I'd had my alarm set for 9.30, but dozed a bit, so we made a slow start to the day. So much so that we missed breakfast at the hotel (which ended at 10). I ate a banana. I looked up camera shops, and restaurants for that evening. We decided to both head into Manhattan to find a camera shop, and find breakfast nearby. The first camera shop was on Lexington Ave between 51st and 52nd, so we got the subway to that vicinity and went in search of food. There wasn't an enormous amount of , and we ended up at a large sandwich shop called Lenny's. I had a steak and cheese with salad on ciabatta and a cup of tea. OK, but certainly not great. The shop was full of business people who knew the system of ordering much better than we did.
We found the camera shop, and Geoff left me there to go back and practise. I asked the advice of a fairly rude man. His advice, however, was good. I'd have to reformat the card, wiping its contents in the process. This meant that I had to somehow transfer the contents, and so a very nice man on the front counter helped me use a machine to order a transfer to a DVD. It was going to take half an hour, so I headed downtown on foot to see a few things.
I accidentally came across the Chrysler building, and went into the foyer. It's really amazing art deco, with a minimalist clock, and metal decoration, and lift doors with intricate wooden inlays. I then went looking for Grand Central Station, and eventually found it. The main concourse is huge, and impressive, with huge segregated windows at either end, and a curved ceiling painted like the sky, complete with constellations. Again, it was very much in the art deco style. On the way out, I discovered the Grand Central Market, which bore an uncanny resemblance to the Harrod's food hall. All manner of delicious looking gourmet food. I didn't stay long, for fear of being tempted to buy and eat it all.
I got back onto Lexington Ave and asked a nice garbage man where Macy's was. He said it was on 34th, so I kept walking down Lexington until I found 34th. Macy's wasn't immediately obvious from that intersection, so I chose a direction to walk in and investigate. No luck. I went into a chemist, and a nice woman confirmed that I'd chosen wrong, and that I in fact had to walk west to Broadway. I set about getting there, passing the Empire State Building on the way. Macy's is just like any other department store, just stupidly big. I totally failed to find a bikini I liked.
From there, I intended to get the subway back to the camera shop, but it would have been horribly complicated. So I walked all the way back. I got my DVD happily from the camera shop, and went into the nearby subway. On the platform that I was waiting on, a very sweaty bassoonist was (busking) playing Bach. I gave him $1 and had a quick chat to him. I headed back to the hotel for a shower, tested the DVD, and reformatted the card (IT WORKED!).
We headed out again, this time taking the N train from nearer our hotel to 8th St/NYU, with the intention of walking past Washington Square Park. Turns out it was much further off the road than the subway map suggested, so we just kept going to the restaurant, Butter, which Geoff had booked. It was an odd place - dark and cold, and shaped like a cave. One end had a big backlit image of trees on it. Our waiter was Eddie, and he was very attentive. I decided on the grilled octopus for starters (which was somewhat overpowered by other flavours), and grilled wild salmon on green beans for main (which they cooked medium rare and was absolutely stunning). I had a very pleasant glass of Spanish white to go with them. Geoff had pasta and rack of lamb with a cab sav. The service was somewhat odd, with compulsive filling of water glasses, and the need to take plates away before they were finished. The meal was still very good, though. I resisted the desire for dessert, and they brought us little wedges of salted chocolate ganache anyway. That meal was one of my treats for Geoff paying for rooms and travel.
We found Bleeker St, and walked through a lovely Bohemian area of Greenwich Village to get to Arthur's Tavern. On the way, we passed an awesome looking gelato shop, and both gave in to temptation. I had chocolate fondant and pistacchio, and Geoff had extra dark chocolate. It was amazing! At Arthur's, we had to buy a drink, so I got a white Russian. The band were already playing, and taking sit-ins - they'd started at 7 and not 8 as Geoff had thought. The venue was small, quirky, and overly decorated. It had been in operation since prohibition, apparently.
The band were OK. The clarinet player was good; the bass, piano, drums, and trombone were OK. A guy was sitting in on cornet, who was pretty awful. He was a much better singer. The stand-out was Simon Wettenhall on trumpet, who is Australian, but who has been in NYC since 1975. He's a great player, and a nice guy - he plays in Woody Allen's band. Geoff sat in for a good portion of the second set, and a drummer sitting next to us sat in too. His friend (American) was working in London as a banker.
