Long ago (December, actually), in a place far away ( Abaco, Bahamas, actually ) Rob set me on the task of finding an apartment in New York for a couple of weeks. And so.........
Sunday - on the way
Sunday - on the way
I spent the night with Joe and Tom in Hyattsville. Tom stayed home to take down the last of the 18,000 holiday lights still tightly wrapped around a few of the trees in front of the house while Joe and I took the metro to the National Gallery to have a look at The Dying Gaul. Even though it was in the Rotunda and the museum seemed busy, there were hardly any people taking the time to look at this 1st century astonishment in marble which is on loan from the Capitoline Museum. Here's a link to some images. The Dying Gaul. In addition from the amazing quality of the work itself, and the fact that he looked like one of The Village People (clone from the 70's) was the equally amazing revelation that the the Gauls apparently went into battle wearing only their weapons, aka naked.
After a stroll on The Mall with the multi-lingual, multi-shaded, multi-generational crowd, we headed back to Hyattsville, had a reprise of Joe's delicious pot roast sandwiched between a couple of nice visits with Randy and Rose at their amazing house ( worthy of a blog itself as they go through the process of earthquake repair on a house from the plantation era ).
After a stroll on The Mall with the multi-lingual, multi-shaded, multi-generational crowd, we headed back to Hyattsville, had a reprise of Joe's delicious pot roast sandwiched between a couple of nice visits with Randy and Rose at their amazing house ( worthy of a blog itself as they go through the process of earthquake repair on a house from the plantation era ).
Monday - arriving
An easy ride up and out of Maryland, I like going avoiding I-95 by heading west through Annapolis and then up the Easter Shore on US 301. I bumped on to the island before 2 PM, was parked on the street, unloaded, and in possession of the keys, so I adjourned immediately to Veniero's for a double chocolate cannoli and a double espresso while Ruben finished fluffing the apartment. Rob arrived just about when expected and we unpacked and settled in.
The apartment itself is OK and not much more. Clearly held by someone as a rental. The beds are new and fine, the linens good as well. There is not a reading light in the apartment, some of the plugs don't have cover plates, hideous tiny coffee maker and, worst of all, the bottles left as welcome gifts are labeled "Wine Product 6% Alcohol" The bathrooms work. There are only 4 apartments so there's not much noise from neighbors aside from the very occasional slamming of the front door. And there is plenty of safe on street parking.
After a bit of digging around I found a nearby restaurant owned by someone I met on the porch at The Cave. (Another blog-worthy zone, too be sure.) At any rate, we found ourselves at Back Forty on $1 Oyster night....and they were delicious. Peter wasn't there, but I could see he's on to something good here. You can tell when employees have real respect for the people they work for.
Tuesday
After coffee and cookies at the apartment we walked down to Houston through the old neighborhood formerly full of empty lots and derelict buildings, now full of "pocket parks" and tony bars and restaurants. When living near here in the 70's and 80's, I don't think I made it east of Avenue B because of the dicey nature of the some of the residents. Near the entrance to F train, the dusty bocce courts where men of a certain age used to gather and play is now an official park with a kiosk selling coffee, bocce courts gone. A four stop ride delivered us to Metro-Tech in Brooklyn and the TKTS booth, where we got tickets for evening show of Kinky Boots and a next day matinee of Waiting for Godot.
Back on Manahatta we got off downtown and wandered around the edge of the financial district until we got to Fraunces Tavern and Museum, had a just OK lunch and toured the remembrance of Washington's Farewell to his officers.
After a nap in the Loisida digs we headed up to Broadway for Kinky Boots. It was certainly witty, the songs were certainly songs, some of the burlesque humor-costumes-dancing was certainly fun and there was one standout comedic performance. End of the day, it was just like so many musicals...enough said.
I like Sardi's after theater. A well built cocktail, Steak Tartare and professional service in a room full of history.
I think we hit the sack about 1.
Wednesday
On our way uptown for the matinee, I introduced Rob to Mt. Vernon, a preserved historical hotel at 61st and Lex. Surrounded by high rises and near the Queensboro Bridge and Bloomingdale's, it remains from a time when the city ended at 14th street and people came up the East River to get into the country. Rob has done several million house tours and was delighted to learn four or five new things and had only a few points of disagreement with the presentation.
Waiting for Godot, (pronounced "Gahdo") was the afternoon event. It's amazing how nothing happening for hours on end can be so captivating. But with talent like Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, and Billy Crudup it's just astounding to watch the actors creating a believable world out of nothing but words and making us care about people who we would ordinarily shun. I might try to see it again.
