For my 50th Birthday, Inna arranged a secret trip to New York City! She did not tell me about it, making it difficult to guess her intended destination.
We last visited New York during the Christmas break in 2016. We had a fantastic time (despite a couple of freezing spells).
We last visited New York during the Christmas break in 2016. We had a fantastic time (despite a couple of freezing spells).
We were scheduled to fly out of San Jose airport (SJC) on JetBlue Flight 670 at 10:06 p.m. (red-eye), arriving at New York City's JFK airport at 6:35 a.m. on Saturday, September 22.
On Friday, September 20, we expected to depart for San Jose Airport at around 8:30 p.m. However, we received JetBlue notification that the aircraft was delayed until 10:58 p.m. However, at about 7:30 p.m., we received another notification that it was now "undelayed" and the original departure time of 10:06 p.m. would be honored. We decided to use UberX for a short ride from our home to the airport (UberX cost was $27.61 from South San Jose to SJC airport).
We landed at New York's JFK airport on time at 6:20 a.m. We even got the best seats - row 2 by accident! Upon landing, we took UberX to our reserved Belleclaire Hotel, arriving there at 7:30. (Our UberX ride cost us $67.82 from JFK to Belleclaire Hotel) Since we arrived too early for check-in, we dropped off our bags and headed for breakfast at the nearby Maison Kayser French-style patisserie.
I ordered a Salmon Tartine with egg, and Inna selected the Croque Madame sandwich. We tried the unique Eclair Pistachio for dessert, which was quite delicious.
After breakfast, we headed for Central Park, stopping by the Alice of Wonderland Statue and watching the small remote-controlled sailboats race in the nearby pond. We explored other parts of Central Park - namely the Conservatory Garden - where we took photos of fluttering butterflies and beautiful flowers.
Finishing with Central Park, we stopped by our favorite Austrian restaurant - Cafe Sabarsky, where I ordered the "Käsekrainer mit Sauerkraut & Rösterdäpfel" or Smoked Bratwurst stuffed with Cheddar Cheese, Riesling Sauerkraut, Roasted Potatoes & Mustard. The Bratwurst was really outstanding!
Inna chose the "Kartoffel – Rösti, Räucherlachs, Kräutersalat" or Potato Pancake, Smoked Salmon & Herb Salad. She really liked her potato pancakes. Unlike most American restaurants, the chefs at Cafe Sabarsky know how to make potatoes the delicious Austrian way!
We shared the "Himbeer - Joghurt - Mohntorte" or Raspberry, Yoghurt & Poppyseed Cake for dessert. The cake was delicious and reminded us of the cakes we tasted at Cafe Demel in Vienna, Austria.
After lunch, we decided to stop by the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. Inna discovered that today (September 21 was a free museum day), and admission was free (with online registration). There were many exhibits on color and textiles, but it didn't really impress or interest me. I was happy that I didn't have to pay the $36 admission fee (as I would have been severely disappointed).
We were tired and returned to our Belleclaire Hotel (we received that room #607 was ready). We picked up our bags, checked in, and rested a bit. This particular room in Belleclaire was on the 6th floor and very noisy. The air conditioner was extremely loud, and the room was tiny. It looked like a room from a 1-star hotel.
In addition to the street noise, the water pressure in the shower was relatively low. We eventually complained to the hotel staff and exchanged the room for one on the 1st floor (which was much quieter and had better water pressure). Although we really liked our Belleclaire Hotel's location on the Upper West Side (near Broadway and Central Park), the actual room was many grades below the one we rented during Christmas 2016 at Barclay Intercontinental.
For dinner (before seeing My Fair Lady on Broadway), we stopped by Sala Thai restaurant. It was a unique-looking restaurant, and we ordered some unique Thai dishes. We ordered two Thai Iced Teas for drinks, but they were too sweet. Our waitress advised us to try the "Gai Hor Bai Toey," or Chicken wrapped in leaves for the appetizer. It was tasty but not overly attractive. Inna selected the "Mango Salad with Prawns," while I chose the "Kad Hor Bai Bua" for my main course.
