Monday, December 5, 2011

Last US Stop, New York City

Well, after 5 weeks on the road, & 6,700 miles by car, we arrived in NY. First stop was to the port in Newark, NJ to drop off our car to be shipped to France. All went smoothly. Chris's brother Jim picked us up & what do you know? He had a new GPS in his truck, & must have entered the NY hotel address incorrectly, so we had a long unexpected tour of downtown Brooklyn (instead of Manhattan) at rush hour. It took quite a while to get back on track & reach our destination, especially because he insisted on continuing to follow the GPS directions to the incorrect address, & we were being pointed in the wrong direction.

The hotel we had booked was not really a hotel, but a "seafarer's mission". We didn't expect deluxe accommodations, but based on the reviews we read, thought it would be bigger & better than the reality. Be that as it may, we were in NYC for a week before flying to France, so all was good with the world.

Here are some highlights from our week:

Celebrity sightings: close to Central Park & the famous Dakota apartment building, who should walk past us, but Yoko Ono. She is a fixture in the neighborhood, so she was able to blend in to the crowd. A couple of days later, in Greenwhich Village, we stood on the corner waiting for the light to turn green, & realized that the actress Laura Linney was standing next to us, having a conversation about stage lighting for an upcoming performance. For a change of pace, we got tickets to a taping of the Martha Stewart show. Though not the most interesting of her shows in terms on content, it is amazing to see what a well-oiled operation she has. Her staff operates with almost unreal efficiency, which is what one would expect from Martha. She looked real good for someone her age who has been through what she faced over the past several years.

Sightseeing: even though we were both born & raised in NY, it's fun to see NY through the eyes of a tourist/visitor, because, in some ways, having moved away so many years ago, that's what we are. The biggest difference between the NY we left 30 years ago & the city now is the apparent lack of danger, crime & rudeness. We have never seen people so polite, helpful & friendly. Places where you would never have gone (Bryant Park, Harlem, etc.) without a gun or police escort are now safe & lovely. Times Square, which used to be wall-to-wall porno movies/shows with runaway girls from the midwest turned into hookers, is now an uber-gentrified family-oriented tourist mecca. Is this a parallel universe? For us, seeing the change is wonderful. New Yorkers seem to take it for granted, as the change has been so gradual that it's hardly noticed.

A couple of the best days involved ferries across the East River. The first day, we took the 5-minute ferry from lower Manhattan to Brooklyn. After walking around there for a while, we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan. About halfway across the span we saw a vendor selling peeled mangoes on a stick, & we couldn't resist. What a yummy treat! The bridge was crowded with tourists (including a large group of German cyclists) & locals alike, and everyone was enjoying the beautiful, clear fall weather.

We enjoyed the ferry ride so much that a couple of days later we took it again, but went the entire length of the route, bouncing between Manhattan & Brooklyn. Seeing NY from this vantage point is breathtaking. Met a young Belgian couple who love NY so much that this was their 9th trip there. 



                                                 





911 Memorial: We pre-ordered free tickets to the recently opened 911 Memorial. As you can imagine, there is quite a bit of security to go through, but the site itself is moving. It's still so disorienting for us. Even though we used to work across the street from the Trade Center (that's where we met), the familiar landmarks were gone, & many new buildings had been built since then.
 


Metropolitan Museum of Art & the Cloisters: For us, no trip to NY would be complete without a visit to the Met, one of the great museums of the world. We also went all the way uptown to the Cloisters to see the wonderful medieval collections. One thing that we found interesting is that on the way to the Cloisters we took the bus; certainly not the quickest way, but you really do see so much more above-ground than on the subway. Harlem really has been gentrified.

Stopped by Grand Central Station for a drink (it was cocktail hour, after all) & noticed that one entire end of the station was draped in black. It took us a moment to realize that under that black drape is the world's largest Apple Store, & Steve Jobs had died a few days before, so this was their tribute to Steve. Very simple but effective.

In between all of this we spent time with friends & family.

Our last day was a bit more eventful & stressful than we would have liked....Packing all of the things we had thrown into our car at the last minute as we left the Bay Area 6 weeks before, we now had to somehow squeeze them into our baggage allowance for the flight to Paris. In the end, we shipped a carton & threw out some things, including a perfectly good suitcase & a few bottles of good wine. We had pre-ordered a limo to take us to the airport, knowing that gettng a taxi during rush hour in NY is nigh-on impossible. The limo service called us earlier that day, saying that there might be a slight delay picking us up, but they would do their best. Well, it was raining heavily, & after a number of frantic calls to the limo company, they found a driver for us, but fitting all our stuff into a Camry was "interesting." Even after leaving gthe hotel 30 minutes later than planned, we made it to JFK in time, but had to pay an excess baggage fee of $85 because one box was overweight.

