We have not arrived in our "tour" start city of Auckland yet. We have have put in some serious miles since leaving home on Monday night though! Hopefully, we'll have a bit of down time tomorrow and I can get caught up here then. In the meantime we had a busy and HOT day here in Brisbane, Australia. We got to get up close with some Australian animals at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.Little Bob hits the road
Little Bob hits the road
Thursday, February 23, 2017
We're off to a hot start
We have not arrived in our "tour" start city of Auckland yet. We have have put in some serious miles since leaving home on Monday night though! Hopefully, we'll have a bit of down time tomorrow and I can get caught up here then. In the meantime we had a busy and HOT day here in Brisbane, Australia. We got to get up close with some Australian animals at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Just back from Out of This World!
"Out of this world" is the final show by the Ringling Bros./Barnum & Bailey Circus. This is their 146th year and farewell tour! It was great but neither of us thought it was as fantastic as the last time we had seen it as a 3-ring circus in the same area. This show was more set up as a single ring with a front-facing stage. Clay also felt that for him the outer space/space travel theme detracted from the rest of the show. Still, we're sorry to see it go. It will be hard to imagine a world without a circus traveling through it constantly! Very sad. Not happy to see the animal rights protesters lining the streets in and out either. You won, the circus is history now. I guess the final performance is in May somewhere in NY state. Last chance!
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
And the bad news begins again...
It seems like for the past few years that every time we get near departure for a big trip, that pieces start to fall apart. I guess the positive spin on this is that if we were staying home that things could fall apart just as easily. Anyway, fingers crossed that this piece of bad news is the worst of it!
There was a wildfire on the South Island of New Zealand that has destroyed part of the track and bridges and other equipment of the TranzAlpine train.
We won't get any money back, but we will not have any other itinerary alterations except a bus for the TranzAlpine train. That Tranzalpine train and Hobbiton were the only reasons we were returning to New Zealand! Please keep Hobbiton in your thoughts for us!
We are starting our upcoming Down Under 2017 trip with a modified version of this Kensington Tour. We were happy enough with our Kensington Tour in Norway in 2015 that we are using them again to start this trip.
Departure day is getting close!
There was a wildfire on the South Island of New Zealand that has destroyed part of the track and bridges and other equipment of the TranzAlpine train.
We won't get any money back, but we will not have any other itinerary alterations except a bus for the TranzAlpine train. That Tranzalpine train and Hobbiton were the only reasons we were returning to New Zealand! Please keep Hobbiton in your thoughts for us!
We are starting our upcoming Down Under 2017 trip with a modified version of this Kensington Tour. We were happy enough with our Kensington Tour in Norway in 2015 that we are using them again to start this trip.
Departure day is getting close!
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Giving back
It feels like months, or maybe even years, since I've posted anything I felt was a contribution to the Internet. By that I mean anything someone might find in searching for information on a particular subject which they might find useful. I don't feel I've posted useful information for a long time. Also, I haven't been posting very much. Clay switched my IBM ThinkPad for a Microsoft Surface a few months ago. While the Surface is great, it has no ports or drives so I can't get Clay's photos as easily as I could before. Sorry! Today I am hoping to pay back with some hopefully useful information to someone out there.
I am going to start with a recipe. A few years ago Clay gave me a Euro Cuisine Yogurt Maker. I got it with an extra set of jars which I highly recommend. I love my Euro Cuisine Yogurt Maker. A couple of years later I got a Dash Greek Yogurt Maker. Sorry I couldn't find a manufacturer's link, but it is sold almost everywhere now it seems. While I could recommend this machine as well, because I like it, I prefer the Euro. I like the single serving jars. I prefer the yogurt it makes. I like that I can eat everything it makes because there is no separated whey. Dealing with that whey is a whole other story, and while I could tell it, the story would just end as an object lesson. My advice is that if you want homemade yogurt go with the Euro Cuisine with an extra set of jars! With the background out of the way, let's get to the promised recipe. I found this recipe online and worked from it. So, here is credit where it is due and my starting point. Below is my recipe:
4 cups of skim milk*
4 - 6 teaspoons of sugar, Splenda, honey or sweetener of your choice
1/2 cup of powdered milk
1/2 to 3/4 cup of starter yogurt
1 Tablespoon of vanilla
Preheat the Euro Cuisine with the empty lidless jars in it for an hour or so. Let the 4 cups of milk and starter yogurt sit out on the counter to come to room temperature (or close) for that same hour or so. I do this by setting the Euro Cuisine timer at 11 hours to start. When ready to start cooking, place all the ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together to dissolve and break up the starter yogurt. I use a small 4 cup pitcher/measure and a bowl with a spout rim. This makes it easy to fill the jars now. I find that I can cook regular skim milk in anywhere from 8 to 10 hours. Longer and it will separate into whey on top. Not a bad thing as you can mix it back in to eat, but who needs it. *Deluxe skim milk or Ultrapasteurized will cook faster and need at most 7 hours. I have used soy milk and it cooks either shorter or longer, you have to watch and check it. I just don't like it. If you have to use it, you can. I used the stuff in the brick cartons, not the refrigerated stuff. Starter yogurt? Any single serve container with 5 live active cultures will do. I mostly use and prefer my grocery store's plain Greek yogurt for this and buy a new starter every 2 to 4 batches or so. You can use one jar from the previous batch to start the next one for a few batches.
