This year is starting out with a bang, travel wise!
I had an opportunity I could not refuse to go spend a few days in New York City!
The news were full of warnings about a blizzard, but all it turned out to be was a light lazy snow fall that melted before it hit the ground, so the biggest challenge was avoiding the puddles. To be fair I have to admit that in Central Park the snow stayed on the ground because it is colder there. Children were sledding, building snowmen, grownups were having snowball fights…and also creating snow creatures…
This time I explored more of the south of Manhatan, namely, Chelsea, Greewich, East and West Village. There are lovely areas dotted with bars, bistros and restaurants. It was quite an experience for me to be asked to do shots. It was the day’s special: 5 shots of any kind for $10.00. The girls each took two and I settled for one…but even then…I had to sip it…. I know I know, this is NOT the way it is done….but this is the best I could do. Next they pulled me into a Martini bar! I had a sip of a lovely concoction of….., but settled for a glass of wine. And we finished that evening in a charming Jazz bar.
After that warm up we decided to try a pub crawl but, to give it some seriousness, we found a literary pub crawl!!!
What is a literary pub crawl you ask?? Well, you gather in a pub, in this case the White horse saloon, one of the oldest bars in Greenwich, where a couple of actors entertain the crowd with stories of the famous writers who frequented the place, inserting anecdotes, poems and citations. The second bar is quite famous also, for the start of the gay movement: it is the Stonewall. Of course we got a bit of a guided tour of the area as we went from one to the next.
Afterwards we went to another place I had never tried before: a comedy club! We chose the Comedy Cellar. As the name implies it is in a basement, with a brick wall behind the small stage, just like in the movies. I was impressed with the quality of the comedians. We saw four, some of them have been guests on TV shows, one of them even has his own show. It was fun to see them up close.To have them interact with the people in the audience. When it was over all we wanted to do was come back for the second set….It was definitely worth the cover charge!!!
I cannot go to NYC without seeing a musical comedy and this time was no exception. We went to see “Hair”. I was not as taken as the first time I saw it in the seventies…but then the social context has changed so much…But it was still a fun show.
I also went to two of my favorite museums: the Moma, which was so crowded it was not very pleasant, BUT where I ate a delicious salad, and a memorable cheese cake, made of goat cheese, smothered in pistachios and topped with pieces of grapefruit and orange…served with a caramel sauce… It was as light as a cloud!!
The Metropolitan, was its glorious self. I spent several hours admiring the impressionists and modern paintings…What an amazing collection!!! and the Egyptian treasures…
This was not a shopping expedition and the only thing I purchased were rubber boots, that everybody was wearing with good reason…nothing else could withstand the puddles.
I had a great time!! What an amazing city!!