Sunday in the Park

Sunday we started the day early with a trip to Chinatown for a little shopping, followed by a stop at the Empire State Building. We wanted to get there early because we knew the lines would get longer later in the day. So, up we went at 8AM (the line was about 20 minutes or so; after 9AM they say it can be a couple hours on a holiday like this). Here's Krista on the observation deck overlooking the upper west side (Hudson River):

Here's me:
Here's the view of the south side of the Manhattan at 8:30AM on Memorial Day; it was very calm & peaceful...
And here's the view north. Of course, nobody is interested much in views east or west; the entire universe is centered in Manhattan Island...

Next we met up with some old friends of mine (Xander and his wife Natasha, their kids Max & Louisa) who used to live in Palo Alto and now live just off Central Park on the west side. Max is mastering his two-wheeler (fortunately he doesn't have far to fall) and when Louisa isn't copying Max she's daredeviling around like crazy on her trike.

Here's Max on his bicycle:Here's Louisa working every bit of fun out of a puddle:

We visited with Xander & Natasha at their terrific apartment for a while, then we left for a stroll across the park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Along the way we snacked...and even napped a bit, it was such a perfect day...
In fact, the weather report had called for thunderstorms. In reality Sunday was the best day we had, maybe a little bit warm but clear and breezy (at least in the right spots). Here's some boaters on the lake in Central Park:Don't have any more pictures after this...after the visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art we stopped by the hotel and then went to see another play. This one was 'Spring Awakening', a sort of victorian era morality play meets green day kind of deal. Very hard to describe, but it was really good. It's got the lion's share of Tony nominations this season, so I'll be rooting for it to win.

Now we're off to the airport (we're sitting in the hotel lobby as I type) and we'll be home tonight. It's been a really fun trip! Krista, do you want to say anything?... "I don't want to go :("

There you go, short but sweet.

Later!

Snapshots from Saturday Sightseeing

Saturday was a very busy day, we did a lot of sight-seeing and walking around. Here in no particular order (the order the pictures uploaded, actually) are a few snaps of our activities.

Here's me & Krista outside the Golden Theater where we saw Avenue Q. Again, Krista is doing the one-handed self portrait shot; no sunglasses to see the reflection in this time. Avenue Q is a great play, very very funny (for those who haven't seen it, think 'Sesame Street' meets 'Rent'). Muppet sex!, 'nuff said:
Here's the lovely Krista in Times Square 'round midnight, after our Avenue Q show (she's got the program in her hand, as you can see).
We took the 75-minute harbor tour from 42nd street, out around the Statue of Liberty & back again. Here we are on the boat: The day was intermittently hazy & clear, and on the warm side (low 80's) but in the shade still very nice. Here's a view of Manhattan from the south end, kayakers & all (from now on Krista can be an expert on the geography of Manhattan Island):
Here's the boat passing the statue; for once Krista isn't taking the picture herself -- the couple behind us on the tour boat were willing to take a badly composed & exposed picture for us. Thanks!
Here's the statue herself:

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:

I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

Of course, that moving poem only applies to people whose ancestors were immigrants. If you're an immigrant now, well apparently we have no need for you and you can ignore that sentiment. Oops...social commentary. Okay I'll stop.

Here's Krista at the west entrance to Grand Central Station. We had a nice late afternoon meal at the restaurant inside, although Krista seemed to like my risotto with asparagus better than her ravioli...
We started the morning at the south end of Manhattan, in Battery Park (where we decided NOT to stand in line for two hours to catch a ferry to the Statue of Liberty). One of the recent additions to the park is the World Trade Center Sphere, which stood in World Trade Center Plaza until 9/11. Its wreckage has been placed down the street:
Please do NOT get me started about an administration that has hijacked the righteous anger our nation, allowing the perpetrator of the greatest crime of the twenty-first century off scott free while we instead used our greatest national tragedy as an opportunistic excuse to launch an ill-advised, poorly planned, unnecessary military agenda in an unrelated part of the world while Osama Bin Laden snickers at us from his cave six years later. Yeah, don't get me started on that...sorry but every time I'm at ground zero I get more and more pissed. Can't help it.

(deep breath)

We wandered up from Battery Park past Ground Zero, where the new plaza is under construction, to Wall Street (here's Krista and a bull):
And here's Krista in front of the New York Stock Exchange, that bastion of capitalism. Street security in that area now is insane; there are roadblocks & security cops everywhere...
Trinity Church is at the end of Wall Street, at Broadway. Here's a nice picture of the spire without all the huge buildings around it:
Saturday was a pretty long, eventful day; the weather was pretty good for the most part (I got a little sunburned) and we had a lot of fun. More tomorrow...

Dinner at Per Se

Last night Krista & I had dinner at Per Se. Some people are familiar with it and some aren't; it's the Manhattan venture of the famous chef Thomas Keller (his restaurant 'French Laundry' in Yountville is highly renowned). The Manhattan restaurant is one of the few Michelin three-star restaurants in the USA (there are only 3 in Manhattan; French Laundry is the only current three-star restaurant in the Bay Area). Reservations are made available 2 months in advance, and the restaurant is usually booked completely for that date within a half hour or so. Suffice to say you don't walk by, look at the menu and walk on in.

