LAST DAY – SQUEEZE IT IN!

Top O’The Rock, Neue Galerie, A Columbus Day Parade???????

Actually the parade did not affect us at all. We very cleverly did not go on 5th Ave. So we started the day at the Rock Center Cafe for breakfast. They brought us a little cup of hot chocolate and danish to start off breakfast. We were right beside the ice skating rink - which is now open. Fun to watch the skaters and have a delicious meal at the same time. Then up to the Top of the Rock. WOW! We began our trip up at the top of the Empire State Building. Nice to end it at the Top of the Rock. One last quick trek in Central Park before going to the Neue Gallery and lunch at the Sabarsky Cafe. Another hit. This one was Austrian. So we had Wienerschnitzel and Apflestruedel. Pretty much home after that to pack up to leave.

This will be my last blog entry. I hope that you have enjoyed it.

view from the Rock Center Cafe

At the top of the Rock

Reservoir in Central Park

Neue Gallery and Cafe Sabarsky

CENTRAL PARK~GOSPEL BRUNCH~HARLEM JAZZ

“Soul Food Sunday”

We were leisurely today. Slept in until 7:30am!! Off to Zabar's for breakfast. Latkes, knishes, blintzes .. What a treat. Then a walk through a small portion of Central Park. We only had a few moments at the Frick and were not allowed to take pictures. We caught a taxi to BB Kings for our soul food brunch and Harlem Gospel Choir extravaganza. The evening ended with a jazz tour. Very interesting. Went to 3 jazz places in Harlem and learned about the neighborhood. The 3 jazz places were different and very interesting. We topped off the evening with a stroll through Times Square. We have not gotten home before 10pm any night. Today we used our Metro pass 5 times. It was well worth the money.

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is our last day.

Subway art.

Zabar's for breakfast.

Conservatory Garden in Central Park.

Harlem Gospel Choir.

St Nick's Pub - our final jazz stop.

BROOKLYN - CHINATOWN - EAST VILLAGE

A Day For Noshing

Wow what a day!! We clocked more than 13 miles. We had to make some adjustments to our schedule because of some maintenance shutdowns on the subway. We started out going over to Brooklyn to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens (we got in free because we were there before noon) and then to the Brooklyn Art Museum. Both were very impressive. At the botanical gardens we mostly checked out the orchids, bonsais and the Japanese Gardens. Because it was 10/10 we also saw weddings everywhere. Judy Chicago's "The Dinner Party" was so much more amazing in "real life" than in pictures. Our first nosh was at the museum. Subway to Brooklyn Heights where we walked around and got the feel of that area. We called ahead to Grimaldi's Pizza for take-out. It is a good thing because there was an hour wait for everyone else. We got our pizza and wine and then walked down to the riverfront park to eat, relax and to enjoy the view of the Brooklyn & Manhattan bridges and another great view of the Manhattan skyline. Wandered through DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) for our Jacques Torres chocolate and ice cream. I guess the Wicked ice cream (with ancho and chipotle chili) was a hit. Fortified with pizza, wine and ice cream we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge taking pictures all along the way. Once over the bridge we wandered through Chinatown to the restaurant we had picked .... closed for a private wedding party!! So time to regroup. We found a place that did not have a line and served wine. Light, very rushed, meal there was followed by ice cream at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. Jeanne and I had mango, Kris and Sharon had ginger. The bus we planned to take was down so it was taxi time to our spa appointment in East Village. That was a hit. Relaxed in massage chairs and soaked our feet then had a reflexology foot massage. That gave us the needed break to continue our tour. This time in East Village. It was a hopping place even at 10pm. There was a huge party spilling out of a Synagogue which some passer-by said was a wedding. Our final nosh of the day was at the Katz's Deli, where Harry met Sally. We would go back there in a second. Subway home. Left the house at 8:45am and got home at 11:45pm. 13.62 miles.

UPTOWN/MUSEUM MILE

Major Museum Day

We started the day by going on the subway to Alice's Tea Cup for a delicious breakfast.

One lesson learned - some times it is faster to go downtown to go uptown, which we managed to do - all so that we could ride the A train to get to the Cloisters. When we "do" museums we really "do" them right. Then we took a bus/subway/bus to the Lexington Candy Shop (an old fashioned soda shop). yummy. We walked to the Guggenheim. We were not allowed to take photographs inside but we sure enjoyed the special exhibit of Kandinsky. Then we walked to The Met. WOW. Is there another word?! We picked one small corner to wander through - even that took 3 hours. At least here we were allowed to take pictures. Taxi home but we were not home long. We went to a close Thai food place for dinner then a little grocery shopping for breakfast. Then home to relax. Only rained briefly when we were leaving the Cloisters (luckily Kris had just bought an umbrella).

Kris and Sharon in front of The Met.

Kris and Sharon at the Lexington Candy Shop.

Sharon, Kris and Jeanne at Alice's Tea Cup

The Cloisters

The Guggenheim - no pictures allowed inside

Picasso's "Gertrude Stein" at the Met. So many pictures so hard to choose.

