Give My Regards to Broadway

As I mentioned last week, when we were in New York, we hoped to see a Broadway Show. We stood in the TKTX line for an hour and a half last Thursday, and got tickets to our first choice: The Thirty-nine Steps.

This play faithfully follows the plot of the Hitchcock movie of 1935, but.... it's a comedy. And it's hilarious! There is broad physical comedy, there are lots of sly Hitchcock references, and there is great literary humor as well (example: the train stops are "Mansfield Park," "Brideshead," and "Brideshead Revisited.") Four actors play all the parts, sometimes switching roles with just the change of a hat. They use multiple broad, exaggerated accents, and the one negative is that if you don't know the plot of the original, you might not always be able to figure out what's going on.

We didn't stop laughing, and we enjoyed the opportunity to be at the historic Helen Hayes Theatre as well.

We're In New York....

Well, actually, we're staying with friends in a charming town not far away, in New Jersey. It is really a lovely place, and these friends are about the most gracious people in the whole world. This town is home to a prestigious college and seminary; they live about two blocks away from the train station, which takes us into Penn.

Yesterday we went to Ellis Island. More about that later. We were to meet friends later in the evening in Greenwich Village. He was playing in a band. We were so tired after Ellis Island that we went home and I fell asleep. I could not get myself back in gear to go back into the City. I feel very badly about that. I called our friends and told them we wouldn't be able to meet them. I feel old just now. It takes a few days to get used to living by train schedules, and we never have more than a few days.

Our digital camera is broken. I feel badly about that too. Does anyone know if they can be fixed, or if the camera stores tell you just to "buy another one"? (we did get pictures of Ellis Island.)

We are getting a late start today. Will go in to the City soon, hope to see a show tonight. I'm trying to remain flexible, although we are currently hoping (as many know) to see The 39 Steps. We'll see.

Don't know about tomorrow or Saturday yet.

The Rest of New York

Saturday, November 17....

Our friends actually got their car out of storage, because they wanted to go and see The Cloisters with us. The Cloisters is a part of the Metropolitan Museum which was build to resemble a medieval monastery (some of the architecture, including doors, etc. are actually from monasteries in Europe). Lots of medieval paintings, tapestries, and sculptures, all pre-reformation. At one point our friends turned to me and said, "So what did Martin Luther do that was so great?"... which prompted a mini-Reformation history lesson.

The Cloisters is on the tip of upper Manhattan, in a wooded area you can't even imagine exists until you get there. I wish we had pictures to show the fall beauty all around the area. We spent all morning roaming around, until suddenly we realized we needed to get back to meet a pastor friend of my husband's. So we rushed back, and caught a subway down to Greenwich Village, where we met another friend -- this time under the Washington Square Arch.

He took us to a little noodle restaurant in the area, and learned a little about how he was doing. He had been a pastor in NewJersey at the time of 9/11, and several people from his congregation were missing after that day, their cars abandoned at the train station. It was a hard time for the small congregation, and a few years ago, he had a severe stroke. He now is able to work 10 hours a week. At one point, he confessed to not being able to follow part of our conversation. I was tempted to feel sorry for him, but he went on to say that he thought he was doing pretty well. "After all," he said, "I'm alive." I'll remember that short sentence for a long time. He also invited us to come back to New York, and stay with his family.

Later, we took the 1 train (our friend!) back to Upper Manhattan. We were a little alarmed when the train skipped several stops before 34th street. We weren't sure what was going on, but there was some kind of work going on, and some of the stops were closed -- just going north. Our friends D and A had invited us over to their house for supper at 7:00 -- homemade lasagne, created by D, salad and ice cream for dessert. Afterwards A had gotten reservations at an Uptown Jazz Club called Smoke, where we heard a be-bop group, featuring drummer Louis Hayes. It was a great atmosphere -- made us wish, though, that we hadn't had dessert! When the show started at 10:00, the first words from the small stage were: "It's Saturday night, and this is New York City!"

The club was cozy, with small tables and sofas in the back, and plush red curtains hanging throughout. D thought that the set was a little too short, but at 11:15, we were sadly up past our bedtime already.

(A word about our building: large, old building -- the rooms had been redecorated and the bathrooms new. Our blow dryer didn't work, and all of the hotel phone went out on Friday night for awhile. Also, one of the hotel elevators was kind of scary-looking, really small with gang markings on it. There was another, newer elevator, but we didn't find it until we were almost ready to leave.)

Sunday, November 18...
we ate breakfast at another wonderful little New York diner called Key West, where they know how to keep the coffee coming, and keep people moving through!

At 11:00 we met our friends again at a church they attend, Advent Lutheran. Pastor Elise Brown preached that morning, and there was a baptism: quite an event when a baby is not just sprinkled, but dipped naked into the font and then clothed in a towel and shown around to the cheering congregation. This was the tradition of the family's culture, we were told. I was impressed by the diversity, and openness. I really enjoyed worshiping with them, but again we had to rush off after worship to meet with a friend of my husband's, who lived down in Soho.

