Last day, NYC

Well, the people in my hall at the hotel were up and moving early this morning, so I was awake at 8.  I showered and dressed, then packed my bag and finished yesterday's blog, then decided to check out--it was 10:30 and Anneliese and I were planning to meet at 1:00 at Washington Square Park. So I left my bag at the desk and took off.  It didn't take long to walk there (it was only a mile away).  I couldn't find my hat or gloves--not sure where I left them.  It is cold here today--luckily I brought a hoodie and turtleneck.  There was a thunderstorm last night when she left, so Anneliese borrowed my umbrella to get home.  When I got to the park, I texted Anneliese again and asked where I could get a bagel and tea.  She gave me directions to Oden's--they didn't have bagels so I had to get a muffin to go with my tea (it wasn't even good tea).  Anneliese met me there and we talked for a long time.  Then we moved on to one of the residence halls to use the bathroom and sit in a lounge area they have that is outside Anneliese's radio station in the basement of the dorm.  At 4:00 I walked back to the hotel.  I asked them if I could go back into my room to check for my hat by pulling out the wooden base (like I did a few days ago to find my book).  they said no and gave me the email address for housekeeping to ask them to look.  My shuttle was late and I told the desk that their server rejected my email to housekeeping, so the desk had a porter take me to the room to look for my hat.  It wasn't there, hoping it got mixed in with my dirty clothes.  I was stressing about the shuttle getting to the airport too late to have enough time to get through security, then when I checked in, I found that the flight was delayed.  So now we're not leaving until 9:30.  It took close to an hour to go through security, then time for some Panda Express and now I'm sitting at the gate waiting to begin boarding.  But it may be awhile because we have no plane yet and we were supposed to start boarding 15 minutes ago.

The hotel I stayed at, The Jane, is a very historic hotel.  It was originally built for sailors which is why the rooms resemble rooms on a ship with a small berth and a shared bathroom down the hall.  The keychain has a small circle attached to a fob.  The circle is the key, simply touch it to the space on the door by the doorknob and it opens.  It also has a metal pole about three inches long attached.  This must be inserted into a hole next to the door which turns on the ability to use the lights, fan, and electrical outlets.  It is to save electricity and I've heard of other countries doing this in their hotels.   the downside is that you can only charge devices when you are in your room.  

(this is also great to hold in your hand as a potential weapon when
walking down quiet streets in the wee hours of the morning!)

The little "stick" goes into the plate to give you power.

The hotel itself was used to house the survivors of the Titanic when they were brought to New York and a memorial service was held at the hotel.  The porters and desk workers wear the old -fashioned uniforms with the cute little hats and brass buttons on the front (like in the movie, "The Grand Budapest Hotel").

They also provide a robe and slippers for you to use as well as specially bottled water.  And the safe is in one of the drawers and is big enough to fit a laptop (and your jewels, I suppose) inside.  For storage, there are drawers and a large space in the base of the bed, a small shelf on the outside wall, a large shelf high on one wall and hooks that slide on metal poles on the walls (maybe another ship thing?).

One of the hooks on the pole.

The robe and slippers

There is a mirror on one wall.

Great tile work in the lobby and palm plants in the entry with a porter to open the doors for you or hail you a cab.

The front desk

Part of the lobby

The old fountain in the lobby

Hold onto your hats, the gate people paged me and because it is a very full plane, they had to bump me to first class!  Wow!  So as I moved to my seat, I was offered whatever I wanted to drink (a diet coke sounded good), served in a real glass.  Then later, the little entertainment things with movies and games could be used for $8, but they were free for first class.   We were also served food (steerage had to purchase food).  We were first served a plate with fruit, cheeses, and various crackers, then a greek salad with grilled chicken (and real silverware), then a warm cookie on a plate with a fork to use to eat it.  All this time, we were offered drinks.  All free of charge.  We were three rows and had our own flight attendant.  And wide, comfortable seats with plenty of legroom.  The flight attendant was very helpful and deferential.  And I was the first person off the airplane at the end.  Wow, steerage is going to be hard to go back to!

