Back to NYC….Finally!

I love to visit New York City. My son lived there for 10 years and I worked for a company headquartered there so had many great opportunities to visit, and tried to take advantage of every single one. Then Covid happened and my son ended up moving away, so it’s been awhile since I was there, and I’ve been missing it. I love to spend months planning long trips out of the country, but it’s also fun to change it up and spontaneously decide to go somewhere for just a quick change of pace. So when a great airfare came across on email I said to myself why not do it! I planned the trip just a few weeks ahead, got a good rate on a hotel right by Bryant Park and started to plan my itinerary. In a nutshell in basically 2 days I went to 4 museums, toured the NYC Public Library, saw a Broadway Show, shopped a tiny bit, ate some good food, and walked over 20 miles seeing some of my favorite landmarks. Not bad! I was blessed with great weather which was the only variable I had zero control over. It was overcast the entire time but the actual temperature varied from the low to high 40’s, and no rain. All in all a pretty perfect trip. Read on for details and pictures if interested.

I’ll start with my favorite thing first. I took a tour of the NYC Public Library, and it totally blew me away. Excuse me as I gush about this. This was basically the Venn diagram of the things I love most (outside of my family of course). The sweet spot where architecture, history and books meet. Just some quick facts. This library was designed by the architects Carrère and Hastings started in 1897 and completed and opened in 1911. It is a Beaux-Arts Neoclassical style and is the 2nd largest library in the world. (Largest is in London) It is 2 city blocks long and made of solid marble. The library tour is free and given at 11AM and 2PM daily by very knowledgeable docents. The tickets become available the Sunday before the coming week and you make a reservation online. Maximum number on the tour is 25, but it appears there is some wiggle room on this. My tour was filled with 25 reservations but they allowed 8 more people to join by walking in prior to the tour beginning. But to be certain I would make a reservation because there’s no way they could have one guide walking 100 people around the building. Here is a picture of the front but it’s so big not possible for me to get the whole thing. There are two large lions - Patience and Fortitude at the front entrance that are quite famous. You can see one at the lower right corner of the picture.

Our docent was excellent and we saw so much in an hour, but still so much left to see! I can’t recommend this enough. It was really the highlight of my trip. Here are a few pics of the spectacular interiors.

Do not miss the Treasures Room! This changes frequently and has things on display that will amaze you. Top left - entrance to the Treasures. Top right - Charles Dickens’s desk and chair. Bottom left the Gutenberg Bible (only 5 or 6 in the US and this was the first in the US). Bottom right - the very first Winnie-the-Pooh and Friends stuffed animals. Other things that were displayed were The Bill of Rights, Virginia Woolf’s walking stick, Shakespeare’s First folio and more!

The library also has a fantastic gift shop with a nice coffee shop. Don’t miss it! And now I will move on to museums - another favorite of mine. A new one for me was seeing the Neue Gallery. Have you seen the movie Woman in Gold? Well if not it’s worth seeing. A true story and inspired me to visit this museum. The artist Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) who was from Austria painted a number of very famous paintings, one being Woman in Gold. (Another is The Kiss) During WWII Woman in Gold was confiscated by the Nazi’s and later after the war ended up in the Belvedere Museum in Vienna. The original family that owned the painting were living in California and tried to get their painting back but the Austrian government refused. Long story short they sued and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court and in 2006 they won and got the painting back. They then sold it to Ronald Lauder who agreed to always display it at his museum in NYC. It is housed in a beautiful mansion on 5th Ave on the upper east side. These are pictures of the outside and the entrance inside. They don’t allow any photography in the exhibit rooms. The third floor was closed but I got to see the Klimt paintings and other items on the second floor and the admission was half the cost so I was fine with it.

While I couldn’t photograph the actual Woman in Gold they do have a copy on the lower level that you can take a picture of so you might recognize it. And the movie is really good!

They also have a very European cafe inside called Cafe Sabarsky that looked to have a nice selection of food. One of my favorite things about Austria are the fantastic desserts so I treated myself to a slice of Sachertorte and a pot of tea while I was there. Delicious!

Just two blocks from the Neue Gallery is the Guggenheim Museum. I had been there a number of years ago before I developed such an interest in Frank Lloyd Wright, and since he was the architect and it was his very last project completed before he died at the age of 91, wanted to see it again. It’s on the UNESCO World Heritage Sight of the most important buildings in the world. It has beautiful art inside as well, but for me it’s really about the building.

The spectacular inside.

The Guggenheim has a small but interesting in my opinion permanent collection - a few Picasso’s, Monet’s etc. They typically have a number of special exhibits that vary in type but tend toward more modern artists.

Next up was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My purpose was to mainly see the Women Dressing Women fashion exhibit. The Met is so huge that I find if I don’t have a specific goal I won’t get too far past the front door.

I enjoyed seeing the clothing of basically the last 100 years, but what I found most interesting was the history it detailed of women’s role in fashion design over that time period and many years prior. Women were very involved long before that but never given any credit. Prior to 1850 there were no labels in clothing so difficult to link them to their creator. Just a few of my favorites. Top right - House of Chanel 1927. If you told me I could have anything from the exhibit it would be this. I would wear it for the rest of my life to any fancy occasion I attended and it would always look perfect. Bottom left is by Ann Lowe 1968. I read a book about the life of this designer titled “By Her Own Design”. She was a very talented black woman that designed Jacqueline Kennedy’s 1953 wedding dress, but never received credit for it. The exquisite handmade flowers were a defining characteristic of her beautifully constructed gowns.

Since I was at the Met I thought I would see if they had anything from Frank Lloyd Wright in their American Wing - thinking that maybe they would have a few pieces of furniture perhaps. Well much to my surprise they have an entire room from the Francis Little prairie home from Wayzata, MN. This beautiful home unfortunately was demolished in 1971, but this room taken apart piece by piece and reconstructed inside the Met. Bonus!

The last museum I visited was the Whitney. It’s all American art and I really love the building. Located right on the Hudson River it has great views of the city from the many decks that extend from the top couple of floors. They have quite a nice permanent exhibit but then usually a special exhibit. On this visit the special exhibit was by Henry Taylor (b. 1958).

I liked this self-portrait he did based on a painting of the English king Henry the VIII he saw at London’s National Portrait Gallery. He was the youngest of eight children so that’s what he called himself.

I went to a Broadway Show - Kimberly Akimbo at the Booth Theater. It won the Tony for best musical this past year. I just went to the box office and bought a ticket there to save on all the online ticket fees. Ended up in the center of the mezzanine for a good price and since it’s a fairly small theater had a perfect view. I enjoyed it. A somewhat sad story but funny parts as well. Good casting and the orchestra was wonderful.

On my 20 miles walking I saw some famous places. Times Square, beautiful clock and flowers on Saks Fifth Ave, and a couple of shots around Rockefeller Center.

Macy’s Herald Square claiming to be the World’s Largest Store. Not sure that’s true🧐

Turn right around and see the Empire State Building!

Best subway stop in my opinion…..at the National History Museum. Gorgeous tile work.

Now for some food! As I’ve said over and over - I’m not a foodie. Eating to stay alive is more my thing. But so much quick easy delicious food in NY so here’s some of what I ate. Joe’s Famous Pizza. A number of locations around the city. Been around since I think 1975. The best slice anywhere for just $4. Eating it while standing at a tiny counter if you’re lucky. Packed all the time.

I finally made it to Zabar’s on the upper west side. Been there 90 years and mainly a gourmet grocery store where you can get a bagel, sandwich, soup etc. First floor is all kinds of specialty stops - meat, fish, cheeses etc. Second floor is an awesome housewares store and the prices were great. If you like that kind of thing it’s a mecca. I wanted to see it and get a quick bite before walking across Central Park to go to the Met. Had chicken noodle soup that came with a large piece of bread and a black and white cookie. It was all good and while the soup just looks like broth it had nice pieces of chicken and delicious noodles that were all at the bottom. I could only eat half of the cookie but saved the rest for later.

I got a great recommendation for a place to go for a glass of wine and light bite prior to the theater called Vanguard. It was perfect. Nice atmosphere and just a few blocks from the theater area but not touristy. Had a glass of wine and an Camembert Apricot tarte.

Went to one of favorite little spots in the West Village for a nice breakfast my last day. Buvette makes me feel like I’m enjoying Paris and NYC at the same time. Very tiny but delicious. Had steamed eggs, prosciutto with shaved parmesan and a cappuccino. No reservations so get there early or be prepared to wait.

If you’re on the lower west side, by the Whitney or Meatpacking District a fun little stop is the Chelsea Market. An indoor market with so many cute places to eat and grab something to go. Oyster bars, tacos, pizza, homemade spaghetti, bakeries, coffee shops and more. I stopped to get a few things to take home. Did someone say brownie?

Can you go to NYC and not get a bagel? I think not so I did have a great one at the Brooklyn Bagel and Coffee Company but forgot to get a picture.

I did a very tiny bit of shopping in SoHo. Got a new pair of jeans and stopped at one of my favorite local shops called Goods For The Study. Nice journals, notebooks, pens etc. Always something there that calls to me so I bought a few new travel notebooks. Now that’s something I can definitely use.

So that was my trip! I covered a lot in two nights and two and a half days. It felt so good to be back. And I already can’t wait to return. New York City thanks for the warm welcome. 💕