24 April 2010

Start spreadin' the news, we have made it into the heart of downtown Manhattan of ol' New York. What an amazing city - it's true, it never goes to sleep.We arrived two days ago by train from Charlottesville, got off the train at Penn station then walked down 8th Ave with our luggage to our cute little hotel, The Gem, in Chelsea, on 22nd St.What a great location - it is very central and very cosmopolitan and residential. So, even though our room looks over 8th Ave, it is relatively quiet, on the NY scale of noise!

Our room is very cosy (i.e. so small we have to coordinate our movements around the room), especially after our palatial room in Charlottesville but is very cute and contemporary.Although, one of its quirky features is that things are mounted crooked on the walls - TV, shower gel dispenser, lamps - very testing for a Virgo! The air con sounds like the engine of a jet airplane, but it keeps the room cool and comfortable and drowns out the beeping horns, sirens, and loud voices that drift up from the street!

Our first afternoon here was a busy one - as has been the case so far, the weather angel is looking after us - we missed a huge storm by about 30 minutes and then the rain fell very lightly as we went to look for some early dinner, but it lasted only about 5 minutes.Dinner was very simple - chicken and vege soup, black bean soup, an empanada and a grapefruit juice - but delicious! Then we walked up 8th Ave to "Off-Broadway" as we had booked tickets for a show - "The Glass Menagerie" an early work by Tennesee Williams.(much earlier than a "Street Car Named Desire" & "A Cat on a Hot Ton Roof")Stopped at an Irish pub for a pre-show Cosmopolitan cocktail then went to a great show with superb acting.It was a full-house, so was very atmospheric.After the show we walked back to our hotel via Times Square and down Broadway - what an atmosphere!!

Yesterday was another beautiful blue sky day with a little chill in the air which is great for exploring a very busy city.We had breakfast at a traditional diner down near the Hudson River which was fantastic.We then walked across town to the Empire State Building (ESB) via Madison Square Park and 5th Ave- it is like being in a film set - it all feels so familiar and yet so new.Rachel went up to the Observatory Deck on the 86th Floor of the ESB - what a spectacular view of this magnificent city across to Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York states.

We then had to have a shopping 'fix' and headed off to Macy's - the largest department store in the world! To be honest after the department stores and shopping in Paris this was a little disappointing. No southern hospitality here either. No real bargains either as the new spring range is in and the winter range sales are finished. Despite all this we did manage spend over four hours & left with a couple of large bags full of clothing and shoes!!!!

April 26, 2010

We've been rather busy enjoying the delights of this city so we haven't managed to get our blog uploaded, so here is an update of the last couple of days.

On Saturday (24th) we awoke to very little noise in the street below, and thought, "wow, it can be quiet here" - only to look out the window and see a big street market setting up below - it extended about 8 blocks down from our hotel. So what a delight it was to go to the market and get some breakfast to munch on the street, without being run over by cars, bikes or pedestrians!!We then enjoyed the warm day and walked south to the business district through the charming and historic areas of the Village, Greenwich Village, Soho and City Hall - quintessential old New York. We met our friend, Beth Battle at the City Hall Café for lunch. Beth lives about 1.5 hours out of NY and was in the city for the day - it was lovely to share a delightful lunch in a charming café.From there, we wandered down to the Brooklyn Bridge, around City Hall Park across to the World Trade Centre Site. Reconstruction is well underway here for a new building and memorial. The size of the gap between the densely built buildings indicates the scale of destruction of that fateful day. We then headed back uptown through the cobblestone streets of Tribeca, had a coffee stop in Washington Square with the buskers, stopped at the corner of Christopher St and 7th Ave and reflected on this being the site of the Stonewall riots in 1969 - the event where gays clashed with police and is considered by many to be the beginning of the gay rights movement in the USA (and globally).

After 6 hours of walking, we made it back to our hotel in time to shower and change in preparation for a night out at the theatre.We walked again up to 50th St to see a play at the New World Theatres, this time it was "The Temperamentals"- " The story of two men - married communist, Harry Hay and Viennese Jewish refugee and designer, Rudi Gernreich - as they fall In love while building the first gay rights organisation in the US, pre-Stonewall - a relatively unknown chapter in gay rights history."It was fantastic - the acting superb, the sets and design simple but powerful and a very moving story.And, what a cool theatre - you could take a glass of wine in with you to sip on during the performance!! It was a full house with a very diverse audience - just wonderful!

Yesterday, being Anzac Day, was a day of rest. And being Anzac day, it started to rain here! The tornadoes that have killed 11 people in the mid-west are moving across the state and the edge of the storms have reached the east coast, bringing rain and cold weather.So we had a gentle day exploring the Guggenheim Museum that overlooks Central Park. An architectural masterpiece designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the shape of a spiral - somewhat like a snail shell on the inside. The current main exhibition titled "Haunted" was a multi media showcase of contemporary forms used to depict memories of the past. We wandered back downtown alongside Central Park and the East End boutiques and apartments (we imagined this is where all the Hollywood stars and successful musos have their apartment), but it got very cold and we jumped in a NYC taxi (for the 1st time) and sped downtown through the rain and traffic.

So today is our last day in NY and we head to Montreal tomorrow, by train. Will catch you on the blog later, all our best, Lynda and Rachel