The Central Park, that famous lung space in Manhattan, is obviously a place we walk to and from, every single trip, at least once. Make that multiple times, simply because our sons aver that is the best place to be on a summer day and my dear wife agrees with them as readily as she disagrees with me on any subject. With its wide expanse of glistening, green, grassy spaces, a few large and small water bodies where miniature boats bobble up and down, it is a sheer spectacle any day and more so, if it is a sparkling, summer day. You see scattered musicians playing their tunes and beats (a few pull you to them, the music tugging at your heart-strings and many tend to repel or scare you further away with their noise), all with their ubiquitous. inverted hats suitably positioned as collection boxes - not on the heads obviously. Hordes of bikers, strollers (with two legs as well as four wheels), dog-walkers and child-minders with their wards. (many holding leashes at one end, regardless of what is twitching at the other). Horse-drawn carriages on the park roads, filled with smug and smiling elders, shrieking youngsters, excited kids. Multiple soft-ball games in progress, with an assortment of men, women and kids scurrying around. And of course, a bunch of people, hooked to their Google Map, with the typical confused looks and furrowed foreheads, wondering where they are and whither they should proceed!! A walk around the park (we recommend you go farther inside from the 59th street to around 75th) provides one with good exercise, fresh air and free entertainment with multitude of actors, as explained above.
Having said that, we also like another park, the Bryant Park, which is starkly different and well, stark, period! This one occupies probably about 9 blocks near the 42nd street and 6th Avenue (very close to my heart not because it is near the Metropolitan Museum but because it is diagonally across the Bank of America building!!). This park amazes us no end. Strapped for space being located right in midtown Manhattan, it is tightly packed with drinking places, restaurants, coffee shops, ice cream parlours and the like. Yoga routines involving avid but masochist groups who seem bent on twisting themselves permanently out of shape; old movies being shown to aficionados full of nostalgia and reminiscences in the central lawn, while youngsters gawk and wonder why would such slow movies appeal to anyone; book-reading sessions attended by new authors and newer, eclectic groups of readers on one side; tradesmen and employees using the chairs tables available for free as temporary mid-town offices to conduct business, some even converting them into short term living quarters - you get to see all these and more, making one wonder whether this park is a microcosm of Manhattan. Look, sets of people are playing chess on a few tables, head bent in intense concentration and so absorbed that none of the hubbub around them is a distraction. We have seen players on either side changing after 15 minutes of an unfinished game, because guys have to go on with their jobs!! There are a few table tennis tables too and sometimes, shots get played by the next table guy, partners change all of a sudden because somebody moved a couple of feet more than customary and balls get trampled over all the time by crisscrossing pedestrians. All part of a day's fun! As usual, my dear wife frets hugely about participating in all the above activities at the same time and realizes, after enthusiastic efforts, that she cannot. But she has the grace to accept that fact with equanimity and move on, just to try again next year!!
It has always been a mystery to us why that ferry ride to Staten Island is gratis!! That huge ferry is stuffed to the gills every single trip, either with commuters from the island or with tourists. While the former tribe use the ferry to get to work/back and do other chores in Manhattan, the latter group does nothing more than go to Staten Island, take a U-turn and return post-haste by the next ferry, like veritable balls hitting a wall. Sure, we know Staten Island is not Santorini, so tourists just take the ferry for a joy-ride, with a double bonus thrown in -- they get a chance to go right across the Statue of Liberty, twice and at a distance. We would gladly pay and enjoy the ride because it is a pleasurable trip, with the salty wind caressing your face and ruffling your hair. But if there is a levy, I wonder how many tourists will board the ferry for seeing pretty much nothing at the other end. Some fodder for Trump, since this seems to be benefiting visitors also, something that goes viciously against his grain!! Can we expect a tweet soon?? Talking of that, shouldn't Twitter call the post a Twit rather than a Tweet? Would be more appropriate in all respects, right?
Another sight that perpetually mesmerizes us is that of the anglers along East river, lying comatose on benches most of the time, having set up their tackles in the fond hope of catching some fish or anything else, may be! We have walked through that space about a hundred times so far and have never seen any catch, unless you expand the scenario to include those jogging, running and cycling catching their body parts when hurt during their exercise regimen. I suspect the anglers know something we don't. Fishing is for the absolutely patient, certainly, but next time I intend checking if there is anything at all in East river to catch or all that is an elaborate sham set up to blissfully avoid an over-powering wife at home!! Who knows, even the wife may be happier this way, considering the quality of her own catch!
