Weekend in New York

Sat morning - right next to the coffee shop I've going to each morning, Peter noticed a a shop called the New York Cigar Inn (funny how I hadn't noticed it). It was a small shop with leather lounges on one side for men (I assume women would be welcome) can sit and smoke their cigars and have a chat. There were four big, old men having a good chin wag. I would have loved to take a photo but thought it would be rude. A glass door takes you to a humidor (a small room where the cigars are kept in a humid environment to keep them from going stale). 

 When we left I could actually smell the cigar smoke on our clothes. We then walked to Times Square to get tickets for the 2 pm matinee of Jersey Boys.  Jersey was a packed Broadway audience and was BRILLIANT. Mind you, I would have to be 6' tall as there is virtually no let room between the seats. 

We then walked down Broadway to Macy's where I did a little shoe shopping (as you do) and Peter went on to find the Strand Bookshop (another landlady rec). It is  New York’s biggest second hand book store (18 miles of shelves) whee he bought a Patrick White First Edition with cover for $7.50 (worth a tad more). 

After meeting up we decided it was worth a little subway ride and trek to a Spanish restaurant that had been recommended by both landlady and girls from restaurant previous evening. As soon as we walked in we knew we had made the right decision. The atmosphere in El Quijote, which is located in the Chelsea Hotel, was loud and frenetic - just how I like it.  It was very well priced and the service was excellent - Christian from Equador was our waiter and he and Peter got on famously. His favourite football player is Messi (Barcelona) and his favourite teams are Man U and Barcelona. OMG! We received crusty bread (seems to be cmplementary in most restaurants) plus choice of soup or salad (again, complimentary). Peter had, guess what? Yep, rack of lamb and I couldn't resist Paella Valencia (even though we'll be visiting there on our trip to Spain). Big day - slept very, very well. 

Sunday we had a slower start and walked the couple of blocks to JP Bernstein Deli and Restaurant. Very good coffee (by New York standards) great food, and even better - the atmosphere.  type of place you can just sit back and observe. Mind you, I think our waiter was a little amused by us (well, me actually) as I asked a number of questions before ordering a spinach and potato knish. We'll definitely be back. 

From there we walked to Central Park for a two hour bike tour of the Park. 

Central Park Boathouse

Rudy was our guide and Peter & I had him to ourselves.  We stopped by the Boathouse for a cold drink (it was unbelievably humid again and we had packed for cooler weather. Very classy joint indeed. We also stopped at the first large statue in NY designed by a woman, John Lennon's memorial in Strawberry Fields, and the reservoir where Jackie Onassis would run each morning. 

we also saw some great music performances, a small gospel choir  in a tunnel (underneath where Peter & I are standing below), and a Japanese opera singer performing Puccini. Amazing voices and worth the price of admission. 

John Lennon Memorial

After the tour we walked through Park Ave Markets and then onto Greenwich Village where we spent a couple of hours meandering along the interesting streets. Had a drink at a nice bar and had an amazing tapas of char grilled baby octopus, chorizo and beans. Absolutely delicious with a glass of NZ sauv blanc.   It took us about an hour to get home because a lot of the subway was getting work done and a number of trains were either cancelled or redirected.  Another good nights sleep!

More soon.