I really enjoyed the "Kad Hor Bai Bua" and the unique atmosphere of this restaurant.
After dinner, we walked 15 minutes to the Lincoln Center, where our My Fair Lady musical played in the Vivian Beaumont Theater. Since we arrived a bit early, we strolled around the area, marveling at the fact that we had never seen an opera at The Metropolitan Opera or listened to a symphony at the David Geffen Hall (two more to add to our bucket list)
We watched My Fair Lady on Broadway, which I wrote about in a separate blog post, returning to our hotel around 11:00 p.m.
On Friday, September 20, we expected to depart for San Jose Airport at around 8:30 p.m. However, we received JetBlue notification that the aircraft was delayed until 10:58 p.m. However, at about 7:30 p.m., we received another notification that it was now "undelayed" and the original departure time of 10:06 p.m. would be honored. We decided to use UberX for a short ride from our home to the airport (UberX cost was $27.61 from South San Jose to SJC airport).
We landed at New York's JFK airport on time at 6:20 a.m. We even got the best seats - row 2 by accident! Upon landing, we took UberX to our reserved Belleclaire Hotel, arriving there at 7:30. (Our UberX ride cost us $67.82 from JFK to Belleclaire Hotel) Since we arrived too early for check-in, we dropped off our bags and headed for breakfast at the nearby Maison Kayser French-style patisserie.
I ordered a Salmon Tartine with egg, and Inna selected the Croque Madame sandwich. We tried the unique Eclair Pistachio for dessert, which was quite delicious.
After breakfast, we headed for Central Park, stopping by the Alice of Wonderland Statue and watching the small remote-controlled sailboats race in the nearby pond. We explored other parts of Central Park - namely the Conservatory Garden - where we took photos of fluttering butterflies and beautiful flowers.
Finishing with Central Park, we stopped by our favorite Austrian restaurant - Cafe Sabarsky, where I ordered the "Käsekrainer mit Sauerkraut & Rösterdäpfel" or Smoked Bratwurst stuffed with Cheddar Cheese, Riesling Sauerkraut, Roasted Potatoes & Mustard. The Bratwurst was really outstanding!
Inna chose the "Kartoffel – Rösti, Räucherlachs, Kräutersalat" or Potato Pancake, Smoked Salmon & Herb Salad. She really liked her potato pancakes. Unlike most American restaurants, the chefs at Cafe Sabarsky know how to make potatoes the delicious Austrian way!
We shared the "Himbeer - Joghurt - Mohntorte" or Raspberry, Yoghurt & Poppyseed Cake for dessert. The cake was delicious and reminded us of the cakes we tasted at Cafe Demel in Vienna, Austria.
After lunch, we decided to stop by the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. Inna discovered that today (September 21 was a free museum day), and admission was free (with online registration). There were many exhibits on color and textiles, but it didn't really impress or interest me. I was happy that I didn't have to pay the $36 admission fee (as I would have been severely disappointed).
We were tired and returned to our Belleclaire Hotel (we received that room #607 was ready). We picked up our bags, checked in, and rested a bit. This particular room in Belleclaire was on the 6th floor and very noisy. The air conditioner was extremely loud, and the room was tiny. It looked like a room from a 1-star hotel.
In addition to the street noise, the water pressure in the shower was relatively low. We eventually complained to the hotel staff and exchanged the room for one on the 1st floor (which was much quieter and had better water pressure). Although we really liked our Belleclaire Hotel's location on the Upper West Side (near Broadway and Central Park), the actual room was many grades below the one we rented during Christmas 2016 at Barclay Intercontinental.
