OUR MANHATTAN ADVENTURE 2015

Old Nov 21st, 2015, 10:52 AM
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OUR MANHATTAN ADVENTURE 2015

OUR MANHATTAN ADVENTURE

We spent 8 exhausting days in Manhattan recently, ostensibly to cheer friends running in the marathon (both finished) but also a chance to do the sightseeing we had no time before in our mad museum dash last December.
We stayed at the Hôtel Elysée, a charming boutique hotel with a very French atmosphere. We got the deluxe queen room shown on the hotel's web site, which made me very happy: lots of blue. Having a small sitting area was very nice, and the antique furniture provided good storage--as did the mirrored double-wide closet. Breakfast was offered in the club room--a huge bowl of fresh fruit, fruit juice, cereals, bagels and bread (to be toasted by the staff), assorted pastries (croissants, Danish, pains au chocolat, etc.), a good selection of teas, and excellent coffee. In the late afternoon/early evening the Club Room offered wine, cheese, and other snacks, and fruit, coffee/tea and cookies were available at all hours. Doug Stallings said we wouldn't be disappointed in the hotel, and he was right.
Museums again: the Met and the Frick. This time the Temple of Dendur was open, and the Egyptian exhibit focusing on the Middle Kingdom was very good. We saw all the Impressionist and a good number of the Netherlandish School and Italian Renaissance and Medieval paintings. Favorites: "The Harvesters" and the Memling "Annunciation." Hint: be sure to get annotated maps of each wing at an information desk so you can find particular collections. Otherwise it's like running a maze.
First visits: the Guggenheim; the Morgan, to see the Hemingway exhibit (DH is a big fan) and the other treasures; the New York Historical Society, the Cooper-Hewitt, and the National Academy. At the latter we were the only visitors for a super exhibit of structures by Moshe Safdie, including architectural models.
Sightseeing: free ferry trip to Staten Island and back to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island; the Federal Reserve Bank tour (my DH enjoyed it--I was a bit bored); the very moving 9/11 memorial; the Chrysler building; delightful Bryant Park; the New York Public Library (the Rose Reading Room was closed, but I loved the children's reading room); Central Park; Grand Central Station; Zabars (yes, it is a sight); Rockefeller Center; St. Patrick's Cathedral; St. Paul's Chapel (which survived the 9/11 disaster); Church of the Incarnation (gorgeous stained-glass windows by Tiffany and some of the pre-Raphaelites). My DH visited the zoo at Central Park and said it was small but incredible. He got a close-up photo of the usually elusive snow leopard.
A word to the not-so-wise: if you're going to a museum in the hope of seeing particular works of art, WRITE and ask whether they will actually be on display. We went to the Guggenheim primarily to see the Impressionist paintings, but that gallery was closed until later in the week. We discovered this drawback before we bought tickets and were able to switch the date for the museum, but it's not always easy to know even with careful perusal of a web site. At the NY Historical Society we had wanted to see the Thomas Cole paintings, but the large collection housing them and other landscape paintings was closed. My husband thought that the presence of Batmobile 3, along with a big exhibit on NYC superheroes, almost made up for the lack of the Coles.

THE FOOD
On the day of the marathon we headed to Zabars for lunch, where my DH was introduced to something new: a Reuben pannino. Who knew? I had a great melted cheese sandwich, and after eating we went next door to the store. What a great place!
We ate much too well! On our first night we ate at the Monkey Bar, at our hotel, which was strangely empty--perhaps because of Halloweén? The food was good but not special. The following night we dined at the excellent Le Colonial; both food and service were first rate, and the palm trees, balconies, and shutters made for a pleasant atmosphere .
French food, however, was our lure, so we lunched one day at Le Bateau Ivre with a local friend. That night we went to Chez Napoléon, and it was wonderfully French provincial--complete with a slightly cranky Madame. My trout was excellent, as was the soufflé Grand Marnier.
The next night we took our Marathon friend to Amma for Indian food. We knew we had chosen the right place when we saw chef Robert Irvine and his wife in a corner table. Our waiter recommended the flash-fried okra (okra!!!), and it was actually very good--rather like the fried seaweed that we had loved many years ago in a London Chinese restaurant. For the rest, we had veggie samosas, chicken korma, rogan josh (a great favorite of ours), naan, and basmati rice. We finished the meal off with excellent rus malai, always something we hope to find on the dessert menu at an Indian restaurant.
On Tuesday night we dined happily at Jubilee, where we had the best mussels ever, choosing from an extensive menu of preparations. I had the marinière; my DH had the coconut curry sauce. The moules came with an enormous plate of frites, not too large and not too small; we had no trouble eating them all.
Came Wednesday, and we dined at Boulud Sud, which had been our great favorite last December. Chef Daniel was in the house, and it was fun to see him in person, chef's jacket and all. The hostess told he that he was in NYC visiting his restaurant empire. We didn't quite love the meal as much this time around, perhaps because our expectations had been set so high. The prix fixe included complimentary canapés, several wonderful breads, gambas for me, pumpkin soup for my DH, a chicken tagine for me, scallops for my DH, the superb chocolate cube for my DH, and a strange--sweed and bland--Middle Eastern dessert, muhallabieh, for me. I should have had the cube.
Our last dinner was a pizza was brought to our hotel by Angelo's Pizzaria. The pizza was fantastic! It was a good thing we saved it for the last or we would have eaten nothing else during our stay.
Our last food in NYC was at the Admiral's Club at JFK, for which we had free day passes. We've visited other AC's, but this one was exceptional--it offered two hot soups (the pumpkin was wonderful), breads, cheeses, cold veggies, salty snacks, chocolate fudge, cookies, and I can't remember what else, all at no charge. We had planned to eat at an airport restaurant before our late-afternoon flight but didn't need to leave the lounge.
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Old Nov 21st, 2015, 10:53 AM
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Sorry about the format--I pasted from Word, but the spacing didn't transfer.
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Old Nov 21st, 2015, 11:04 AM
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Underhill, thanks for posting your activity-packed visit to NYC! We're looking forward to enjoying the first week-end of December in the Big Apple, and appreciate your comments on museums and restaurants. Glad you had a nice trip!
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Old Nov 21st, 2015, 11:07 AM
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Sounds like a great trip!
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Old Nov 21st, 2015, 03:43 PM
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It was, albeit exhausting. We re no longer spring chickens! The worst part of travel these days is getting through the airport.
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Old Nov 22nd, 2015, 02:45 AM
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Nice report - just had lunch at Chez Napoleon & have always loved their food!
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Old Nov 22nd, 2015, 10:57 AM
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<National Academy. At the latter we were the only visitors for a super exhibit of structures by Moshe Safdie>

Thanks for your report which I enjoyed. I was particularly interested in the National Academy exhibit which you mentioned. I hadn't read anything about this exhibit, or indeed the venue so many thanks!
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Old Nov 22nd, 2015, 11:40 AM
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Headed to NYC next month. Have wondered about the Monkey Bar....we may try it for drinks, so will be curious if it is empty!

How did you like the Morgan Library?
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Old Nov 22nd, 2015, 12:32 PM
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The Morgan Library was very, very good. The Hemingway exhibit is fascinating, with a number of works in the author's own hand--plus assorted memorabilia. Hemingway was a hoarder, making for a fine selection of material. I wonder what will happen now that so much is digital? Will we see exhibitions entirely on flash drives???

The prizes of the Morgan collection are the Vault and the Library, in which rotating exhibits are shown. We saw Beethoven and Mozart scores in the composers' own hands, a handwritten poem by Wilfred Owen, among others. The Library has an Alice in Wonderland collection, but it was not on display, alas. However, just looking at the beautiful library and perusing the shelves of rate books was a real treat.
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Old Nov 22nd, 2015, 12:45 PM
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I forgot to add that the Morgan has a Matisse exhibit as well.

The New York Historical Society has the original Piccasso stage painting for Le Tricorne, along with other paintings by artists new to us.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/ny...home.html?_r=0
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Old Nov 22nd, 2015, 12:53 PM
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Wonderful report...
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Old Nov 22nd, 2015, 03:05 PM
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Underhill - WOW - you got a lot in for 8 days.

I would like to make one minor correction - it isn't 'Grand Central Station' but rather 'Grand Central Terminal'.

(The subway station is Grand Central station and as is the Post Office on 45th St & Lexington Av).
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Old Nov 22nd, 2015, 03:57 PM
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Thanks Underhill. Appreciate the info very much.
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Old Nov 22nd, 2015, 05:49 PM
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Thanks for a great TR! Very inspiring, but also makes me want to plan another trip to that great city.
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Old Nov 22nd, 2015, 06:04 PM
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"Grand Central Station:" I still think of it with the name of the long-ago radio serial.

Re the Morgan: there's a nice café as well as a restaurant, and the gift shop is excellent. Some of the postcards show snippets of collections, like the one on Alice in Wonderland, that aren't on view.

Before I forget again, thanks to the many people who made hotel and restaurant recommendations: great help.
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Old Nov 22nd, 2015, 06:09 PM
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Alice in Wonderland was a special exhibit, like the Hemingway and Matisse, but closed in October.
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Old Nov 22nd, 2015, 06:12 PM
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There is an Alice in Wonderland display at the Library of the Performing Arts.
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Old Nov 26th, 2015, 07:27 AM
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"Our last dinner was a pizza was brought to our hotel by Angelo's Pizzaria. The pizza was fantastic! It was a good thing we saved it for the last or we would have eaten nothing else during our stay."

Glad you enjoyed it!
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Old Nov 28th, 2015, 05:07 AM
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"What passing bells for these who die like cattle?"

--Wilfred Owen

I am shocked you didn't take in the Picasso sculpture exhibit @ Moma.

It was the best art show I have seen in years.

Thin
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Old Nov 28th, 2015, 10:18 AM
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But we did! I just forgot to put it on the list. We spent half a day there with the friend who had run in the Marathon: her first visit, our second. My DH is a big Picasso fan and loved the exhibit. We went the day before MOMA decided to begin issuing timed tickets.
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