NYC - Sargent - Sorolla
Sep 9th, 2015, 04:30 AM
#22
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Here we go!
New York City, Sept. 8-12, 2015
Day 1, Sunny, 90s and humid
Short:
Breakfast: 2 GF blueberry muffins, water at home
Lunch: Amtrak, iced coffee, chicken and cheese panini, $11.25, B- (microwaved breads just don't work)
Dinner: Russian Tea Room Tea, $50.00, assorted sweets and savories, Formosa oolong tea. C or C- (tea bag, some breads mushie)
Sites/Entertainment: "Kinky Boots" Al Hirschfeld Theatre,302 W. 45th St. A-/B+, Great dancing, costumes and message "change the world when you change your mind.")
Hotel: Park Savoy, 158 W. 58th St., $145/night. A very basic hotel but clean. $24.95 for 3 days of wifi.
Long: To come
New York City, Sept. 8-12, 2015
Day 1, Sunny, 90s and humid
Short:
Breakfast: 2 GF blueberry muffins, water at home
Lunch: Amtrak, iced coffee, chicken and cheese panini, $11.25, B- (microwaved breads just don't work)
Dinner: Russian Tea Room Tea, $50.00, assorted sweets and savories, Formosa oolong tea. C or C- (tea bag, some breads mushie)
Sites/Entertainment: "Kinky Boots" Al Hirschfeld Theatre,302 W. 45th St. A-/B+, Great dancing, costumes and message "change the world when you change your mind.")
Hotel: Park Savoy, 158 W. 58th St., $145/night. A very basic hotel but clean. $24.95 for 3 days of wifi.
Long: To come
Sep 9th, 2015, 09:35 AM
#25
Enjoy the Sargent exhibition. Saw it a couple of days ago and it is a massive collection of paintings (some pencil sketches and watercolors) , many from private collections and one off's from museums that I will likely never have the chance to visit.
As always, enjoying your report.
As always, enjoying your report.
Sep 9th, 2015, 06:55 PM
#28
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Day 2, Wednesday, 9/9, 90's and still humid
Short:
Breakfast: European Cafe, 7th and W 57th. The #1; 2 eggs, sausage, potatoes, toast and fresh OJ, $10.78. B+
Lunch: La Libertad, 3764 Broadway at 157th, Pupusas; 1 with pork and 1 with red beans, slaw, iced coffee, $13.??. B+
Dinner: Brooklyn Diner, 212 W. 57th St., Turkey dinner, Bellini, 2 Processcos (1 on the house), $79.73 with tip and a pie for the desk clerk. B- because of the price.
Site: Hispanic Society
Long: TBD
Short:
Breakfast: European Cafe, 7th and W 57th. The #1; 2 eggs, sausage, potatoes, toast and fresh OJ, $10.78. B+
Lunch: La Libertad, 3764 Broadway at 157th, Pupusas; 1 with pork and 1 with red beans, slaw, iced coffee, $13.??. B+
Dinner: Brooklyn Diner, 212 W. 57th St., Turkey dinner, Bellini, 2 Processcos (1 on the house), $79.73 with tip and a pie for the desk clerk. B- because of the price.
Site: Hispanic Society
Long: TBD
Sep 10th, 2015, 07:01 PM
#29
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Day 3, 9/10, Showers during the day, steady rain in evening.
Short:
Breakfast: At Met, croissant, orange brioche, OJ, Cappuccino, $15.75. B
Lunch: Le Pain Quotidien, Cappuccino,feta frittata with tomato and leeks, greens. $19.49. A-
Dinner: Robert at MAD, 2 Columbus Cir., 9th floor. Rioja, duck with cherry/grand marnier reduction,Bombolini, Cappuccino, $75.67. A- (WOW view, neat setting, great service, one piece of duck not perfect.)
Site/Entertainment: Met for Sargent, Avenue Q
Long: To come!
Short:
Breakfast: At Met, croissant, orange brioche, OJ, Cappuccino, $15.75. B
Lunch: Le Pain Quotidien, Cappuccino,feta frittata with tomato and leeks, greens. $19.49. A-
Dinner: Robert at MAD, 2 Columbus Cir., 9th floor. Rioja, duck with cherry/grand marnier reduction,Bombolini, Cappuccino, $75.67. A- (WOW view, neat setting, great service, one piece of duck not perfect.)