The last and biggest question is how do you know it is done? I wish I had bookmarked it, or could find it again, but I didn't and I can't today. But, I found a blogger's photo online of set yogurt so you could know it was done. It was perfect and I am saddened to not find it again. Anyway, what you do is remove a jar, any jar, and tilt it and watch. When it pulls away from the side in a mass instead of as liquid, it is ready. It will be soft and creamy. If you let it go longer, it will be fine, but it may start to separate which is another doneness sign. I don't like it that way, but you can stir it up. There will be a whey layer and a bottom curdy layer though, just so you know.
I eat my yogurt by dumping each jar into a small bowl and stirring in a spoonful of granola and a spoonful of fruit syrup. I'll share both recipes below.
I found this granola recipe online and follow it to the letter, though I use powdered egg whites.
The fruit syrup recipe I found in a cookbook my Mom gave me. It is Lose Weight the Smart Low-
Carb Way. The recipe All-Purpose Fruit Syrup is on page 82. I use it as a starting point. Below is my favorite adapted variation.
3 cups apple cider
2 pound bag of frozen cherries
Pour cider over cherries in a deep saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium to low to simmer for a hour or until thickened. At about the 1/2 hour mark, I use the back of a big wooden spoon to smash the cherries against the side of the pot. At about 50 minutes, I use an immersion blender to liquefy the cherries. This will make a cup to a cup and a half of thick syrup.
So that is it for my shared cooking tips. Next up is Christmas!
I have some recommendations for anyone spending Christmas time in the Naples Florida area. These are some things we enjoyed during our visit last year. Again sorry no photos. First up, The Tuba Concert. I don't know how we have managed to miss this in the past. They have been doing this tuba concert of Christmas carols every year in Naples for the past 20 years and we have been in the area most of those years. I think maybe we came earlier this year and that is why we never saw/heard it before. I highly recommend it. Free! Come early and bring your own folding chair. It is a small space and we came late and barely squeezed into standing room. Still it really set the season for me and the all brass band's music was surprisingly beautiful. The feeling of a few hundred observers singing along was magical as was the small square's setting of thousands of tiny white lights. Magic! Go!
The other thing we did/saw that I highly recommend was Night Lights in the Garden. This has only been going on for a few years, but this was the first time it appeared on my radar. It is $20 pp but I thought it was worth it since it would have cost $14 pp to tour the Botanical Gardens by day. My favorite part was the Hugging Tree. It was a Royal Poinciana that was rigged to give a delightful music trill and light up when hugged, ending in some contented purring before going dark to await the next hug! Loved it!
Last up is knitting with qiviut. Qiviut is the yarn that we bought in the Artic on our North West Passage Cruise that I blogged about early last fall. Clay gave me the very expensive yarn and an adaptable set of circular knitting needles for Christmas. We bought 2 - 50 gram, 200 meter twisted skeins as shown at the link above at that shop. It was $60 USD per skein! (Clay asked the shop girl and she weighed both the gaiter for sale in the shop as well as a skein and said that is what we needed to knit one at home.) It is lovely, but really extravagant. It is super fine and super soft and is supposed to be super warm. I hope so as I don't expect to ever work with anything so nice again! So, I am making us both neck gaiters, which were selling at the shop linked above at $300 USD each. We did not see any lesser priced on our trip, so this is actually us saving money as well as giving me an occupational therapy project for the tremor! Now, I looked online for a free pattern and this is as close as I could come. I used it as inspiration and studied and mocked up with some #2 weight leftover wool. So the pattern I used as inspiration needs 70 grams of yarn so mine is smaller and shorter and probably can't be pulled up over the nose. I still knitted with 2 strands for a double thickness as the yarn is so fine. Mine will probably work out at about 17-18 inches around and between 7 and 8 inches high. Since it will be tighter, shorter will probably be fine. They should certainly be warm! Also, I didn't like the rolling and so have given it a more finished look with a 3 row ribbing border. I am close to finishing the first one. To give credit where due and to pass on recommendations. I used these instructional videos to help me get started with knitting in the round. One. Two. Three. So, once I figured out how to knit in the round. I started studying the free cowl pattern I have linked above. I have knitted variations of that thing on leftover wool about a half dozen times now.
