VPS
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I am absolutely amazed that you have been able to write a TR like this on the go.
I love NYC so have a ball
A Boyhood Dream Fulfilled: Space-Geek Tour of the USA
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I love NYC so have a ball
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UA4442 DCA-EWR Economy class. 7,800 Velocity points plus A$15.10.
Mitsubishi CRJ-550 (AKA Bombadier CRJ or Canadair Regional Jet), 50 seats.
(I almost booked a Delta flight for 4500 Virgin Atlantic points, before discovering that Delta would have charged me US$35 for luggage. So I used my Velocity Platinum status to book a United flight with free checked luggage).
The Lounge had emptied out considerably by the time I left it. It was not a long walk to the boarding gate and boarding commenced on time.
Once again, I was on a plane which I’d never flown before. I walked past a few rows of First class in 1-2 format, before coming to some luggage racks for large carry-on. I’d never seen that in a plane before! I placed my large carry-on in one of the racks before heading back to my seat — 14D. Economy class was in 2-2 format, with seats that were perfectly OK for taking a 1-hour flight on a regional jet. The overhead lockers were minuscule but it had room for me to place my small backpack (which I’d brought on board in the hope that it would be considered a “personal item”. It was.). No-one was sitting next to me, which was a nice treat.
There was only one Flight Attendant on board, which meant that the Safety Demonstration was performed twice: once for the front half of the plane, and all over again for the back half!
There was no food & beverage service in Economy class, although the FA did come around offering water. Some photos from the tarmac at DCA.
And of our ascent and cruise. When there were not clouds, the view from my window seat was lovely.
The sound in the cabin was noticeably more noisy than I was used to (it reminded me of sitting at the back of a Focker 100), and the noise cancellation on my AirPods Pro struggled to cope, but they helped somewhat.
Pics from our descent into Newark. A little underwhelming, I know, I looked across and there appeared to be lovely views of the New York skyline from the other side of the plane – once again, I was seated on the wrong side.
Newark Airport is massive.
Everything after the flight was routine, apart from the fact that I had to wait longer than I would have liked for my shuttle bus to turn up. And the driver spoke on his handheld mobile phone while driving. But eventually I got to my hotel in the Chelsea area of Manhattan.
Mitsubishi CRJ-550 (AKA Bombadier CRJ or Canadair Regional Jet), 50 seats.
(I almost booked a Delta flight for 4500 Virgin Atlantic points, before discovering that Delta would have charged me US$35 for luggage. So I used my Velocity Platinum status to book a United flight with free checked luggage).
The Lounge had emptied out considerably by the time I left it. It was not a long walk to the boarding gate and boarding commenced on time.
Once again, I was on a plane which I’d never flown before. I walked past a few rows of First class in 1-2 format, before coming to some luggage racks for large carry-on. I’d never seen that in a plane before! I placed my large carry-on in one of the racks before heading back to my seat — 14D. Economy class was in 2-2 format, with seats that were perfectly OK for taking a 1-hour flight on a regional jet. The overhead lockers were minuscule but it had room for me to place my small backpack (which I’d brought on board in the hope that it would be considered a “personal item”. It was.). No-one was sitting next to me, which was a nice treat.
There was only one Flight Attendant on board, which meant that the Safety Demonstration was performed twice: once for the front half of the plane, and all over again for the back half!
There was no food & beverage service in Economy class, although the FA did come around offering water. Some photos from the tarmac at DCA.
And of our ascent and cruise. When there were not clouds, the view from my window seat was lovely.
The sound in the cabin was noticeably more noisy than I was used to (it reminded me of sitting at the back of a Focker 100), and the noise cancellation on my AirPods Pro struggled to cope, but they helped somewhat.
Pics from our descent into Newark. A little underwhelming, I know, I looked across and there appeared to be lovely views of the New York skyline from the other side of the plane – once again, I was seated on the wrong side.
Newark Airport is massive.