MIDTOWN /DOWNTOWN

Skyscrapers ~ Greenwich/SoHo ~ O’Keeffe & Hopper

Another fun filled day. It started with a sumptuous breakfast at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in the Peacock Alley. The decor was amazing. Very ornate. We were all especially impressed with the women's restroom. I don't know if the men's was as impressive. Then we did a walk among the giants of NY: the Chrysler building, the NY Public Library and Grand Central Terminal as well as the Empire State Building again. We did not have much time in the Library because we had to hurry to our SoHo food tour. Now that was an unexpected culinary delight as well as a cultural and historical experience. We had little tastes of foods from a wide variety of ethnic foods. Indian, Italian, Cuban (the mojito was delicious). Most of the foods were home made from scratch like mozzarella and pasta. The Ricotta cheesecake was to die for (that was my favorite). We caught the subway to the Whitney Art Museum. We were not able to take any pictures but it was exciting to see so many Georgie O'Keefe and a few Edward Hopper. Then dinner at the La Bonne Soupe - we all had the French Onion Soup special. Unfortunately then our evening ended with a disappointing yawner (I know it could not just have been the wine) A Perfect Crime was a far from perfect way to end our evening. Oh well - live and learn.

Clock in the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

In the Chrysler Building
Our food guide, Rahim with chocolate walnut tarts from Once Upon a Tart. He was a character.
La Bonne Soupe entry way.

UPTOWN WEST/ MIDTOWN

MoMA & Circle Line

We started the day on the Metro heading to Columbus Circle close to Central Park. We almost blew it because we could not figure out how to all get on the same subway. We wandered through the south end of Central Park, into the Plaza hotel, and down 5th avenue past the Trump Tower and Playboy headquarters to our ultimate destination of the MoMa (Museum of Modern Art). WOW!!!!! Monet, Matisse, Picasso to name a few. We had a delicious lunch at the Terrace 5 Cafe. But that was not all. We hailed a taxi and went to Pier 83 to catch a Circle Line Tour Cruise around the Island of Manhattan. It was VERY windy but other than that it was perfect. See Manhattan from all angles. Another taxi to Don's apartment (a high school classmate). We visited briefly then we walked to the Copper Chimney. A very good Indian restaurant. Rebecca (another classmate) joined us as well. [Jon where were you?]. Then the weary travelers caught the subway home. Another fun day.

The Columbus Circle
Very impressive Museum of Modern Art
Circle Line tour view of Manhattan Skyline.
Dinner with my high school classmates at the Copper Chimney.

OVERVIEW DAY

Take The Tour – See A Show!

Today was a full day with a city tour bus OnBoard City Tour - See it all New York. Come a tourist - leave a local. Very fun. So much to see - so little time. Went on the Staten Island Ferry - nice close up of the Statue of Liberty.

Then we went for a Tapas Spanish dinner - Yummy. Followed by a Broadway show. Jersey Boys was FANTASTIC. Topped the evening with Carnegie Deli - Pastrami sandwich and a piece of cheesecake - both of which we split 4 ways.

Now we are trying to regroup for tomorrow. Sunny day today. They are predicting rain tomorrow.

The Carnegie Deli.

At the Rockefeller Center

Jersey Boys

Statue of Liberty

Pier 17 for lunch and then to the Staten Island Ferry.

Pastrami from the Carnegie Deli

Kris with the Statue of Liberty

Atlas

A building showing reflections

"OMG!!! We're Here!"

the Chelsea Hotel. We walked by.
Inside the Empire state building
Sunset from the top of the Empire State Building
Here we come - the Empire State Building
Times Square.

George dropped Kris, Sharon and me off at the Portland airport at 5am.

Jeanne, Sharon and Kris in front of our home away from home.

Jeanne ended out being delayed some with her flight. This worked out perfectly. We arrived at the same time. We connected at the airtrain. 1 hour later we were at our home away from home. Time to regroup and reorganize. We walked to the Empire State Building. Managed to fit in a hot dog from a local stand. The goal was to get there by sunset. Success. What a breathtaking view. Then we walked to MaryAnn's Mexican Restaurant in Chelsea. Giselle that was a perfect place. Very yummy food. We took the taxi home. Had a quick stop at a local grocery store to pick up some breakfast and snack supplies. Whew. What a day.

So this is where it all began. We each bought books and came up with ideas. All the ideas we gathered we gave to Sharon and told her to somehow fit it all into a workable schedule. Which she did. She is amazing. Now will come the test to see if we can keep to the schedule. We have so much fun stuff planned.

Tomorrow morning Sharon, Kris, and I leave Portland at 6:20am. Jeanne leaves Minneapolis at 10:10am. We all land in JFK close to 2pm. I am so excited.

“If you’re bored in New York, it’s your own fault.” – Myrna Loy

Sharon, Kris, Jeanne and Barbara will be heading off to New York City on Monday, October 5, 2009. We will be in Manhattan for a week. If we have time we will try to update this blog . We fly to JFK and from there we hit the ground running.

The picture shown is our "home away from home." It is an apartment on the 14th floor of a building in the theater district. We are very close to Times Square, the Rockefeller Center, and Central Park.