Here is the neck gaiter pattern I am actually knitting with my 50 grams of quivit yarn.
Needles: US size 4 16" circle
Gauge: 28 stitches x 33 rows - 5.5 x 5 inches in stockinette (adjust as needed)
Finished size: 17 to 18 inches around and 7 to 8 inches high
Cast on 103 stitches to size 4 16-inch circular needles. I knit 2 together first to join in the round being careful not to twist. Knit 1 Purl 1 rib stitch for first 3 rounds. I use a little loop of leftover yarn as a marker on the needle to keep track and I knit in the tail yarn. I knit 2 together at the marker on the next 2 rows to eliminate the starting gap. That leaves me with 100 stitches for the whole. As you decrease stitches watch Ks and Ps to keep your rib knit! Then KNIT only all the rest of the stitches until you reach 7" or until you can see you are nearing the end of your yarn. Knit 1 Purl 1 for the last 3 rounds and cast off. Secure your yarn at the end however you normally do it.
That's it for me giving back today. Next month we should be back out on the road, in the air, on water, on rails, etc. Check back as we return Down Under!
I am going to start with a recipe. A few years ago Clay gave me a Euro Cuisine Yogurt Maker. I got it with an extra set of jars which I highly recommend. I love my Euro Cuisine Yogurt Maker. A couple of years later I got a Dash Greek Yogurt Maker. Sorry I couldn't find a manufacturer's link, but it is sold almost everywhere now it seems. While I could recommend this machine as well, because I like it, I prefer the Euro. I like the single serving jars. I prefer the yogurt it makes. I like that I can eat everything it makes because there is no separated whey. Dealing with that whey is a whole other story, and while I could tell it, the story would just end as an object lesson. My advice is that if you want homemade yogurt go with the Euro Cuisine with an extra set of jars! With the background out of the way, let's get to the promised recipe. I found this recipe online and worked from it. So, here is credit where it is due and my starting point. Below is my recipe:
4 cups of skim milk*
4 - 6 teaspoons of sugar, Splenda, honey or sweetener of your choice
1/2 cup of powdered milk
1/2 to 3/4 cup of starter yogurt
1 Tablespoon of vanilla
Preheat the Euro Cuisine with the empty lidless jars in it for an hour or so. Let the 4 cups of milk and starter yogurt sit out on the counter to come to room temperature (or close) for that same hour or so. I do this by setting the Euro Cuisine timer at 11 hours to start. When ready to start cooking, place all the ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together to dissolve and break up the starter yogurt. I use a small 4 cup pitcher/measure and a bowl with a spout rim. This makes it easy to fill the jars now. I find that I can cook regular skim milk in anywhere from 8 to 10 hours. Longer and it will separate into whey on top. Not a bad thing as you can mix it back in to eat, but who needs it. *Deluxe skim milk or Ultrapasteurized will cook faster and need at most 7 hours. I have used soy milk and it cooks either shorter or longer, you have to watch and check it. I just don't like it. If you have to use it, you can. I used the stuff in the brick cartons, not the refrigerated stuff. Starter yogurt? Any single serve container with 5 live active cultures will do. I mostly use and prefer my grocery store's plain Greek yogurt for this and buy a new starter every 2 to 4 batches or so. You can use one jar from the previous batch to start the next one for a few batches.
The last and biggest question is how do you know it is done? I wish I had bookmarked it, or could find it again, but I didn't and I can't today. But, I found a blogger's photo online of set yogurt so you could know it was done. It was perfect and I am saddened to not find it again. Anyway, what you do is remove a jar, any jar, and tilt it and watch. When it pulls away from the side in a mass instead of as liquid, it is ready. It will be soft and creamy. If you let it go longer, it will be fine, but it may start to separate which is another doneness sign. I don't like it that way, but you can stir it up. There will be a whey layer and a bottom curdy layer though, just so you know.
I eat my yogurt by dumping each jar into a small bowl and stirring in a spoonful of granola and a spoonful of fruit syrup. I'll share both recipes below.
I found this granola recipe online and follow it to the letter, though I use powdered egg whites.
The fruit syrup recipe I found in a cookbook my Mom gave me. It is Lose Weight the Smart Low-
Carb Way. The recipe All-Purpose Fruit Syrup is on page 82. I use it as a starting point. Below is my favorite adapted variation.
3 cups apple cider
2 pound bag of frozen cherries
Pour cider over cherries in a deep saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium to low to simmer for a hour or until thickened. At about the 1/2 hour mark, I use the back of a big wooden spoon to smash the cherries against the side of the pot. At about 50 minutes, I use an immersion blender to liquefy the cherries. This will make a cup to a cup and a half of thick syrup.