Everything after the flight was routine, apart from the fact that I had to wait longer than I would have liked for my shuttle bus to turn up. And the driver spoke on his handheld mobile phone while driving. But eventually I got to my hotel in the Chelsea area of Manhattan.
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Hilton Hampton Inn Manhattan-Chelsea. 3 night stay. Cost: A$217.58 plus A$400 AmEx Platinum Reserve travel credit.
Some photos of my hotel. The room has seen better days, and it’s small, but apparently that’s par for the course in NYC and I’m getting a very good price in a very good location.
The view:
I entered my room, opened the air-con control panel and saw this.
It took me a service call to realise that the control panel had been deliberately removed, and that it was all controllable from a wall panel.
While I was waiting for my transfer at the airport I booked a ticket to the first of hopefully two Broadway shows I’ll be seeing while I’m here. So I’m about to leave my hotel room and experience New York City for the first time!
Some photos of my hotel. The room has seen better days, and it’s small, but apparently that’s par for the course in NYC and I’m getting a very good price in a very good location.
The view:
I entered my room, opened the air-con control panel and saw this.
It took me a service call to realise that the control panel had been deliberately removed, and that it was all controllable from a wall panel.
While I was waiting for my transfer at the airport I booked a ticket to the first of hopefully two Broadway shows I’ll be seeing while I’m here. So I’m about to leave my hotel room and experience New York City for the first time!
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I saw a Broadway show last night, but I need to confess that I went about it in exactly the way I said I would not go about it in Post #111 above. The best-laid plans, and all that. While I was at Newark Airport waiting for my shuttle bus to arrive I logged on to the TodayTix web site and I noticed that their prices were much the same as if I’d lined up at one of the TKTS booths – and tickets from TodayTix could be purchased online. So I looked at what was available for last night, and the only show that vaguely interested me and which was available was Six. Yes, it had been in Australia but I hadn’t caught it then, and some of the tickets were quite heavily discounted, so I went with that.
So about 90 minutes before the show I ventured out of my hotel room on foot, to walk up to Broadway. Two words: sensory overload.
I could not believe the willingness of New Yorkers to risk life and limb by crossing busy roads even when the pedestrian crossing sign was saying not to. By the end of the night, though, I was one of them.
A small snack before the show.
The theatre:
The show itself was wonderful and I have absolutely no regrets about my choice. The music was great, the concept was clever, the choreography, staging, lighting – it was all top notch. But what really struck me was the incredible talent of the performers. When I’ve seen Broadway shows that have come to Australia, they’re obviously extremely well done … but invariably there’s a weak link somewhere: a performer who’s not quite up to the standard of the other performers, for example. Sometimes the weak link is embarrassingly weak (eg. when the original Australian cast of Wicked featured a big-name Australian celebrity who couldn’t sing).
With Six on Broadway, there was no weak link. Each and every one of the performers was absolutely stellar. It was an exceptionally good performance of a very good show, and I really did love every minute of it.
So about 90 minutes before the show I ventured out of my hotel room on foot, to walk up to Broadway. Two words: sensory overload.
I could not believe the willingness of New Yorkers to risk life and limb by crossing busy roads even when the pedestrian crossing sign was saying not to. By the end of the night, though, I was one of them.
A small snack before the show.
The theatre:
The show itself was wonderful and I have absolutely no regrets about my choice. The music was great, the concept was clever, the choreography, staging, lighting – it was all top notch. But what really struck me was the incredible talent of the performers. When I’ve seen Broadway shows that have come to Australia, they’re obviously extremely well done … but invariably there’s a weak link somewhere: a performer who’s not quite up to the standard of the other performers, for example. Sometimes the weak link is embarrassingly weak (eg. when the original Australian cast of Wicked featured a big-name Australian celebrity who couldn’t sing).
With Six on Broadway, there was no weak link. Each and every one of the performers was absolutely stellar. It was an exceptionally good performance of a very good show, and I really did love every minute of it.
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After the show I did not feel like returning to my hotel, so I remembered that a friend had recommended Ellen’s Stardust Diner; I looked it up and was happy to see that it was nearby.
Ellen’s Stardust Diner is a normal NYC diner like you see on every corner. With one exception. All of the staff are aspiring Broadway stars, and every couple of minutes one of them breaks into song. These people are aspiring NYC Broadway professionals, so they’re very, very good. It is surreal being served by a waiter one minute, and the next minute that same person has a microphone and is belting out a Broadway hit.
Needless to say, I once again wish I could post videos on AFF so you can share in the full auditory experience! When I get home I’ll look into setting up a YouTube channel which I can link to some of these videos.
In between songs, I ate this.
And then when I didn’t want to leave, I had a coughtail. It was a Pineapple Margarita thingy; whoever put it together most certainly didn’t skimp on the alcohol.
Then I forced myself to take the 33-minute walk back to my hotel rather than catch the Subway; I’m sure that it was good for me.
Ellen’s Stardust Diner is a normal NYC diner like you see on every corner. With one exception. All of the staff are aspiring Broadway stars, and every couple of minutes one of them breaks into song. These people are aspiring NYC Broadway professionals, so they’re very, very good. It is surreal being served by a waiter one minute, and the next minute that same person has a microphone and is belting out a Broadway hit.
Needless to say, I once again wish I could post videos on AFF so you can share in the full auditory experience! When I get home I’ll look into setting up a YouTube channel which I can link to some of these videos.
In between songs, I ate this.
And then when I didn’t want to leave, I had a coughtail. It was a Pineapple Margarita thingy; whoever put it together most certainly didn’t skimp on the alcohol.
Then I forced myself to take the 33-minute walk back to my hotel rather than catch the Subway; I’m sure that it was good for me.
Pushka
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That diner looks amazing. I was going to suggest you must try a hot dog from a vendor. I wanted to from the start of our small trip but waited until the last day. Wished iI had started earlier.
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How was Back to the Future. I see that it might be in Sydney in September 2025.We saw Back to the Future, The Play that goes Wrong, Drag The Musical and Hadestown in November. Would recommend all.
Though, maybe only Drag the Musical if you loved NKOTB/Joey McIntyre as a teen.
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We enjoyed it (we were also sitting next to the actor playing Marty’s girlfriend).
Pretty awesome ending scene that had our jaws dropping open.
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Yesterday (Tuesday) required a slight change of plans. I had been planning to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art today (Wednesday), only to discover that it is closed on Wednesdays. So I bought my ticket online and headed over after a seriously disappointing buffet breakfast at the hotel.
A bit of background. In 2002 I visited Paris for the first time, for a family wedding. Because I was in Paris, I thought that I’d really better pay a visit to the Louvre. So I duly bought a ticket and went over, more out of a sense of duty than with any real enthusiasm.
Seven hours later, I walked out – an art lover.
I had been totally blown away; it was that transformative of a day. Since then, whenever I visit a city with a half-decent art gallery, I make sure to visit that gallery.
The Met is more than a half-decent art gallery. What I didn’t know until I arrived was that it spans an area the size of four city blocks, and that there’s no way – no way in the world – that anyone can do it justice in a day. Santa has more of a chance of delivering his presents to every child in the world on Christmas Eve, than a visitor has of properly covering the Met in a day.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The first step was catching the subway. I had been told multiple times by multiple people that catching the subway in Manhattan is perfectly safe, at least if you keep your wits about you. But it’s just so big, so complicated, and, well … it’s the NYC subway. But if was too far to walk and I’m sick of giving my kids’ inheritance to Uber drivers. So here goes…
Of course, it was absolutely fine, though I do have to use the word “gritty” again to describe the experience. Subway stations are dark, the ceilings are low, and the trains themselves are primitive – no nice screens showing the route and the next stop on these trains (at least not the ones I caught today). On the train I caught over, there were no announcements regarding stops either. I was on my own.