We had our first glitch in subway riding on our way up to Tom's, when we encountered stairs and stations full of people not moving at the Times Square transfer . Rob had been around when Paul and Tom were still looking for a place and saw a few of the disasters that were presented before they scored big time with their digs looking into north end of Central Park. We had a nice Japanese dinner in his neighborhood and did a lot of talking.
Art and Paul arrived and had a celebration dinner at Daniel, New York, revolving around the anniversary of the beginning the bar business which served them so well for decades and resolved itself with the sale of real estate recently. I ordered up a bottle of the house Champagne to be at the table with a note to the the effect that "half retirement is better than no retirement at all." but forgot to have them sign the note with my name, so until we talked the next morning they were somewhat perplexed about why Daniel would treat them so nicely and know so much about them.
Thursday
At precisely 10 AM I pushed the send button on my phone, got connected and was able to buy two of the 50 available $20 Senior Rush tickets for the evening performance at The Met, enabling us to join Art and Paul for that event.
Inasmuch as I had to move the car, and because neither of them had been there before, Rob, Paul, and I took a ride up the Hudson to the top of the island and a visit to The Cloisters, an amazing collection in a spectacular facility in a precious location. Paul informed us that the reason he was so quiet was not because he had a hangover, but because he was still drunk from the "complimentary" champagne, wine, and cocktails of the night before.
Next stop and in the same neighborhood was the Morris-Jumel Mansion, surviving on Mannahatta at the highest point in the island since 1765. It housed both British and American soldiers at different time of the Revolutionary War.
Here's a link to Wikipedia article about the lady of the house. Lies! Divorce! Scandal! Napoleon!
Eliza, Jumel
Madama Butterfly! I don't think there's any need for me repeat the constantly extolled virtues of time at that opera house, so I'll be brief. The Orchestra! The Music! The Singers! The Costumes! The Met Titles! The $20 Seats!
We adjourned afterwards to Cafe Fiorello, a perennial after opera favorite. This time, in addition to the usual solid food and drink, we were highly entertained by our waiter, Linden. The most memorable part of his interaction with us occurred when he addressed Paul, the last of us to order, somewhat like this and for obvious comedic effect, "And you sir have the chance, if you order correctly, to win a new BMW X5...." which at that point was greeted by all us with explosive laughter and astonishment in light of the fact that Paul is on his way to pick up his new BMW X5 two days after they get back from New York. As it turned out he didn't order the right thing, so he'll have to make due with just one.
The day also included two different $15 cab rides. One from Avenue C & 8th to Seventh Avenue & 9th..... straight across town. The other from Lincoln Center ( which is about 55 blocks north of the earlier drop off location ) to Avenue C & 8th Street, .
Friday
The day started as they all seem to at the apartment with coffee and biscotti from Venieros.
After we picked up tickets on the cheap in Brooklyn we got off the subway on Delancey and did one of the tours at The Tenement Museum. Our tour featured the story of an outsider Irish family moving into what was then Little Germany and also featured lots of information about life at the time. Fascinating. We wandered around the edge of Little Italy and eventually found Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral.
A lack of cabs and a bit of delay in the subway caused us to be a late meeting up with Art and Paul for a visit to The Oyster Bar. The late part is always annoying for all concerned, but more annoying by far was the fact The Oyster Bar is closed for major renovation. We had a decent enough lunch at Cipriani overlooking the great hall at Grand Central, took a peak at the Campbell Apartment and parted company.
As we made our way to the Garden at the UN, Rob and I passed a couple of interesting spots.
Cipriani 42nd Street The amazing party space in a former bank lobby right across the street from Grand Central.
The Ford Foundation Building An innovative space credited with establishing the idea of interior garden spaces in public buildings.
Alas, the UN property is also under big renovations so we headed downtown for a little rest before theatre.
No Man's Land featured the same cast as was in Waiting for Godot in another landmark play. It is nothing short of amazing that they can do these two plays in rep, alternating shows. Consummate professionalism.
Katz's Delicatessen is right at our subway stop ( and also directly across the street from Sally's 2nd Street apartment, where so many people I know got their first access to all things wonderful in New York ) so it made for a fine stop on the way home.
Saturday
Die Fledermaus started at 1 and proceeded to present a most enjoyable, easy to digest, romp of a musical extravaganza. All the usual excellence with extra opulence and confetti guns showering the stage with large gold glitter flakes. Paul was seated next to the mother of one of the principals and "The Tenor" was someone we all knew from the movie about a Met audition, both of which added some fun....not that it needed it. There is a speaking-only character at the beginning of Act III who addressed the audience as the drunken jailer. Hilarious! Two names that I can recall who have played the part in the past are Sid Caesar and Peter Falk.
