Anna Goes to NYC pt 2.5
When last we met, our heroes got 10 … oh hell, this is a story, 16.. 87! cases of books delivered to the Javitz Center. I honestly cannot remember if we walked or took a cab 8 blocks back to our hotel. But we got there.
The shower and air conditioning in our hotel room was a welcome relief but we were in New York freaking City! No rest for us!!!
The night before our adventures, one of the women I sat next to said we should really go check out The Cloisters. She even took out her map and showed us how to get there. I thought it sounded interesting and so did Nick so we headed towards the closest subway station and started our afternoon adventures.
The Cloisters, in case you didn’t click on the above link, is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum and contains approximately five thousand European medieval works of art, with a particular emphasis on pieces dating from the twelfth through the fifteenth centuries. In other words, it was really fookin’ cool. We walked through Fort Tryon State Park in the sunshine and admired the Hudson River and Brooklyn Bridge. It was a truly lovely day and the birds were singing and my skin was burning.
Like most museums, The Cloisters was very quiet and very peaceful. Nick told the cashier we were students and we got the discounted admission! We were still a little raw from that morning’s events so we mostly ignored each other in a polite way. We admired doorways and the landscaping and religious relics. One of the volunteers gave us an impromptu lecture on How Things Just Aren’t Made To Last Anymore. He was nice so Nick and I smiled and thanked him for his story. He was one of those people you invite over for dinner parties to impress your friends with his stories of art history. I’m sure if we asked he would have given a lecture on the Mercantile Act.
We left the Cloisters feeling better than when we arrived. We took the scenic route back to the subway and found the Cloisters Bar! Huzzah! We were tired and needed a rest so went in for a drink. The bar was one of those places I wanted to bottle and take home with me. It was nestled in between some trees and felt like a cabana on a beach without the sun and piña coladas. The staff was polite and all too eager to help. The bartender was gorgeous so the eye candy helped our moods. I took this picture from the bar.
We were much happier after our time in the bar and caught the subway to the Upper West Side. The subway was much more fun after a glass of wine. Our goal was Zabar’s.
Now, for those of you who have never heard of Zabar’s, it is a GIANT gourmet food store and kosher deli. A friend and former colleague used to order his coffee beans from Zabar’s and would talk about how much he loved shopping there when he was in Manhattan. Now, I love a good deli and when I go to Valhalla there better be a decent deli and wine shop or I’ll be mad.
Nick wasn’t sure what to expect when we first walked in but it only took him a few seconds of checking out the enormous cheese department to make him drooling and squeal with delight. We walked around like kids in a candy shop pointing out all the cheeses and meats and nuts while soaking in the atmosphere. We thought about getting some food and having a picnic in Central Park but we didn’t the utensils or the picnic blanket. So, instead we went next door to Zabar’s deli and ate lunch. There were so many options and I wasn’t sure where to start but decided I HAD to have the matzo ball soup. It was kosher after all! We sat down at the counter and ate and groaned with pleasure. The matzo ball soup was heavenly and the crusty bun that went with it was perfection. We ate and people watched and watched the bakers at H&H Bagels pull fresh bagels out of the oven. The stress of the day melted away and we were happy.
Rejuvenated and happy from lunch we set out to trek through Central Park. We walked and walked and walked some more and didn’t care. We got to the Metropolitan Museum and cooled our heels for a bit and people watched. The Met was apparently having a fund-raising gala because lots of old and rich people were showing up. The bouncer/security guard at the door was very efficient at turning the unwashed away.
Here are some pictures from my perch on the stairs.
It was starting to get chilly so we headed towards Central Park to catch a bus back to our hotel. The illustrator of one of the books was supposed to getting to the hotel soon and we forgot to leave her a key. Central Park was bustling with joggers and walkers and bikers and generally peaceful. We caught a bus back to our hotel and met Coleen at a nearby bar. She was meeting a friend there and recommended a nearby restaurant. It was getting late and I knew it would be a late night again without much sleep. I wasn’t the nicest person when I first met up with them but was much nicer after I had a good meal. Here are the two of them looking cute.
We got to bed way too late that night and I knew we would all be dragging the next the day.
