NYC 2011 - Part 1

I took a chunk of my vacation days in late May and went to NYC. Embedded in that trip was the Men’s Spring Knitting Retreat, held as usual at Easton Mountain. I’ll talk about it in another post; this post will be 1 of 2 about the trip to NYC.

I flew into Newark International Airport and stayed with Jack and Judy at their little house in a small town in New Jersey. It’s really a great spot, being 3 blocks from a commuter bus that takes you to the Port Authority in Manhattan for $12 return in about 30 minutes, depending on traffic. (It costs $8 to get through the Lincoln Tunnel, so $12 seems a great deal.) Weather was overcast and rainy when I arrived, as it was for much of the week.

Next day, Jack and I headed into Lincoln Centre to see the American Ballet Theater’s production of “Don Quixote” with music by Ludwig Minkus. (I know: I’d never heard of him either.) The principal dancers were Paloma Herrera and Jose Manuel Carreńo. Apparently Jose is retiring at the end of this year’s season, and according to Jack he danced like a guy 20 years younger, pulling out all the stops. (Um...pipe organ metaphor; sorry.) The audience loved him. This was my first time at a ballet, and I note that ballet-ophiles are as wildly enthusiastic as opera-ophiles: cheering and applause after individual numbers. (Quite different from your standard classical music concert where We Don’t Do That Kind of Thing.) I thought the whole thing absolutely dazzling. Dancers really are amazing in their attempts to beat gravity. That's me, in front of the  Metropolitan Opera House, one of the 3 buildings at Lincoln Centre.

Before the concert, we wandered around a bit. Weather was a bit iffy, as it had been raining, but mostly the rain held off for us. The flower beds in front of Lincoln Centre were full of Allium Gigantium. When I was taking this picture, a passerby pulled herself up short so as not to put herself in the photo, asked if the flowers were anything special and whether she should take a picture of them. “Absolutely!” I said, and after she finished taking her pictures I took one of her in front of them. (She did offer to take one of me, but I declined.)

We wandered down (up?) to the Apple store so I could buy a cable adapter for my iPad. The cashier said it was a quiet day.

 

We saw some interesting architecture. (The sign over the door reads “If fraternal love held all men bound, how beautiful the world would be”.)

 We wandered through and past Central Park. Rhododenrons were full in bloom. All the plants were about 2-3 weeks ahead of ours here at home. Lilacs, for example, were finished blooming in NYC when I arrived. They’d not started blooming here when I left, but were in full bloom when I returned, as were the late tulips. But I didn’t see a tulip anywhere in NYC. (These pictures enlarge nicely. Click on them.)

 

Eventually we ended up at Columbus Circle.

Along the way, we saw the Tardis.

Next day it rained.  We took a fast trip to the yarn shop in Montclair, “Stix-n-Stitches”, as I needed to buy a needle. (And while there, got a copy of EZ’s “Knit One, Knit All”) Here’s the shop greeter.

And here’s the shop coffee table. Apparently it’s an Ikea product. The table is a series of  boxes, covered with a piece of glass. In the shop, each box holds a novelty yarn. Pretty neat.

A quiet evening followed. We packed, as there was an early day ahead of us to drive north for the Men’s Knitting Retreat.

Comments

[Paul]

Thank you for all the wonderful pictures from New York! It brings back lots of memories of my trips with David going to the Met Opera. *sigh*

[anne marie in philly]

the shop greeter is "maxine"; a hallmark cards creation. I recognized her bunny slippers.

looking good, ted!

I have EZ's new book on my wish list for my birthday!

[River]

If I didn't have two large dogs in a small living room, I would completely and totally steal that coffee table idea!! Maybe in my next house or my next life...