Site/Entertainment: Met for Sargent, Avenue Q
Long: To come!
Sep 11th, 2015, 06:08 PM
#36
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Day 4 - More
Short:
It was overcast and cool at first but sunny and 80 in the afternoon.
Breakfast: Petrossian Breakfast, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon rose, bacon, toast points, OJ, Cappuccino, $27.22. A (would have been A+ if cheaper!)
Lunch: Hot dog and water at Columbus Circle, $5. A+ Just right!
Dinner: Loi Estiatorio, 132 W. 58th St., Branzino with greens, Baklava with yoghurt, 2 Xinomavro syrah/cab blend, a brandy (from cute bartender), $76.21. A-/B+
Of interest: Eataly, Museum of Art and Design
Long: TBD
Short:
It was overcast and cool at first but sunny and 80 in the afternoon.
Breakfast: Petrossian Breakfast, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon rose, bacon, toast points, OJ, Cappuccino, $27.22. A (would have been A+ if cheaper!)
Lunch: Hot dog and water at Columbus Circle, $5. A+ Just right!
Dinner: Loi Estiatorio, 132 W. 58th St., Branzino with greens, Baklava with yoghurt, 2 Xinomavro syrah/cab blend, a brandy (from cute bartender), $76.21. A-/B+
Of interest: Eataly, Museum of Art and Design
Long: TBD
Sep 12th, 2015, 05:40 AM
#37
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Day 5, Will be sunny until later today. Next week looks good, yestravel!
Today will be a long version only unless I something interesting comes along.
If you are driving in NYC, avoid the bottleneck that is Broadway around Times Square. Big road constructions and double parked trucks. A real mess.
Today will be a long version only unless I something interesting comes along.
If you are driving in NYC, avoid the bottleneck that is Broadway around Times Square. Big road constructions and double parked trucks. A real mess.
Sep 13th, 2015, 10:59 AM
#38
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Since typing on the kindle was a bit of a PITA, I typed hints and special info on the train ride back. It took almost the entire three-hour trip to do it, and get most of Day 1 typed. Anyhow, here goes the long version of New York City, Sept. 8-12, 2015. Sargent and Sorolla mission!
01. Always allow extra time for parking. For some reason, the garages at Amtrak BWI are marked 1 and 2, for Marc and for Amtrak, respectively. In reality, I think both are under one roof! Upon return, the pre-exit machines did not function and I was told to pay at check-out (which was unpersoned).
02. There were overhead shelves in the reserved car in which I rode and my wheeled duffel fit perfectly. Seats larger than airplane coach! Tall slot at end of the car could accommodate 2 or 3 large cases if they are stacked.
03. Never carry a bag you cannot hoist yourself.
04. Have papers stowed in such a way that you can easily access them one-handed.
05. Have many single bills for tips! A repeat tip from other trips. Also, I ended up with a couple of $50 bills that I just took to the bank and exchanged for smaller rather than get into it with a taxi driver.
06. If you are driving, yield to city buses. Play chicken with taxis at your peril!
07. Consider the sunny and view sides when you take any long rides.
08. Hold all doors for the next person. On one of the buses I took, the back doors didn't stay open by themselves.
09. Stay out of the way of others if you need to stop. Move to the side of things.
10. There was no special line outside the Met for advance ticket holders on the rainy a.m. I was there. Get the museum plan. The place is huge and the restaurants were not marked well, IMHO. In fact, the names on exhibit rooms weren’t much help either!
11. Pack some bandaids--in addition to blister care, they work to hold your charger's plug to problem outlets. Consider an outlet strip.
12. Again, if you are driving, don’t think that you can zig and zag off and on the avenues—if things are backed up north and south, the numbered roads were backed up also. Broadway was a mess with construction and double-parked delivery trucks and busses.
13. When hailing a cab, try to place yourself in the correct direction of your destination—see number 12.
Day 1, Sunny, 90s and humid
Breakfast: 2 GF blueberry muffins, water at home
Lunch: Amtrak, iced coffee, chicken and cheese panini, $11.25, B- (microwaved breads just don't work)
Dinner: Russian Tea Room Tea, $50.00, assorted sweets and savories, Formosa oolong tea. C or C- (tea bag, some breads mushie)
Sites/Entertainment: "Kinky Boots" Al Hirschfeld Theatre, 302 W. 45th St. A-/B+, Great dancing, costumes and message "change the world when you change your mind.") Hotel: Park Savoy, 158 W. 58th St., $145/night. A very basic hotel but clean. $24.95 for 3 days of wifi.