After navigating the correct subway stop and the correct exit, I walked towards the Met and caught my first fleeting glimpse of Central Park. Hopefully I’ll find the time to come back before my time here ends.
First view of the Met.
A bit of background. In 2002 I visited Paris for the first time, for a family wedding. Because I was in Paris, I thought that I’d really better pay a visit to the Louvre. So I duly bought a ticket and went over, more out of a sense of duty than with any real enthusiasm.
Seven hours later, I walked out – an art lover.
I had been totally blown away; it was that transformative of a day. Since then, whenever I visit a city with a half-decent art gallery, I make sure to visit that gallery.
The Met is more than a half-decent art gallery. What I didn’t know until I arrived was that it spans an area the size of four city blocks, and that there’s no way – no way in the world – that anyone can do it justice in a day. Santa has more of a chance of delivering his presents to every child in the world on Christmas Eve, than a visitor has of properly covering the Met in a day.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The first step was catching the subway. I had been told multiple times by multiple people that catching the subway in Manhattan is perfectly safe, at least if you keep your wits about you. But it’s just so big, so complicated, and, well … it’s the NYC subway. But if was too far to walk and I’m sick of giving my kids’ inheritance to Uber drivers. So here goes…
Of course, it was absolutely fine, though I do have to use the word “gritty” again to describe the experience. Subway stations are dark, the ceilings are low, and the trains themselves are primitive – no nice screens showing the route and the next stop on these trains (at least not the ones I caught today). On the train I caught over, there were no announcements regarding stops either. I was on my own.
After navigating the correct subway stop and the correct exit, I walked towards the Met and caught my first fleeting glimpse of Central Park. Hopefully I’ll find the time to come back before my time here ends.
First view of the Met.
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Once inside, I walked up to the Information desk and, naturally, asked if there was a free tour. As has become my habit, I’d walked in just in time. So I did a one hour “Highlights” tour. These are the artworks that the Highlights tour covered, although the guide did say that the guides are giving quite a bit of latitude in which works they can cover. I can understand, too: a proper “highlights” tour would probably take eight hours rather than one.
[I’ll also resist the temptation to write about each and every artwork – that would take too long and would probably bore all but the most keen art-lovers. I did (mostly) remember to photograph the description plaque thingy, but if I didn't, and/or you want to know more, the good news in this day and age is that AI is your friend. If you’re interested in knowing more, just copy the photo into ChatGPT or your AI of choice, and it’ll describe and explain the artwork to your heart’s content]
[I’ll also resist the temptation to write about each and every artwork – that would take too long and would probably bore all but the most keen art-lovers. I did (mostly) remember to photograph the description plaque thingy, but if I didn't, and/or you want to know more, the good news in this day and age is that AI is your friend. If you’re interested in knowing more, just copy the photo into ChatGPT or your AI of choice, and it’ll describe and explain the artwork to your heart’s content]
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Having taken the “Highlights” tour and having seen how huge, confusing, and overwhelming the Met is, I decided to re-think my normal gallery strategy of spending the rest of the day doing my own thing. For the Met, in its great wisdom and beneficence, does not merely have a free “Highlights” tour. In fact, this was the list of the day’s tours:
So I decided to be a tour junkie for the day. Given that I was in the USA (still am, in fact…), I chose the 12pm “American Art” tour for my next trip.
Pretty famous piece of art, this:
I love this portrait for so many reasons…
So I decided to be a tour junkie for the day. Given that I was in the USA (still am, in fact…), I chose the 12pm “American Art” tour for my next trip.
Pretty famous piece of art, this:
I love this portrait for so many reasons…
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I went to have another overpriced lunch at one of the museum eateries; it was very crowded so a man sitting alone indicated that I could share his table. I sat down; we made conversation and he told me that he’s a Museum member and that he comes to the Met often. He told me that the Met’s collection of European art was amazing, so on that basis I chose the 2pm “European Paintings” tour.
