Days 4 and 5

Day 4 - NYC

I woke early and went down to wait for the taxi about 7:30. At 7:55, I woke Jenny to say goodbye, she came down to wait for the taxi with me. The taxi was late and didn’t arrive until after 8:10. I asked the driver which would get me to Union Station the fastest, the taxi or the metro, he recommended the metro. I got to Union Station 15 minutes before the train was to leave, so I didn’t get any breakfast; I’m really glad that Jenny sent some of the cookies I baked last night, that became my breakfast.

The ride on the train was very pleasant, across the aisle from me was an older Indian woman at the first stop a young asian man sat next to her. When he wasn’t reading an asian book they had a nice conversation. The conductor was a woman that came to get the Indian woman when it was time for her to get off the train, even got her baggage down from the overhead. It was encouraging to see so much kindness. And I also got to experience kindness, both at Penn Station and at the subway when total strangers helped me carry my suitcase up the stairs.

When I checked into the Holiday Inn, I asked to verify my rate, since I was quoted a graduated rate and Kay confirmed it should only be $188/night. After going round and round, I got Kay on the phone and determined that Kay’s rate did not include breakfast, but mine did. I checked in, as I’m walking down the hallway to my room, I thought the smell was awful, when I walked in and saw 3 ashtrays, I knew I why it stunk. I called the front desk, only to be told that they didn’t have any non-smoking rooms available.

I asked the concierge for someplace to eat, it’s now 2pm and all I’ve had is a few cookies, yikes! I went to a cute restaurant called whym. The hostess is a wholesome, friendly young girl, my waiter arrives right away, he is energetic and friendly as well. I had a chicken and beet salad and adored the green vegetables. For desert I had a smores’wich, mmm, mmm, good.

I thought the vanguard choir was singing at St. Paul’s Chapel at 2:30, so I went to the A -train. As I was going down the stairs, I noticed the train was at the platform, ran down the stairs and leapt through the doors as they were closing. I got cheers and adoration. I said, I hoped I was on the A train, only to be told I wasn’t. It turns out the C train went to Broadway/Nassau, just not as fast as the A train. The woman sitting next to me asked if I was from New York, I laughed and said no. She said that was a pretty bold move for someone that doesn’t ride the subway all the time. She was very friendly and we chatted until she got off.

I got to St Paul’s, only to find out that they sang at 1pm. I walked around for a while, then got on the subway and off at 33rd street, then walked to Macy’s Herald square. I need new socks as the ones I have with me are old and keep falling down into my shoes. It’s also warm and I have no open toed shoes, so I bought new socks and also sandals that are on sale.

When I was down at St. Paul’s I texted Michael McCalip and heard back from him at Macy’s. He recommended I contact Doc, which I did. James had just finished dinner and was meeting Michael at a Starbucks. I walked up to 54th street, met James, then walked to the Starbucks. We bought tickets to see Concordia College from NY in the Weill recital hall that’s part of Carnegie hall. They were rough, but enjoyable. After the concert, we walked across the street to the hotel the Vanguard students are staying in. Michael and James got their jackets and the three of us walked to Lindy’s for a late dinner/dessert. We sat and talked for quite a while. They both walked me to my hotel, then James went to the front desk to see if they had a non-smoking room, they didn’t. So now I am in my stinky room typing my blog. Time to go to sleep.

Day 5 - Central Park and Lower Manhattan

I woke shortly before 7, waited 10 minutes and called the manager, she wasn’t in yet. I called 10 minutes later and talked with her about my room. She said one would be available in 10 minutes. I took my time getting ready, ate breakfast and switched rooms. I then set off for the Guggenheim.

The weather is perfect today, sunny and warm; walking through central park is delightful. At 89th, I exit the park and go to the Guggenheim. I’m not expecting to like much about the Guggenheim, except for the architecture. The main exhibit is dedicated to Frank Lloyd Wright, although there are other paintings, Cezanne, early Picasso, Kandinsky, and others. I really enjoyed the museum. It’s not as large as it seemed in the movies. The exhibit was very interesting, it’s surprising how many of his designs were never built. It makes me wonder if they can be built now.

I took the 5 train down to Lower Manhattan to hear the Vanguard choir sing in Trinity Church. They sound even more fabulous than usual, their voices are perfectly suited for the live acoustics. Walking to the subway, one of the students asked me to help him unhook his bowtie, apparently when I did that I dropped my metro card, and realized that after we turned a corner. I went back to look for the card, but alas, a metro card on the streets of NY does not last long. I hope the person that found it really needed it. When we got to the station, the train we needed just pulled up. I managed to buy a new metro card, get through the gate and enter the train all before it left the station.

A group of us went to the Green Deli, just down from Vanguard’s hotel, then went to the Metropolitan Museum. By the time we arrived, it was 3:40 and the museum closed at 5:30, we thought that’s still 2 hours. We started out in the European section on the 2nd floor, but soon split up. Jennie Jung and I stayed together most of the time. At about 5:10, they started shutting down the rooms and shooing us out of the museum. We thought that maybe we could go in the store, nope, they barred us from entering that too.

We took the bus to 59th street and started walking back to our hotels. I didn’t know how much internet access and so wanted to look into getting an air card, I figured with everything else being so expensive, it would be cheaper to buy my own internet access than use the hotels. I walked past the apple store, so went in there to see if they knew where I could buy one, they said I should go to either a verizon or AT&T store, that it would probably be $60/month, but that I would have to sign a contract. It’s a good thing I didn’t buy anything, internet access is FREE in our hotel. WooHoo!

I went to a station and got on the Q train to go meet Carrie Nygard and her boyfriend Sean, James and Stephanie Nygard and their children Oscar and Eva. (James and Carrie are cousins, both of them are my 2nd cousins.) That was not good, since the Q train goes to Brooklyn, I wanted to go to lower Manhattan. As soon as I saw daylight, I knew I was in trouble. By the time I got to the first stop in Brooklyn, it was 6:15, I thought that was OK, I might only be a few minutes late, maybe even on time to meet them, no, the next R train didn’t come until 6:30. I got off the train about 6:40, called Carrie to get specific directions to where we were meeting, since Independence Ave disappeared, or so I thought. Stephanie got on the phone and directed me to the restaurant. James and the kids came out to meet me. We had a lovely visit sitting outside at a restaurant on the marina. At about 8, We started walking towards James and Stephanie’s apartment. Carrie, Sean and I got on the R train toward uptown. I then came back to the hotel. It’s nice to have one night to relax, although it has been a full day.

Audrey Taylor is my roommate, although she wasn’t here when I returned to the room, she came in about 10pm, she is reading a book while I type.

BTW, I finally have decent internet access, so I’ll be uploading my pictures to Picasa every day, the link is http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=Singndance70&target=ALBUM&id=5336991244863973393&authkey=Gv1sRgCNbEtta3j-Kd_gE&authkey=Gv1sRgCNbEtta3j-Kd_gE&feat=email