New York report
Nov. 17th, 2006 12:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gilanaBack from New York. It was a very nice, if short, trip, but I managed to cram in a lot.
On Wednesday I went to the Sony Wonder Technology Lab. There was a large school group there at the same time, but I managed to lag a little behind them and not have to elbow any small children out of the way for my turns at machines. They had some interesting hands-on exhibits about technology; I particularly enjoyed the ones on microphones and ultrasounds. Not the best one I've been to of those types of museums, but hey, it was free.
After that, I made a trip to Henri Bendel to visit the Besame counter and pick up a nice vintage lipstick for a '30s costume I'm putting together. I stopped at a street vendor and got some hot chestnuts just because it seemed like such a fall-in-New-York thing. I do love the relationship New York has with its food.
After spending too much time walking in the wrong direction and having to turn back (I hate those named streets -- I'm not on the East side often enough to remember whether Madison is east or west of 5th Ave, so it wasn't until I hit 3rd Ave that I knew I was going the wrong way) I ended up at Le Marais for a very expensive but really good steak lunch. I went for La Surprise, which is the random cut of the day, so I have no idea what it was, but boy was it good. Tender and meaty and dripping with juices. Mmmmm.
After that I went up to the Upper West Side to hang out with my cousin for a few hours. It was great to have the chance to sit and chat with her -- doesn't happen nearly often enough. It's always nice to discover as an adult that you have relatives who can also be friends.
It turned out that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
she_ragroupie was in a meeting nearby, so as soon as she was done we met at her favorite sushi place, which coincidentally is so close that you can see it from my cousin's window. It was really good -- I had a salmon combo with sashimi, nigiri, ikura maki, salmon & avocado roll, and a piece of fried salmon. Yum! After dinner we went to the Hungarian Pastry Shop for dessert. They had samples of a large horseshoe-shaped almond cookie on the counter that were so good we both went for that. We had a lovely time talking and catching up. She's doing well, but insanely busy -- like 4-hours-of-sleep-a-night busy. She sends her love to everyone, and misses us terribly.
Thursday I got up and checked out of the YMCA where I was staying. (Private room, shared baths, right near Columbus Circle, under $100/night.) I passed a farmer's market on my way to the subway. One stall had some grass-fed cheeses that were very interesting. I got a small chunk of the cave-ripened cheddar to bring home. It's much softer and fresher than the cheddar I'm used to -- hard to describe, but definitely interesting.
I had not yet managed to have a bagel and lox -- actually went looking for one Wednesday morning, and oddly enough couldn't find anyplace to get one on my way. So I took the subway to Grand Central Station, figuring I could get some food for the trip home there. I went to the Mendy's in the food court and had to choose from four kinds of lox for my bagel. Have I mentioned how much I love the food in New York? After my breakfast, I went in search of a bookstore I remembered finding there once before, with a great selection of graphic design books. Luckily, I found it pretty quickly, and it was as great as I remembered. Check out Posman Books if you're ever around there! They have a lot more than design books. I found a nice little reference I hadn't seen before that would fit in my backpack, so I picked that up. Wandered into the Grand Central Market and was pleased to see a Penzey's Spices there. I know there's one in Arlington now, but I haven't made it there since last December. I picked up some curry powder for myself and talked someone else into the fabulous Spanish Smoked Paprika.
Made it back to Port Authority in time for the 11am bus. There was a portable security station checking customers, wanding them and looking through bags -- I haven't seen that before, and it slowed us down enough that we didn't leave until 11:30. The bus was packed, so I had an aisle seat behind someone who kept trying to get her seat to recline even more. Ugh. Oh well, had a seat to myself on the way down, so I can't complain too much. I managed to sleep for part of the trip and had enough books for the rest, so it was long but not unbearable.
Got home, unpacked, had a quick bite, and thenwellstar came and picked me up to go see Urinetown at Vokes. I'm so glad we went -- it was a really strong production, very funny, great singing and some really fabulous staging. Brian Toney was a riot, and Sarah Consentino was one of the leads with a really great performance. The show is closing this weekend, and I think it's probably sold out, but if you can possibly make it, I highly recommend it.
On Wednesday I went to the Sony Wonder Technology Lab. There was a large school group there at the same time, but I managed to lag a little behind them and not have to elbow any small children out of the way for my turns at machines. They had some interesting hands-on exhibits about technology; I particularly enjoyed the ones on microphones and ultrasounds. Not the best one I've been to of those types of museums, but hey, it was free.
After that, I made a trip to Henri Bendel to visit the Besame counter and pick up a nice vintage lipstick for a '30s costume I'm putting together. I stopped at a street vendor and got some hot chestnuts just because it seemed like such a fall-in-New-York thing. I do love the relationship New York has with its food.
After spending too much time walking in the wrong direction and having to turn back (I hate those named streets -- I'm not on the East side often enough to remember whether Madison is east or west of 5th Ave, so it wasn't until I hit 3rd Ave that I knew I was going the wrong way) I ended up at Le Marais for a very expensive but really good steak lunch. I went for La Surprise, which is the random cut of the day, so I have no idea what it was, but boy was it good. Tender and meaty and dripping with juices. Mmmmm.
After that I went up to the Upper West Side to hang out with my cousin for a few hours. It was great to have the chance to sit and chat with her -- doesn't happen nearly often enough. It's always nice to discover as an adult that you have relatives who can also be friends.
It turned out that
she_ragroupie was in a meeting nearby, so as soon as she was done we met at her favorite sushi place, which coincidentally is so close that you can see it from my cousin's window. It was really good -- I had a salmon combo with sashimi, nigiri, ikura maki, salmon & avocado roll, and a piece of fried salmon. Yum! After dinner we went to the Hungarian Pastry Shop for dessert. They had samples of a large horseshoe-shaped almond cookie on the counter that were so good we both went for that. We had a lovely time talking and catching up. She's doing well, but insanely busy -- like 4-hours-of-sleep-a-night busy. She sends her love to everyone, and misses us terribly.Thursday I got up and checked out of the YMCA where I was staying. (Private room, shared baths, right near Columbus Circle, under $100/night.) I passed a farmer's market on my way to the subway. One stall had some grass-fed cheeses that were very interesting. I got a small chunk of the cave-ripened cheddar to bring home. It's much softer and fresher than the cheddar I'm used to -- hard to describe, but definitely interesting.
I had not yet managed to have a bagel and lox -- actually went looking for one Wednesday morning, and oddly enough couldn't find anyplace to get one on my way. So I took the subway to Grand Central Station, figuring I could get some food for the trip home there. I went to the Mendy's in the food court and had to choose from four kinds of lox for my bagel. Have I mentioned how much I love the food in New York? After my breakfast, I went in search of a bookstore I remembered finding there once before, with a great selection of graphic design books. Luckily, I found it pretty quickly, and it was as great as I remembered. Check out Posman Books if you're ever around there! They have a lot more than design books. I found a nice little reference I hadn't seen before that would fit in my backpack, so I picked that up. Wandered into the Grand Central Market and was pleased to see a Penzey's Spices there. I know there's one in Arlington now, but I haven't made it there since last December. I picked up some curry powder for myself and talked someone else into the fabulous Spanish Smoked Paprika.
Made it back to Port Authority in time for the 11am bus. There was a portable security station checking customers, wanding them and looking through bags -- I haven't seen that before, and it slowed us down enough that we didn't leave until 11:30. The bus was packed, so I had an aisle seat behind someone who kept trying to get her seat to recline even more. Ugh. Oh well, had a seat to myself on the way down, so I can't complain too much. I managed to sleep for part of the trip and had enough books for the rest, so it was long but not unbearable.
Got home, unpacked, had a quick bite, and then
wellstar came and picked me up to go see Urinetown at Vokes. I'm so glad we went -- it was a really strong production, very funny, great singing and some really fabulous staging. Brian Toney was a riot, and Sarah Consentino was one of the leads with a really great performance. The show is closing this weekend, and I think it's probably sold out, but if you can possibly make it, I highly recommend it.