For dinner (before seeing My Fair Lady on Broadway), we stopped by Sala Thai restaurant. It was a unique-looking restaurant, and we ordered some unique Thai dishes. We ordered two Thai Iced Teas for drinks, but they were too sweet. Our waitress advised us to try the "Gai Hor Bai Toey," or Chicken wrapped in leaves for the appetizer. It was tasty but not overly attractive. Inna selected the "Mango Salad with Prawns," while I chose the "Kad Hor Bai Bua" for my main course.
I really enjoyed the "Kad Hor Bai Bua" and the unique atmosphere of this restaurant.
After dinner, we walked 15 minutes to the Lincoln Center, where our My Fair Lady musical played in the Vivian Beaumont Theater. Since we arrived a bit early, we strolled around the area, marveling at the fact that we had never seen an opera at The Metropolitan Opera or listened to a symphony at the David Geffen Hall (two more to add to our bucket list)
We watched My Fair Lady on Broadway, which I wrote about in a separate blog post, returning to our hotel around 11:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 22, 2018
We stopped by our nearby Maison Kayser French-style patisserie in the morning for breakfast. Inna ordered a croissant with ham & cheese, while I selected a plain croissant with some jam. Even though it was Sunday, Maison Kayser was quite busy, and it was interesting to see all the families with children eating breakfast there.
We did not have definitive plans for places to visit. After breakfast, we decided to head to Chelsea and explore the well-rated Rubin Museum of Art. The Rubin Museum focuses on Nepal's Buddhist art.
We arrived there at about 11:15 (it opened at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday) and spent a few hours looking at various religious artifacts. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable museum.
One fascinating exhibit on the museum's ground floor was a wall of people's anxieties and hopes called "A Monument for the Anxious and the Hopeful." Inna and I spent time reading people's anxieties and hopes on cards hanging on the wall. There were many anxieties about everyday human problems. These included unhappiness with current life, health, personal relationships, financial, and career problems. There were several cards with hopeful writing about the world getting better. It was interesting to see a large mix of hopes and anxieties.
We stopped by for a hot tea and snack in the museum's well-decorated cafe when we finished the tour. From here, we headed to the Chelsea Market. Initially, we wanted to stop by for an authentic lunch at Westville Restaurant (but it was too crowded). The Chelsea Market was nearby, with many shops selling clothing, food, and other articles. It also had many informal restaurants, but it was extremely noisy. Inna shopped around at her favorite Anthropologie while I explored the rest of the market. There were many interesting stops, like a Cafe dedicated to Matcha. I did not like the atmosphere for eating, so we headed back to Westville for our lunch.
At Westville, I ordered a cold Gazpacho soup (with bits of Avocado) and a Greek Salad, while Inna chose an "Avocado Toast" combo. My soup was okay - not comparable to the delicious Gazpacho I ate in Cafe Demel in Vienna, Austria.
However, the Greek Salad was quite good, with generous portions of vegetables. Overall, I enjoyed the entrees in Westville, but they were not of extraordinary quality.
While eating there, we considered visiting some nearby Art galleries but realized that many were closed on Sunday. Instead, we explored The High Line Park, built on old railroad tracks overlooking the Hudson River.
Although it was slightly drizzling, we enjoyed the views of New York and the many interesting new buildings built in a contemporary style.
Finishing the long walk on the High Line, we headed to Broadway for our performance of The Waitress at the Brooks Atkinson Theater. Since we arrived a bit early, we decided to relax by enjoying coffee at the nearby St. Kilda Coffee shop. While I ordered a Mocha, Inna selected a delicious tea. We rested there briefly and then headed to the Brooks Atkinson Theater.
I detail the performance of The Waitress in a separate blog post. The waitress finished at around 9:30 p.m.; we were hungry and decided to stop by the Japanese Barbecue restaurant with a funny name - Gyu-Kaku.
The restaurant no longer accepted guests for regular tables, so we sat at the bar and ordered a few items. Since it was still happy hour, all of the drinks were half-price, and Inna and I ordered a Coco-Mo (Rum, Coco Lopez, Mint, Pineapple, Soda) and Geisha (Vodka, Malibu, Cranberry, Orange, Pineapple) cocktail. They turned out to be too sweet for our liking.