During the walk from midtown to Williamsburg Bridge, along the East river, one can see some sophisticated forms of daily transport, unique to Manhattan. Helicopters are used by those who can afford, as taxis, to travel from the city to their suburban homes or offices. There are a couple of heli-stations (one near the 34th st/FDR highway) and the frequency of service is almost better than our typical bus services. The pilots combat strong winds and land the helicopters so expertly in the small space available, when just a jerky movement forward by a some yards might crash the contraption against the flyover on the road!! And we just love walking across one which is in the process of taking off, generating high velocity wind which hits ones face, supplemented with generous spray from the sea. Exhilarating feeling, I would say, despite the horrendous noise produced. If we look a bit further, we see sea-planes landing and taking off in regular intervals, on what should be an imaginary, somewhat choppy run-way in the sea! Add the ferries, barges, boats and the occasional jet-skis -- you get what should be a chaotic mix, but everything seems to work in great unison, according to a well controlled procedure. The sky buzzes with activity here when you include all the regular commercial flights taking off/landing at the nearby airports and one can spend hours just watching this spectacle.
Our sons have spent a decade and more in USA, especially in New York and San Francisco. Initially we wondered how one can eat out all the time, without ever cooking a meal at home. Our elder one, with absolutely no penchant for the kitchen, has never once pretended that he would want to cook a meal. We understood why, during our peripatetic missions there. In something like a 8 square mile area in Manhattan, without exaggeration, one can fine cuisine from any country (may be Western Samoa, Nauru and Papua New Guinea exempted, that too only because we have not seen any board) and multiple providers at that. Add to that the superb convenience brought into play by the Online Ordering system (Seamless and the like) and one can eat meals for 3 months possibly, without ever repeating a restaurant. If you have the appetite for that, given the variety and ease. However, when we are there, our sons diligently come to our apartment every evening, eat the regular home cooked vegetarian Indian stuff, lick their plates and fingers clean and applaud the creator (of the meals, I mean). So, when available, this desi stuff beats the hide off the `foreign' dishes, we concluded.
Our favourite restaurants, this being not an exhaustive list, are Baby Bo Cantina (2nd Ave/34th street) for Mexican, Sigiri (1st Ave/5th Street) for Sri Lankan, Vezzo (Lex/33rd street) for probably the best thin crust pizza in the world (for normal crust, I would recommend going to Piece in Wicker Park, Chicago), Ruby's Cafe (3rd Ave/31st street) for casual, snack-meals, Jaiya Thai (3rd Ave/28th Street). If you like something different, try Maoz's pita sandwiches (near Union Square) - be careful not to use too much of the sauce, lest your sandwich gets too soggy too soon and disintegrates outside your mouth!
Other things we look out for are Royce chocolates, Mochi ice cream, Gregory Coffee (we avoid Starbucks at all costs), Gelato at Eataly, french fries at the Belgian Beer Cafe. Enough said, on food, I guess. I seem to have gained a few pounds since I started this blog.
So, ambling along in Manhattan, unmindful of where you go and what you do, can be a significantly rewarding pastime in itself. The biggest advantage in doing this in Manhattan is that even a dummy cannot lose his way, because of the way the layout is. We enjoy that and hope some of you would do too. Yes, do pack in some Dolo 650, Tiger Balm etc; helps in times of vigorous protests by various creaking parts of the body.
Having said that, we also like another park, the Bryant Park, which is starkly different and well, stark, period! This one occupies probably about 9 blocks near the 42nd street and 6th Avenue (very close to my heart not because it is near the Metropolitan Museum but because it is diagonally across the Bank of America building!!). This park amazes us no end. Strapped for space being located right in midtown Manhattan, it is tightly packed with drinking places, restaurants, coffee shops, ice cream parlours and the like. Yoga routines involving avid but masochist groups who seem bent on twisting themselves permanently out of shape; old movies being shown to aficionados full of nostalgia and reminiscences in the central lawn, while youngsters gawk and wonder why would such slow movies appeal to anyone; book-reading sessions attended by new authors and newer, eclectic groups of readers on one side; tradesmen and employees using the chairs tables available for free as temporary mid-town offices to conduct business, some even converting them into short term living quarters - you get to see all these and more, making one wonder whether this park is a microcosm of Manhattan. Look, sets of people are playing chess on a few tables, head bent in intense concentration and so absorbed that none of the hubbub around them is a distraction. We have seen players on either side changing after 15 minutes of an unfinished game, because guys have to go on with their jobs!! There are a few table tennis tables too and sometimes, shots get played by the next table guy, partners change all of a sudden because somebody moved a couple of feet more than customary and balls get trampled over all the time by crisscrossing pedestrians. All part of a day's fun! As usual, my dear wife frets hugely about participating in all the above activities at the same time and realizes, after enthusiastic efforts, that she cannot. But she has the grace to accept that fact with equanimity and move on, just to try again next year!!
