I've been to New York a couple times now, and I think it's my equivalent to Paris or London from 5-8 years ago. It's close enough that it doesn't take too long to get there and it's the big city/shopping getaway that I crave every so often. I still have lots to explore in the city (as I always will in any city that I go to), but it's starting to feel familiar enough that
I do have a couple things that I always like do when I'm there. In Paris, I always have to visit the Tour Eiffel. I take one evening during my trip to just sit there and take a moment. In New York, I tend to do that at Times Square. You'd think that at each of these touristy and crowded areas, I wouldn't be able to take a moment to get a quiet moment for myself, but I always can.When I lived in Europe, London was my place that I would catch a couple shows. I would line up at the tkts booth in Leicester Square for something playing in the West End. I would splurge on tickets for the Royal Opera. I never seemed to go at a time when I could get tickets to the Royal Ballet. I used to go to London twice a year and pretty much the same time of year each time. Anyway, I try to catch a couple shows in New York each time I go as well. I'm not entirely sure why I don't take advantage of more touring shows that come through Toronto (actually, I do, I have some sort of complex that they might not be as good as if I were to see them in London or New York - which I know is a ridiculous thing to think) but I really should get over myself and take advantage of some of some more of the great things that Toronto has to offer.
Anyway, this past time in New York, I went to an opera at the Met Opera. It was quite lovely. The production was great and of course the venue is spectacular. I really like theatres/concert halls/opera houses. I always try to visit them when I travel, and if there is a tour of the building, I take it. They're so lovely. Lincoln Center is no exception. I mean a place with massive Chagalls on display for people passing by to see...c'mon. Gorgeous during the day. Gorgeous at night. The steps leading up to it even light up and tell you important things.I usually see a musical on Broadway, and this past trip, I went to see The Book of Mormon. I scored a great seat the day of (this is when there was still a lot of buzz about the show because it did so well at last year's Tony's) after waiting in the standby line for quite some time. It was a show that I laughed through, but I wondered if people would
be offended at it. I could see how it goes over the line, but in my opinion, it's clearly poking fun at things (which may be based on truth - I don't know for sure, but I don't know enough about the things discussed) so I was ready to laugh about it. Mind you, I wonder if others would have a different opinion of the show. Oh well, I enjoyed it. Even if you didn't like the content, you had to appreciate other parts of the show. I'm actually going back to New York this week and I'm still trying to decide which show(s) I want to see. I did take a look at who won what at the Tony's, so that might help me decide. We'll see what happens.
As I've said, I like to visit theatres and during this trip, I finally went to Radio City Music Hall. Wow, that place is amazing. I always like seeing things in person that I've seen on TV (there's that 'wow, it's really real!' factor) but it really is spectacular. I would like to see a Christmas Spectacular at some point. It's such a big production that I would like to see it for myself. And the Rockettes. It would be neat to see them. This week, I do have plans to see something there...I'm stoked about it.
I do have a couple other things that I want to do on this upcoming trip. The High Line is impressive each time I see it, so hopefully there will be some great weather while I'm there and I can enjoy it once again. I also want to enjoy Central Park. For someone who usually beelines for all of the tourist spots the first time I'm in a city, can you believe that I've never actually explored the park? I've zipped into one area to see the Alice in Wonderland statue, but that's it. How depressing. I really hope the weather cooperates this time. I have plans to have a nice lunch and read a book!There's just so much to do in New York. Each time I go, there's more things that I want to do and things to discover. And there seem to be special events or seasonal
things that pop up too. I loved the ice rink that was in Bryant Park. I was desperate to go skating (I haven't skated in over a year, I think. Maybe two? It's quite upsetting.) but just standing and watching the folks on the ice, having a great time was nice. They'd set up a Christmas Market surrounding it, and I felt like I was back in Europe again. The 'log' huts that they'd put there and the kinds of trinkets they were selling. All that was missing was the stall with the candied nuts and gingerbread. And the glühwein. Oh, to smell that glühweinAnyway, those were just some of the highlights of my trip to New York last year. I'm excited to be going back again and can't wait to discover more about the city. I was considering bringing work with me to do and I will be trying to get some work done on the way there and back, but I'm not sure if I will get anything done while I'm there.
Part of me thinks that it might be nice for me to get some work done in a different place and space, a fresh way to work on things, but another part of me says, 'take a break'. I probably need one. But who wouldn't be motivated to get some work down if you were sitting in a gorgeous library such as this one? I'm going to start with working on the way there and seeing how much I can accomplish during that amount of time. I'll see how motivated I am to continue working after that beginning on the journey over and then decide. The problem is that there's just so many things that I want to do in the city, that why would I 'waste' my time there working, when I could be enjoying everything else that the city has to offer?What a great city.
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