We ate at a cosmopolitan little place where there was a duo playing guitar and bass, and an international crew talking about world issues. Then took a short tour of the neighborhood, and learned a creative way to get back uptown for our luggage since we discovered that our beloved number 1 train did not stop at this station!

We were sad to leave New York, to get on a plane which would leave at 6:00 p.m., and sadder still when we discovered that our flight would be delayed! I would have loved one more hour to walk around in Central Park, to shop at Macy's, stop in at Rockefeller Center. In fact, I'm already planning out next itinerary, which includes:

A show at Radio City Music Hall
Rockefeller Center
Central Park
more Metropolitan Museum of Art
MoMA
The Ellis Island Immigration Museum

New York, New York, What A Wonderful Town

We got into Laguardia airport in New York City about 1 and 1/2 hours behind schedule. So at 10:30 on Thursday night, we were standing in line waiting for a cab, along with (it seemed) half of New York City. It was a beautiful evening, the wind had died down, and before we knew it we were at the small Manhattan apartment of my friends and former parish members. (I officiated at their wedding back in April, and then she moved to New York, where he lived.)

We met their two cats, Digger (15) and Little (3) and got the grand tour of their small but stylish apartment (actually near the Hudson River, but we couldn't see it in the dark). I loved the hardwood floors, the alcoves, the kitchen (narrow, but long, with pretty good counter space for an apartment). When we had trouble finding a hotel for Thursday, they offered to let us camp out for the night. We planned to head over to a nearby hotel first thing in the morning to store our luggage for the next two nights.

My husband had created a three-ring notebook with all of our plans (and pictures!) of the things we wanted to see and do for three days. A. looked at the notebook and decided he should have her prized compact New York street and subway map for the weekend. ("He has the manual," she explained.) They answered our questions about how to get to the places we planned (hoped?) to see on Friday and how to get to the dinner location, as well. (They actually made dinner plans for us for both Friday and Saturday nights.)

The next morning we got up as soon as D and A left for work, and hurriedly got our things together to walk down to the Days Hotel, just a convenient few blocks away. It's in a great area on the Upper West Side, and Husband mentioned as soon as we walked in how friendly the staff were! Someone greeted us warmly right away.

Turns out it was my blog friend Fran, who planned to meet us that morning. After checking our luggage we walked up to a great cafe called the Metro Diner. We spent an hour eating and talking about everything under the sun! I've now met three blog friends: Fran, HotCup Lutheran and her husband, and RevDrKate of Prairie Light. Fran gave a great first impression of New York and New Yorkers.

After breakfast, we bought Metro Passes and took the 1 train (and a bus) over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I admit it: I am a museum geek. I love museums! We spent all morning and part of the afternoon there, which didn't seem like a bad idea at all, until we got down to 34th street at midtown and realized how much there still was to see, and how little time we had.

We took in the Egyptian Exhibit, the special exhibit on Rembrandt and other Dutch painters, as well as some American and medieval art. My husband had to find some El Grecos (they have a few) and I especially wanted to remember The Penitent Magdalen (Georges de La Tour) and Mezzetin, by Watteau. (the de la Tour painting I remember as the cover of a book I own called The Poetry of Meditation). At one point I opened a door into a darkened room and discovered that this was their antique instruments collections, with strange and ornately decorated instruments from cultures around the world. Some of Sevogia's guitars are on display here. However, I was most fascinated by the harpsichord lushly decorated with scenes of David out in the field.

Our next stop (on the 1 train, of course) was the Empire State Building. On the way from the station to the building, I noticed Macy's, Herald Square (Give My Regards to Broadway) and 5th Avenue. I wanted to explore everything, but our goal was to go to the observation deck of the Empire State Building, which ended up taking us about the rest of the afternoon. It was a long wait up to the top, but a clear day so we could see in all directions. And, while sometimes the waiting made us crabby, we struck up a conversation with a nice young couple who turned out to be from Colombia! They were visiting the United States for 2 weeks and had been to Chicago and Vancouver.

I was beginning to realize that we were not going to be able to see the Rockefeller Center or peek at The New York Public Library. However, we did get to stop at the Macy's windows, which were decorated, appropriately, with scenes from Miracle on Thirty-Fourth Street. We took the 1 train back up to our hotel to change (discovering, briefly, that there were many other numbers and letters!), and rode back down to meet our friends at the Cornelia Street Cafe.

After dinner, they suggested we take the train up to Times Square to look around before heading back uptown. By New York standards, it was a quiet night (no shows due to the strike) but there were lights and people everywhere. Our friend A pointed out the M & M store; behind it a whole store devoted to Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, I believe. And I was just thrilled to turn around and see the lights that flashed Radio City Music Hall!

That was our first day in New York: we saw a lot, and we missed a lot. We often didn't know exactly where we were going, but we found friendly people everywhere, and especially the subway workers, who went out of their way to explain the city to us.

...to be continued

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to New York

I thought I had put film in the camera. Really, I was pretty sure about it. I had just taken in one roll of film, and I thought I had put a new roll in a few days before the trip.

