Sandy & Genevieve: NYC

I realize now that the date of the last post was incorrect, but I’m leaving it. We do our blogging in the Windows Live Writer software and if I merely open a post in Blogger the formatting may go awry. Yes, one more yuppie problem to add to the list…

This is Day 2 – NYC 2010 Trip

Since NYC is two hours off from Denver time, if we rose at 8:00 am that would really be 6:00 am Denver time. So, we opted for a 10:00 am wake up! Hey, we were on vacation, even if it is the City that never sleeps.

The day started at 11:30 am with cappuccinos and a croissant at Stumptown! If you are a coffee drinker and are not familiar with Stumptown, I am sad for you. I don’t really drink coffee unless I’m expected to be active (i.e. not behind the desk) for 12 hours or more in a day. Vacation is definitely one of those times – especially in a walking city like New York. Anyway, Stumptown coffee is among the best I’ve ever had. We originally discovered it in Portland, Oregon, and have been followers ever since. Here’s a shot of the baristas hard at work looking ultra hip and making coffee beverages.

And here is what we had:

Sandy here, who drinks coffee everyday, regardless of expectations. Being active, yep, coffee please. Weekend morning with no plans, coffee. Down and out with the flu…you get the idea. I can say their 5oz cappuccinos are outstanding. That 5 oz includes frothed milk, so the actual weight is probably 3.5 oz, meaning the per pound cost is approximately $16. If there was coffee this good in Denver I would happily pay that daily, possibly more often depending on location.

We ate and drank at the standing bar and then headed out for our day in the city. Our first destination was the New York City Public Library, but guess what? We ran into an amazing city park! Bryant Park (I’ve put in a link to the immediate left of the parentheses and let me tell you, I’m amazed that both this park and Madison Square Park – from the day 1 post – have web sites devoted to them). The park is lined with big trees and has an open, grassy center with chairs and tables. It’s so great that the city has these areas of respite. It actually seems quieter inside the rim of trees, as if you’re actually entering a little haven. So nice.

It turns out that Bryant Park is right behind the library – very convenient! The library was getting some exterior work done so the entrance was covered in scaffolding, which was covered in white barriers. The library is like a museum, so grand. Sandy and I kept thinking about that movie The Day After Tomorrow, that climate change movie that featured the NYC public library.

This is Sandy (on the right) on the way up to the second floor:

Sandy and unknown guy in front of a mural on the first floor of the library:

An eerie bit of marble work at the base of the stairs:After gawking at the library for a bit we sort of ran into Times Square. In the daytime, without the glare of the brightly lit billboards and so on, it’s easier to appreciate the pedestrian space between the sidewalks. I loved that there are tables and chairs, and walkways, and bike lanes running the length of Times Square. I was a little surprised to see so many big stores and chain restaurants though, but I suppose I should have expected it. But, really, Planet Hollywood? I didn’t think there were any Planet Hollywoods left. Oh, and the world’s largest T.G.I. Friday restaurant?

Here are some photos of the pedestrian and bike areas:

Times Square is a little tiring because tourists (like ourselves) flock there and it’s much more crowded than other areas of the city. On top of that, with only a half of a croissant for breakfast, the cappuccino was burning a hole in my stomach. Long story short, low blood sugar led to a quick lunch search. We were successful in the dining concourse of Grand Central Terminal. Lunch was from Eata Pita – I had the falafel combo and Sandy the chicken kebabs. I loved it because I am picky about my falafel and found theirs to be similar to Jerusalem in Denver – very, very tasty.

We didn’t get any pre-lunch photos (thankfully) but here is a post-lunch photo:

The problem with traveling in a place like NYC is that there are so many good food options. This means that we look at places to eat but reject them thinking that the most amazing restaurant is right around the corner, which is almost never the case.

After lunch we went to the awesome nerdy place – the Transit Museum Gallery Annex & Store! I drooled over mugs and umbrellas with the transit map on them, made some purchases, and left. Appropriately, we then took our first NYC subway ride uptown to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is me, the happy subway rider:

The thing we most wanted to see at the Met was the temporary exhibit called Big Bambu:

The monumental bamboo structure, ultimately measuring 100 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 50 feet high, takes the form of a cresting wave that bridges realms of sculpture, architecture, and performance.

It is a work in progress, continually growing on the rooftop of the Met. You can walk around underneath of it and examine its structure as Sandy is doing here:

Or, if you had planned in advance (like we did not), you could take a tour and actually walk to the upper sections on a series of pathways and stairs.

In reading the rules for taking the tour I noted two things: 1) you have to wear long shorts or pants because people below can see up (!), and 2) you have to weigh less than 400 pounds. 400 pounds! I want to see the calculation they used to determine that. The structure is strong with fresh bamboo but really – up to 400 pounds? Obviously I was surprised the number wasn’t a bit lower.

This photo shows the ever-growing wave to which the description refers. The people you can see are actually working on the piece as you watch:

The other perk of seeing this exhibit is that it’s on the rooftop of the Met!! Amazing views and absolutely lovely weather – calls for a glass of bubbly I’d say.

This was easily the highlight of day 2.

We did explore the rest of the museum, well not all of it. It was a quick spin – modern art, Greek sculpture, Native cultures, a little European.

Since the Met is actually located within Central Park, we walked around the park for awhile afterwards. We rested on some rocks, giving our feet a reprieve, and watched what had to be a planned meeting of a bunch of small dog owners.

We had a quick dinner around 5:45pm at an energetic place called Serafina, then we hopped the M1 bus to Carnegie Hall for a live show of Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me. It was pretty exciting just to be at Carnegie Hall, but to see a live performance of Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me was superb. The guest was Nora Ephron, she wrote When Harry Met Sally, a movie I love. It was fun, but the downside was that I couldn’t hear very well. This wouldn’t have been a huge deal except that we got the cheap seats and already had an obstructed view. But I’m not going to complain – it was a fine time.

Interestingly, at the end of the show (after it is “over”), they do two things: 1) they fix mistakes, which basically means that Peter Segal has to re-say stuff and 2) they take questions from the audience. One audience member asked who does Carl Kasell’s home answering machine message. He answered “my wife” and then pointed her out in the crowd. Funny stuff! We got to move to the front of the balcony for these post-show portions and I got this photo (for which I was chastised by the usher):

After the show we took a night time spin through Times Square and then had a night cap at Nios. I;d recommend this place for the spacious and very clean bathrooms, which more than compensated for the spotty service.

Night time Times Square: