big nectarines, big smiles and big apple

My weekend in New York City. Oh yes, I’m living the good life.

20th July

So we took a train from Stamford to Grand Central Station and it was and express, so we reached in about 45 minutes. (The fun about the trains’ here- they are air conditioned! If only the trains in India were as cool.)

Grand Central Station is gorgeous. It’s bustling with life. Tourists, commuters, people just hanging around (‘cause it’s air conditioned too!)
And the food is great there. There are stores and stands of all the cuisine one can imagine- Mexican, Italian, Middle Eastern and Chinese- oh and cheesecake!

We walked from the station to Bryant Park, where WLTW 106.7 LiteFM presented Broadway in Bryant Park. The original troupes from the actual Broadway plays performed four songs each live in the park! I saw Shout! The Mod Musical, The Phantom of the Opera, The Colour Puple and Wicked. All phenomenal performances and all absolutely free, as part of summer in New York City celebrations.

After we walked a little more and had some NY street food, a jumbo falafel and grape Snapple from Moshe’s. Yum!

We ate at a little park on one of the streets – there were tables and chairs, so several people stopped and were having their lunch their. Including a group of three girls who were having avocado sandwiches and salad – Ugh!

Before taking a cab to the station, I entered this shop – Build a Bear. It’s a kiddy store where you pick the kind of bear you want, then you follow the trail and pick a sound you want in it – like a song or a giggle – then you stuff it with fluff and choose it’s outfit. Once done, you make a birth certificate for your baby bear and go to the counter and pay for it. It was so fun to see all the little kids running about picking and choosing bears.

The cab ride was fun, only because I knew I was sitting in a New York City cab. I hailed it too! We went to the station and took a train to some station- can't remember which one - but it took us straight to the Staten Island ferry port. I went on the ferry, which is a free ride cause it is government transportation - and i saw the statue of liberty and the Manhattan sky line and Brooklyn bridge and all - for free!!

After our ferry back, we walked to South street sea port – Pier 17. There was a River to River festival going on presented by 98.7 KissFM. The Sugar Hill gang was performing. Apparently their song, Rappers Delight was the first rap song to ever hit the top 40 charts. And I saw ‘em live and again for free!

I love this city.

We heard a couple of cool songs, danced a bit on the Pier and then left. We took a train Grand Central and then went to the hotel room – Eastgate Tower on 39th and 3rd. On the 20th floor.

Changed and freshened up and made our way to Jaiya – a Thai restaurant known well for it’s food. And rightly so- the food was just awesome. After a nice leisurely stroll down the streets of New York and to our hotel – I was glad to see my bed.


21st July

Woke up nice and late to a hot cup of Starbucks’ best. Showered and dressed and made our way up town to the Guggenheim Museum (89th street, Fifth Avenue). Six floors with a mixture of modern and classical art. I saw paintings by Degas, Picasso, Gauguin, Pollock and Kandinsky. The work of Zaha Hadid – painter, artist and architect. As well as paintings by Harold Stevenson, Jim Dine and John Chamberlain.

It took about two hours to finish the entire museum after which we planned to walk in Central Park. As we exited the Guggenheim, we realized that it was pouring – it rained so much that there was a crowd outside the museum waiting for it to stop. A man, capitalizing on the unexpected change of weather was selling umbrellas at a premium. We hailed a cab and took it back to our hotel.

We only ventured out again at about 8pm. Libertto’s, a pizza place, typically Italian with a man making coal oven pizzas. I felt like a New Yorker as I sipped on a Bud Light, ate a piece of my Italian sausage pizza and watched the Mets play a game on the tele.

Good sleep again.

I was glad to be back in Stamford on Saturday. My brother in law was having a barbecue and he is the best cook ever. He invited a lot of friends and family and we had a blast. My niece welcomed me back home from my city excursions with a big smile and a little spit-up on my face. My brother in law welcomed me with the fruit I love but seldom have – nectarines. It’s good to be home. But I can’t wait to go back to the big city again next week.

Yay.