Day 3 in NYC

Last Friday in New York City, we had breakfast at Appleby's again.  Partly for the Wifi but mostly because I wanted pancakes, and man, were they good!

Next stop was the World Trade Centre memorial.  I'll be sharing more details on that visit next week on the anniversary, but for now, let me tell you it was incredibly moving and I'm really glad we went to see it.

Lunch was at Ellen's Stardust Diner, where the wait staff sing pop songs and Broadway show tunes in between serving customers.  They were quite the talented bunch! Here's Debbie singing along with one of the waitresses:

After lunch, I took myself off to The Ink Pad (also recommended by Julie Fei Fan Balzer) to check out their supply of rubber stamps and crafting supplies.  Wowza, what a collection they have packed into that rather small space!  I picked up a number of goodies there - washi tape, a couple of stamps, some of the new Tim Holtz layering stencils, a tropical collection of gelatos (the kind you paint with, not the kind you eat!).

Back at the hotel, sadly, it was time to say goodbye to Jen and Mel, who were on their way to the next part of their honeymoon, a cruise to the Greek islands.

Debbie and I had dinner at the little Italian place beside their hotel by the name of Da Marino, which turned out to be an excellent choice - the food was great.

Afterwards, we used the half-price tickets we'd picked up at the TKTS booth in Times Square around 5 p.m. and saw another Broadway musical.  This one was a comedy called "First Date" and it was one of the best I've ever seen (totally different from Wicked and I have to admit I liked it just a little bit better, that's how extremely good it was!), it was just so cleverly written.

Me and Debbie, dateless at "First Date"

Here's a little peek:

Trust me, if you're going to New York any time soon, you really ought to go see this show, you won't be disappointed!

Day 2 in NYC

Thursday began with breakfast at Appleby's - only a block from our hotels, serving up good food and free Wifi. Yes, that man is carrying an umbrella but he only needed it for five minutes.

A visit to Lee's Art Supplies (as recommended by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, a fellow artist and native New Yorker).

A walk in Central Park.

Lunch was a hot dog from a street vendor, just because I had never done that before.  Who knew the mustard was going to be so darned hot??!!!

More walking, past the Guggenheim (closed on Thursdays)

followed by a visit to the Museum of the City of New York - quite interesting, quite unique.  We watched a very interesting 25 minute film on the history of the city, narrated by Stanley Tucci.

A short walk through part of East Harlem to admire the street art

followed by a ride on the subway (oooh, firefighters!), back to our hotel.

Dinner and drinks on a rooftop patio.

A Broadway show - Wicked!!  We laughed, we cried, we enjoyed it very much.

Another great day in the City of New York!

Day 1 in NYC

I flew to New York City on Wed morning.  It was rather grey and foggy on the ground in Toronto but nothing but blue skies and sunshine once we hit cruising altitude.

Took NY Airporter bus to midtown Manhattan which dropped me off at the Port Authority bus terminal just before noon for a mere $13.50 (as compared to $40 to $60 for a cab!).

Glad I booked a hotel room so I wouldn't end up like this lady!

Since I was travelling with just a small carry-on suitcase, I had no trouble walking the eight blocks to my hotel except for the fact that it started to rain lightly on the way and it took me a bit of time to dig my umbrella out from the bottom of my suitcase while standing in a doorway.  Even though check-in time wasn't until 3 pm, the hotel had a room ready for me and I spent some time unpacking and gluing things in my trip journal while listening to the rain and thunder outside.  I didn't have much of a view, just a view of a brick wall across the way and enough of a break between buildings to see a patch of sky!

My room in the Amsterdam Court Hotel was quite small but very clean and private, and certainly all I needed for the 3 nights I was in town, since I was mostly just there to sleep and shower.  The only downside was the fact that there was no desk, which meant I had to sit on the one chair or on the bed to write in my journal, if I didn't want to sit downstairs in one of the hotel lounges.

Location-wise, it couldn't have been more convenient - it was two blocks from Times Square, one block from the hotel where my friends were staying (which was fully booked, which I why I had to stay somewhere else) and literally across the street from the theatre we were planning to attend the next night.