We met up with Karl and Katie and had a little bit of dinner in the only place we could find that wasn't booked for the night. With an extra hour after that we crossed over to their hotel and had a cocktail before heading out to see The Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder. For no particular overindulgence that I can think of or that was apparent, I ended having to fall into a cab after act one and get home. I was seeing double and not particularly coherent, but I made it back and woke up 4 hours later on top of the bed with all the lights on and the bathroom fan running....felt fine.
Sunday
The plan for the day was a regathering at the The Frick Collection at 1 PM to see The Girl With The Pearl Earring on it's last day there.
Rob and I went past Bloomingdale's to see the windows full of couture designed football helmets in honor of the Superbowl. They will be auctioned for some charity or another.
We got to The Frick early enough to call the others and warn them about the line down the street and around the corner and the cold wind. They decide to stay in.
Rob and I took a walk in The Park on some wooded trails and along the road behind the Metropolitan Museum to spend a little time in the The Neue Galerie, where there was a big Kandinsky show and a room full of Gustav Klimt on loan from the Lauder collection. Some of the sets at Die Fledermaus were based on Klimt.
The apartment itself is OK and not much more. Clearly held by someone as a rental. The beds are new and fine, the linens good as well. There is not a reading light in the apartment, some of the plugs don't have cover plates, hideous tiny coffee maker and, worst of all, the bottles left as welcome gifts are labeled "Wine Product 6% Alcohol" The bathrooms work. There are only 4 apartments so there's not much noise from neighbors aside from the very occasional slamming of the front door. And there is plenty of safe on street parking.
After a bit of digging around I found a nearby restaurant owned by someone I met on the porch at The Cave. (Another blog-worthy zone, too be sure.) At any rate, we found ourselves at Back Forty on $1 Oyster night....and they were delicious. Peter wasn't there, but I could see he's on to something good here. You can tell when employees have real respect for the people they work for.
Tuesday
After coffee and cookies at the apartment we walked down to Houston through the old neighborhood formerly full of empty lots and derelict buildings, now full of "pocket parks" and tony bars and restaurants. When living near here in the 70's and 80's, I don't think I made it east of Avenue B because of the dicey nature of the some of the residents. Near the entrance to F train, the dusty bocce courts where men of a certain age used to gather and play is now an official park with a kiosk selling coffee, bocce courts gone. A four stop ride delivered us to Metro-Tech in Brooklyn and the TKTS booth, where we got tickets for evening show of Kinky Boots and a next day matinee of Waiting for Godot.
Back on Manahatta we got off downtown and wandered around the edge of the financial district until we got to Fraunces Tavern and Museum, had a just OK lunch and toured the remembrance of Washington's Farewell to his officers.
After a nap in the Loisida digs we headed up to Broadway for Kinky Boots. It was certainly witty, the songs were certainly songs, some of the burlesque humor-costumes-dancing was certainly fun and there was one standout comedic performance. End of the day, it was just like so many musicals...enough said.
I like Sardi's after theater. A well built cocktail, Steak Tartare and professional service in a room full of history.
Wednesday
On our way uptown for the matinee, I introduced Rob to Mt. Vernon, a preserved historical hotel at 61st and Lex. Surrounded by high rises and near the Queensboro Bridge and Bloomingdale's, it remains from a time when the city ended at 14th street and people came up the East River to get into the country. Rob has done several million house tours and was delighted to learn four or five new things and had only a few points of disagreement with the presentation.
Waiting for Godot, (pronounced "Gahdo") was the afternoon event. It's amazing how nothing happening for hours on end can be so captivating. But with talent like Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, and Billy Crudup it's just astounding to watch the actors creating a believable world out of nothing but words and making us care about people who we would ordinarily shun. I might try to see it again.
We had our first glitch in subway riding on our way up to Tom's, when we encountered stairs and stations full of people not moving at the Times Square transfer . Rob had been around when Paul and Tom were still looking for a place and saw a few of the disasters that were presented before they scored big time with their digs looking into north end of Central Park. We had a nice Japanese dinner in his neighborhood and did a lot of talking.
Art and Paul arrived and had a celebration dinner at Daniel, New York, revolving around the anniversary of the beginning the bar business which served them so well for decades and resolved itself with the sale of real estate recently. I ordered up a bottle of the house Champagne to be at the table with a note to the the effect that "half retirement is better than no retirement at all." but forgot to have them sign the note with my name, so until we talked the next morning they were somewhat perplexed about why Daniel would treat them so nicely and know so much about them.
