Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Hello, from Long Island City!
 |
| The new World Trade Center! |
Actually, this hotel is working out really well. It is very convenient to the F Line, and has some very well placed
stops along the line! So…for today. Up about 6:30 a.m. and into the shower. R continued to sleep (I think he was worn out
from yesterday!) until 7 a.m. and we were down for breakfast about 8 a.m. However – good sized hotel and two fairly
small breakfast rooms, and everybody wanting to eat at the same time! Nice spread – pancakes, scrambled eggs,
sausage, lots of pastries, fruit, juice, etc.
We had to wait a few minutes before we could get a table. I think tomorrow morning we will wake up,
throw on clothes and go have breakfast.
Then, go back to the room, shower and change and get ready for the
day! I’ll let you know how this strategy
works!
 |
Soon-to-be World Trade Transit Center...very odd!
|
We were finally out about 9 a.m. and heading for our first
stop, the
9-11 Memorial at the
World Trade Center site.
 |
Pool the footprint of the downed tower
|
 |
| Very poignant memorial |
 |
Really well done...
|
We took the
F train and then caught a #5 bus that ran down Broadway, and in not
too long a time, we were there.
The new
World Trade Center building is really
very attractive.
The
9-11 Memorial is very, very poignant and
moving.
Beautifully and simply done; I
got all choked up; brought back memories of a time when I thought the entire
world was going mad … R says they were/are!
There is an amazing amount of construction going on there – they are
building a new
World Trade Center Transit
hub, which right now looks like a fish skeleton; not sure how it’s going to end
up like, but very odd indeed.
From the
Memorial,
we decided to head to the
Frick
Collection, in the Central Park area, so back on a #5 bus – which seemed
like it took FOREVER to arrive!
From the
#5, we transferred to a #2 bus that heads up and down 5
th Avenue and
Madison Avenue (one street going one direction, the other the other
direction).
We are finding that the
people on the buses are really very helpful and friendly, and very willing to assist
us in making our way through their city.
We got off the #2 bus around 72
nd street, and walked back to
70
th to find the entrance to the
Frick.
 |
Random building facade
|
As it turns out, Pope Francis is coming to
New York City, and the traffic is already getting frantic!
There are barricades on the sides of streets
all over, and apparently it is going to be very difficult to get around the
city from 3 p.m. Thursday until 10 a.m. on Saturday.
(According to what we have read, the subways
will be the way to travel, as surface travel will definitely be impacted by
road closures and detours.)
Fortunately,
our plans are to go to the
Met Museum on
Friday (most of the day) and the
Natural
History Museum on Saturday, both of which we can get to easily from our
next hotel!
And, when we got back to the
hotel today, there was an email from the theatre where we’re going on Friday
night, warning us that there will be street closures and to leave extra time to
get there on Friday.
But again, we can
walk from our hotel; it’s about 10 blocks.
 |
Beautiful central courtyard at the Frick
|
 |
| This used to be the driveway! |
The Frick Collection
is absolutely exquisite; a true example of what can be done with endless funds AND excellent taste! The Museum
was originally built as Mr. Frick’s home, and apparently he did not tell either
his architect or his interior designer that he planned for his house to be a
museum – but that was his idea, as expressed in his will. The folks who have been running the Frick since the mid-1930’s have done a
truly incredible job. First, they had to
turn the building itself from a house into a gallery – and they did this by
enclosing the carriage way that had gone up the side of the house from 70th
all the way to 71st streets! This
carriage way was incorporated into the house as a palm courtyard, which is the
only area in which photos may be taken; but it is lovely, and quite a quiet
contrast from the mad world rushing by outside their windows on 5th
Avenue.
Mr. Frick (this is the Pittsburgh Frick who was partners
with Andrew Carnegie in steel and moved to New York after the horrible strike-breaking
by the Pinkerton men in Pittsburgh.
We
visited his Pittsburgh home and grounds when we were there several years ago,
and his first house was quite lovely too!)
was quite a collector, and not just of paintings.
