As I sit in the airport terminal…staring at the dark tarmac…with four hours to wait for a delayed flight…I am trying to convince myself that I can do this without the help of chocolate…or any other sweet treat. I have been pretty good this weekend….and do not want to cave in…..just then…I hear a soft smiling voice saying: “Would you like to try our special holiday hot chocolate and our banana nut muffins?”
Do I ever!!!!!
The voice belonged to a sweet young Starbucks employee who was going around the waiting lounge offering tiny cups of cocoa and pieces of muffin….
They say Eve tempted Adam with an apple….well…this Eve succumbed to Starbucks…
Reflecting on my weekend in New York City, I am pleased. I had a few demons to exorcise…and it went well. I cannot believe the amount of things I saw and experienced in such a short time. Being familiar with the city and the subway helped. Besides walking down 5th avenue and getting my yearly fix of Saks…
I was disappointed to see that the big Christmas tree at Lincoln center was still surrounded by scaffolding…they were going up in order to place a 500 pound swarovski crystal star on top of it…but the flags surrounding the skating rink well flapping energically as always.
Speaking of skating rinks, I discovered another one at Byant Park. It is a lovely area, very European in feel with tables and benches scattered along the gravel paths…
I managed to see two shows. I was very proud of myself for standing in line for an hour in Times square with 500 other poor souls to get 50% off the price of my tickets…
The show was Chicago, which is a classic by now, very well done, with lots of energy, great dancers and musicians…the only uncomfortable part of the evening was getting soaked to the bone on the way there and having to sit in wet clothes all evening. Good thing we stopped for margaritas on the way…even if that bar did not have the hoped for hand driers…the booze did warm our insides.
The clouds and fog made for an eerie décor…
The other show was a very different experience. We attended an opera at the Metropolitan. The building itself is unbelievably impressive. As you walk up to the entrance, and look through the arches, you see two huge painting by Marc Chagall, flanking glittery chandeliers. The foyer as well as the hall itself are gorgeous. And that was not the half of it, as the show was just as impressive. It was The Damnation of Faust, which to me is almost an obscure piece, but Robert Lepage, who is a master of special effects, directed it…Even if this opera has long musical parts with no singning, Lepage, using projections, filled those with mesmerizing tableaus.
It was a memorable evening!
Museum wise I got to make up for what I had missed the last time I was there: I re-visited the Guggenheim museum and finally got to visit the Moma, both have impressive collections.
I also got to take a food tour of Greenwich Village. I love those tours as a way to explore an area…while tasting a variety of foods.
We saw this building known as the Irving house…an American writer of the 19th c. who wrote such well known stories as Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, along with many stories about the Dutch people of New Amsterdam ( Now NY)…
Some houses are less pretentious but nor without a sense of humor…
We saw very old houses, some that had been home to several writers and comedians…and this one that is one of the oldest and has a funny owl on the roof that moves…
Food wise, we had some nice pizza, olive oil soaked bread, two mysterious dishes, one was rice based and the other… I’m not sure. We continued with a variety of cheese and ended with canolis.
The olive oil shop had lovely displays…as did the “Milk and cookies” bakery…
Anyone considering a trip to NYC might want to check out the hotel we stayed at which was very nice: perfectly clean, great service, nice marble bathrooms, efficient heat and AC as well as good water pressure and temperature…each room even has a kitchenette, with fridge, microwave, stove top, coffee maker, kettle and a full set of kitchen ware. Right across the street is a big supermarket…The hotel is the Beacon Hotel on Broadway between 74th and 75th.
New York City will always be synonymous with high rise buildings….
Here are my shots of the Chrysler and the Empire State buildings..