However, the Spicy Kalbi Ramen soup was quite delicious, and the Inna Sukiyaki Bibimbap rice bowl was filling. We enjoyed our food a lot and hope to be back again.
We ran into the Birdland Jazz Club but were a bit too tired to watch anything there. Next time. Since we wanted to see Times Square again, we stopped by there. It was as full as ever, with crowds of people roaming around.
Eventually, we decided to head to Grom Gelateria to try the latest gelato flavors. Grom gelateria was open until midnight, and we made it just in time. Inn and I tried many flavors, eventually settling on Nocciola (Hazelnut), Crema di Grom, and Pistacchio. Inna found the gelato too sweet, but I greatly liked it (and helped her a bit).
Monday, September 24, 2018
We stopped by our nearby Maison Kayser French-style patisserie in the morning for breakfast. Inna ordered a croissant with ham & cheese, while I selected a plain croissant with some jam. I also tried a "pain au raisin," which was delicious.
Since the weather application predicted partly cloudy weather in the morning, we decided it would be the best time to visit the top of the newly built World Trade Center. From our Belleclaire hotel, we rode the "1" subway to the World Trade Center, where we purchased tickets and rode the elevator to the top of One World Observatory.
I expected to see long lines in the morning, but I was relieved they were not extended. We enjoyed many magnificent views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, State Island, and New Jersey from the top.
After an hour in the observatory, we returned to the surface and ate lunch at Eataly (one of our favorite restaurants). When will Eataly open in San Francisco?
It was not very busy when we sat down at noon in Eataly's pizza/pasta restaurant section. I ordered a Margherita Verace pizza (Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella di Bufala from Campania, Fresh Basil, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil From Sorrento). Inna selected the Mozzarella Bar dish.
It was small but delicious. After lunch, we stopped by for a sample of gelato. Inna and I shared the flavors of the pistachio and amarena (cherry) in a small cup.
After lunch, we decided to burn off our calories by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.
The bridge was quite crowded, with most people walking from Brooklyn to Manhattan. It was fun, and we arrived in Brooklyn around 2:00 p.m. We strolled around but decided to take a break at Joe Coffee Company, where we nursed a couple of green teas while we rested. I almost forgot my Chase credit card there (after paying for green tea).
We saw a few Citibikes available to rent and decided to try them out. We installed Citibike apps on both iPhones, but it took some fiddling to unlock the bikes. Although a bit heavy, the bikes worked well, and mine had an exciting gear selection with infinite adjustments possible. As we rode to the Brooklyn Bridge Park, we saw many kids practicing soccer, an almost empty ice skating rink with a few skaters practicing, and lots of joggers.
We were surprised by how less hectic and less noisy Brooklyn was - compared to the relentless movement in Manhattan. The bikes cost $3 per 30 minutes or $6 per hour.
After riding for about an hour, we returned our bikes and decided to eat an early dinner at Clark's Restaurant nearby. I ordered a "Greek Salad" while Inna selected the "Pastrami Reuben" sandwich. The prices were very reasonable, the food was well-prepared, and the classical music was excellent.
After dinner, we rode the subway to 50th Street to get closer to our Avenue Q Off-Broadway show in the New World Stages theater.
Since we arrived early, we decided to try some coffee and snacks at the Bibble & Sip coffee shop. Inna tried the matcha latte (which she liked), and I drank the Matcha tea (which was good - but not as good as in Japan).
However, what made Bibble & Sip really special was the delicious Matcha cream puffs and the mango-mango pudding. Inna and I loved the pudding and the matcha cream puffs!
At around 7:30 p.m., I headed to the New World Stages theater to pick up my tickets and watch the show. My review of Avenue Q will be published in a separate blog posting. We had lots of laughs! It sucks to be me!
After the show, we rode the subway to our Belleclaire hotel. What a fun day!
