A Nibble of the Big Apple

“They say life's what happens when you're busy making other plans. But sometimes in New York, life is what happens when you're waiting for a table.”
- Sarah Jessica Parker

Merv and I returned this afternoon from a long weekend in New York where we had a lot of fun engaging in a small sampling of the enormous buffet the city offers. Our 4:15 flight on Thursday afternoon left a little later than scheduled and we flew straight through a storm. The flight was less than comfortable. When we landed the pilot said, "Well folks, the flight wasn't pretty but at least I got you here safely." It certainly wasn't pretty. Upon arriving at La Guardia, we waited more than thirty minutes for a cab into the city and we crawled the whole way through a steady, though not heavy rain, arriving at our hotel at 7:20, just forty minutes until the curtain rose on Chicago which we had tickets for that night. The front desk told us getting a cab was hopeless so after taking five minutes to change our clothes, we ran the twelve blocks to the theater through a storm that had moved from a steady drizzle to a tsunami, me in my three inch heals. Somehow though, we made it, drenched to the skin but on time. Chicago was wonderful.

Friday was a day spent in exploration, wandering the streets, shopping and soaking up the ambiance of the city. We gave ourselves enough time to change our clothes and enjoy cocktails before catching a cab to the theater. Try as we may, there were no cabs to be found. A limosine driver offered us a lift for a fee of $20 for what was essentially a $7 cab ride. We jumped at the offer. My feet were so sore from the miles of walking we had done that day that I would have paid him $50. That night we saw Thirty-Nine Steps, a bit like Monty Python does Alfred Hitchcock. It was very clever and very funny. Four cast members play dozens of roles in one production.

Saturday was our day for touring. We started with an elevator ride to the top of the Rock. Then did the hop-on hop-off bus tour of downtown Manhattan, taking in the sites from Times Square to Chinatown, Central Park to 5th Avenue. Dinner that night was at a Zaggat rated steakhouse called Rotthman's. The portions were obscenely large but the food was divine. By 10:00 P.M. we were stuffed, exhausted and ready to crash.

This morning we enjoyed a couple of hours of walking through Central Park, Times Square and 5th Avenue. Then it was off to the airport for a 2:30 flight which thankfully was considerably less eventful than the one that brought us to New York.

It has been about thirteen years since I was last there. A lot has changed in these years. The city is amazingly clean. The police presence is enormous. There is less visible homelessness and the panhandlers are quiet and not aggressive. New Yorkers seemed more polite than in past visits. Some things did not change. New Yorkers seem to think traffic lights are a suggestion. The noise is overwhelming. The costs are high. The traffic is terrible.

There is a good energy in the city. And it sure is a fun place to spend a weekend.