We had been warned that service on IcelandAir left something to be desired, but that didn't turn out to be true for us. In fact, even though we had to go through security again during our stopover in Iceland, upon arrival at DeGaulle, we never had to go through customs, immigration or security. This turned out to be a good thing, because in his carry-on, Chris had thousands of dollars of inventory (antiques, antiquities, etc.) which might have caused the French douane to raise a Gallic eyebrow or two.



Saturday, December 3, 2011

What North America Almost Was

Anybody who is reading this would probably agree that Philadelphia (our previous stop) is a long way from Montreal. It didn't seem so long when we were in California planning the trip, but in reality, we had to drive through Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, & the entire length of New York State to reach the Canadian border, & then drive some more. After a looooooong day of driving we arrived in Montreal around 8:30 in the evening, and felt, as always, immediately at home.

The hotel we stay in when we can get a reservation is the Auberge Les Passants du Sans Soucy. It is not the least expensive place in Montreal, but it's definitely a favorite of ours. Wonderful location in the old city, in a building dating from 1712. The rooms are tastefully decorated & the staff most welcoming & accommodating. The breakfasts are absolutely delicious & filling.

Speaking of filling food, we ate lunch at Schwartz's Chacuterie Hebraic. They are famous for their smoked meat, a variation of pastrami, but with a different taste & texture. Absolutely yummy, & definitely not suited to someone who is trying to limit calories, fat or salt, but hey, you only live once! The place was jammed so we shared a table with an Indianfamily (the daughter is apparently a college student there). Her younger teenage brother could stand to lose some weight & get some exercise, yet he ordered the smoked meat platter, which is 24 ounces of meat....& he managed to eat the whole thing. We stared in amazement, as we shared 1 sandwich & were quite full.

The weather was damp & chilly & we both came down with colds, but we still very much enjoyed our time in Montreal. Even so, it was sad to leave this great city, which is a mixture of old & new, French & English. This is what the US might have become if the British had not taken Canada from the French.

From there we drove northeast, & the closer we got to Quebec City, the more French it got. It's quite common to meet people who speak no English in this part of Canada. Upon arrival at the Hotel Sainte Anne, we were warmly greeted. The room decor was a bit strange, but the welcoming & helpful staff as well as the location more than made up for that.

The weather was still rainy, but because of that we were treated to a rare sight: a triple rainbow over the St. Lawrence River. Sadly, we didn't manage to capture the entire thing on our camera, but here's what we did capture:



We spent our time there walking around, revisiting some of our favorite places & discovering new ones, eating great food incuding moules/frites (mussels & fries). We realized that this was likely our final time in Quebec, so we wistfully said goodbye.



The Hotel Frontenac:           




Halloween was fast approaching.....




Louis XIV looking rather regal (or pompous, depending on your intrepretation):




View of the lower town & St. Lawrence from the funicular:



Independence Hall & Everything Else

Our time in Philly was a combination of pleasant surprise & disappointment. On the plus side, our hotel (Alexander Inn) was great....a beautiful lobby, welcoming staff, very good breakfast, comfortable room, etc.The neighborhood (Washington Square) was mostly gay & has interesting shops, restaurants, etc. It's not far from South Philly, which we drove through & saw the most interesting mural painted on the side of a building. On it were pictures of some of South Philly's most famous sons, many of whom were named Bobby (Rydell, Vinton, Darin, etc.) Oh, yeah, let's not forget Fabian Forte, who is probably really named Bobby.

We stopped for a cheesesteak at Cosmi's, which gets rave reviews on Yelp.  Chris loved his, I hated mine -- it is not "girl food".

Now for the not-so-good part of Philly. Some of the most important sites in US history are located in one small area, including Independence Hall, the site of the signing of both the Declaration of Independence & the Constitution. We know this. The guide seemed a little unsure of his facts & tended to think of them, although separated by 15 years, as kind of the same thing. The visitor center complex, including a large very modern building housing the Liberty Bell, completely dwarfs the 18th century site, & the modern style is so jarring. Mixing the 18th & 21st centuries doesn't work. On the plus side, some of the other things such as Ben Franklin's printing shop & the 18th century streets are well worth visiting.