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
We stopped by our nearby Maison Kayser French-style patisserie in the morning for breakfast. Inna ordered a croissant with ham & cheese, while I selected something new to me - "Epinards & Chevre" (spinach, herbs goat cheese, organic egg, light bechamel) from the Les Cocottes menu.
We then headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since the heavy rain showers, we decided to use the M79-SBS bus. We waited for 20 minutes (it is supposed to run every 7 minutes) and arrived at the Met around 11:20. Unlike buses in other states and countries, one buys the ticket before boarding the bus (this was news to us).
The Metropolitan Museum was very busy, but we used the side entrance and were quickly ushered in. We headed for the French Impressionist painting on the 2nd floor, where we spent most of our time looking at Monet, Manet, Renoir, and Pissarro. We found a great Met tour guide explaining the philosophy before paintings and how impressionism emerged.
Edgar Degas focused on painting situations unlikely to encounter - i.e., dancers' dressing rooms - giving the viewer a voyeuristic view into the secret lives of dancers and other artists.
Cezanne moved away from painting reality toward post-impressionism (Picasso's cubism). His painting of fruits showed physical impossibilities- fruit that should have fallen off the plate but did not.
After some time, we decided to find a place to eat lunch. The cafeteria was awful, and we eventually waited for a table in Petrie Court. Inna and I shared a turkey sandwich and a salad. It was acceptable but nowhere near the quality of Japanese or French museums. It's disappointing that such a fantastic museum (the best art museum in the United States) would have such low-quality food.
After lunch, we returned for a 2nd viewing of the 19th-century French impressionist painters. In addition, we also looked at a few Van Goghs and Picassos on display. Finishing with this section, we also looked at an exhibit of Delacroix paintings.
When the museum closed at 5:15 p.m., we headed for dinner at the nearby Italian Grazie restaurant. For my 50th Birthday Dinner, I ordered a "Fungi pizza," while Inna selected "Gnocchi." Both the pizza and gnocchi were delicious. It was a nice, quiet, romantic restaurant after the museum.
Since we had our last Broadway musical to see at 8:00 p.m., we strolled across Central Park to the subway station to catch the C train to 50th and Broadway. Unfortunately, we stepped on train "B" and had to get off one stop early - on 60th Ave. With the heavy showers, we stepped into Argo tea to dry off.
After drying, we headed to Ambassador Theater on 49th & Broadway for our Chicago musical. I write about Chicago in a separate blog post. Chicago is one of my favorite musicals of all time, and this was the 2nd time I have seen it on Broadway (I have seen it twice at London's West End and once or twice in Curran Theater in San Francisco)
When the musical ended around 10:30 p.m., we stopped by the Russian Samovar restaurant (which was surprisingly empty). We had a few late-night snacks: oliv'yea salad, cherry-filled varenyky, and hot tea.
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
We stopped by our nearby Maison Kayser French-style patisserie in the morning for breakfast. Inna ordered a croissant with ham & cheese, while I selected a plain croissant with some jam.
After packing and storing all our belongings, we walked to Central Park to rent bikes and ride around. We found a station near the American Museum of Natural History and rented two Citibikes. It was hot and humid outside, so our ride was not the most pleasant, but we managed to ride about 5 miles around the whole park.
After an hour of riding, we returned our bikes and decided to spend some time in the park, reading our books and enjoying the beautiful scenery.
Here is our Relive video of our 6-mile bike ride:
We stopped by Alice's Tea Cup restaurant nearby for lunch. It's a cute little place that serves 150+ varieties of tea.
We ordered the Mad Hatter special, which included two pots of tea, two sandwiches, 3 scones, one dessert, and many cookies. We enjoyed our tea and pumpkin scones, but the sandwiches were ordinary.
After finishing lunch, we headed to our Hotel Belleclaire to pick up our luggage and order UberX for our ride to JFK airport ($69.90 using UberPool). This time, the ride to JFK took a lot longer. We expected to arrive at 3:30 p.m. but were delayed for 30 minutes by heavy traffic.