The plane taxied the runways for an hour before we took off, we didn't land until midnight central time.  Tired!!

Art and Beaches, NYC Saturday

An underpass in Central Park

Today I woke up and entered the lottery for rush tickets to Wicked (no, we didn't win).  Then showered and finished my blog from the day before.  Then I texted Anneliese to see if she found her debit card.  Well, she wasn't awake yet (of course).  She said to give her 10 minutes to wake up, so 20 minutes later I texted her again, but she had fallen back asleep.  Skipping the rest of the story, her debit card was at the lighting store from the day before.  Both when she called and when she went to pick it up, the owner apologized and said that he put it on the shelf above the register, then forgot to give it to her with her receipt.  So, happy ending  to that story!

I love the mosaics and public art in so many of the subway stations.

The night before, we had decided to go to the Met--the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  So we met there.  I took my train (only one wrong train), then walked across Central Park because the subway station was on the opposite side of the park from the Met.  Wow--it's a really big park and a long trek across!  Thank goodness Moovit helped me know which paths to take because there are no signs.  I got there at the same time that Anneliese got there.  The forecast said that it was in the low 50s and would be near 60 at the warmest part of the day.  I'm not even sure if it got to 50.  It was so cold, and I was not dressed for the cold weather.  I had jeans and a t-shirt on.  Luckily my thin cardigan from the day before was still in my backpack and I put that on.  Later in the day I was glad that my winter hat and a thin pair of gloves were in there as well.  We each ate a hot dog from the street vendor then went in.  Well, the Met has a pay what you want to policy.  So I paid $5 for the two of us (most people paid $1 each).  We walked, we looked, we discussed the art.  It was fun seeing the big names right there on the wall.  Then there were some very unusual ones as well.  Anneliese wanted to primarily stick to modern day (though we saw Monet, VanGogh, etc) for artistic inspiration.

Notice the tiny building wedged in between two tall building!

This classic building is across the street from the Met.

The entrance at the Met.

Monet

Monet

An entire room of a painting (pay no attention to tat crazy girl in the middle!)

This art is not only the part hanging but also the shadow cast by it.

One of the walls of the original Met, not used to show off the Roman statues. 

One of my wonderful daughters!

We were both really tired from the week and the busy last few days, so we took a few trains out to Brighton Beach.  Anneliese had rented an apartment there one weekend for a shoot for a movie assignment and loved the area.  We walked along the boardwalk and then the beach almost to Coney Island.  It was very cold and windy but beautiful.  Oh-and Coney Island is not a geographical island--it is just an area of Brooklyn coastline.  Many of the streets in Brighton Beach are Brighton 1, Brighton 2, Ocean Way, Brighton Blvd, etc.  Not a very creative bunch of city planners there!  Then we took the train past Coney Island to catch the train back into Manhattan.  My metro pass had gotten quite the workout and has had to be added to a few times.

Coney Island

The boardwalk

Back in the city, we got off at the NYU stop and went to the Tisch lounge to warm up (Tisch is the building where Anneliese has most of her film classes and which also houses all of the production labs that she uses.  When we got there, the coffee shop was closed, so we went down the street to get dinner at a cafe she likes, Cozy Burgers.  We each had the signature Cozy burger platter; the burgers were topped so high with cheese, onions, and mushrooms that we had to cut them in half and squish them down to fit them in our mouths!  It is a stereotypical New York cafe (I was waiting for Jerry Seinfeld to walk in at any minute looking for George and Elaine!).  Then we decided to go back to my hotel rather than hang out in the lounge of her dorm again.  We asked, but he front desk did not have a deck of cards we could use so we just talked.  I checked, and the desk said that I can leave my bag at the desk until my 5:00 shuttle tomorrow, so that's a relief.  Anneliese was very tired as we talked, so at 1:30 we made plans for tomorrow and I told her to go home and get some sleep.  Then I also got some sleep!  :)