It has always been a mystery to us why that ferry ride to Staten Island is gratis!! That huge ferry is stuffed to the gills every single trip, either with commuters from the island or with tourists. While the former tribe use the ferry to get to work/back and do other chores in Manhattan, the latter group does nothing more than go to Staten Island, take a U-turn and return post-haste by the next ferry, like veritable balls hitting a wall. Sure, we know Staten Island is not Santorini, so tourists just take the ferry for a joy-ride, with a double bonus thrown in -- they get a chance to go right across the Statue of Liberty, twice and at a distance. We would gladly pay and enjoy the ride because it is a pleasurable trip, with the salty wind caressing your face and ruffling your hair. But if there is a levy, I wonder how many tourists will board the ferry for seeing pretty much nothing at the other end. Some fodder for Trump, since this seems to be benefiting visitors also, something that goes viciously against his grain!! Can we expect a tweet soon?? Talking of that, shouldn't Twitter call the post a Twit rather than a Tweet? Would be more appropriate in all respects, right?
Another sight that perpetually mesmerizes us is that of the anglers along East river, lying comatose on benches most of the time, having set up their tackles in the fond hope of catching some fish or anything else, may be! We have walked through that space about a hundred times so far and have never seen any catch, unless you expand the scenario to include those jogging, running and cycling catching their body parts when hurt during their exercise regimen. I suspect the anglers know something we don't. Fishing is for the absolutely patient, certainly, but next time I intend checking if there is anything at all in East river to catch or all that is an elaborate sham set up to blissfully avoid an over-powering wife at home!! Who knows, even the wife may be happier this way, considering the quality of her own catch!
During the walk from midtown to Williamsburg Bridge, along the East river, one can see some sophisticated forms of daily transport, unique to Manhattan. Helicopters are used by those who can afford, as taxis, to travel from the city to their suburban homes or offices. There are a couple of heli-stations (one near the 34th st/FDR highway) and the frequency of service is almost better than our typical bus services. The pilots combat strong winds and land the helicopters so expertly in the small space available, when just a jerky movement forward by a some yards might crash the contraption against the flyover on the road!! And we just love walking across one which is in the process of taking off, generating high velocity wind which hits ones face, supplemented with generous spray from the sea. Exhilarating feeling, I would say, despite the horrendous noise produced. If we look a bit further, we see sea-planes landing and taking off in regular intervals, on what should be an imaginary, somewhat choppy run-way in the sea! Add the ferries, barges, boats and the occasional jet-skis -- you get what should be a chaotic mix, but everything seems to work in great unison, according to a well controlled procedure. The sky buzzes with activity here when you include all the regular commercial flights taking off/landing at the nearby airports and one can spend hours just watching this spectacle.
Our sons have spent a decade and more in USA, especially in New York and San Francisco. Initially we wondered how one can eat out all the time, without ever cooking a meal at home. Our elder one, with absolutely no penchant for the kitchen, has never once pretended that he would want to cook a meal. We understood why, during our peripatetic missions there. In something like a 8 square mile area in Manhattan, without exaggeration, one can fine cuisine from any country (may be Western Samoa, Nauru and Papua New Guinea exempted, that too only because we have not seen any board) and multiple providers at that. Add to that the superb convenience brought into play by the Online Ordering system (Seamless and the like) and one can eat meals for 3 months possibly, without ever repeating a restaurant. If you have the appetite for that, given the variety and ease. However, when we are there, our sons diligently come to our apartment every evening, eat the regular home cooked vegetarian Indian stuff, lick their plates and fingers clean and applaud the creator (of the meals, I mean). So, when available, this desi stuff beats the hide off the `foreign' dishes, we concluded.
Our favourite restaurants, this being not an exhaustive list, are Baby Bo Cantina (2nd Ave/34th street) for Mexican, Sigiri (1st Ave/5th Street) for Sri Lankan, Vezzo (Lex/33rd street) for probably the best thin crust pizza in the world (for normal crust, I would recommend going to Piece in Wicker Park, Chicago), Ruby's Cafe (3rd Ave/31st street) for casual, snack-meals, Jaiya Thai (3rd Ave/28th Street). If you like something different, try Maoz's pita sandwiches (near Union Square) - be careful not to use too much of the sauce, lest your sandwich gets too soggy too soon and disintegrates outside your mouth!
Other things we look out for are Royce chocolates, Mochi ice cream, Gregory Coffee (we avoid Starbucks at all costs), Gelato at Eataly, french fries at the Belgian Beer Cafe. Enough said, on food, I guess. I seem to have gained a few pounds since I started this blog.
So, ambling along in Manhattan, unmindful of where you go and what you do, can be a significantly rewarding pastime in itself. The biggest advantage in doing this in Manhattan is that even a dummy cannot lose his way, because of the way the layout is. We enjoy that and hope some of you would do too. Yes, do pack in some Dolo 650, Tiger Balm etc; helps in times of vigorous protests by various creaking parts of the body.