In addition, our JetBlue flight #669 was delayed due to poor weather on the East Coast. Initially, it was supposed to depart from JFK at 5:25 p.m. However, we did not actually start flying until 7:15 p.m. We landed in San Jose at 10:50 p.m. (about 90 minutes behind schedule) and then took UberX home ($25.32).
We stopped by our nearby Maison Kayser French-style patisserie in the morning for breakfast. Inna ordered a croissant with ham & cheese, while I selected a plain croissant with some jam. Even though it was Sunday, Maison Kayser was quite busy, and it was interesting to see all the families with children eating breakfast there.
We did not have definitive plans for places to visit. After breakfast, we decided to head to Chelsea and explore the well-rated Rubin Museum of Art. The Rubin Museum focuses on Nepal's Buddhist art.
We arrived there at about 11:15 (it opened at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday) and spent a few hours looking at various religious artifacts. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable museum.
One fascinating exhibit on the museum's ground floor was a wall of people's anxieties and hopes called "A Monument for the Anxious and the Hopeful." Inna and I spent time reading people's anxieties and hopes on cards hanging on the wall. There were many anxieties about everyday human problems. These included unhappiness with current life, health, personal relationships, financial, and career problems. There were several cards with hopeful writing about the world getting better. It was interesting to see a large mix of hopes and anxieties.
We stopped by for a hot tea and snack in the museum's well-decorated cafe when we finished the tour. From here, we headed to the Chelsea Market. Initially, we wanted to stop by for an authentic lunch at Westville Restaurant (but it was too crowded). The Chelsea Market was nearby, with many shops selling clothing, food, and other articles. It also had many informal restaurants, but it was extremely noisy. Inna shopped around at her favorite Anthropologie while I explored the rest of the market. There were many interesting stops, like a Cafe dedicated to Matcha. I did not like the atmosphere for eating, so we headed back to Westville for our lunch.
At Westville, I ordered a cold Gazpacho soup (with bits of Avocado) and a Greek Salad, while Inna chose an "Avocado Toast" combo. My soup was okay - not comparable to the delicious Gazpacho I ate in Cafe Demel in Vienna, Austria.
However, the Greek Salad was quite good, with generous portions of vegetables. Overall, I enjoyed the entrees in Westville, but they were not of extraordinary quality.
While eating there, we considered visiting some nearby Art galleries but realized that many were closed on Sunday. Instead, we explored The High Line Park, built on old railroad tracks overlooking the Hudson River.
Although it was slightly drizzling, we enjoyed the views of New York and the many interesting new buildings built in a contemporary style.
Finishing the long walk on the High Line, we headed to Broadway for our performance of The Waitress at the Brooks Atkinson Theater. Since we arrived a bit early, we decided to relax by enjoying coffee at the nearby St. Kilda Coffee shop. While I ordered a Mocha, Inna selected a delicious tea. We rested there briefly and then headed to the Brooks Atkinson Theater.
I detail the performance of The Waitress in a separate blog post. The waitress finished at around 9:30 p.m.; we were hungry and decided to stop by the Japanese Barbecue restaurant with a funny name - Gyu-Kaku.
The restaurant no longer accepted guests for regular tables, so we sat at the bar and ordered a few items. Since it was still happy hour, all of the drinks were half-price, and Inna and I ordered a Coco-Mo (Rum, Coco Lopez, Mint, Pineapple, Soda) and Geisha (Vodka, Malibu, Cranberry, Orange, Pineapple) cocktail. They turned out to be too sweet for our liking.
However, the Spicy Kalbi Ramen soup was quite delicious, and the Inna Sukiyaki Bibimbap rice bowl was filling. We enjoyed our food a lot and hope to be back again.
We ran into the Birdland Jazz Club but were a bit too tired to watch anything there. Next time. Since we wanted to see Times Square again, we stopped by there. It was as full as ever, with crowds of people roaming around.
