Today we went to sung eucharist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, a massive gothic cathedral. It is an incredible space, and the recently restored organ was amazing. Quite a contrast from the satire of "The Book of Mormon."
After there we lunched at Balkanika, which really has become our favorite place. We ordered their beef stew which was amazing. The only thing we've had which was underwhelming was their leek bourek, but everything else, fantastic! And it's very low key which we like.
Then to a 3 pm showing of Sondheim's "Follies" on Times Square, starring Bernadette Peters. Terrific, and now I think we have become saturated with song, dance, and performance.
Our flight tomorrow morning is 9:30 (I hope), not too early but not too late. Although it stops in Chicago, it is the same flight the whole way, so there ought not to be any serious hiccoughs. I hope.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
7x7
Today we took it slow getting up, then headed uptown to the Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art focusing on medieval art and history.
It was a beautiful day, absolutely wonderful. You wouldn't know it was January in New York!
For dinner we went back to the Argentinian restaurant, and then headed over to the Eugene O'Neill theater to see "The Book of Mormon." We enjoyed it (though the musical is not for everyone).
Good night!
It was a beautiful day, absolutely wonderful. You wouldn't know it was January in New York!
For dinner we went back to the Argentinian restaurant, and then headed over to the Eugene O'Neill theater to see "The Book of Mormon." We enjoyed it (though the musical is not for everyone).
Good night!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Later that same day....
We caught a bus back to the Met. It is open late on Fridays and Saturdays, and has a wine bar/cafe on the balcony. However, we didn't feel like waiting for that. Instead we did catch a further exhibit on Indian miniatures (from roughly around the time of the Mughal courts, though not exclusively, as there were many paintings drawn from Hindu mythology) and then afterwords went back to Balkanika. Man, the food there is good! And both the food and the wine are very resasonably price. There was a live jazz group crammed in there as well. What a great, if simple, evening...
MoMA Mia!
Today we went to the Museum of Modern Art.
We had forgotten just how many famous pictures are there, particularly of Picasso, van Gogh, and Monet there are there.
We also took a docent tour of "portable murals" by Diego Rivera.
Afterwards we wandered past Rockerfeller center, home of the famous winter ice rink, and then took lunch across the street from the "Center for Fiction," which we hadn't heard of, but which has a small book store and apparently offers space and workshops for budding writers, including upcoming "academy for crime fiction."
A little tired, we wandered back to our hotel via the Fashion District (is that the same as the Garment District? I thought so but now am not sure). Now we are heading back to the Met, which is open late and has a wine bar on the grand balcony over the main hall. Still much to see there yet.
We had forgotten just how many famous pictures are there, particularly of Picasso, van Gogh, and Monet there are there.
We also took a docent tour of "portable murals" by Diego Rivera.
Afterwards we wandered past Rockerfeller center, home of the famous winter ice rink, and then took lunch across the street from the "Center for Fiction," which we hadn't heard of, but which has a small book store and apparently offers space and workshops for budding writers, including upcoming "academy for crime fiction."
A little tired, we wandered back to our hotel via the Fashion District (is that the same as the Garment District? I thought so but now am not sure). Now we are heading back to the Met, which is open late and has a wine bar on the grand balcony over the main hall. Still much to see there yet.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Another day
Getting back on track. We went to the NYU Institute for the Study of the Ancient World which had an exhibit on "Edge of Empires," a town with Christian, Jewish, and Pagan communities between the Roman and Parthian empires.
After that we decided we enjoyed the Met so much we went back and visited the special exhibit on Masters of Indian Art. Had lunch at the Petrie Cafe inside the met.
Continuing the whirlwind of musueum we also did a quick tour of the Neue Gallerie just a couple blocks away. The most interesting room held a couple of sketches by van Gogh, which made it clear that van Gogh drew very much the way he painted--his style was not just a choice of brushes.
Pretty tired by this point, we went home, kicked off our shoes, but soon were out the door again. We were aiming for our favorite wine bar, but instead stopped by an Argentinian grill. I had a fabulous chimichurri steak.
