Believe it or not, this widely travelled man who has been to the some of the most remote parts of Australia, the Outer Hebrides, the South Pacific, the Arctic Ocean, Alaska, Europe, and more, has only just now -- at the age of 62 -- arrived in New York City for his first visit.
(I discount a family visit made in April of 1963 when I was all of 9 years old...
...a trip of which I remember almost nothing.)
The problem: what to do and where to go first? Since I'm on a really tight schedule, I have barely 48 hours in the Big Apple so this is definitely going to be a less-than-comprehensive look at one of the world's great and unique cities! Doesn't help matters any that it is raining and expected to continue doing so.
But first things first: the downtown area of New York, on the island of Manhattan, is uniquely expensive because of limited space and sky-high property values. Once again, my little habit of collecting travel points comes to my rescue and I have a room in a Hilton hotel just off Times Square for two free nights (the hotel's rack rate for these days is over US$400/night). And here's my 40th floor view. In passing, it's much better than the view from the "Pinnacle Bar" on the lobby level at the lowly 21st floor!
Although it would probably be high on my list in any case, a visit to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is definitely on the cards! The main point of this New York trip is to see my nephew dancing with the National Ballet of Canada during a short 5-day run there.
Aside from that, I also want to prowl around the Times Square area, and just soak in the vibe of the theatre district. The other major bucket list item for me would be "The Cloisters", the medieval museum of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's at the far northern end of Manhattan, and I don't think I'll have time to schlep all the way up there on this short visit. Darn, darn, darn -- I guess that means I will have to come back again....
Instead of a standard travel guide, I've been prepping by re-reading Apple of My Eye, a delightful "visiting around New York" book by one of my favourite authors, Helene Hanff. Her observant eye and witty command of the language make it a truly engaging read, and like all of her books it's well worth seeking out! (Although she grew up in Philadelphia, Hanff actually lived in Manhattan most of her life.)