Tune in next week (or whenever I get around to writing another entry) to find if our heroes made it to Book Expo and if they had “game.”
The shower and air conditioning in our hotel room was a welcome relief but we were in New York freaking City! No rest for us!!!
The night before our adventures, one of the women I sat next to said we should really go check out The Cloisters. She even took out her map and showed us how to get there. I thought it sounded interesting and so did Nick so we headed towards the closest subway station and started our afternoon adventures.
The Cloisters, in case you didn’t click on the above link, is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum and contains approximately five thousand European medieval works of art, with a particular emphasis on pieces dating from the twelfth through the fifteenth centuries. In other words, it was really fookin’ cool. We walked through Fort Tryon State Park in the sunshine and admired the Hudson River and Brooklyn Bridge. It was a truly lovely day and the birds were singing and my skin was burning.
Like most museums, The Cloisters was very quiet and very peaceful. Nick told the cashier we were students and we got the discounted admission! We were still a little raw from that morning’s events so we mostly ignored each other in a polite way. We admired doorways and the landscaping and religious relics. One of the volunteers gave us an impromptu lecture on How Things Just Aren’t Made To Last Anymore. He was nice so Nick and I smiled and thanked him for his story. He was one of those people you invite over for dinner parties to impress your friends with his stories of art history. I’m sure if we asked he would have given a lecture on the Mercantile Act.
We left the Cloisters feeling better than when we arrived. We took the scenic route back to the subway and found the Cloisters Bar! Huzzah! We were tired and needed a rest so went in for a drink. The bar was one of those places I wanted to bottle and take home with me. It was nestled in between some trees and felt like a cabana on a beach without the sun and piña coladas. The staff was polite and all too eager to help. The bartender was gorgeous so the eye candy helped our moods. I took this picture from the bar.
We were much happier after our time in the bar and caught the subway to the Upper West Side. The subway was much more fun after a glass of wine. Our goal was Zabar’s.
Now, for those of you who have never heard of Zabar’s, it is a GIANT gourmet food store and kosher deli. A friend and former colleague used to order his coffee beans from Zabar’s and would talk about how much he loved shopping there when he was in Manhattan. Now, I love a good deli and when I go to Valhalla there better be a decent deli and wine shop or I’ll be mad.
Nick wasn’t sure what to expect when we first walked in but it only took him a few seconds of checking out the enormous cheese department to make him drooling and squeal with delight. We walked around like kids in a candy shop pointing out all the cheeses and meats and nuts while soaking in the atmosphere. We thought about getting some food and having a picnic in Central Park but we didn’t the utensils or the picnic blanket. So, instead we went next door to Zabar’s deli and ate lunch. There were so many options and I wasn’t sure where to start but decided I HAD to have the matzo ball soup. It was kosher after all! We sat down at the counter and ate and groaned with pleasure. The matzo ball soup was heavenly and the crusty bun that went with it was perfection. We ate and people watched and watched the bakers at H&H Bagels pull fresh bagels out of the oven. The stress of the day melted away and we were happy.
Rejuvenated and happy from lunch we set out to trek through Central Park. We walked and walked and walked some more and didn’t care. We got to the Metropolitan Museum and cooled our heels for a bit and people watched. The Met was apparently having a fund-raising gala because lots of old and rich people were showing up. The bouncer/security guard at the door was very efficient at turning the unwashed away.
Here are some pictures from my perch on the stairs.
It was starting to get chilly so we headed towards Central Park to catch a bus back to our hotel. The illustrator of one of the books was supposed to getting to the hotel soon and we forgot to leave her a key. Central Park was bustling with joggers and walkers and bikers and generally peaceful. We caught a bus back to our hotel and met Coleen at a nearby bar. She was meeting a friend there and recommended a nearby restaurant. It was getting late and I knew it would be a late night again without much sleep. I wasn’t the nicest person when I first met up with them but was much nicer after I had a good meal. Here are the two of them looking cute.
We got to bed way too late that night and I knew we would all be dragging the next the day.
Tune in next week (or whenever I get around to writing another entry) to find if our heroes made it to Book Expo and if they had “game.”