So that is it for my shared cooking tips. Next up is Christmas!
I have some recommendations for anyone spending Christmas time in the Naples Florida area. These are some things we enjoyed during our visit last year. Again sorry no photos. First up, The Tuba Concert. I don't know how we have managed to miss this in the past. They have been doing this tuba concert of Christmas carols every year in Naples for the past 20 years and we have been in the area most of those years. I think maybe we came earlier this year and that is why we never saw/heard it before. I highly recommend it. Free! Come early and bring your own folding chair. It is a small space and we came late and barely squeezed into standing room. Still it really set the season for me and the all brass band's music was surprisingly beautiful. The feeling of a few hundred observers singing along was magical as was the small square's setting of thousands of tiny white lights. Magic! Go!
 |
| Aunt Felicia, Mom and me with the Interactive Hugging Tree. |
Last up is knitting with qiviut. Qiviut is the yarn that we bought in the Artic on our North West Passage Cruise that I blogged about early last fall. Clay gave me the very expensive yarn and an adaptable set of circular knitting needles for Christmas. We bought 2 - 50 gram, 200 meter twisted skeins as shown at the link above at that shop. It was $60 USD per skein! (Clay asked the shop girl and she weighed both the gaiter for sale in the shop as well as a skein and said that is what we needed to knit one at home.) It is lovely, but really extravagant. It is super fine and super soft and is supposed to be super warm. I hope so as I don't expect to ever work with anything so nice again! So, I am making us both neck gaiters, which were selling at the shop linked above at $300 USD each. We did not see any lesser priced on our trip, so this is actually us saving money as well as giving me an occupational therapy project for the tremor! Now, I looked online for a free pattern and this is as close as I could come. I used it as inspiration and studied and mocked up with some #2 weight leftover wool. So the pattern I used as inspiration needs 70 grams of yarn so mine is smaller and shorter and probably can't be pulled up over the nose. I still knitted with 2 strands for a double thickness as the yarn is so fine. Mine will probably work out at about 17-18 inches around and between 7 and 8 inches high. Since it will be tighter, shorter will probably be fine. They should certainly be warm! Also, I didn't like the rolling and so have given it a more finished look with a 3 row ribbing border. I am close to finishing the first one. To give credit where due and to pass on recommendations. I used these instructional videos to help me get started with knitting in the round. One. Two. Three. So, once I figured out how to knit in the round. I started studying the free cowl pattern I have linked above. I have knitted variations of that thing on leftover wool about a half dozen times now.
Here is the neck gaiter pattern I am actually knitting with my 50 grams of quivit yarn.
Needles: US size 4 16" circle
Gauge: 28 stitches x 33 rows - 5.5 x 5 inches in stockinette (adjust as needed)
Finished size: 17 to 18 inches around and 7 to 8 inches high
Cast on 103 stitches to size 4 16-inch circular needles. I knit 2 together first to join in the round being careful not to twist. Knit 1 Purl 1 rib stitch for first 3 rounds. I use a little loop of leftover yarn as a marker on the needle to keep track and I knit in the tail yarn. I knit 2 together at the marker on the next 2 rows to eliminate the starting gap. That leaves me with 100 stitches for the whole. As you decrease stitches watch Ks and Ps to keep your rib knit! Then KNIT only all the rest of the stitches until you reach 7" or until you can see you are nearing the end of your yarn. Knit 1 Purl 1 for the last 3 rounds and cast off. Secure your yarn at the end however you normally do it.
That's it for me giving back today. Next month we should be back out on the road, in the air, on water, on rails, etc. Check back as we return Down Under!
Thursday, November 24, 2016
The Money
Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!
photos
So today is the day for which we have paid the big money. The 90th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade viewed from room 610 at the J. W. Marriott Essex House. Clay had expected more for our money and last night it arrived. We had gotten ready to get in bed to watch a movie at 8pm when the doorbell rang and there was knocking. I had set the do not disturb button at our door so I was leery but I had on pj's and Clay had on only underpants. So I was at least covered. I went to look out the peephole while Clay shut himself in the bathroom. I must have been visible because as soon as I touched the door the man on the other side loudly apologized for ignoring the DND and said he was delivering gifts. I opened the door and he handed me a heavy Marriott tote bag. Inside were a pair of waters, a pair of etched glass souvenir Essex House coffee mugs, a novel, a guide booklet, a tiny souvenir-sweatered teddy bear and a plaid souvenir lap blanket. I am pretty sure Clay still doesn't think he's gotten his money's worth!
