Home Sweet Home

We made it home with no troubles. LaGuardia did not seem particularly stressed or overcrowded (more than usual). We know that there was flooding and damage and even a few deaths elsewhere, but we simply had a good vacation, with a bit of a pause in the middle.

Last Day in New York

Last night (Sunday night) we walked around, along with many thousands of others relieved to have Irene pass us over.

By this morning, the city was getting close to normal. There were downed trees in Manhattan, for example in Central Park, but people were going about their business.




We went up to the Guggenheim Museum (as most museums are closed on Mondays).


We certainly enjoyed these several days to spend with our friends Uli, Anja, and Karin.



From the Guggenheim we caught a subway all the way to the southern tip of Manhattan, to battery park, where we could spot the Statue of Liberty, the new World Trade Towers (I forget the official name) they are busily building, and ferries to Staten Island and Ellis Island. Unfortunately our time was too short to visit any of those sites.




We only had time for a last lovely lunch overlooking the harbor from Battery Park, before our friends had to catch a taxi to JFK back home to Munich.

Tonight most shows were closed as well, so we went to a small theater very near our hotel, showing the 9,966th performance of "Perfect Crime," a Broadway record, apparently.



Tomorrow, if all goes well, we will go to La Guardia and head home.

The Morning After

Well, it looks like we here in Times Square survivied Irene.

I'm sure there is plenty of suffering and property damage elsewhere. Here, while the streets are empty near Times Square (truly amazing), there is no immediate sign of damage and we even see a few brave souls out walking around. We'll stay indoors for most of the day, as there could still be heavy rain and winds through midday, but I suspect by evening the city will begin picking up again.

YAU (Yet Another Update)

Not much to report. Heavy rains. The winds have not been enough to notice from out our window. We can see the streets, including Times Square, nearly empty, which is eerie. Height of the storm is supposed to hit early morning. More then.

More updatery...

Okay, about 8 pm local time, the rain has started coming down heavy.

We can vouch for this, as we were out taking a walk.

Inside and changed into dry clothes. I am thinking we are in for the duration.

Update -- Hurricane watch

Yesterday the news was predicting winds to start up around 5 pm.

Hasn't happened yet. I don't know if that is good news or not.

We walked around a little bit--turns out the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood is just a few blocks from Times Square (hey, I'm a west coast boy, how should I know?) and found a lovely blue-collar wine bar. Yeah, that's the kind of thing we love. We hung out there for a bit, and then returned to the hotel, probably for the duration.

We'll let you know as events progress. So far, nothing to panic over.

Of Broadway and Waiting for the Hurricane

Sorry I have been slow in posting. We have been busy, trying to get in as much touristing before we are shut up in our hotel during the hurricane (more on that below).

Actually we spent some time in the morning trying to help our German friends see if there was some way they could leave early, but it seems all flights are full. It seems we are better off just staying here and waiting out the storm.



After chasing down a wild goose (long story and irrelevant) we went by Rockerfeller Center, where there was a farmer's market. We bought cheese, fruit, and bread, in preparation for picnics in our rooms.



Then we went to Central Park and had an enjoyable couple of hours renting bicycles and riding around. It was a sunny day with high, light clouds, so while humid it was not too hot.

Our friends were tired so they went back to the hotel. We rode the subway down to the Strand, a famous book store, buying several books of books.

Then we went out for a nice dinner (I had butternut squash gnocchi), and then for a wonderful Broadway musical, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," starring Daniel Radcliffe and John Laroquette. It was excellent and great fun.

Radcliffe did a credible job, in his singing and dancing and American accent. But what always impresses me is just how much amazing talent is out there; Radcliffe was a good singer, but some of the cast were fantastic. (Actually it's somewhat ironic, that Radcliffe stars in a show about someone succeeding in business mostly by accident, which is somewhat how Radcliffe became famous. With that in mind, it was clear that he was not taking his good fortune for granted and was serious about working very hard as an actor.)





John Laroquette also managed to make a joke about a hurricane party.

We were very lucky in choosing our tickets for Friday night. All shows for Saturday and Sunday have been cancelled.





This morning we thought about trying museums, but they are all closed. We walked around Central park and then down Fifth Avenue, back through Rockerfeller Center again (the famous flags were all down, but underground a cafe was open where we waited out a shower), and are back to our hotel room for a while now.

More news when we have it. We are safe, no matter what.