Trains and boats, Friday in NYC

This is a daytime view of the sphere from the World Trade Center
that I mentioned in a previous post.  (It was moved to Battery Park)

Last night, I realized that though this is the fourth time I have been to New York (not counting bringing Anneliese in the fall), I had never been to the Statue of Liberty.  So, that was the plan for today.  I checked the website and it said to buy tickets at Battery Park, so 2 trains later, and there I was.  The weather was warm, but windy and I found rain coming straight at me like bullets, so I battled that as I walked to the park.  I was informed that to go all the way up to the crown (which was what I had intended), I had to reserve that three months ago (!!!).  Needless to say, I was quite disappointed.  But, I went anyway.  First I took the ferry to Liberty Island and an audio tour is available at no extra charge (it is park land so all you need to pay is the $18 for the ferry.   I did that.  Cool views of Mahattan.  I've always loved the Statue of Liberty as a beacon and symbol of freedom and hope.  I thought it interesting that at the celebration of the installation of the Statue of Liberty, women were not allowed.  Hmmm--anyone else see the irony in that?  Liberty, but not for all?  Anyway, very interesting learning more about something I thought I knew a lot about.  Even though I couldn't go into the pedestal or the crown (both need to be reserved early).

Battery Park from the ferry

my favorite

Manhattan from the ferry

Then, since it was included in the price of the ferry, I went to Ellis Island.  It was mid-afternoon and since I hadn't eaten anything so far that day, I paid too much for a mediocre burger and chips at Ellis Island. Randy and I were there over 20 years ago, but it has evolved since then.  There are more displays.  I walked around for awhile but tired of the audio tour early on and just wandered and read plaques.  Soon, I was ready to leave.  In the morning, Anneliese and I had signed up for online lottery rush tickets, but we didn't get them (I found out at 2:00) so that dampened my spirits a bit.

This is the hospital/quarantine area that has not been updated and is closed.

At that point in the late afternoon, my phone was on zero so I decided to go back to the hotel and charge it knowing that I would need it that evening.  Anneliese contacted me at 5:30 after class and we decided to get dinner then go to a pub in Midtown to hear a Celtic band.  We ate at Vanessa's Dumplings, then went to the subway station.  As we were loading more money on our metro cards, Anneliese realized that she couldn't find her debit card.  She searched her purse a few times, then used my phone (hers was dead) to check her bank account and see if there was activity.  She couldn't get a connection, so we decided to go back to her dorm room and look.  She knew she had used it at the lighting store earlier when she bought something for a project.  We checked the pockets of the clothes she wore earlier, I checked her purse, etc. but couldn't find it.  There was no activity on her card, so there was nothing to do until the morning.  We came up with a plan.  She was devastated because there was no way to get more money if she had to wait for a replacement card.  She was very sad so I held her until she calmed down.  I gave her what cash I had to last her for a few days if she needed it.  Then we knew we weren't going out that night so I suggested that we play cards to pass the evening and get her mind off her problem.   We played Crazy 8s until 11:30 and she pointed me in the correct direction for the subway.  I held my heavy Jane keys in my hand to use as a weapon if I was attacked.

So this is my getting home story:  I got there and checked my Moovit app, but the A train wasn't due for 20 minutes.  I got into a conversation with a young man asking me for information about the F train.  He told me that I could use the F to get to my stop, so, not wanting to wait for 20  minutes, I boarded with him.  He was right.  We talked and he offered to walk me to my hotel, but I said that I would be fine (I didn't want him to know where I was staying).  I was careful to give no identifying information other than my first name.  I got off, but accidentally exited the station on 16th street instead of 14th.  I had no bearings, so I walked a few blocks to see if the streets numerically went in the right direction.  They didn't, so I was about to turn around when I saw a park a block away.  I walked to the park to try and get my bearings and it was Union Square.  I've met Anneliese there a few times (including earlier that night) so I knew how to get home from there (about a half hour walk).  I set off and arrived home.  I called Anneliese when I got to the last few darker and more deserted streets near my hotel (it's in a very quiet neighborhood).  I talked to her until I was near the hotel, telling her my story.  Then, straight to bed.

