NYC whirlwind trip

Well....still no baby news to report, but can't be long now...I'm pacing with anxiety, just as I was running up to the election. That had a good result, in my eyes... My state came through..and is now identified as a purple state. Purple, because they went for Democrats on the national scene, but went Repub. on the local level... be prepared for more teacher & union bashing, & diminishing benefits from the statehouse...But, anyway, I am happy with the overwhelming support for Obama, as well as electing the country's first openly gay senator, Tammy Baldwin. Really put some people in their place...So...since I'm awaiting news of the next arrival, will fill in with a trip we took to NYC in October to celebrate my aunt's 80th birthday....What fun...Kind of on a whim, but it came together in a good way.  It was a whirlwind trip...an appropriate adjective, esp as we beat the winds and rain of frankinstorm Sandy just by a few days. Whew... but sorry for the New Yorkers who had to suffer through it, and are still coping with the fallout.

Here are some highlights from that NYC trip in mid to late October.

My Aunt Joyce, and myself, sitting on steps on the upper West Side, awaiting a Metro Bus. Joyce got the senior rate! 

Here we are at our hostel. Hey, I give Joyce credit for doing a hostel with us. As she said, I can well afford a hotel...I know...I know...but, come on...you gotta push the envelope. It was really fine. Equity Hostel, owned by a Barcelona group, well situated near Times Square.  Mostly all Europeans & a young vibe there.  We did okay. Good rates. We had to take a  female dorm room for 4, but lucked out with two Australian girls, over our 3 days, both of whom we liked.   This awesome creamy yellow leather sofa was the one really good piece of furniture in the place (don't forget...we had bunks...pretty minimal in the sleeping spaces...)  Anyway, we tried to get a space on this sofa whenever we could...esp. during Happy Hour.  We appreciated the touch of luxury.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the birthday girl, on her actual birthday, Oct 16, being served a special cake by the wonderful servers we got to know well at this Japanese restaurant my brother found in Korea town, where he stayed.  The owner, Mai, is Korean. 

 

 

 

Joye and Carole outside our hostel...as we prepare to go to see the Broadway play, Evita.

During our stay, we made it out to my nephew Adam's loft, in Brooklyn.  It is very spacious. And he is an artist, and somewhat of a minimalist... My son had shared this apt with him, after living on the lower East Side, which I got to know better by visiting him there.  Brooklyn seems so spacious compared to anywhere else, esp lower E side, in Manhattan.

Adam also teaches grad students at the NY School of Visual Arts...something about computers, graphics, art, etc. You notice he is wearing camouflage. He has developed something which maintains one's privacy by carefully placing obstructions around a face/visual which block a camera from identifying a subject...a bit complex...but...very cool. 

 

My Aunt Joyce, & sister, Carole...regrouping, or looking for next subway fare?  sitting in Adam's loft.  Adam scored that cool vintage sofa from my sister, Dawn.  He is very opposed to buying new stuff. He absolutely rejects 'Black Fri' & any other day devoted to shopping.

This was an odd place to eat, and very cutting edge in Brooklyn, Fette Sou.  All about pork cuts.  See the 'Wall of Meat' behind sister Carole & brother, Bruce.  You get your tray, go to grill station, get your meat, & then your beer. and dig in!

 

I see they also had this cool drawing on the cement wall --
'no goat left behind'
maybe on some special days, they also served goat?   do not know....
as with many things in NY...we just tried to go with the flow, and not ask too many questions...

Here we are on the NYC subway...always a treat. I find it fascinating.  It was my sister's first time; My brother did a great job getting us around.  I love the feeling of being in the mix of the energy of the largest city in the US...and what is cool is that New Yorkers on the subway are always reading stuff... often, the classics.  It's like no other city.  Strangely, this is a photo without other passengers. On one trip, there was a guy singing darn good opera.stuff... for tips, of course, later...one never knows what one will see or hear.  On the subway, or in the underground terminals... it's unique.

 Ground zero.  well, I suppose a 'must do' and of course it was packed.  Personally, I liked it better when they projected 2 beams of light, up into the sky, after the towers were gone.
Now there is this new glassy, reflecting tower, which doubles itself in a reflecting pool below.  It's okay I guess.
Not to my liking;   But, I'm not a 'monument' person.  The other photo, The Fraunces Tavern on Pearl St. near the Battery, is much more authentic...it's where Gen Washington signed famous documents, and there were secret meetings, and slaves hiding about... the upstairs has a museum, and it is an operating Irish pub now. The reason I knew about the place, is that I had to help 5th graders read a novel, some years back, in which this place figures big into the history of the Revolution....an awesome place...and very Dutch architecture.

And here we are having NY cheesecake...yum...the best!
and then going to the Broadway play, Evita....
with Ricky Martin.
WOW.... it was fabulous.
Great storytelling & music on stage.

so...  a fun week... and I didn't even mention the weekend in PA... so...there's more!  But, it's hard to go to NYC and not be awed.