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Freida and I decided to play tourist for four gloriously sunny days in New York, her favorite city and my second favorite city in the world (behind Paris). We celebrated my birthday there last week. We stayed at the apartment of her out-of-town friend who lives in the Village on West 13th St. Of note, her balcony, kitchen, and bedroom have views of the Empire State Building.
We enjoyed New York and all its splendor without the distractions of television, the internet, or cell phones. Daily, we moved around from early morning till past midnight visiting a broad swath of The Big Apple from Brooklyn, to Harlem, to Ground Zero, to Mid Town, to the South Street Seaport, to the Upper East Side.
In all, we experienced the following:
§ Two guided tours at museums
--The Met-we took Highlights Tour from a New Jersey judge, who volunteers as a docent on weekends. At tour end, we went up to the rooftop garden that has magnificent city views and gargantuan, whimsical Jeff Koons sculptures.
--The Studio Museum in Harlem-Target is sponsoring free Sundays and featured a kickoff party today. The director conducted the guided tour of current exhibits. There was also music, food, and tote bag decorating etc.
§ Two Plays/Musicals
--Passing Strange—brilliant! One of the most unique plays we had ever seen. It was the final weekend, and Spike Lee filmed it twice
--The Altar Boys--- entertaining and upbeat!
§ Three bus tours from atop the double-decker buses. We purchased 48 hour passes on the double-decker sightseeing buses. These buses run all day long. Each tour guide brought a different style and personality
--Night Tour NYC is stunning at night!
--Downtown (we took this twice)
--Brooklyn
We learned a lot on each tour where we saw Chinatown, Little Italy, the Bowery, Mid-Town, the Empire State building, the Chrysler building, Rockefeller Center, St. Paul's Cathedral, the flatiron building, Greenwich Village, SOHO, NOHO, and Brooklyn Heights. We also learned about DUMBO (down under the Manhattan Bridge overpass), one of the newest trendy as upscale sections of Brooklyn; and RAMBO (right after the Manhattan Bridge overpass)
§ Circle Line Cruise of the harbor-- We saw the new waterfalls exhibits and of course, breathtaking skyline views, and the Piece de resistance: the Statue of Liberty, up close and personal!!!!!!!!!!!! I just love her!
§ Outside Ballet at South Street Seaport
Dance 360°
§ Contortionist act
§ Long walks
---The Village.
---Midtown
---Times Square-- we strolled the newly transformed Times Square every night. I still marvel at how they replaced the former seedy Times Square area with what looks like a combination of a suburban mall and Las Vegas. The sights, sounds, signs, and crowds were an exhilarating and a feast for the eyes.
---Ground Zero.—sobering. St Paul's Chappel s a must-see
---South Street Seaport
§ Shopping.
§ Japanese, Thai, French, and Café meals.
§ St. Paul's Chapel at Ground Zero-- very, very moving tour
§ Lots of intimate conversation
We took public transportation the entire time.
There are still many other items on the itinerary that we will save for our next visit, including walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, the Transit Museum, Chelsea galleries and much, much more…………………………
We enjoyed New York and all its splendor without the distractions of television, the internet, or cell phones. Daily, we moved around from early morning till past midnight visiting a broad swath of The Big Apple from Brooklyn, to Harlem, to Ground Zero, to Mid Town, to the South Street Seaport, to the Upper East Side.
In all, we experienced the following:
§ Two guided tours at museums
--The Met-we took Highlights Tour from a New Jersey judge, who volunteers as a docent on weekends. At tour end, we went up to the rooftop garden that has magnificent city views and gargantuan, whimsical Jeff Koons sculptures.
--The Studio Museum in Harlem-Target is sponsoring free Sundays and featured a kickoff party today. The director conducted the guided tour of current exhibits. There was also music, food, and tote bag decorating etc.
§ Two Plays/Musicals
--Passing Strange—brilliant! One of the most unique plays we had ever seen. It was the final weekend, and Spike Lee filmed it twice
--The Altar Boys--- entertaining and upbeat!
§ Three bus tours from atop the double-decker buses. We purchased 48 hour passes on the double-decker sightseeing buses. These buses run all day long. Each tour guide brought a different style and personality
--Night Tour NYC is stunning at night!
--Downtown (we took this twice)
--Brooklyn
We learned a lot on each tour where we saw Chinatown, Little Italy, the Bowery, Mid-Town, the Empire State building, the Chrysler building, Rockefeller Center, St. Paul's Cathedral, the flatiron building, Greenwich Village, SOHO, NOHO, and Brooklyn Heights. We also learned about DUMBO (down under the Manhattan Bridge overpass), one of the newest trendy as upscale sections of Brooklyn; and RAMBO (right after the Manhattan Bridge overpass)
§ Circle Line Cruise of the harbor-- We saw the new waterfalls exhibits and of course, breathtaking skyline views, and the Piece de resistance: the Statue of Liberty, up close and personal!!!!!!!!!!!! I just love her!
§ Outside Ballet at South Street Seaport
Dance 360°
§ Contortionist act
§ Long walks
---The Village.
---Midtown
---Times Square-- we strolled the newly transformed Times Square every night. I still marvel at how they replaced the former seedy Times Square area with what looks like a combination of a suburban mall and Las Vegas. The sights, sounds, signs, and crowds were an exhilarating and a feast for the eyes.
---Ground Zero.—sobering. St Paul's Chappel s a must-see
---South Street Seaport
§ Shopping.
§ Japanese, Thai, French, and Café meals.
§ St. Paul's Chapel at Ground Zero-- very, very moving tour
§ Lots of intimate conversation
We took public transportation the entire time.
There are still many other items on the itinerary that we will save for our next visit, including walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, the Transit Museum, Chelsea galleries and much, much more…………………………