Thursday
At precisely 10 AM I pushed the send button on my phone, got connected and was able to buy two of the 50 available $20 Senior Rush tickets for the evening performance at The Met, enabling us to join Art and Paul for that event.
Here's a link to Wikipedia article about the lady of the house. Lies! Divorce! Scandal! Napoleon!
Eliza, Jumel
Madama Butterfly! I don't think there's any need for me repeat the constantly extolled virtues of time at that opera house, so I'll be brief. The Orchestra! The Music! The Singers! The Costumes! The Met Titles! The $20 Seats!
We adjourned afterwards to Cafe Fiorello, a perennial after opera favorite. This time, in addition to the usual solid food and drink, we were highly entertained by our waiter, Linden. The most memorable part of his interaction with us occurred when he addressed Paul, the last of us to order, somewhat like this and for obvious comedic effect, "And you sir have the chance, if you order correctly, to win a new BMW X5...." which at that point was greeted by all us with explosive laughter and astonishment in light of the fact that Paul is on his way to pick up his new BMW X5 two days after they get back from New York. As it turned out he didn't order the right thing, so he'll have to make due with just one.
The day also included two different $15 cab rides. One from Avenue C & 8th to Seventh Avenue & 9th..... straight across town. The other from Lincoln Center ( which is about 55 blocks north of the earlier drop off location ) to Avenue C & 8th Street, .
Friday
The day started as they all seem to at the apartment with coffee and biscotti from Venieros.
After we picked up tickets on the cheap in Brooklyn we got off the subway on Delancey and did one of the tours at The Tenement Museum. Our tour featured the story of an outsider Irish family moving into what was then Little Germany and also featured lots of information about life at the time. Fascinating. We wandered around the edge of Little Italy and eventually found Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral.
A lack of cabs and a bit of delay in the subway caused us to be a late meeting up with Art and Paul for a visit to The Oyster Bar. The late part is always annoying for all concerned, but more annoying by far was the fact The Oyster Bar is closed for major renovation. We had a decent enough lunch at Cipriani overlooking the great hall at Grand Central, took a peak at the Campbell Apartment and parted company.
As we made our way to the Garden at the UN, Rob and I passed a couple of interesting spots.
Cipriani 42nd Street The amazing party space in a former bank lobby right across the street from Grand Central.
The Ford Foundation Building An innovative space credited with establishing the idea of interior garden spaces in public buildings.
Alas, the UN property is also under big renovations so we headed downtown for a little rest before theatre.
No Man's Land featured the same cast as was in Waiting for Godot in another landmark play. It is nothing short of amazing that they can do these two plays in rep, alternating shows. Consummate professionalism.
Katz's Delicatessen is right at our subway stop ( and also directly across the street from Sally's 2nd Street apartment, where so many people I know got their first access to all things wonderful in New York ) so it made for a fine stop on the way home.
Saturday
Die Fledermaus started at 1 and proceeded to present a most enjoyable, easy to digest, romp of a musical extravaganza. All the usual excellence with extra opulence and confetti guns showering the stage with large gold glitter flakes. Paul was seated next to the mother of one of the principals and "The Tenor" was someone we all knew from the movie about a Met audition, both of which added some fun....not that it needed it. There is a speaking-only character at the beginning of Act III who addressed the audience as the drunken jailer. Hilarious! Two names that I can recall who have played the part in the past are Sid Caesar and Peter Falk.
We met up with Karl and Katie and had a little bit of dinner in the only place we could find that wasn't booked for the night. With an extra hour after that we crossed over to their hotel and had a cocktail before heading out to see The Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder. For no particular overindulgence that I can think of or that was apparent, I ended having to fall into a cab after act one and get home. I was seeing double and not particularly coherent, but I made it back and woke up 4 hours later on top of the bed with all the lights on and the bathroom fan running....felt fine.
Sunday
The plan for the day was a regathering at the The Frick Collection at 1 PM to see The Girl With The Pearl Earring on it's last day there.
We got to The Frick early enough to call the others and warn them about the line down the street and around the corner and the cold wind. They decide to stay in.
Rob and I took a walk in The Park on some wooded trails and along the road behind the Metropolitan Museum to spend a little time in the The Neue Galerie, where there was a big Kandinsky show and a room full of Gustav Klimt on loan from the Lauder collection. Some of the sets at Die Fledermaus were based on Klimt.
Chad and Matt (Chatt) arrived about 10 minutes after Rob and I got back downtown and found parking right in front of the apartment. We had a couple of Gin and bitters out of coffee cups at the apartment and then walked up to 26 Seats Bistro and had a delightful French-locovore meal. All abed before midnight.
And that is the end of Week One. Had enough? Not me!
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