Back from New York
I have returned.
Мазепа was really good, though rather avant-garde. The Cossacks looked sort of like Klingons. I have decided to only watch operas in languages that I understand; I am certain that I got a lot more out of the performance than those in the house who relied solely on the titles.
It is very neat to be in New York City. It is full of contradictions for me: on one hand, big cities are exciting and New York is sort of like a well-oiled machine; on the other hand, I think I would tire of crowds and soot if I lived there for too long. New York is known for its big, free markets in finance and consumer goods; on the other hand, it is characterized by anti-free-market features like taxi medallions and innumerable regulations. Also, almost everything in Manhattan is expensive.
This morning, I walked around the southern half of Central Park and took some pictures, then caught the subway downtown to Canal Street and strolled around Chinatown. I wanted to get some good food there, and fortunately, Ann tipped me off to the existence of several good bakeries there. I had a couple of pork buns, and also bought a pastry and two pounds of grapes.
I returned to the Times Square area and took a few more pictures, then got my bags from the hotel, and our group headed to Penn Station. The return trip was relatively quiet. Perhaps not surprisingly, I was more productive on the train yesterday and today than I am on some weekends.
Having spent many hours on Amtrak this weekend, I feel somewhat compelled to comment on it.
First, the economics. For some reason, taking a train is sometimes more expensive than flying, despite being much slower. The benefits of rail travel are significant: bigger seats that recline farther, more baggage allowance, sit-down dining, quieter, no annoying security checkpoints. But the fact remains: it isn't much cheaper (if at all), and it's waaay slower. I do not think I would enjoy a long rail trip without a companion.
Second, what you see from the windows of the train. In a word: dereliction. For obvious reasons, land that is situated next to train tracks is less desirable for housing, so there were three main things I saw near the tracks: junk (either organized or not), industry, and run-down housing. I probably saw more scrap heaps and rusty old things this weekend than I had seen in the rest of my life. There's a lot of stuff just sitting around, some of it ancient enough to be historically interesting.
In conclusion, I much prefer diesel engines to electric engines. The electric engines are quiet and the electromagnetic interference makes weird noises come over the train's PA. The diesel engines have a much more powerful, manly sound, and case no interference.
Мазепа was really good, though rather avant-garde. The Cossacks looked sort of like Klingons. I have decided to only watch operas in languages that I understand; I am certain that I got a lot more out of the performance than those in the house who relied solely on the titles.
It is very neat to be in New York City. It is full of contradictions for me: on one hand, big cities are exciting and New York is sort of like a well-oiled machine; on the other hand, I think I would tire of crowds and soot if I lived there for too long. New York is known for its big, free markets in finance and consumer goods; on the other hand, it is characterized by anti-free-market features like taxi medallions and innumerable regulations. Also, almost everything in Manhattan is expensive.
This morning, I walked around the southern half of Central Park and took some pictures, then caught the subway downtown to Canal Street and strolled around Chinatown. I wanted to get some good food there, and fortunately, Ann tipped me off to the existence of several good bakeries there. I had a couple of pork buns, and also bought a pastry and two pounds of grapes.
I returned to the Times Square area and took a few more pictures, then got my bags from the hotel, and our group headed to Penn Station. The return trip was relatively quiet. Perhaps not surprisingly, I was more productive on the train yesterday and today than I am on some weekends.
Having spent many hours on Amtrak this weekend, I feel somewhat compelled to comment on it.
First, the economics. For some reason, taking a train is sometimes more expensive than flying, despite being much slower. The benefits of rail travel are significant: bigger seats that recline farther, more baggage allowance, sit-down dining, quieter, no annoying security checkpoints. But the fact remains: it isn't much cheaper (if at all), and it's waaay slower. I do not think I would enjoy a long rail trip without a companion.
Second, what you see from the windows of the train. In a word: dereliction. For obvious reasons, land that is situated next to train tracks is less desirable for housing, so there were three main things I saw near the tracks: junk (either organized or not), industry, and run-down housing. I probably saw more scrap heaps and rusty old things this weekend than I had seen in the rest of my life. There's a lot of stuff just sitting around, some of it ancient enough to be historically interesting.
In conclusion, I much prefer diesel engines to electric engines. The electric engines are quiet and the electromagnetic interference makes weird noises come over the train's PA. The diesel engines have a much more powerful, manly sound, and case no interference.