So anyway today was the big day and it was pretty special. It would have not been fun to be outside and on our feet again for hours today. However, we had been notified in advance in writing that we would be unable to stand in front of the hotel during the parade and that we could not sit on the bleachers across the street as they were reserved for Macy's guests/clients. Neither was true. We watched random people line the rails below our room for an hour before the parade as well as help themselves to the bleachers after the organized fill occurred for about 30 minutes prior. I guess you couldn't count on either or as Clay said figure out how to get there with all the road and sidewalk blocks. The only reason we could see it was that we were above it. Anyway, it was fun. The window is small and we pretty much had to stand up and lean against it to see the parade except for the random very high balloon that was even with the window. Those moments were golden though! I am glad we did it and now it's been done.
So, we've spent all day inside and have dinner in the Essex House's Southgate Restaurant at $125pp at 5pm. Clay thinks he can eat his money's worth and is sure I can't. I am sure I can't either! He has a plan though. The other night at Nino's Tuscany they had $3.50 each oysters on the half shell. They are on the Thanksgiving Buffet menu tonight. Clay figures that if he eats 20 to 25 oysters and some turkey or beef that he has gotten his money's worth. We'll see.
We've checked in online for our flight home tomorrow on United. Essex House wants $10 or so to allow us to print them in their Business Center so that is not happening. Clay has mapped out a public transit route for us to Newark Airport tomorrow and we'll allow plenty of time for that with the added goal of getting there early enough to find a kiosk and print our boarding passes at the airport.
The Thanksgiving buffet was good but we're both positive we did not eat our money's worth! Clay ate about a dozen oysters. I ate a half dozen raspberry macarons so Clay felt I made a bigger dent than expected. It turned out to actually cost us $337. The 20% gratuity was automatically added to the bill for the self-service buffet! Then there were taxes and a $12 beer Clay ordered. They included welcome drinks and coffee after. We had one of each of the welcome drinks. Both were seasonally tasty. One had rum and spices and one had vodka and apples. We both thought that we had prepaid for everything on this trip months ago and we're surprised to see the original $125 pp charged on the tab. We didn't have anyway to prove it and after a manager checked our hotel account, he couldn't find that we'd paid it. Clay checked when we got back to the room and couldn't find the $250 we both thought had been charged when we made the reservations. So, Clay went back down and authorized the charge.
Unless something extraordinary happens, I won't be back with any more posts about this trip. It has been a good trip and a good birthday present even if a bit too extravagant.
photos
photos
So today is the day for which we have paid the big money. The 90th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade viewed from room 610 at the J. W. Marriott Essex House. Clay had expected more for our money and last night it arrived. We had gotten ready to get in bed to watch a movie at 8pm when the doorbell rang and there was knocking. I had set the do not disturb button at our door so I was leery but I had on pj's and Clay had on only underpants. So I was at least covered. I went to look out the peephole while Clay shut himself in the bathroom. I must have been visible because as soon as I touched the door the man on the other side loudly apologized for ignoring the DND and said he was delivering gifts. I opened the door and he handed me a heavy Marriott tote bag. Inside were a pair of waters, a pair of etched glass souvenir Essex House coffee mugs, a novel, a guide booklet, a tiny souvenir-sweatered teddy bear and a plaid souvenir lap blanket. I am pretty sure Clay still doesn't think he's gotten his money's worth!
So anyway today was the big day and it was pretty special. It would have not been fun to be outside and on our feet again for hours today. However, we had been notified in advance in writing that we would be unable to stand in front of the hotel during the parade and that we could not sit on the bleachers across the street as they were reserved for Macy's guests/clients. Neither was true. We watched random people line the rails below our room for an hour before the parade as well as help themselves to the bleachers after the organized fill occurred for about 30 minutes prior. I guess you couldn't count on either or as Clay said figure out how to get there with all the road and sidewalk blocks. The only reason we could see it was that we were above it. Anyway, it was fun. The window is small and we pretty much had to stand up and lean against it to see the parade except for the random very high balloon that was even with the window. Those moments were golden though! I am glad we did it and now it's been done.
So, we've spent all day inside and have dinner in the Essex House's Southgate Restaurant at $125pp at 5pm. Clay thinks he can eat his money's worth and is sure I can't. I am sure I can't either! He has a plan though. The other night at Nino's Tuscany they had $3.50 each oysters on the half shell. They are on the Thanksgiving Buffet menu tonight. Clay figures that if he eats 20 to 25 oysters and some turkey or beef that he has gotten his money's worth. We'll see.
We've checked in online for our flight home tomorrow on United. Essex House wants $10 or so to allow us to print them in their Business Center so that is not happening. Clay has mapped out a public transit route for us to Newark Airport tomorrow and we'll allow plenty of time for that with the added goal of getting there early enough to find a kiosk and print our boarding passes at the airport.