Around the corner from the Argentinian grill we went to see "Vocapeople," an off-broadway show featuring an a capella group as space aliens. Well, despite the description it was a lot of fun--you can find examples on YouTube.
That's a pretty full day for New York! More tomorrow!
After that we decided we enjoyed the Met so much we went back and visited the special exhibit on Masters of Indian Art. Had lunch at the Petrie Cafe inside the met.
Continuing the whirlwind of musueum we also did a quick tour of the Neue Gallerie just a couple blocks away. The most interesting room held a couple of sketches by van Gogh, which made it clear that van Gogh drew very much the way he painted--his style was not just a choice of brushes.
Pretty tired by this point, we went home, kicked off our shoes, but soon were out the door again. We were aiming for our favorite wine bar, but instead stopped by an Argentinian grill. I had a fabulous chimichurri steak.
Around the corner from the Argentinian grill we went to see "Vocapeople," an off-broadway show featuring an a capella group as space aliens. Well, despite the description it was a lot of fun--you can find examples on YouTube.
That's a pretty full day for New York! More tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Up and About
Well, after sleeping in until past 10 eastern, we got up, had a light lunch at Balkanika, our favorite Hell's Kitchen blue-collar wine bar. Then we tried to find a fossil shop near the Natural History Museum, but it must have gone out of business.
We then headed over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It being mid-afternoon, we only saw a small fraction of it--and our brains were filling up. Our favorite part was an exhibit on "Storytelling in Japanese Art" which we really loved.
We had a light dinner at a French-Moroccan restaurant (just salads and an appetizer) and then went to see Alan Rickman in "Seminar." We enjoyed it very much, although ironically we thought the play could have used a vigorous line edit and trimmed about 15 minutes out of the play. Rickman was playing a pompous writing teacher--think Professor Snape but without the black cloak and the black hair.
Not sure what we'll do tomorrow--we'll let you know what we do!
We then headed over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It being mid-afternoon, we only saw a small fraction of it--and our brains were filling up. Our favorite part was an exhibit on "Storytelling in Japanese Art" which we really loved.
We had a light dinner at a French-Moroccan restaurant (just salads and an appetizer) and then went to see Alan Rickman in "Seminar." We enjoyed it very much, although ironically we thought the play could have used a vigorous line edit and trimmed about 15 minutes out of the play. Rickman was playing a pompous writing teacher--think Professor Snape but without the black cloak and the black hair.
Not sure what we'll do tomorrow--we'll let you know what we do!
Back in NYC...finally
Well, we made it.
It took a while.
On Monday, our original flight was going to be late to Chicago, and we would have missed the connecting flight to LaGuardia. So, following instructions, we called up to rebook, for a red-eye. Not optimal, but it would get us there.
Fog caused the red-eye to be canceled.
We rebooked.
The next day, the rebook flight is delayed. 6 hours. We tried to rebook but there was nothing. Fortunately this was a direct flight (to Newark) and though we got in at 2:30 a.m. (11:30 Pacific time), and had to take a long taxi, we got in.
We're up, after sleeping in until almost 11 a.m. NY time.
While annoying, it could have been worse. And we didn't have anything scheduled for the first day. We're here until next Monday so we have time to catch up on relaxing.
More news when we have it.
It took a while.
On Monday, our original flight was going to be late to Chicago, and we would have missed the connecting flight to LaGuardia. So, following instructions, we called up to rebook, for a red-eye. Not optimal, but it would get us there.
Fog caused the red-eye to be canceled.
We rebooked.
The next day, the rebook flight is delayed. 6 hours. We tried to rebook but there was nothing. Fortunately this was a direct flight (to Newark) and though we got in at 2:30 a.m. (11:30 Pacific time), and had to take a long taxi, we got in.
We're up, after sleeping in until almost 11 a.m. NY time.
While annoying, it could have been worse. And we didn't have anything scheduled for the first day. We're here until next Monday so we have time to catch up on relaxing.
More news when we have it.
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