Travelling Solo

Due to construction, it was a good walk on a misty Monday morning to the Princeton Train  Station.   From there, the Dinky, as it is called,  took us to Princeton Junction and then on to New York Penn Station.  At $7.50 for a senior, it is quite a bargain.

I decided to walk to the Midtown Hilton at 304 East 42nd Street, about a mile and a half criss-crossing across the city.   I always love that first walk in the city as one emerges from underground.  It gets the adrenaline flowing for me.

After some quiet time in my lovely room which did not have a lovely view,  I took a subway from Grand Central Station to 86th Street and walked a few blocks back to the Met Museum of Art.  I  focused on three special exhibitions- Goya and the Altamira family, Photography and Concealment, and Charles James fashion design.  To my surprise, the fashion one was my favorite, partially due to the way the exhibit itself was staged with dark rooms, dresses on circular platforms, and videos showing the underlying design.  The Met overwhelms me however and I must have asked at least five guards for directions including how do I get out of here!

Back to the hotel to dress for the theater!  The email requested "festive attire" and I did my best under the circumstances.  I treated myself to a cab ride to the Al Hirshfield Theater at 45th and 8th.  The evening was a gala for the Irish Repertory Theater and I think they were forced to sell empty seats at reduced rates to fill the house.  I paid $75 for my seat in the balcony.  Because it was a fund raiser, we  listened to lots of thank yous and accolades and presentations, but I was quite patient with all of that and it was done well.  The program of Lerner and Loew show tunes was great--very professional orchestra, chorus, emcees with narration, and soloists who were real pros--including our own Nathan Gunn from South Bend and St. Joe High School.

After the show, I walked through Time Square and enjoyed the lights and then put on my sneakers for the walk of about a mile back to the hotel.

 Supper at 9:30 pm was a great baguette from Pret Manger along with some chardonnay.

I slept well in spite of phantom toilet flushing and 2 AM ruminating and worrying about Jim's mom who is causing us all much concern.

Tuesday morning--a blog has already been posted about my nostalgia for this part of the big city.

The Morgan Museum and Library has been on my list for years but it never seemed to be the right time.  Today it was and it was wonderful.   It is a manageable museum built adjacent to Mr. Morgan's Library and Study which are also "Wow" provoking.  I enjoyed "Gatsby to Garp" (an exhibit of books with original jackets and letters), A Dialogue with Nature (Romantic landscapes--not so interesting to me except for the very impressionistic Turner watercolors), Miracles in Miniature (tiny illuminated books from the Claude Master--1400s), and Marks of Genius (treasures from the Bodleian, including a Magna Carter, a watercolor illustrating a Mendelssohn manuscript, and a draft of the Maimonides' Mishneh Torah from the Cairo Geniza.)

Another baguette from Pret Manger along with more wine made a great lunch. There was time to nap and write blogs--and now time to go out with Dan and Raven.

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We had a very pleasant dinner in an upstairs dining room at Re Sette, a "sophisticated Italian restaurant" near 45th and 5th.  It was quiet enough to be able to visit although the wedding party in the front of the room was having a great celebration for the bride and the groom--both women.  Dan checked in on Foursquare and found out we could get a complimentary dessert so we shared a tirimisu after our pasta and pizza.  We walked together to Grand Central Station where they took the subway back to Brooklyn and I walked the rest of the way to the hotel.

The end of my stay in New York City makes me sad.  Yet I am eager to be home again.  I am so glad to be healthy and strong enough to do this--it does take energy and a sense of adventure.