We’ll probably write some more blog entries about more specifics but here are some snapshots from the weekend we are tentatively calling “It Is Not Supposed To Be This Cold Here”. We stayed at the midtown Sheraton, an 1800 room monster of a hotel. It was better than expected after reading some of the reviews online. We were on the 33rd floor which might be higher than we’ve ever slept in a building before.
Yes, this is a big bowl of Raamen at a restaurant that was described as having the best Raamen in New York City. It was good and the staff yelled IRASHAIMASE! at us when we entered just like they do in Japanese restaurants in Japan.
Times Square is not a cute urban square but instead the intersection of 7th Avenue and Broadway at an angle. the “square” is about 12 blocks long and lit up my more neon than would be considered tasteful outside of Shinjuku in Tokyo. Still, it was awesome. Here we are standing on a set of bleacher / risers intended for people to sit and look at the square they’ve heard about their entire lives and watched every New Year’s Eve on ABC. If you look closely, you can see The Ball in the dropped position above the 2016.
30 Rockefeller Center: the place where our national news at 530pm comes from, the origin of Al Roker’s corny jokes, the setting of my favorite Tina Fey sit com. We only regret that neither Jimmy Falon nor Seth Meyers were taping the Friday night we were there. Saturday Night Live happened on Saturday night but those tickets are only available in August and we were busy Saturday night anyway. We did not run into Lester Holt or Tom Brokaw on special assignment. I think we saw Susan Sarandon in Times Square. Sue thinks it was her, too.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral might be the largest Catholic Cathedral in America. They must have renovated recently because the entire place inside and out seemed brand new.
Our hotel was at the corner of 7th Avenue and 53rd Street about five blocks from Times Square and five blocks from Central Park. We had a view of many skyscrapers and a tiny sliver of the George Washington Bridge.
It was nice of them to finish building The Freedom Tower, aka One World Trade in time for us to visit. This was Sue’s first visit to New York City and my second (the first was in 1988). One World Trade is the tallest building in the western hemisphere. You don’t notice it being that tall when you are standing next to it but here at the Statue of Liberty it certainly looks tall. Now that we are each 45 (not 46, Mom) it is amazing to think that 9/11 happened one third of our life ago. It doesn’t seem like that long ago.
On Friday night we (and about 62,000 other tourists and locals) took advantage of the Free Fridays at the Museum of Modern Art where we saw Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night. (Normally, admission is $25). Despite it being so crowded, we are glad we went. We had to remind ourselves that we were in New York City. Because of the panoply of languages being spoken, it felt like we were surely in Paris, Berlin, or Milan. New York sure has the international tourist draw.
Happy Birthday, l Susan!
Sue is again as old as I am. I picked up some Dickey’s BBQ for her birthday last night.
Did I mention the cold? It was record cold and windy. We could not do the typical wander around and get lost in a neighborhood for fear of freezing to death. Seriously, it was cold. Sue liked how virtually no one tried to be fashionable. Everyone had on tons of mismatching layers and ugly hoods, boots, and scarves. The coldest moment was walking to dinner at a Thai restaurant on Saturday night. We wanted to take a cab but just like when it rains, when it’s cold, everyone wants a cab and the line out front of our hotel was too long.
This is me in the 66th Street – Lincoln Center subway station after the amazing performance of The King and I. Note the tile work – most of the subway stations had vintage tile work like this. If I lived in NY I would take pictures of all of the subway signs. On the same night and at the same time at Lincoln Center, the New York Phil was playing Mahler’s 6th Symphony, the Met Opera was performing Manon Lescat, and there was a very odd fashion show or something going on in the central courtyard. There were several hundred people dressed in flashy uniforms stomping around and really tall supermodels wearing fur leg warmers and big hats. I don’t know what it was and I can’t believe we didn’t take a picture.
Ravel and Nigel and Tailwheel (not in the picture)
We went to Ground Zero on Saturday morning in the cold and wind. The former footprints of the two World Trade Center towers are now deep reflecting pool fountains. All of the names of the 3000 or so people who died that day are on the railings of the pools. There were some headings like “chaplain” and “Fire House 113” etc. It is a nice memorial. I’m glad they didn’t build the new tower on top of this site. We did not visit the underground 9/11 museum. Another time.
The Freedom Tower has some vacancies still. . .some companies are probably balking at the memory of the site or maybe just the incredibly high rents.
Do you recognize this scene from the movies and TV? Grand Central Station.
Trinity Church is a few blocks form the World Trade Center site. We found Alexander Hamilton and his wife Eliza’s tombstones in the graveyard. The Hamilton biography that I am reading was sitting on the shelf in the gift shop.
Did you know the Statue of Liberty is on an island that is technically in New Jersey? She faces out toward the harbor opening where the Verrazano Narrows Bridge connects Brooklyn with Staten Island. Imagine arriving at Ellis Island as an immigrant and seeing lady liberty welcoming you. She’s been there since 1886.
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