I really cannot believe how fast time goes by, it's been over two weeks since my last entry. My mom came to visit for a week while my sister (who helped bring my mom to NYC) and her husband spent most of the week in Connecticut with her son, my nephew. As it turned out, things went so well with my mom's visit, now Bob's 90 year old mother wants to visit us too.
With combined resources of a wheelchair, cane, walker, car, subway, bus, boat, shuttle, and helping hands and supportive arms, my mom was able to get around pretty well and we covered a lot of ground in and around NYC. There is still so much more to see no doubt but she got a good taste of some really great NYC experiences. Highlights included driving to Connecticut to visit my nephew, Andrew and his girlfriend, Heather, in Newington and West Hartford and to drop off Bill and Elizabeth for their visit with Andrew. We always enjoy our
drives out of Manhattan to other parts of New York State and neighboring states. We and others always are impressed by how vast the natural beauty is just minutes of leaving Manhattan. I think it is also very surprising to most people to experience so much nature in Manhattan as well.
We went to the Cloisters Museum in Fort Tryon Park which specializes in a collection of medieval art (much of which has a religious theme). There are beautiful paintings, sculptures, chapels, tapestries, chalices, stained glass, etc., all housed in a castle like building with several lovely outdoor garden cloisters. Then we had lunch at the New Leaf Café during a downpour thunderstorm, but before it started raining, we were able to get in a
short but beautiful walk in a very densely flowering part of the park. Then we went to the Metropolitan Museum and took the museum highlights tour of 10 masterpieces from different parts of the world, eras in time, and mediums (e.g, sculpture, painting). We also were able to take in the exhibit, A Room with a View, paintings all emphasizing the use of windows to outside scenes as the theme. Beautiful paintings.........
Friday 4/29 we went to Battery Park at the tip of Manhattan and took a ferry to the Statue of Liberty Island to see the statue and then took the ferry on to Ellis Island and looked at all the exhibits there and watched a short film about the mass immigration from Europe (12 million people in 28 years, 98% get in, 2% are returned back to their
native country.) Very moving as to how poor the people were coming to find a new life here in the US. Seeing the Statue of Liberty up close is a really powerful experience, it's such an imposing and meaningful icon. One can only imagine what it signified to the millions of immigrants who had been at sea for days on end in miserable conditions to finally see the Statue of Liberty and know they have finally reached their idea of the "promised land."
Saturday, 4/30, Elizabeth, Bill, Andrew, and Heather trained in from Connecticut to Grand Central Station and joined us for the day. We took a 5 1/2 hour bus tour of NYC that took us to many main sites where we got off the bus at places like Central Park, Chelsea Market and the Highline Park, Ground Zero and the new construction of the memorial and new towers, views of the Empire State building, Broadway, Madison Park, Battery Park, Grand Central Station, driving down 5th Ave with all the mansions and upscale shops, etc. Our tour ended with
a subway ride from ground zero to Times Square. It was really well done, our guide was very informative and personable, sharing lots of interesting stories with us about growing up in NYC. The time went very fast and we could have gone on for several more hours if it had been available. You would think in 5 ½ hours you would see most of Manhattan but the reality is that we barely saw even a quarter of what would be considered major highlights of the city. We came back, rested, and had dinner in and then Mom and the rest of them went to
see the Broadway musical, Chicago. They all really enjoyed it even though Christie Brinkley is not nearly as talented as the rest of the cast.
Sunday, May 1st, Bob, Mom, and I went to 9am mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral which is really magnificent in all of its grandeur. Soaring arched ceilings with incredibly detailed carvings and stained glass, a huge organ, lilies banking the entire altar. Really amazing. In order to get to St. Patrick's Cathedral, we had to dodge the many bicycle riders that were taking part in the Five Borough Bike Tour. There was no way to cross over 6th Avenue without going through them. It was a little crazy. After mass, we had a fabulous and elegant brunch at the Russian Tea House next to Carnegie Hall. I highly, highly recommend going. My mom said her pecan pancakes with strawberries and maple syrup were the best she has ever had. The service there is impeccable and it’s so
beautifully decorated and really elegant and lovely. We went to see the Broadway musical, Billy Elliott. We all enjoyed it very much though the Welsh accents made it a little challenging to fully understand all the dialogue.
Monday May 2nd, Bob had to go back to work but Mom and I took a boat tour around the lower half of Manhattan Island which was the same one that Briannon, Mike, and Claire took while here. Our guide for this tour was not nearly as good as the one we hand on the first tour. We did get a really good picture of the two of us before boarding the tour boat. Going under the bridges (Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg) was really cool. After the boat tour, we took a really nice walk along the Hudson River Walk which still had lots of trees in bloom and was not at all crowded so it was a very leisurely walk. This is one of my favorite walks in NYC. It meant a lot to me to be able to share that with my mom.