I was scheduled to meet up with my friends at 2:30 at their hotel, so I headed out about an hour later, once I thought the rain had stopped and had a quick tour around Times Square and a quick bite to eat at McDonald's. Not very adventurous, I know, but I was more focused on staying nearby so I would be on time to meet them, as I was getting messages on Facebook that their bus from Maryland was running late.  In the end, they arrived on time and we met in the reception area of their hotel as planned.  They dropped off their luggage and we set out on our adventures.

Slightly soggy Times Square

It was me, my friend Debbie from Australia, her sister Jen and her partner, Melissa.  (Mel is originally from the U.S. and they had been in Maryland to get married, as same sex marriages are legal there but not yet in Oz.)  Someone mentioned they wanted to see Grand Central Terminal. I knew where it was, since my airport bus had stopped there on the way, so off we went on foot to find it.  The ladies stopped for a hotdog ("street meat") along the way, since they hadn't had lunch:

We passed by Bryant Park

and the New York Public Library (the big marble building with the stone lions out front):

before reaching the Terminal itself.  It's a beautiful building inside, in spite of the swarms of people. It was hard to take photos without having a total stranger or two in the frame! (click on photo for a larger view)

We then walked to Macy's, where Debbie did a little shopping for gifts to take home.

After that, we walked back to their hotel and had some snacks and champagne in Jen and Mel's room to celebrate our first day in the Big Apple.

Their view was just a little bit more interesting than mine, including a typical NYC rooftop water tower.

We had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's (with New York cheesecake for dessert, of course!) and took in some of the unusual sights around Times Square.

Jen, Mel, me and Debbie

By the time I got back to my hotel room, it was after 10 p.m. and I was pooped. I had walked more than 21,000 steps that day, my all-time highest number since I started wearing a Fitbit to track my steps in January 2012!

Flying Home From NYC

I'm back from my 4 day mini vacation in New York City and I'm bushed.  Man, that place is busy! You just can't sit still, you have to keep moving.  I'm still sorting through all the photos but I did want to show you these cloud photos from the flight home yesterday.  It was grey and hazy as we were taking off but once we got up to cruising altitude, there was all sorts of cumulus activity going on!

I love how sometimes they look like majestic mountains rising up and other times, like a snow landscape or a collection of cotton balls artfully arranged.

I really liked this one, with the ball of the sun showing through the dark top layer of cloud and the rays of light below.

As you can see, there are advantages to sitting in the window seat!

On Vacation

I'm taking a few days off this week, heading to The Big Apple to meet up with a friend who's visiting from Australia.  Last time I saw her was six years ago, also in New York City.  Then, it was late October and bitter cold.  This week's forecast is much warmer and sunnier, should make riding around on the double decker tour bus feel a lot less like sitting in a freezer turning into a popsicle and more like being a piece of bacon sizzling in a frying pan, but I'm okay with that!

Free vintage clipart image courtesy of
vintagefeedsacks.blogspot.com
- poster by Adolphe Treidler

I may or may not have a chance to blog while I'm there.  I posted last Friday using my new iPhone and it worked like a charm, we'll see what kind of luck I have in NYC with only WIFI service to rely on (my hotel charges $15 a day for Internet service, I will not be signing up for that!!). We'll see how it goes.

Have a good week!

Scenes from a Tennis Tournament

Our annual cottage tennis tournament, affectionately known as "Wimpleton" was this weekend. The weather was perfect - sunny and warm (although hot on the court, where there is no shade after 10 a.m., especially when you're chasing after little yellow balls!) and no wind (good for hitting balls, not so good for keeping cool).

I filled in as a sub and played two mixed doubles matches, which was exciting, since I haven't been able to compete since I hurt my back 8 years ago (the required minimum of three matches, sometimes all on one day, would be too much).  We play 12 games for each match, 6 with one partner and then we switch partners.  Here I am with Saturday's partners, Zen and Paul:

Here I am with Sunday's teammates, Terry and Tim (Cooper the dog did not get to play, much to his dismay):

Alas, none of my partners made it to the semi-finals, in spite of my best efforts to assist them.

At the end of the first day, cottage neighbours Dave and Leanne hosted a potluck cocktail party.  Everyone got cleaned up, brings food, had a few drinks and relaxed while hashing over the great serves, missed shots and intense matchups that happened during the day, while speculating on the next day's finals.

A few of us stayed on later, admired the sunset and had a singsong out on the deck.

It was the perfect way to end a perfect day.