Off to BWI Amtrak on a very hot Sept. day. Despite slow traffic for no apparent reason, it took about one hour and 10 minutes to arrive at the ticket counter. I am early enough to catch an earlier reserved train for $13.45 more. Amtrak has a guest rewards system. That and senior citizen status enabled me to change cheaply according to clerk. The train is on time. I notice a quiet car and there will be one on the return train as well but I didn’t check it out. Honestly, people are so much using their devices, there was never much noise.
As hunger time approached, I went to the café car and ordered lunch. The chicken in the panini is delish. It was like it was from a real roasted chicken. Unfortunately, the bread was not improved by the zapping they gave it their microwave.
The trip is uneventful and on time. Penn Sta is not terribly busy. I forgot that 7th Ave. is one-way south. Should have used 8th St. exit as taxi will need to go that way. Oh well, there was waterworks truck causing sloow traffic on 8th. Grrr.
Have you stayed at the Park Savoy (PS)? As I have mentioned, it is a very basic place. DH and I speculated that someone was waiting to make condos out of it but that was in 2009.
I have a Good things vs Things requiring flexibility chart that I will attempt to load separately.
DH and I had a double room and had more space than mentioned on the chart. But for one person, my room was fine.
For “enough time” insurance, I made no reservations so had no place to rush to. So I unpack and hit the road. Park Savoy is almost at the corner of 7th Ave. and 158th St. If you turn left upon exiting the hotel you will reach Petrossian Restaurant at the corner and it is in a beautiful building. Across the street is a 24-hour mini grocery so I’ll stop there for snacks later. Another left on 7th Ave. and Petrossian Café is a few doors down. I stroll south and see the boarded up spot of La Parisienne where DH and I got lots of cheap diner food—sign for another resto ("coming soon!).
Next block and Carnegie Hall (CH) on the corner and Russian Tea room to the left on W 57th. Poor planning prevents attending CI as the season doesn’t begin until later in the month. I take a short detour and make a 4:00 reservation for Tea at the Russian Tea Room (RTR).
My goal was to get to 45th Street but after just a couple of blocks, my shirt was getting wet with sweat. No wheezing but I’m very nervous about having problems on Day One. So I grab a cab and he takes me to Al Hirschfeld Theatre. The half-price ticket place is mobbed. Driver says there are 2 for 1 deals but that line is daunting and my other show choice is off Broadway. yestravel will tell me later that the online sales went fast.
I couldn’t get a great price for “Kinky Boots” (around $130?) but the seat will be 3rd row center mezz and I’m fine with that. Stroll north on 8th for a few blocks before I give in to the heat and hail another cab. I have him drop me at the corner of 57th as I see Oak and Steele (previously-googled) and grabbed a syrah blend from Australia.
Slowly back to the room and a change into dry clothes and little rest. I hang my wet shirt in front of the AC unit. Thought I’d type up some notes but got the unwelcome news that WiFi is not free. Decided to wait until later to sign up so I’d get 3 full nights.
The RTR is truly handsome (photo to come) but the tea is a disappointment. Too few items to fill the 3-tiered tray makes the savory part of tea look paltry. There were 2 tiny blini’s with caviar atop—for $25 more, one got 2 more of those! Some of the sandwich breads were mushy—as if they’d been sitting out for a while. The dessert part was much better. I think it was a bit of a rip but here’s the info: http://www.russiantearoomnyc.com/men.../afternoon-tea
The National Cathedral in D.C. has a tea that is much more attractive.
Back to 7th Ave. and it is still hot so I cab back to the theatre. Taxi driver said that traffic was absurd with everyone coming back from vacations. School to start Wednesday.
“Kinky Boots”—About the son of a shoemaker who, in order to save the business, becomes, albeit reluctantly a shoemaker himself. The direction he takes is the show and I enjoyed it very much. I gave it an A-/B+++ for energy and the Lauper songs were fine. It was fun at just the right moments and in the final song, sent a message that is just right also: “Change the world when you change your mind.”
Back to the room but fell asleep before Colbert.
