egyptian pieces of all kinds. There was even a section on musical instruments, which currently featured Ringo Starr's gold-plated snare drum that Ludwig Co. gave him. Pam enjoyed "Blue on a Canvas," which she thinks she could do herself! :)
At a lunch break, we had "dawgs" from a Sabrett stand in front of the museum. Pam also had a very salty pretzel and I had a knish, which was like a fried mashed potato sandwich. During lunch, we were entertained by an African woman who was evidently hot, or perhaps dirty, and she took a bath in a fountain next to us in her clothes while we and several others watched. Interesting.
We enjoyed watching lots and lots of kids at the museum either in groups with a teacher or tour guide as well as on their own having to find certain sculpture and created drawings and take down information. They are in school until June 23rd.
We had to take a bus back to the hotel because of an "investigation" on the exact train we needed, so it took about 45 minutes to get back, but we got to see most of Lexington Avenue shops, residences, etc. After we were dropped off at 42nd and Lex, we walked past a tobaccaria, where we had a nice visit with the manager there whose son is a children's librarian at a public library across the George Washington bridge. He was extremely cordial and kept us entertained while we waited for some renewed strength in our legs--more walking, yes!
After a nap back at the Marquis, we decided to go out for dinner and happened upon Robin Williams in a play, so we took a chance and saw The Bengal of Baghdad, an existential play that was comedic and serious at the same time. Pam and I aren't sure we appreciated the message of the play, if there were one. We sat by an Italian director named Luigi and an actor named Antonio, who wanted us to help translate. Not sure if we could, since the language was not G Rated, which we should have guessed.
After the show about 10, we finally found a place to eat called Brasserie Athenee, a nice French restaurant. Brasserie was just interpreted to mean "bar" by some French girls sitting by us out here in Times Square.
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