Our sitting was for 5:30, which I considered reasonable in this case because I knew we'd be exhausted after a red-eye overnight flight and a day of walking around. Krista napped for an hour or so before dinner which helped her energy a bit. Here we are, all dressed up (Krista especially!) for our meal:

Well, it was quite a meal after all...two menus to choose from, the tasting of vegetables menu & the chef's tasting menu. We both went with the chef's tasting menu, although Krista went off menu (an encouraged practice here) by going for a filet rather than the lamb or the calves' brain. Go figure.

The chef's tasting menu was 9 courses, and we got some other odds & ends as well:

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CHEF'S TASTING MENU
May 25, 2007
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OYSTERS AND PEARLS
"Sabayon" of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters
and Sterling White Sturgeon Caviar

SALAD OF NEW CROP POTATOES
Marinated Young Leeks and Cipollini Onion Shoots
with Garden Mâche and Black winter Truffle Coulis
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TERRINE OF HUDSON VALLEY MOULARD DUCK FOIE GRAS
Brooks Cherries, Frisee Lettuce, Sicilian Pistachio Butter
Balsamic Reduction and Toasted Brioche
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SAUTEED FILET OF ROUGET BARBET
Green Almonds, Sunchokes, Picholine Olives
and "Sauce Piperade"
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PASTA E FAGIOLI
Butter Poached Nova Scotia Lobster
Spring Pie Beans, Orechiette, Petite Basil, Lobster Consomme
and Armando Manni "Per Me" Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2005
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"AIGUILLETTE" OF LIBERTY VALLEY PEKIN DUCK BREAST
Poached White Nectarine, Confit of Kohlrabi,
Field Mizuna and Duck Jus

HERB ROASTED "CERVELLE DE VEAU"
Wilted Bibb Letttuce, Slow Cooked Heirloom Beets
and "Sauce "Périgourdine"
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ELYSIAN FIELDS FARM'S "CARRÈ D'AGNEAU RÔTI ENTIER"
Cèpe Mushroom, Sacramento Delta Green Asparagus,
"Socca" and Lamb Sauce

PAN ROASTED SIRLOIN OF JAPANESE WAGYU
Braised Radishes, Sweet Carrots, Watercress Leaves, Spiced Peanuts
and Tamari Shoyu Vinaigrette
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BRUNET
Caponata, "Croûton de Pain de Campagne"
and Arugula Purée
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STRAWBERRY SORBET
Tellichery Pepper "Sablé Breton", Strawberry "Diamonds"
and Saporoso "Nuage"
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"ROOT BEER"
Valrhona Caraïbe Chocolate "Crémeux", Malted Mousse,
Vanilla Cream with Sassafras Root Ice Cream
and Black Chocolate Stout Gelée

"MIGNARDISES"
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All told the meal lasted about three hours, and we watched the sun go down over Central Park and the upper East side all the while. By the time we finished we were both pretty much done for the day (remember we'd basically been up, except for the plane, for a couple of days). So, no exciting Friday night out for us.

Today we did a bit more sightseeing & a river cruise; I'll post some pictures later. Right now we're getting ready to go to the theater ("Avenue Q"). Also, I've been having lots of problems with my new laptop (!&#@# Sony) and I'm having to resurrect my mailing list from an old backup file. If you don't get a message about this blog let me know and I'll add you to the list :-)

Hi from New York

Well, Krista and I are in New York City for Memorial Day weekend. We left San Diego at 11PM on the red-eye for La Guardia, with a 6AM stopover in O'Hare Airport. Breakfast was served on the O'Hare to La Guardia leg, pancakes with sausages (it was actually pretty good). Normally domestic first class isn't that much better than coach, but it was nice to be able to stretch out and relax. I think we got about three hours' sleep on the trip ('airplane' sleep of course, which means not really).

We flew in to La Guardia with this view of New York (you can click for a close up):
For those who haven't been, that's the south end of Manhattan Island, where we'll be spending most of our time the next couple of days.

After getting a hotel room we went for a walk around midtown, starting with central park. Here's a pretty picture of the pond on the south side of the park. If you click you can see the monster carp lurking just below the surface....


The weather is very warm today -- mid to high 80's, and humidity probably around 75%. It's actually not too bad, if you stick to the shade.

Here's me & Krista looking at the pond (you can see her camera hand in her sunglasses, guess we'll photoshop that out later):

After walking through Central Park we meandered down Fifth Avenue, stopping in at a couple of stores -- the flagship Apple store, of course, open 24/7 and full of urban & trendy hipsters checking their emails & updating their blogs; a stop at the NBA store for Krista's friend Dustin, and a stop in H&M for some clothes for Krista (I actually had a brief nap in that one while Krista shopped; it was deja vu all over again from 2003 when I came to NY with the choir and chaperoned a group of kids shopping in the same store)...

After that we went to Rockefeller Plaza and went up to the top (70th floor), called 'Top of the Rock'. There's quite a view from up there -- here's the north side of Manhattan (that's central park in the background):

And here's the south side (you can see the Empire State Building):
Next we wandered over to Times Square :We came back to the hotel at 3:30 or so, and are about to leave for an early dinner (it's 5:20 now). Krista napped for about 45 minutes and I worked on this blog entry (I know, I know, for 45 minutes work it should have been better. Hey, I'm exhausted). I think we'll probably crash after dinner, considering how tired we both are. If I have time later I'll add something else, otherwise I'll update tomorrow sometime.