Thursday, July 20, 2017

New York -our comings and goings

Let me start by saying that traveling with Sophie is different!  She's 18 and has always traveled with us.  This year, she's on an adventure of her own...

This is our second time in the Big Apple.  We've decided to not plan anything and to just go and enjoy.  Well, I should rephrase... I decided to not plan anything.  The only planned activity was the Damon Runyon Yankee Stadium Race on Saturday morning... so let's start there.

Yankee Stadium Race
Race morning - we are ready for it!  We take the subway as we have to make our way to the Bronx from Manhattan.  This was the easy part!  The race itself was great!  We ran 2 loops around the first floor, made our way to the warning track and went around twice taking pictures and videos on the way.  We then had to make our way up, up, up the stairs were we ran around the second floor twice - going up and down and up and down.  Those stairs sure were killers!! All in all, the race was 5km.  We ended the race, got our medal, t-shirts and snack and off we went to shower and change.  Our ride home was more eventful than the ride there.  All of a sudden, a group of 6 young African American climbed on.  They politely asked us to move so they could do a performance.  The boom box went on and off they were!  Dancing using the poles and hats... interesting to say the least!  I wish I could have gotten it on film - but I didn't want to attract any attention as I didn't have any money to give them.

During our week we took the subway a couple of times -even changing trains - which made Remi think we were now pros... I was quick to say nope - you have to go through Central Station before saying you are a pro!

The other things we did -  in no particular order:

  • walked around Time Square, Central Park, Battery Park, Downtown -you get the picture - we walked A LOT! 
  • ran in Central Park a couple of times
  • had breakfast at the Kellogg's NYC - fun and worthwhile! 
  • had a bellini at our hotel lounge - absolutely disgusting!  Not what I was expecting - there was no slush! It was not the Milestones kind of Bellini! 
  • had lunch at Ellen's Stardust -the funniest thing is for over a month I thought I was going to eat at Ellen's (Degeneres) restaurant.  Reading the menu, I quickly figured out it was NOT the same Ellen!  Seeing the sign I also wondered why Ellen would have such a tacky sign!  We sure had a good laugh at that!  The food was ok - the entertainment was great! Worth going. 
  • We decided not to go see a Broadway show - I didn't feel like it and I didn't see any that really interested me. 
  • did the Radio City Music Hall Tour - was very interesting!  Enjoyed learning the history of this place! 
  • Had dinner at Junior's so we could have cheesecake.  We should've just had cheesecake.  Food was ok - but sure was expensive!  One plate would've been good to feed a whole family! 
  • We took the subway to I can't remember where and walked the rest to the start of the High Line - an old railway transformed into a walkway.  We walked the whole thing to the end and back.  
  • We had Pizza at Arturo's - it was ok... not the best pizza I've ever had... Then we walked all the way back to our hotel - all the way from lower than 1st to 51st. 
  • We did have dinner at Chopt - fabulous!!  It was a salad place... yum! 
  • Took the subway to Brooklyn so we could purchase some rainbow bagels.  They taste kind of sweet! 
  • visited the big Cathedral



A couple pics...

High Line

Hotel Lounge
What they call urban garden


The moon forgot to go to bed!

Radio City

Sunday, July 9, 2017

New York City

Time for a new trip! Return to NYC!

Since Sophie is gone to Nicaragua for the month of July, and we did a big trip last summer, Remi and I decided to return to return to New York City for a few days.  Much to Remi's chagrine we are not planning much.  We will be experiencing taking the subway/bus/feet to get wherever we need to get to.  Don't plan on doing any tourist things as we did them last time we were there.

What we did plan:

  • We are registered to do the Damon Runyon Yankee Stadium Race -this should be a blast!  Running around the the warning track, up the stairs, through the park, back down and around again for a total of 5 km. 
  • Eating at Ellen's dinner Stardust- sure looks like fun! 
  • There is another restaurant that interests me - Jekyll and Hyde Club. Hopefully we get to go.
Other than that, I just want to relax and enjoy the city!  Spending lots of time in Central park, and walking the High Line.

Looking forward to next week!