We headed off, and I got us lost trying to find the right subway. I found us again, found the right station, and eventually the right platform. We ended up getting a Q instead of an N, as it went to the same place. Had a shower, packed, went to bed. I slept badly again.
We found the camera shop, and Geoff left me there to go back and practise. I asked the advice of a fairly rude man. His advice, however, was good. I'd have to reformat the card, wiping its contents in the process. This meant that I had to somehow transfer the contents, and so a very nice man on the front counter helped me use a machine to order a transfer to a DVD. It was going to take half an hour, so I headed downtown on foot to see a few things.
I accidentally came across the Chrysler building, and went into the foyer. It's really amazing art deco, with a minimalist clock, and metal decoration, and lift doors with intricate wooden inlays. I then went looking for Grand Central Station, and eventually found it. The main concourse is huge, and impressive, with huge segregated windows at either end, and a curved ceiling painted like the sky, complete with constellations. Again, it was very much in the art deco style. On the way out, I discovered the Grand Central Market, which bore an uncanny resemblance to the Harrod's food hall. All manner of delicious looking gourmet food. I didn't stay long, for fear of being tempted to buy and eat it all.
I got back onto Lexington Ave and asked a nice garbage man where Macy's was. He said it was on 34th, so I kept walking down Lexington until I found 34th. Macy's wasn't immediately obvious from that intersection, so I chose a direction to walk in and investigate. No luck. I went into a chemist, and a nice woman confirmed that I'd chosen wrong, and that I in fact had to walk west to Broadway. I set about getting there, passing the Empire State Building on the way. Macy's is just like any other department store, just stupidly big. I totally failed to find a bikini I liked.
From there, I intended to get the subway back to the camera shop, but it would have been horribly complicated. So I walked all the way back. I got my DVD happily from the camera shop, and went into the nearby subway. On the platform that I was waiting on, a very sweaty bassoonist was (busking) playing Bach. I gave him $1 and had a quick chat to him. I headed back to the hotel for a shower, tested the DVD, and reformatted the card (IT WORKED!).
We headed out again, this time taking the N train from nearer our hotel to 8th St/NYU, with the intention of walking past Washington Square Park. Turns out it was much further off the road than the subway map suggested, so we just kept going to the restaurant, Butter, which Geoff had booked. It was an odd place - dark and cold, and shaped like a cave. One end had a big backlit image of trees on it. Our waiter was Eddie, and he was very attentive. I decided on the grilled octopus for starters (which was somewhat overpowered by other flavours), and grilled wild salmon on green beans for main (which they cooked medium rare and was absolutely stunning). I had a very pleasant glass of Spanish white to go with them. Geoff had pasta and rack of lamb with a cab sav. The service was somewhat odd, with compulsive filling of water glasses, and the need to take plates away before they were finished. The meal was still very good, though. I resisted the desire for dessert, and they brought us little wedges of salted chocolate ganache anyway. That meal was one of my treats for Geoff paying for rooms and travel.
We found Bleeker St, and walked through a lovely Bohemian area of Greenwich Village to get to Arthur's Tavern. On the way, we passed an awesome looking gelato shop, and both gave in to temptation. I had chocolate fondant and pistacchio, and Geoff had extra dark chocolate. It was amazing! At Arthur's, we had to buy a drink, so I got a white Russian. The band were already playing, and taking sit-ins - they'd started at 7 and not 8 as Geoff had thought. The venue was small, quirky, and overly decorated. It had been in operation since prohibition, apparently.
The band were OK. The clarinet player was good; the bass, piano, drums, and trombone were OK. A guy was sitting in on cornet, who was pretty awful. He was a much better singer. The stand-out was Simon Wettenhall on trumpet, who is Australian, but who has been in NYC since 1975. He's a great player, and a nice guy - he plays in Woody Allen's band. Geoff sat in for a good portion of the second set, and a drummer sitting next to us sat in too. His friend (American) was working in London as a banker.
We headed off, and I got us lost trying to find the right subway. I found us again, found the right station, and eventually the right platform. We ended up getting a Q instead of an N, as it went to the same place. Had a shower, packed, went to bed. I slept badly again.
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