I know, I was pretty busy. Also, I'm getting old. Last January, I thought it was funny when we visited my parents in Arizona and my mom took a whole bunch of pictures of my neice in a Japanese yukata I brought out for her. Later on, she discovered that she didn't have any film in the camera.

The same thing happened to me.

No film in the camera.

There has been something wrong with the camera recently. We can't make out the numbers on the top of the film any more, so can't tell what number picture we are on. Also, just on this trip, I put in a new battery. But the battery read that it was half used.

So we thought we were taking pictures. But we weren't. Good thing I met my blogfriend Fran and she took a picture.

sigh.

I'll try to paint some word pictures.

and... I guess we'll have to go back to New York sometime .... right?

I'm trying to make the best of it and not feel too stupid.

But I really wanted to have pictures from this trip, because I never had pictures from the last one.

And I'm a little down today as well because tomorrow I get to have the Procedure That Everyone Is Supposed To Have When They Turn Fifty. So, only clear liquids for me today. I'm glad I ate well this weekend.

I'll be back later with stories.

New York Story, Part II

February, 1981.

Last December, I had met with an official from the mission board of my denomination. It seems that my pastor had told him that I might be interested in serving as a missionary in Japan, so he called and asked to meet me for breakfast.

The truth was, I had never thought of being a missionary, in Japan or anywhere else. I had some friends in college who were "missionary kids," and I thought they were very interesting people. The first time I met one young woman, she was, I kid you not, peeling a grapefruit. It took all I had not to say, "that's not how you eat it." Another of my friends talked about taking an extended trip to Japan in the summer, and wanted to know if I would go with her. I was considering quitting my exciting secretarial job and going to graduate school, so I said "yes." I was ready for an adventure. More than ready. And I told my pastor, "I'm thinking of going to Japan, but I don't want to be a tourist." That's why he called the official from the mission board.

I had a great conversation with the official. No one had ever taken me out for breakfast before. He seemed to think I had some promise, because he asked me, "How would you like to come to New York and interview for a three year position as a teacher?"

Well, that could be an adventure, couldn't it?

It would be my second trip on an airplane. The first was when I was 21, and I spent January in Phoenix, Arizona. This time I was flying into LaGuardia, a place I had sent my bosses on occasion. I had several interviews, one with a psychologist in Brooklyn, with the mission board in midtown Manhattan, and a full physical somewhere or other. I had extensive directions, including subway maps, in a large manila envelope that I kept with me. And I would be staying at a place called the Seafarer's and International House.

I was most worried about getting from the airport to my hotel. I had heard stories, you see, about New York, and how cab drivers might take people like me to New Jersey and back on the way to their hotel. Friends delighted in telling me scary stories. Then I had directions to the psychologist in Brooklyn that involved getting up at 6:30 in the morning and taking two subways, to get to an 8:00 appointment. Ok, I was a little worried about that, too. I had never taken a subway before.

At Laguardia, I discovered a thing called "cab sharing." You took a little longer, but the cab fare was a set rate. One of the people I rode with was, I remember, a professor at Columbia (one of the graduate schools I had applied to).

The Seafarer's House was an unusual place because, for one thing, there were seafarers there. I was so nervous about missing my 8:00 appointment that I kept waking up every hour or so during the night. At 6:30 I was ready to board a subway for the first time.

Someone (maybe a seafarer, I don't remember) followed me to the train station to make sure I got on the right train going in the right direction. They kept telling me, don't worry, it's easy, you can't get lost.

And they were right. I didn't get lost.

On the train, a nice woman sitting next to me touched my arm and said, "You're from the Midwest, aren't you?" Then I felt really conspicuous. "Be careful of your purse," she advised.

The psychologist and I got along great. They don't want to send crazy people overseas, I guess. I don't know what I expected, but it was a very laid-back conversation, after which he gave me a relatively clean bill of mental health. Then he directed me back to the subway, and to midtown Manhattan, where the mission offices were.

I had a lot of time before my next appointment, and said I might like to have breakfast. He said he thought I could find someplace to eat. And he said, again, it's very easy to get to midtown from here. It's very easy. You can't get lost.

So I got back on the subway, for the second time in my entire life, and carefully noted each stop, to make sure I would get off at the right one.

And he was right, it didn't take any time at all, in that great big city, to get from his office to midtown Manhattan. I remember getting off the train, and going through the turnstile, and up the stairs.

Suddenly I discovered, I was in the Empire State Building.

It was magic.

I'm from the Midwest, you know. My mother grew up on a farm. My father's parents were immigrants from Sweden. They probably came through Ellis Island, although we never asked them about it.

New York was a movie set to me. It was Miracle on 34th Street, with the Macys Santa. It was King Kong and the Empire State Building.

And New York was a song. It was Easter Parade, with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire singing: "On the Avenue/5th Avenue/the photographers will snap us/and you'll find that you're/in the rotogravure"

And I was there.

Magic.