He collected
Sevres china, porcelain, bronze sculpture, and wonderful pieces of
furniture.
All in all, the collection
was breathtaking – and included Constable; Monet; Manet; Van Dyke; Hall;
Whistler; Turner; Gainsborough, Titian, Vermeer – the list goes on.
 |
Little frog from the courtyard
|
 |
Front lawn!
|
The visit starts off with a short video about
Mr. Frick and the collection, and we were also provided with very helpful audio
guides that really gave us a great deal of information about the house, the
paintings, and the furniture.
The
paintings are primarily portraits, especially of lovely women.
But the interesting thing about Mr. Frick is
that while he left his house and collection to be turned into a museum, he
really never gave – at least in writing – instructions of what he wanted
included in the collection; no “mission statement” as it were.
So most of the artwork and furnishings are as
he left it, although the foundation that runs the
Collection does add works from time to time.
All in all a delightful couple of hours!
(Added to the fact that the place wasn’t
overrun with tourists, and we were able to browse and take our time!)
 |
Alice's Tea Cup #2
|
Out about 1:30 p.m. and on the lookout for lunch. Jessica, with whom I work at the Desert Museum, had recommended Alice’s Tea Cup as a fun place to
go. As it turns out, the original Tea Cup has expanded to several more
locations, and as we were close to Tea
Cup #2, we headed there. Not far
from the Frick, and as we were a bit
late for lunch, we found it and were able to get right in! Yeah!
 |
My wonderful chicken salad
|
 |
R's hearts of palm and shrimp salad
|
 |
| FABULOUS chocolate cake! |
 |
R's carrot cake
|
Very cute place – down a couple of steps and into the main
tea room. Our table for 2 was actually
an old treadle sewing machine table – with the foot plate still in working
order! How fun! I’m not a big tea drinker, as it usually
upsets my tummy, but I was able to find a berry tisane which came cold and was
recommended for kids! (like me!). R had Earl Grey tea, which he said was
wonderful! For lunch, R ordered their
hearts of palm salad, and I ordered their chicken salad. Wow!
They were great! R’s salad came
with grilled shrimp and greens, and my salad came with a good portion of
chicken cooked in tea, granny smith apples, eggs also cooked in tea, served on
greens with carrots. We both ate up
every bit! Then came dessert – R got
their carrot cake, which he said was great, and let me tell you, I haven’t had
a piece of chocolate cake with buttercream frosting that good in a long, long
time! I didn’t want to finish it! Especially because the cake was so
wonderfully frosted, and tinted a stunning lilac.
It was now after 3 p.m. so we decided to forego the USS Intrepid and head back to the hotel
for a rest. And, conveniently, we were
just steps from an F Line subway
station! How convenient is that? Oh! As
we were heading toward Alice’s, we
passed a French restaurant called Sel
& Poivre (Salt & Pepper).
So, we returned there, looked over the menu, and have decided to go back
there tonight for dinner.
More later!
m
xxx
 |
| Great Sancerre! |
 |
| R's Lentil Soup |
 |
| My green salad |
 |
| R's steak frites |
 |
| My chicken with mashed potatoes! |
Back from dinner at
Sel
& Poivre.
It was quite lovely
and the food was very good!
 |
| Alice's Tea Cup #2 |
Really a
busy place, mostly it seemed like local residents and not tourists (except for
us, of course)!
We got there a few
minutes early and had a nice table against the wall.
We both decided to get their
menu du jour – R had their barley soup
and I had their green salad with very French mustard vinaigrette.
For mains, R had their steak frites, which
came perfectly cooked at rare, and I had their chicken with mashed potatoes;
very good.
For dessert, R had their pear
sorbet – which was amazing!
And I had a
scoop of chocolate ice cream.
We were
back to the hotel about 9, and now I’m posting and going to bed!
(Thank heavens for high speed internet!)
Tomorrow to the
Brooklyn Museum!
m
xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment