Thursday, 19 November 2015

Hello from New York City.  Will and I arrived yesterday evening and are domiciled on the 40th floor of the Times Square Hilton.  The room is large, the bed comfortable (and king size) and we have a great view looking north over 42nd St.  We can even see the New Year's Crystal Ball being prepared for next month's drop from atop Times Square.

Our flights from Tucson were packed, but on time.  In fact, after changing planes in Atlanta, we landed 15 minutes early at LaGuardia.  We arranged for Carmel Limos to  meet us and take us to the hotel.  You don't want to be in a metered taxi during rush hour!

Today we awake to clouds and fog in the morning, but manage to take a short walk through the theatre district, with a stop at the Toys-R-Us flagship store, before the rain started in seriously.  After lunch we take a taxi for the short ride to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), to see the Picasso sculpture exhibit.  We were able to reserve tickets over the phone just this morning for a 1pm entrance to the exhibit.  Truly remarkable that Picasso was creating this vast collection of sculpture in various media--cardboard, wood, bronze, found objects, pottery--while the world was focusing on his painting.  Some critics have even suggested that this exhibit proves that sculpture was a more natural outlet for his talent than painting--as hard to believe as that is.

We walk back to the hotel in a drizzling rain, but by the time we leave again to meet my cousin and a friend for dinner, the drizzle has become a downpour.  And everyone knows that NYC taxis go underground when it rains.  It takes the hotel bellman 20 minutes to find a taxi for us, and the short ride to 20th St and Fifth Avenue costs $30.00--twice as pricey and three times as slow as the $12.00 taxi that brought us back to the hotel later in the evening.  But we enjoy a fine Greek dinner at Periyali with Helen and her friend Sandy.

The weatherman has promised that the rest of our time in the city will be bright sunshine (although somewhat colder--but we are prepared for all weathers).  Tomorrow early we head for a tour to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  I will try to post pictures tomorrow.