01. Always allow extra time for parking. For some reason, the garages at Amtrak BWI are marked 1 and 2, for Marc and for Amtrak, respectively. In reality, I think both are under one roof! Upon return, the pre-exit machines did not function and I was told to pay at check-out (which was unpersoned).
02. There were overhead shelves in the reserved car in which I rode and my wheeled duffel fit perfectly. Seats larger than airplane coach! Tall slot at end of the car could accommodate 2 or 3 large cases if they are stacked.
03. Never carry a bag you cannot hoist yourself.
04. Have papers stowed in such a way that you can easily access them one-handed.
05. Have many single bills for tips! A repeat tip from other trips. Also, I ended up with a couple of $50 bills that I just took to the bank and exchanged for smaller rather than get into it with a taxi driver.
06. If you are driving, yield to city buses. Play chicken with taxis at your peril!
07. Consider the sunny and view sides when you take any long rides.
08. Hold all doors for the next person. On one of the buses I took, the back doors didn't stay open by themselves.
09. Stay out of the way of others if you need to stop. Move to the side of things.
10. There was no special line outside the Met for advance ticket holders on the rainy a.m. I was there. Get the museum plan. The place is huge and the restaurants were not marked well, IMHO. In fact, the names on exhibit rooms weren’t much help either!
11. Pack some bandaids--in addition to blister care, they work to hold your charger's plug to problem outlets. Consider an outlet strip.
12. Again, if you are driving, don’t think that you can zig and zag off and on the avenues—if things are backed up north and south, the numbered roads were backed up also. Broadway was a mess with construction and double-parked delivery trucks and busses.
13. When hailing a cab, try to place yourself in the correct direction of your destination—see number 12.
Day 1, Sunny, 90s and humid
Breakfast: 2 GF blueberry muffins, water at home
Lunch: Amtrak, iced coffee, chicken and cheese panini, $11.25, B- (microwaved breads just don't work)
Dinner: Russian Tea Room Tea, $50.00, assorted sweets and savories, Formosa oolong tea. C or C- (tea bag, some breads mushie)
Sites/Entertainment: "Kinky Boots" Al Hirschfeld Theatre, 302 W. 45th St. A-/B+, Great dancing, costumes and message "change the world when you change your mind.") Hotel: Park Savoy, 158 W. 58th St., $145/night. A very basic hotel but clean. $24.95 for 3 days of wifi.
Off to BWI Amtrak on a very hot Sept. day. Despite slow traffic for no apparent reason, it took about one hour and 10 minutes to arrive at the ticket counter. I am early enough to catch an earlier reserved train for $13.45 more. Amtrak has a guest rewards system. That and senior citizen status enabled me to change cheaply according to clerk. The train is on time. I notice a quiet car and there will be one on the return train as well but I didn’t check it out. Honestly, people are so much using their devices, there was never much noise.
As hunger time approached, I went to the café car and ordered lunch. The chicken in the panini is delish. It was like it was from a real roasted chicken. Unfortunately, the bread was not improved by the zapping they gave it their microwave.
The trip is uneventful and on time. Penn Sta is not terribly busy. I forgot that 7th Ave. is one-way south. Should have used 8th St. exit as taxi will need to go that way. Oh well, there was waterworks truck causing sloow traffic on 8th. Grrr.
Have you stayed at the Park Savoy (PS)? As I have mentioned, it is a very basic place. DH and I speculated that someone was waiting to make condos out of it but that was in 2009.
I have a Good things vs Things requiring flexibility chart that I will attempt to load separately.
DH and I had a double room and had more space than mentioned on the chart. But for one person, my room was fine.
For “enough time” insurance, I made no reservations so had no place to rush to. So I unpack and hit the road. Park Savoy is almost at the corner of 7th Ave. and 158th St. If you turn left upon exiting the hotel you will reach Petrossian Restaurant at the corner and it is in a beautiful building. Across the street is a 24-hour mini grocery so I’ll stop there for snacks later. Another left on 7th Ave. and Petrossian Café is a few doors down. I stroll south and see the boarded up spot of La Parisienne where DH and I got lots of cheap diner food—sign for another resto ("coming soon!).
Next block and Carnegie Hall (CH) on the corner and Russian Tea room to the left on W 57th. Poor planning prevents attending CI as the season doesn’t begin until later in the month. I take a short detour and make a 4:00 reservation for Tea at the Russian Tea Room (RTR).
My goal was to get to 45th Street but after just a couple of blocks, my shirt was getting wet with sweat. No wheezing but I’m very nervous about having problems on Day One. So I grab a cab and he takes me to Al Hirschfeld Theatre. The half-price ticket place is mobbed. Driver says there are 2 for 1 deals but that line is daunting and my other show choice is off Broadway. yestravel will tell me later that the online sales went fast.
I couldn’t get a great price for “Kinky Boots” (around $130?) but the seat will be 3rd row center mezz and I’m fine with that. Stroll north on 8th for a few blocks before I give in to the heat and hail another cab. I have him drop me at the corner of 57th as I see Oak and Steele (previously-googled) and grabbed a syrah blend from Australia.
Slowly back to the room and a change into dry clothes and little rest. I hang my wet shirt in front of the AC unit. Thought I’d type up some notes but got the unwelcome news that WiFi is not free. Decided to wait until later to sign up so I’d get 3 full nights.
The RTR is truly handsome (photo to come) but the tea is a disappointment. Too few items to fill the 3-tiered tray makes the savory part of tea look paltry. There were 2 tiny blini’s with caviar atop—for $25 more, one got 2 more of those! Some of the sandwich breads were mushy—as if they’d been sitting out for a while. The dessert part was much better. I think it was a bit of a rip but here’s the info: http://www.russiantearoomnyc.com/men.../afternoon-tea
The National Cathedral in D.C. has a tea that is much more attractive.
Back to 7th Ave. and it is still hot so I cab back to the theatre. Taxi driver said that traffic was absurd with everyone coming back from vacations. School to start Wednesday.
“Kinky Boots”—About the son of a shoemaker who, in order to save the business, becomes, albeit reluctantly a shoemaker himself. The direction he takes is the show and I enjoyed it very much. I gave it an A-/B+++ for energy and the Lauper songs were fine. It was fun at just the right moments and in the final song, sent a message that is just right also: “Change the world when you change your mind.”
Back to the room but fell asleep before Colbert.
Sep 13th, 2015, 11:13 AM
#39
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My boxed chart didn't translate to Fodors so here is the PS review:
Good things but Things requiring flexibility
Reasonable price at $145/night--All good!
Good: Free NYC map and discount cards in a rack at front desk but Nothing else! No services (although one guy did advise me about a local resto)
The staff is polite but But distant
Room has functioning AC unit but Loud enough to make white noise
WiFi but Not free
Free breakfast but At the pizza place next door! Looked like “continental” when I peaked in on day 2.
There is a combo of real coat hangers in the little wardrobe that is attached to a desk by the bed but The wardrobe is too short for my dress and when the desk chair is pulled out, it hits the bed-no room to walk.
There is an elevator but You wait for a dim light to appear through the elevator door as a sign of the car's arrival (you then open the door manually!)
The bathroom is cute and clean but It is so small that it is necessary to sit on the john to reach the sink. The door must be closed or it blocks the TV on the wall in the bedroom.
There is a wall outlet beneath a window ledge in the bedroom but The plug of my kindle charger falls out of it. See band-aid hint.
There is a special outlet by the bathroom sink but It is not tightly attached to the wall and didn't always send a signal to the kindle.
Great location! No down side to that.
Good things but Things requiring flexibility
Reasonable price at $145/night--All good!
Good: Free NYC map and discount cards in a rack at front desk but Nothing else! No services (although one guy did advise me about a local resto)
The staff is polite but But distant
Room has functioning AC unit but Loud enough to make white noise
WiFi but Not free
Free breakfast but At the pizza place next door! Looked like “continental” when I peaked in on day 2.
There is a combo of real coat hangers in the little wardrobe that is attached to a desk by the bed but The wardrobe is too short for my dress and when the desk chair is pulled out, it hits the bed-no room to walk.
There is an elevator but You wait for a dim light to appear through the elevator door as a sign of the car's arrival (you then open the door manually!)
The bathroom is cute and clean but It is so small that it is necessary to sit on the john to reach the sink. The door must be closed or it blocks the TV on the wall in the bedroom.
There is a wall outlet beneath a window ledge in the bedroom but The plug of my kindle charger falls out of it. See band-aid hint.
There is a special outlet by the bathroom sink but It is not tightly attached to the wall and didn't always send a signal to the kindle.
Great location! No down side to that.