The Thanksgiving buffet was good but we're both positive we did not eat our money's worth! Clay ate about a dozen oysters. I ate a half dozen raspberry macarons so Clay felt I made a bigger dent than expected. It turned out to actually cost us $337. The 20% gratuity was automatically added to the bill for the self-service buffet! Then there were taxes and a $12 beer Clay ordered. They included welcome drinks and coffee after. We had one of each of the welcome drinks. Both were seasonally tasty. One had rum and spices and one had vodka and apples. We both thought that we had prepaid for everything on this trip months ago and we're surprised to see the original $125 pp charged on the tab. We didn't have anyway to prove it and after a manager checked our hotel account, he couldn't find that we'd paid it. Clay checked when we got back to the room and couldn't find the $250 we both thought had been charged when we made the reservations. So, Clay went back down and authorized the charge.
Unless something extraordinary happens, I won't be back with any more posts about this trip. It has been a good trip and a good birthday present even if a bit too extravagant.
photos
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
A long day's walking
photos
Clay started a movie on TV last night, Hangover III. He promptly went to sleep. I stayed up and laughed myself silly. They were outside on Central Park South setting up bleachers across the street for the parade until at least midnight. I fell asleep before the noise stopped. We slept in this morning as we had no where to be early today. I wanted to go to the Guggenheim and after 3pm go see the parade balloons being inflated. Clay was up first about 12 hours after he'd gone to bed and that woke me up. He went down the hall to get ice, then he went downstairs to the restaurant in the lobby to get me a complimentary coffee. After that he went across 58th and around 6th to go to Merci Market for breakfast. He had a bagel and cream cheese and brought me a yogurt.
We set out towards Central Park about 10am. We walked paths and trails and stopped at the Dairy Visitor Center, the ice skating rink, the Balto statue, the Alice in Wonderland statue, Cleopatra's Needle and came out on 5th Avenue past the Met. The Guggenheim opened today after 10am so we got there about an hour later. We passed the Neue Gallery on the way and saw their banners that they were currently showing Klimt. We were excited but when we went back found that they are closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. So, we missed that. But we really enjoyed the Guggenheim. The building is by Frank Lloyd Wright and it was as special as the art displayed. We ate at the restaurant there sometime after 1pm. We ate light not because we were starving but because we needed to sit somewhere for an hour or so! It was good and because we had made a gift shop purchase and had the receipt we got a 10% discount.
Now knowing what we know now, I can't say that we'd have crossed the park headed to Columbus Ave and 79th. But we didn't know and off we went. We headed for the 79th St entrance because I wanted to see the Belvedere Castle in the park. We went in and all the way up inside. It was crowded but nothing like what was coming! We exited through the Ramble and started seeing detour signs. Then crowds and crowds of people trying to get out of the park. But the paths and roads and entrances and exits were closed. We wandered back and forth for maybe an hour with Trolls balloons in sight next to the Natural History Museum but no way to get there. We had to walk over a mile, maybe 2, by the time we got inside the viewing area with a million or so other people. I'm only counting the ones who touched me not everyone I could see. There were only about 2 dozen balloons and Snoopy and Kermit have evidently been fired. So it wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped. If we could have backed out we might have but I have to say we worked almost as hard to get away as we did to get there. I was fully dark by the time we had walked maybe 3 or 4 blocks in the opposite direction of where we wanted to go. We had planned to return to the Plaza Food Hall to eat at the Chinese place where we couldn't get seats yesterday at lunch. We were both beat and had to use the bathroom by now so we got a taxi. Traffic was a nightmare but at least we were headed away from the parade balloon madness. As I told Clay, it is done and I'm glad we did it though I wouldn't recommend it! If we had known what to expect, I expect we wouldn't have done it.
We got to the Food Hall after 5pm. We got seats in a nearly empty Chinese place and both had rice bowls instead of noodles or dumplings.. It was a bit of a disappointment. I had chicken and Clay had salmon. Maybe noodles or dumpling would have been better, but I liked the crepe place better. After that we detoured over to Merci Market to stock up for tomorrow since we have plans for a lazy day in the room watching the parade from our extraordinarily expensive parade view room. We bought enough for breakfast and lunch, we hope. Clay said he might want to go out in the afternoon, but I am not sure what would be open then. We'll see. We made reservations for the Essex House Thanksgiving buffet at 5pm tomorrow per recommendations of the hotel. They wanted $125pp for it and we paid it. We do not have high expectations and may wish tomorrow that we'd done some research for something more reasonable, but we were concerned about crowds and bad weather and this was definitely the easiest thing which we assumed would make it worth the extra expense. We'll see.
