This is the first post accounting our recent trip to New York City. It was the first visit for both Collette and I and it was done pretty much spur of the moment, all online; we had visions of winding up staying in the very finest shipping crate on the docks somewhere but luckily, it did not turn out that way.
We ended up staying at the Wellington Hotel, a lovely older building with uniformed doormen and bellboys, an elevator system that seemed to work on some kind of lottery system in terms of the car arriving when you wanted, beautiful art deco fixtures, a room small enough that you really had to love whomever you shared it with and a shower with enough water pressure you had to check your skin to make sure it was all on your bones .. trust me, that is not a complaint.
Never having been to New York before, it was difficult for us to judge, beforehand, where the Wellington was located. As it turns out, it is almost perfectly located, not only right next to a subway but about two blocks from the south end of Central Park, a five minute walk away from Times Square, 42nd Street and Broadway, and right next door to Carnagie Hall. So yes, I finally got to Carnagie Hall and I didn't practise one little bit.
When we arrived our room was not quite ready, we had a couple of hours to kill. This was Tuesday and it was a gorgeous day in New York, sunny and in the mid 70's so we decided to walk around a bit. Central Park is one of those places I've always wanted to see and we were literally two blocks away from it. If we couldn't see the park from the hotel (which we could) we could smell it ... it was of course the scent of the city's famous horse drawn carriages.
As we entered the park we really had no idea where we going. There are maps posted around the park but we just started wandering; this would set the tone for our stay in the city. Even when we had a destination in mind Collette and I set out on foot, happy to explore whatever we found on the way; we averaged about 10 miles of walking per day while we were in New York. We loved how accessible the city is; a New York block is about half the size of a Toronto block so things were often much closer than supposed.
One thing that was not smaller than expected was Central Park. It really is an impressive place, we walked there for about 4 hours and only covered about half of it. On that sunny warm day tourists and locals alike were there in large numbers but the park is so large we never felt crowded. As we entered we noticed many people sunning themselves on massive boulders; the bedrock of Manhattan is a stone called schist .. which leads to a popular local joke that of course, New York City is built on schist.
One of the cool things about the park (and NYC in general) was stumbling upon sites that you've seen on TV or in the movies. I've seen several programs that feature the beautiful and ornate bridges of Central Park. There are many of them and none of them are simply utilitarian; all of them are graced with an ornate Victorian sensibility.
Grand Central Park is much like New York City itself, it is a whole comprised of different neighbourhoods, each with its own distinct personality. One of the most famous such areas is Strawberry Fields, the tribute to John Lennon, set up on a hill directly across from the Dakota Apartments where Yoko still resides
While we there we met an extraordinary New York street character: Gary, the mayor of Strawberry Fields. A mostly homeless artist who began decorating the mosaic circle of the memorial and who has become the Field's spokesperson, delivering a monologue to tourists that details the memorial's history and intent. I captured some of Gary's speech in the video at the bottom of this post
Central Park is not just a place of rock and tributes and bridges, it is a place of water. Several streams and a couple significant bodies of water, notably The Pond and The Lake (OK I guess we can never accuse these names of being overly imaginative) It really is something special to have not only a huge tract of grass and trees in the middle of such a crowded city, but to also be able to stand by the water, hearing the lapping of the waves and watching the ducks with the skyscrapers looming in the middle distance
Another example of nature in the city was presented to us in the form of a red tailed hawk, up in a tree, having himself a little snack, the snack being a rather large grey squirrel. I now know why everyone kept their little dogs on leashes.
One of our many surprises while wandering through a park was a small yet incredibly ornate Victorian "castle" built on a huge outcropping of rock. This is Belvedere Castle, constructed in 1869 as some form of folly, overlooking the Ramble, a section of park where narrow paths wander through thick clots of trees and brush, and also overlooking The Lake and several open fields
The castle is more than a viewing platform, its architecture is quite beautiful, with little details that were lovely and surprising
From Belvedere we wandered past The Boathouse where one could loll on the patio or rent a rowboat and we found Bethesda Terrace, another stunning example of Victorian architecture, featuring the largest fountain in the park, all designed in the 1860's. The terrace is on two levels, with a pair of broad staircases that lead down to the fountain, flanked by the waters of the Lake.
The upper part of the terrace led us to the Mall, another area I recognized from movies. It features a bandshell and a stunning long, broad walkway bordered by overhanging elms and flanked by busts of literary figures.
Despite the summer like weather it was still March and there were no leaves on the trees but you still had the impression of peace and serenity and coolness, right in the heart of the city. The park is truly a special place; here in Toronto we are blessed with several large parks but nothing compares to this. As Collette and I walked along the long tree lined corridor we were serenaded by a sax player, like something out of one of the movies in which this place has been featured. It was a perfect end to our impromptu visit to this very special place
We made our way back to the hotel and finally checked in. After washing up and resting we made our way out as evening settled in. One of the "checkmarks" that we wanted to deal with was visiting Times Square. Looking at a map, the square seemed a fair piece away from the hotel. We were on 57th St at 7th Avenue and Times Square is down at 42nd Street; we assumed it would be a fair walk. Not in New York. As I noted earlier, a NYC block is about half the length of a Toronto block. As we stepped out of the hotel onto 7th Ave, we could see the lights of Time Square gleaming just a short distance away
I have to admit that Times Square is pretty amazing and we visited it several times due to its proximity. 42nd Street and Broadway are here, lots of resturaunts, bars and of course theatres. Right at the square itself is a couple of small plazas where the streets are shut off, one of them featuring a kind of grandstand where people can sit and watch the action
There was the building that housed the New Years Eve ball and the statue of George M Cohan, all familiar from TV and movies and books, pretty amusing to see in real life.
It was a great way to end our first day in New York City. OK, maybe a part of me was curious to see the old sleaze bag Times Square from Midnight Cowboy but hell, that didn't work out so well for Dustin Hoffman.
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