Tuesday May 3rd, We went to the New York Public Library, an absolutely magnificent building inside and out. The
NYPL will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in mid-May. We then took a stroll in the adjacent Bryant Park (a favorite park of mine) and made sure that we ate a NYC hot dog from one of the carts before leaving town.
I am feeling much more confident in designing itineraries tailored to our guests .... I am excited to have my first fully mobile guest when Jeffrey arrives next Thursday. We will really cover a lot of territory and I'm really looking forward to seeing new places with him.
On Thursday, my friend Margaret, invited me to join her on an urban walk in Central Park sponsored by the Appalachian Mountain Club. It was fantastic....despite having been to the park many times, I saw a lot of sites I'd not seen before.....especially Bethesda Plaza and the Shakespeare Garden (plants and flowers from Shakespeare's plays and sonnets). Central Park is all in bloom and people are just loving it. I forgot to bring my camera so don't have pictures to post. Before we went on the walk we met in the lobby of the Manderin Hotel and Jennifer Hudson passed by in the lobby. She looks really great. I was able to take Bob on a walk thru Central Park on Sunday to share all that I had seen and more.
A major highlight this past weekend was going to dinner at Pure Food and Wine in the Gramercy neighborhood on Friday night with Scott and Sherri--our fine dining partners. This is a raw food, vegan, gourmet restaurant that does not use soy or dairy. We chose to have the chef's tasting menu for the table as that would allow us to try almost everything on the menu. We were each served different entrees and desserts for four of the five courses which we then split each one into quarters. By the end of the evening, we had each tasted 17 items off the menu. It was a great way to survey much of what is offered. I would say that there are things that I like more than others but all were winners, not a bad entry in the bunch. It's amazing what the chef does with vegetables, fruits, and nuts. Unbelievably creative and a whole range of textures, from crunchy to creamy and all were very flavorful, with a really good variety of seasonings. Nothing repetitive. We had a great gastronomic experience and Pure lived up to all the hype I'd heard about it.
Saturday we went to see the Broadway Play, House of Blue Leaves. Edie Falco is nominated for a Tony for her leading role in this play. It was an interesting play, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and certainly did not see the way it ended coming. It was an interesting combination of comedy and pathos and often the actors spoke and interacted directly with the audience. It's a story of unrealized dreams, heartbreaking obstacles, and desperation but with a comedic note, if you can believe that. Another celebrity sighting at the play was seeing Vincent D'Onofrio who was sitting about 4 rows in front of us. I also noticed him because a woman behind me recognized him. I am really terrible at realizing who people are celebrity-wise.
Sunday, we had thought to either go to the Bronx Botanical Garden to see the vast acreage of blazing azaleas, or rent a tandem bike and ride along the Greenway bike trail that surrounds Manhattan Island but the rental place didn't have any tandem bikes and the bike trail was really packed so we opted for a walk along the Hudson and cutting into Central Park after getting a coffee at the cafe at 70th street. We then had an ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC walk in Central Park. The weather was perfect, sunny in the high 60's/low 70's with a gentle breeze. Central Park is so incredibly beautiful and vibrant this time of year. People are just so into being in the park and enjoying all it has to offer. We hit all the highlights from what I saw on Thursday including the Turtle Pond where the turtles were out in full force. I had read about the Garden Conservatory in the park earlier that morning so wanted to walk the entire length of the park to get to the northeast corner where it is. On our way, we walked by a long row of cherry trees along the resevoir that we will definitely need to see next Spring. The Garden Conservatory is such a lovely part of Central Park, very manicured gardens, huge variety of flowering trees, shrubs, flowers, vines, bulbs. There is a most delightful fountain in the tulip garden of three lifesize maidens frolicking in the water. There is a stiking curved wrought iron pergola covered in blooming wisteria that creates a shaded corrider between to viewing balconies. Perfect for an outdoor wedding. I am keeping this in mind for Kelly as she has said she wants an outdoor wedding whenever she does get married.
After this just fantastic walk thru Central Park we had a great dinner at Community Food Cafe up near Columbia University. It was such a great Mother's Day. Throughout the day sent and received lots of loving messages for Mother's Day.
I'm going to see the off Broadway Play, Love, Lost, and What I Wore by the Ephron sisters on Wednesday. It's definitely a chick play so it's good that I got a complimentary ticket and can see it during the day while Bob is at work. This coming weekend, we are headed to Lancaster, PA---Amish Country--for an overnight trip to explore the are and take a horse back ride. We are looking quite forward to visiting Amish Country..........we are both intrigued since our only sense of it is from the movie Witness.
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