Eventually, we decided to head to Grom Gelateria to try the latest gelato flavors. Grom gelateria was open until midnight, and we made it just in time. Inn and I tried many flavors, eventually settling on Nocciola (Hazelnut), Crema di Grom, and Pistacchio. Inna found the gelato too sweet, but I greatly liked it (and helped her a bit).
Monday, September 24, 2018
We stopped by our nearby Maison Kayser French-style patisserie in the morning for breakfast. Inna ordered a croissant with ham & cheese, while I selected a plain croissant with some jam. I also tried a "pain au raisin," which was delicious.
Since the weather application predicted partly cloudy weather in the morning, we decided it would be the best time to visit the top of the newly built World Trade Center. From our Belleclaire hotel, we rode the "1" subway to the World Trade Center, where we purchased tickets and rode the elevator to the top of One World Observatory.
I expected to see long lines in the morning, but I was relieved they were not extended. We enjoyed many magnificent views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, State Island, and New Jersey from the top.
After an hour in the observatory, we returned to the surface and ate lunch at Eataly (one of our favorite restaurants). When will Eataly open in San Francisco?
It was not very busy when we sat down at noon in Eataly's pizza/pasta restaurant section. I ordered a Margherita Verace pizza (Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella di Bufala from Campania, Fresh Basil, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil From Sorrento). Inna selected the Mozzarella Bar dish.
It was small but delicious. After lunch, we stopped by for a sample of gelato. Inna and I shared the flavors of the pistachio and amarena (cherry) in a small cup.
After lunch, we decided to burn off our calories by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.
The bridge was quite crowded, with most people walking from Brooklyn to Manhattan. It was fun, and we arrived in Brooklyn around 2:00 p.m. We strolled around but decided to take a break at Joe Coffee Company, where we nursed a couple of green teas while we rested. I almost forgot my Chase credit card there (after paying for green tea).
We saw a few Citibikes available to rent and decided to try them out. We installed Citibike apps on both iPhones, but it took some fiddling to unlock the bikes. Although a bit heavy, the bikes worked well, and mine had an exciting gear selection with infinite adjustments possible. As we rode to the Brooklyn Bridge Park, we saw many kids practicing soccer, an almost empty ice skating rink with a few skaters practicing, and lots of joggers.
We were surprised by how less hectic and less noisy Brooklyn was - compared to the relentless movement in Manhattan. The bikes cost $3 per 30 minutes or $6 per hour.
After riding for about an hour, we returned our bikes and decided to eat an early dinner at Clark's Restaurant nearby. I ordered a "Greek Salad" while Inna selected the "Pastrami Reuben" sandwich. The prices were very reasonable, the food was well-prepared, and the classical music was excellent.
After dinner, we rode the subway to 50th Street to get closer to our Avenue Q Off-Broadway show in the New World Stages theater.
Since we arrived early, we decided to try some coffee and snacks at the Bibble & Sip coffee shop. Inna tried the matcha latte (which she liked), and I drank the Matcha tea (which was good - but not as good as in Japan).
However, what made Bibble & Sip really special was the delicious Matcha cream puffs and the mango-mango pudding. Inna and I loved the pudding and the matcha cream puffs!
At around 7:30 p.m., I headed to the New World Stages theater to pick up my tickets and watch the show. My review of Avenue Q will be published in a separate blog posting. We had lots of laughs! It sucks to be me!
After the show, we rode the subway to our Belleclaire hotel. What a fun day!
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
We stopped by our nearby Maison Kayser French-style patisserie in the morning for breakfast. Inna ordered a croissant with ham & cheese, while I selected something new to me - "Epinards & Chevre" (spinach, herbs goat cheese, organic egg, light bechamel) from the Les Cocottes menu.
