NYC Neighbourhoods
I feel like I haven't really done justice to my week in New York. The sudden change to cold and dark weather seems to leave me wanting to sleep all the time (and eight weeks on the go - never more than 4 nights in the one place until now - would add to that, I'm sure!).
But in looking through my photos, I realise that I have seen a wide range of neighbourhoods, even if not many famous sights (which I mostly did last holiday).
So, in no particular order here's where I've been (with accompanying photos in the Blog Gallery)...
Broadway/Times Square (on a dismal afternoon. Yes, it's 3.30pm in the photo!) - so many people here ALL the time. All tourists, of course. If I was a local, I'd be quite frustrated by them all walking and gawking and getting in the way! in fact, as a tourist, I'm frustrated with... *chuckles*
Washington Square - my hotel is opposite this lovely garden in Greenwich Village. These people, in the photo accompanying this post, were playing football in the winter sunshine - remember it was Thanksgiving! I also have a photo of the traffic near Washington Place, Greenwich Village. This is where I catch my subway. I Had dinner at the Diner at the left one evening. Huge portions!
Downtown -Wall Street/World Trade Centre. I was here on a Sunday, so not too many people around Wall Street, just tourists wandering around who, like me, probably couldn't get in to see the 9/11 Memorial which is not very far off (and apparently very popular with tourists). I've photographed what I think is the new World Trade Centre building. It's hard to get any information from anyone, and the hawkers selling books of the disaster are a bit tasteless, I think...
Winter Fair - City Library/42nd Street. This rink is surrounded by stalls selling all sorts of products. I loved watching people ice-skate (or not) over what is apparently the main storage area for all the Library's books!
Lower East Side. I actually went down to this part of town after reading about an Orchard Rd Hasidic Jewish Bra and corset store in the area. It is a long, narrow little shop. You stand behind a sheet strung up at the end of the corridor with the female assistant. She looks at you, then pulls out the exactly perfectly fitting bra from the shelves behind her (all the products are in boxes - and with the dust it looks a bit like Ollivanders from Harry Potter!). She gets it right only LOOKING! How amazing is that? Then I get told that I am not bringing everything to the front to show it off - none of this slipping around the sides... maybe a new philosophy in life? And not the red, but the burgundy in lace suits me better (you really can't argue with such awesome authority!). I have also been at fault in washing my bras in a soft bag - I now have a hard, wired laundry bag. All this fitting and advice completed in 15 minutes, so I could have lunch around the corner at the famous "When Harry Met Sally" Diner - Katz's.
Uptown. Central Park West and East. The park looks lovely with autumnal colours from the west - on a visit to the Natural History Museum. The view of the lake from the east side of the park, I took while I had a coffee in the Guggenheim Museum. Lovely museums and lovely views!
Brooklyn Bridge Park. The panorama function has warped the railing (it's really straight) as we look at Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge. The Statue of Libery is a tiny speck at the left - and I make a shadowy appearance in the weak winter sun! This was the site of my Thankgsgiving day picnic in arctic conditions!
SOHO - or South of Houston St. This is the delightfully decadent Dean and Deluca delicatessen, where I bought said Thanksgiving day picnic goodies.
Brooklyn Heights - the walk from the subway to the park passed this classy neighbourhood. I like the pumpkin decorations on all the stoops down the length of the street.
Dumbo. Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. This is the area between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges - very trendy and arty. I was sadly there on a public holiday, and then late in the day too. But the sunset reflecting off the bridge was lovely.
Midtown - Rockefeller Centre. I think this is where I was? I just loved the oversized Christmas lights. I didn't have enough time to walk and see the famed Christmas tree, as my play was about to start off broadway shortly after taking this (Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, and Billy Crudup all on the same stage... swoon!)
Something I notice (which I didn't last time) is how many police there are. They are everywhere. Even down on the Subway stations. I also think that the richer (and whiter) you are in New York, the more mean and unhappy you seem to be. Okay, it's a sweeping generalisation, but when all the people doing the work seem to speak Spanish or are black - and these are the people that seem happy, jolly, and pleasant, while the tall and thin New Yorkers (the women all wear these long knee-lengthed puffer jackets in black) are more likely to complain because you walked in front of them at the store, rather than behind them? What the?!
Anyway - going out for a late supper before I pack. Tomorrow I catch the train to Philadelphia, and then on to Washington DC. I hope I get a hotel room with a bit more daylight into it (I am on the top floor in what I suspect were once the maids' rooms) - I feel like this is the middle of winter, rather than the edge of it.
Until then, cheers! Aveline. :-)
