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.
