Thursday Morning: New York, New York!
I have never been good at waiting patiently for my time in New York, so I left Boston bright and early, at 6:50 a.m. Those who know me are aware that I do not often see that side of 7 a.m. I had a brief adventure at the post office, where I arrived very early to mail home the antique item I purchased on my journey north of Boston. There I ran into one of the nicest postal employees ever, a woman who sat right down on the floor with me to fashion a perfect funny-shaped box for my funny-shaped item, made from ripped-up priority mail boxes and an entire roll of packing tape. The project took up about 15 minutes of her after-work time, drew laughs and jokes from a number of her co-workers, and won her my undying appreciation, as she refused to take any tip from me.
My patient cab driver then dropped me off at South Station. To keep myself awake, I drank coffee from McDonald's, watched people and took pictures:
I have a special thing for trains, so much so that I photographed my lovely train compartment:
My love affair with the train began in Europe. I cannot ride a train now without thinking about past trips on trains, all of which have been wonderful. I sat in a car that permitted use of cell phones, which meant that most of the people were business-oriented, tapping away on laptops. I had my laptop, but spent my time taking in the scenery and dreaming of what I would do with my time in New York.
The scenery between Boston and Manhattan was intriguing, and constituted my first-ever view of Rhode Island and Connecticut The misty weather made the view especially atmospheric. I loved the boats and marshes:
Before I knew it, we were pulling into New York. The Manhattan skyline took my breath away, as did the energy of the city when I emerged from Penn Station and briskly caught a taxi to my new favorite hotel in NYC, 60 Thompson. I settled into my tranquil room, but didn't stop much longer than to admire and photograph it:
Did you see the lovely fresh orchid on the bedside table? Did you SEE it? I loved it!
Having made a plan with my friend Jay, I set out for Two Boots pizza, where I picked up the slice of New York pizza I have missed. I then met up with Jay and Freddy:
(This picture does neither of them justice). We shared coffee in a classic New York sidewalk cafe experience at the Empire Diner:
We then strolled in and out of high-end shops and galleries in Chelsea. This is one work by our favorite artist among those we saw, Gregory Crewdson:
Freddy was a show-stopper, wandering into offices galore and charming all he encountered. Women drop to their knees to worship him! Gallery managers run to find a dish of water for him! Shop owners selling thousand dollar bags and shoes let him wander freely! This led me to dub Freddy the Mayor of Chelsea.
Finished with our shopping and gallery-hopping, we then popped over to the West Chelsea dog park, which is populated by some very spunky pups! Jay showed off his beautiful studio. I headed back downtown to Soho, where I nestled into a nice sidewalk cafe table at Le Figaro Cafe:
At the table next to me was a girl visiting NYC from Europe. She wrote postcards, and I wrote notes about my travels. The waiter teased us about our writing. He was the nicest waiter I would meet at this cafe (on a later visit, I encountered his evil twin). It felt great to watch the clouds moving and the people scurrying and to know that before, long, I will be living here, too. I photographed the last bit of blue sky before the rain poured down--the line at the top is the cafe's awning:
I stayed at my sidewalk perch until the rain began blowing, making it a bit soggy where I was sitting. I stepped inside the bar, lest I be blown away in a Dorothy-like fashion. There I met a man with whom I had a nice chat. He invited me to join him and his friends in hearing a band that night. I agreed, and this turned out to be a fateful decision, as I will explain . . .
My patient cab driver then dropped me off at South Station. To keep myself awake, I drank coffee from McDonald's, watched people and took pictures:
I have a special thing for trains, so much so that I photographed my lovely train compartment:
My love affair with the train began in Europe. I cannot ride a train now without thinking about past trips on trains, all of which have been wonderful. I sat in a car that permitted use of cell phones, which meant that most of the people were business-oriented, tapping away on laptops. I had my laptop, but spent my time taking in the scenery and dreaming of what I would do with my time in New York.
The scenery between Boston and Manhattan was intriguing, and constituted my first-ever view of Rhode Island and Connecticut The misty weather made the view especially atmospheric. I loved the boats and marshes:
Before I knew it, we were pulling into New York. The Manhattan skyline took my breath away, as did the energy of the city when I emerged from Penn Station and briskly caught a taxi to my new favorite hotel in NYC, 60 Thompson. I settled into my tranquil room, but didn't stop much longer than to admire and photograph it:
Did you see the lovely fresh orchid on the bedside table? Did you SEE it? I loved it!
Having made a plan with my friend Jay, I set out for Two Boots pizza, where I picked up the slice of New York pizza I have missed. I then met up with Jay and Freddy:
(This picture does neither of them justice). We shared coffee in a classic New York sidewalk cafe experience at the Empire Diner:
We then strolled in and out of high-end shops and galleries in Chelsea. This is one work by our favorite artist among those we saw, Gregory Crewdson:
Freddy was a show-stopper, wandering into offices galore and charming all he encountered. Women drop to their knees to worship him! Gallery managers run to find a dish of water for him! Shop owners selling thousand dollar bags and shoes let him wander freely! This led me to dub Freddy the Mayor of Chelsea.
Finished with our shopping and gallery-hopping, we then popped over to the West Chelsea dog park, which is populated by some very spunky pups! Jay showed off his beautiful studio. I headed back downtown to Soho, where I nestled into a nice sidewalk cafe table at Le Figaro Cafe:
At the table next to me was a girl visiting NYC from Europe. She wrote postcards, and I wrote notes about my travels. The waiter teased us about our writing. He was the nicest waiter I would meet at this cafe (on a later visit, I encountered his evil twin). It felt great to watch the clouds moving and the people scurrying and to know that before, long, I will be living here, too. I photographed the last bit of blue sky before the rain poured down--the line at the top is the cafe's awning:
I stayed at my sidewalk perch until the rain began blowing, making it a bit soggy where I was sitting. I stepped inside the bar, lest I be blown away in a Dorothy-like fashion. There I met a man with whom I had a nice chat. He invited me to join him and his friends in hearing a band that night. I agreed, and this turned out to be a fateful decision, as I will explain . . .
posted by Lisa at 5:22 PM
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