It has been a long, exhausting day so I'm going to put my feet up now and give thanks!
photos
Clay started a movie on TV last night, Hangover III. He promptly went to sleep. I stayed up and laughed myself silly. They were outside on Central Park South setting up bleachers across the street for the parade until at least midnight. I fell asleep before the noise stopped. We slept in this morning as we had no where to be early today. I wanted to go to the Guggenheim and after 3pm go see the parade balloons being inflated. Clay was up first about 12 hours after he'd gone to bed and that woke me up. He went down the hall to get ice, then he went downstairs to the restaurant in the lobby to get me a complimentary coffee. After that he went across 58th and around 6th to go to Merci Market for breakfast. He had a bagel and cream cheese and brought me a yogurt.
We set out towards Central Park about 10am. We walked paths and trails and stopped at the Dairy Visitor Center, the ice skating rink, the Balto statue, the Alice in Wonderland statue, Cleopatra's Needle and came out on 5th Avenue past the Met. The Guggenheim opened today after 10am so we got there about an hour later. We passed the Neue Gallery on the way and saw their banners that they were currently showing Klimt. We were excited but when we went back found that they are closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. So, we missed that. But we really enjoyed the Guggenheim. The building is by Frank Lloyd Wright and it was as special as the art displayed. We ate at the restaurant there sometime after 1pm. We ate light not because we were starving but because we needed to sit somewhere for an hour or so! It was good and because we had made a gift shop purchase and had the receipt we got a 10% discount.
Now knowing what we know now, I can't say that we'd have crossed the park headed to Columbus Ave and 79th. But we didn't know and off we went. We headed for the 79th St entrance because I wanted to see the Belvedere Castle in the park. We went in and all the way up inside. It was crowded but nothing like what was coming! We exited through the Ramble and started seeing detour signs. Then crowds and crowds of people trying to get out of the park. But the paths and roads and entrances and exits were closed. We wandered back and forth for maybe an hour with Trolls balloons in sight next to the Natural History Museum but no way to get there. We had to walk over a mile, maybe 2, by the time we got inside the viewing area with a million or so other people. I'm only counting the ones who touched me not everyone I could see. There were only about 2 dozen balloons and Snoopy and Kermit have evidently been fired. So it wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped. If we could have backed out we might have but I have to say we worked almost as hard to get away as we did to get there. I was fully dark by the time we had walked maybe 3 or 4 blocks in the opposite direction of where we wanted to go. We had planned to return to the Plaza Food Hall to eat at the Chinese place where we couldn't get seats yesterday at lunch. We were both beat and had to use the bathroom by now so we got a taxi. Traffic was a nightmare but at least we were headed away from the parade balloon madness. As I told Clay, it is done and I'm glad we did it though I wouldn't recommend it! If we had known what to expect, I expect we wouldn't have done it.
We got to the Food Hall after 5pm. We got seats in a nearly empty Chinese place and both had rice bowls instead of noodles or dumplings.. It was a bit of a disappointment. I had chicken and Clay had salmon. Maybe noodles or dumpling would have been better, but I liked the crepe place better. After that we detoured over to Merci Market to stock up for tomorrow since we have plans for a lazy day in the room watching the parade from our extraordinarily expensive parade view room. We bought enough for breakfast and lunch, we hope. Clay said he might want to go out in the afternoon, but I am not sure what would be open then. We'll see. We made reservations for the Essex House Thanksgiving buffet at 5pm tomorrow per recommendations of the hotel. They wanted $125pp for it and we paid it. We do not have high expectations and may wish tomorrow that we'd done some research for something more reasonable, but we were concerned about crowds and bad weather and this was definitely the easiest thing which we assumed would make it worth the extra expense. We'll see.
It has been a long, exhausting day so I'm going to put my feet up now and give thanks!
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Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Thanksgiving in NYC for our birthdays
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
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We flew to Newark today to start our birthdays trip. I had voted to drive up but Clay over-ruled me. We got cheap seats on United. It was a full flight and OK except for a rough take-off and a world-class rough landing. Descent was about a half-hour long nightmare and I was only a couple of minutes from using the barf bag when mercifully it was over. We didn't check luggage so as quick as we could get outside we took a cab into Manhattan through the Lincoln Tunnel. This was convenient but the tolls for the roads and tunnel made it extravagant. I was relieved to sit in a car though!
We got in about noon and our parade view room at the Essex House was not promised until 4pm. We dropped our bags with the Bellman forgetting how cold it was outside and leaving our extra layers and Clay's hat and gloves in the bags. Oh well. On top of that we somehow gave Clay's cell phone number to the desk wrong or it was typed in wrong. Anyway, when we got back after 4pm and the room 610 was ready for us, Clay asked why he wasn't called and we found out they had called some other number. Oh well. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade view rooms on floors 3 to 8 are available at Essex House for a 3-night minimum for a queen bed for us at $1799 per night. This will definitely be a once in a lifetime experience for us.
