NYC - Broadway & Saturdays

Hey all,

Well, I meant to blog every 24 hours but exhaustion and lack of working Internet got in the way. Oh, and did I mention exhaustion? Seeing so much in so little time has been terrific (as I’ve really come to sense the flavor of the city and its many areas) but it’s also exhausting.

So, below follows a big gob of travel updates and general notes of seeing NYC in 3 days:

Saturday

Took a brief walk through Central Park, for the day was humid and I only wanted to catch a couple of sights. We saw “Strawberry Fields” the area appropriately named for the John Lennon mosaic memorial. Unfortunately there were such crowds taking photos of themselves with this mosaic that I couldn’t get a shot of just the iconic piece. Here’s a link showing what it looks like.

One area I wanted to see was Bethesda Fountain, which was featured in the movie “Godspell” made many years ago with a young Victor Garber. For those who saw the film, this was the baptism fountain. See photo below:

Saturday evening was a first: not dinner and a movie, but dinner and a Broadway show. Something to note for those who may not want to see a show – people go to 6pm dinner, 8pm shows. So if you want to enjoy a nice dinner but don’t want to do the whole Broadway show thing, make reservations for 8:05 pm. You’ll have no trouble getting in. We ate Italian at a place called 44 Southwest; it’s a quaint al-fresco place run by very kind, Nordic-looking women. Based on their blonde hair and blue eyes, I expected them to be from Sweden or Finland. They were from Northern Italy. Little did I know the women are all blonde and blue-eyed from Italy – guess we learn new things every day!

Saw “The Addams Family” at the Fontaine Theater – a hilarious play about Wednesday turning 18 and falling in love with a boy from (gasp!) the Midwest, of all places. Not only that, she’s singing happy songs and smelling the flowers. Seeing as how she’s an Addams, this distresses the family—and chaos ensues. It was hilarious! The set, the beautiful red curtain, the way the Broadway show was handled—all first rate and impressive.

With the mounds of people pouring out of theater houses at 10 pm, you can imagine the difficulty in getting a taxi without waiting forever. I’m thrilled to say that this is my hidden talent. In just a few short days I’ve gone from an awkward, “What do I do? Stand and wave and yell Taxi?” to taking an assertive step out into the street, giving the signal, and hailing down cabs that even my friends can’t get to stop. Guess if the economy gets worse, I know where my hidden talent lies J

Went for dessert and coffee in the East Village after the play. A great Saturday!