We then headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since the heavy rain showers, we decided to use the M79-SBS bus. We waited for 20 minutes (it is supposed to run every 7 minutes) and arrived at the Met around 11:20. Unlike buses in other states and countries, one buys the ticket before boarding the bus (this was news to us).
The Metropolitan Museum was very busy, but we used the side entrance and were quickly ushered in. We headed for the French Impressionist painting on the 2nd floor, where we spent most of our time looking at Monet, Manet, Renoir, and Pissarro. We found a great Met tour guide explaining the philosophy before paintings and how impressionism emerged.
Edgar Degas focused on painting situations unlikely to encounter - i.e., dancers' dressing rooms - giving the viewer a voyeuristic view into the secret lives of dancers and other artists.
Cezanne moved away from painting reality toward post-impressionism (Picasso's cubism). His painting of fruits showed physical impossibilities- fruit that should have fallen off the plate but did not.
After some time, we decided to find a place to eat lunch. The cafeteria was awful, and we eventually waited for a table in Petrie Court. Inna and I shared a turkey sandwich and a salad. It was acceptable but nowhere near the quality of Japanese or French museums. It's disappointing that such a fantastic museum (the best art museum in the United States) would have such low-quality food.
After lunch, we returned for a 2nd viewing of the 19th-century French impressionist painters. In addition, we also looked at a few Van Goghs and Picassos on display. Finishing with this section, we also looked at an exhibit of Delacroix paintings.
When the museum closed at 5:15 p.m., we headed for dinner at the nearby Italian Grazie restaurant. For my 50th Birthday Dinner, I ordered a "Fungi pizza," while Inna selected "Gnocchi." Both the pizza and gnocchi were delicious. It was a nice, quiet, romantic restaurant after the museum.
Since we had our last Broadway musical to see at 8:00 p.m., we strolled across Central Park to the subway station to catch the C train to 50th and Broadway. Unfortunately, we stepped on train "B" and had to get off one stop early - on 60th Ave. With the heavy showers, we stepped into Argo tea to dry off.
After drying, we headed to Ambassador Theater on 49th & Broadway for our Chicago musical. I write about Chicago in a separate blog post. Chicago is one of my favorite musicals of all time, and this was the 2nd time I have seen it on Broadway (I have seen it twice at London's West End and once or twice in Curran Theater in San Francisco)
When the musical ended around 10:30 p.m., we stopped by the Russian Samovar restaurant (which was surprisingly empty). We had a few late-night snacks: oliv'yea salad, cherry-filled varenyky, and hot tea.
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
We stopped by our nearby Maison Kayser French-style patisserie in the morning for breakfast. Inna ordered a croissant with ham & cheese, while I selected a plain croissant with some jam.
After packing and storing all our belongings, we walked to Central Park to rent bikes and ride around. We found a station near the American Museum of Natural History and rented two Citibikes. It was hot and humid outside, so our ride was not the most pleasant, but we managed to ride about 5 miles around the whole park.
After an hour of riding, we returned our bikes and decided to spend some time in the park, reading our books and enjoying the beautiful scenery.
Here is our Relive video of our 6-mile bike ride:
We stopped by Alice's Tea Cup restaurant nearby for lunch. It's a cute little place that serves 150+ varieties of tea.
We ordered the Mad Hatter special, which included two pots of tea, two sandwiches, 3 scones, one dessert, and many cookies. We enjoyed our tea and pumpkin scones, but the sandwiches were ordinary.
After finishing lunch, we headed to our Hotel Belleclaire to pick up our luggage and order UberX for our ride to JFK airport ($69.90 using UberPool). This time, the ride to JFK took a lot longer. We expected to arrive at 3:30 p.m. but were delayed for 30 minutes by heavy traffic.
In addition, our JetBlue flight #669 was delayed due to poor weather on the East Coast. Initially, it was supposed to depart from JFK at 5:25 p.m. However, we did not actually start flying until 7:15 p.m. We landed in San Jose at 10:50 p.m. (about 90 minutes behind schedule) and then took UberX home ($25.32).
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