Clay wanted to walk by Trump Tower and St. Patrick's Cathedral so we walked that way. At The Plaza I saw a sign for Todd English Food Hall in the basement and we went in. It was like a big fancy food court. We wanted a Chinese place but as we waited it came clear we'd never get a seat so we crossed over to the crepe place. It was very good. We each had a savory and shared a Nutella. We also shared a Nutella hot cocoa. It was a great lunch and affordable. We'll be back as it is open from morning to 8pm.
It was a police state zoo on 5th Avenue a block either side of Trump Tower. I pity people who live around there! We walked on down to St. Patricks and went in. We walked down another half block and across the street to Rockefeller Plaza. We went in the big Lego store and got Mom a new watch for Christmas after some phone consultations. We watched the zamboni and the ice skaters. We walked back by MoMA. We spent enough time in their large gift shop to realize that neither of us love modern art enough to wait in line to pay about $25 pp to go in the museum.
We got our room and waited to 5pm to go back out. We had seen a place about a half block away called Nino's Tuscany that had a sign outside for wood oven pizza. We went back for dinner. We were the first ones! By 6:10pm other people were arriving but I was beat already. We got a salad for Clay and a meat lover's pizza to share. We couldn't finish it. It had no tomato sauce on it! It was alright. We skipped dessert and went to the Food Hall again. Before dinner we had gone to CVS a couple of blocks away and got Coke Zeros for the room. We also checked out a deli/grocery place that is over on 6th Avenue just around the corner from the back entrance here. It is open 24 hours a day so that will work nicely for us!
Tomorrow we hope to visit the Guggenheim and go see the big balloons being inflated for the 90th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!
photos
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We flew to Newark today to start our birthdays trip. I had voted to drive up but Clay over-ruled me. We got cheap seats on United. It was a full flight and OK except for a rough take-off and a world-class rough landing. Descent was about a half-hour long nightmare and I was only a couple of minutes from using the barf bag when mercifully it was over. We didn't check luggage so as quick as we could get outside we took a cab into Manhattan through the Lincoln Tunnel. This was convenient but the tolls for the roads and tunnel made it extravagant. I was relieved to sit in a car though!
We got in about noon and our parade view room at the Essex House was not promised until 4pm. We dropped our bags with the Bellman forgetting how cold it was outside and leaving our extra layers and Clay's hat and gloves in the bags. Oh well. On top of that we somehow gave Clay's cell phone number to the desk wrong or it was typed in wrong. Anyway, when we got back after 4pm and the room 610 was ready for us, Clay asked why he wasn't called and we found out they had called some other number. Oh well. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade view rooms on floors 3 to 8 are available at Essex House for a 3-night minimum for a queen bed for us at $1799 per night. This will definitely be a once in a lifetime experience for us.
Clay wanted to walk by Trump Tower and St. Patrick's Cathedral so we walked that way. At The Plaza I saw a sign for Todd English Food Hall in the basement and we went in. It was like a big fancy food court. We wanted a Chinese place but as we waited it came clear we'd never get a seat so we crossed over to the crepe place. It was very good. We each had a savory and shared a Nutella. We also shared a Nutella hot cocoa. It was a great lunch and affordable. We'll be back as it is open from morning to 8pm.
It was a police state zoo on 5th Avenue a block either side of Trump Tower. I pity people who live around there! We walked on down to St. Patricks and went in. We walked down another half block and across the street to Rockefeller Plaza. We went in the big Lego store and got Mom a new watch for Christmas after some phone consultations. We watched the zamboni and the ice skaters. We walked back by MoMA. We spent enough time in their large gift shop to realize that neither of us love modern art enough to wait in line to pay about $25 pp to go in the museum.
We got our room and waited to 5pm to go back out. We had seen a place about a half block away called Nino's Tuscany that had a sign outside for wood oven pizza. We went back for dinner. We were the first ones! By 6:10pm other people were arriving but I was beat already. We got a salad for Clay and a meat lover's pizza to share. We couldn't finish it. It had no tomato sauce on it! It was alright. We skipped dessert and went to the Food Hall again. Before dinner we had gone to CVS a couple of blocks away and got Coke Zeros for the room. We also checked out a deli/grocery place that is over on 6th Avenue just around the corner from the back entrance here. It is open 24 hours a day so that will work nicely for us!
Tomorrow we hope to visit the Guggenheim and go see the big balloons being inflated for the 90th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!
photos
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