Landmarks, NYC

Yesterday was a day of wandering without a map, today was a day of using a map to find things.  Joshua gave me a list of things he wanted me to take pictures of, if I could.  It was sunny day, 70 degrees!!

So I took the subway to the other side of Manhattan to the United Nations building.  It was interesting to see, but I wasn't horribly interested in going on a tour, so I didn't.

I looked at Joshua's list and saw the Chrysler building, looked it up, it was nearby, so I headed there.  On the way, I was famished, having eaten nothings since dinner last night (and it was already early afternoon), so I went to a Five Guys since all I wanted was a burger and fries.  All of the other places I stopped in had sandwiches for huge amounts of money, so I got something very filling for my money.  On to the Chrysler building.  I could see it through the trees and other tall buildings as I approached.  What an attractive building!

Across the street was a gorgeous art deco building named the Chanin Building.  I didn't go inside, but the outside wowed me.

After that, I looked at Joshua's list again and at my Google maps and noticed that the Empire State building and Flat Iron building were within walking distance, so I walked to them as well.  The sun was shining so brightly, I couldn't get a good picture of the Flat Iron building--the camera kept dimming it so that all you could see was the outline.  And since it was $35 to go up in the Empire State building, I let that go as well.

Walking down Park Avenue--the middle was lined with tulip trees and other white-blossomed trees.

An interesting entrance.

Pretty spring flowers everywhere--loved smelling the hyacinths.

Empire State Building

Then I rested at Madison Square Park and did some people watching for a little bit.  Then I noticed that if I retraced my steps, that Rockefeller Center (also on Joshua's list) was on the other side of the Empire State Building a ways.  On my way there, I saw the main library that I had wanted to see.  So I went in there and it was gorgeous.  It is mainly for research, not circulation.  The main reading room that is supposedly two blocks long was closed,  though.  It didn't look anything like the library in Day After Tomorrow.

A builidng bordering Madison Square Park

Seemed like an old-fashioned way to get water in such a modern part of the city

The main branch of the public library

The entrance hall

The rotunda

Then on to Rockefeller Center.  They had the foreground decorated for Easter with colored eggs and a topiary bunny that turned in a circle.  And the ice skating rink was set up!  Then I looked for the subway, but my app gave me the wrong directions, so I had to figure it out and eventually got back to my stop.  Walked back to the hotel and crashed on my bed.  My feet were so sore from all of that walking!!

St. Patrick's cathedral next to Sak's.

St Patrick's (across the street from Rockefeller Center).

On the other side of Rockefeller Center.

 Anneliese texted me when she was done with class at 8:30.  We met at Union Square (thank you Google maps!) then walked to S'mac with her roommate Jordana.  Everything there is Mac 'n' cheese.  Anneliese and I shared a medium tray of Cheeseburger, then Jordana went back to go to bed (she had to be up at 5:00) while Anneliese and I went to a small street called St. Mark's where there is the cutest little dessert shop, Spot.  She bought dessert for us and I wish I would've taken a picture--they were beautiful (and yummy! and expensive!).  I got the Yuzu Eskimo and she got the Harvest.  After that, Anneliese had a lighting project that was due the next day and I was exhausted (and it was 12:30), so she walked me to a subway stop and told me which trains to take to get back.  Well, some freaky thing happened on the F train.  At one of the stops (mine was next), it announced my stop next, then announced a different stop next without saying there was a change.  The online list of stops in the train car went blank, then reloaded with new stops.  It freaked me out, so I jumped off at that stop as the doors were closing and took an A instead.  Very weird.  My sore feet walked home from the subway stop and I went right to bed.