The guide showed us a wall of Vermeers (there are 36 surviving Vermeers in the world; the Met has 5 of them). It took me a few seconds and several looks before I worked out that this is not “The Girl with a Pearl Earring”!
While we were on the tour, going from one amazing artwork to another, we walked through a roomful of Rembrandts. I couldn’t believe that we weren’t even stopping, and I mentioned how incredulous I was that we’d just walked through a room full of Rembrandts which didn’t even make the tour. The guide simply replied, “Sorry, but we have too much to get through”.
The guide showed us a wall of Vermeers (there are 36 surviving Vermeers in the world; the Met has 5 of them). It took me a few seconds and several looks before I worked out that this is not “The Girl with a Pearl Earring”!
While we were on the tour, going from one amazing artwork to another, we walked through a roomful of Rembrandts. I couldn’t believe that we weren’t even stopping, and I mentioned how incredulous I was that we’d just walked through a room full of Rembrandts which didn’t even make the tour. The guide simply replied, “Sorry, but we have too much to get through”.
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The tour ended, but at the exact spot where there were several artworks by Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun – probably my personal favourite artist, whose works I fell in love with during that first visit to the Louvre that I wrote about above. It was a thrill to see more of her works.
By the time the tour ended I was very tired – more tired than I’d been after full days at the other places I’d visited. There had been a lot of standing, probably more standing than at the other places, and like many people I find standing more tiring than walking. I did have a quick look through some of the galleries, but I decided that I was basically done. My wife had sent me a shopping list of gifts from the shop that she’d looked up online, so I spent some time in the shop before braving the subway again. I returned to my hotel room in fading light, needing to recharge my legs and my phone.
So my day was on the one hand amazing, but on the other hand I was more than a little dissatisfied that there was so much in the museum – so many great masterpieces – that I know I didn’t get to see. However, the day hadn’t ended yet!
By the time the tour ended I was very tired – more tired than I’d been after full days at the other places I’d visited. There had been a lot of standing, probably more standing than at the other places, and like many people I find standing more tiring than walking. I did have a quick look through some of the galleries, but I decided that I was basically done. My wife had sent me a shopping list of gifts from the shop that she’d looked up online, so I spent some time in the shop before braving the subway again. I returned to my hotel room in fading light, needing to recharge my legs and my phone.
So my day was on the one hand amazing, but on the other hand I was more than a little dissatisfied that there was so much in the museum – so many great masterpieces – that I know I didn’t get to see. However, the day hadn’t ended yet!
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Later that night I caught the subway again and made my way to this gate, with a sign on it which read “Lower East Side Toy Company”.
I opened the gate, went down the stairs, and through this passage.
Down this alleyway…
Up these stairs…
Through this door…
To find this place: The Back Room prohibition-era speakeasy. It is almost exactly as it was in Prohibition times, and is I think one of two NYC speakeasys which have been open continually since Prohibition days.
It takes cash only, and as an homage to the Prohibition era, serves its alcoholic beverages in teacups so as to not arouse undue suspicion.
I haven’t been able to show you a full wide-angle view of the Back Room because there are pictures hanging from the walls which are not necessarily appropriate for an AFF forum; apologies if something has slipped through.
Needless to say, I had a lot of fun there!
I arrived back at my hotel room happy, but exhausted. I tried to do some more of this trip report but I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Time for bed.
I opened the gate, went down the stairs, and through this passage.
Down this alleyway…
Up these stairs…
Through this door…
To find this place: The Back Room prohibition-era speakeasy. It is almost exactly as it was in Prohibition times, and is I think one of two NYC speakeasys which have been open continually since Prohibition days.
It takes cash only, and as an homage to the Prohibition era, serves its alcoholic beverages in teacups so as to not arouse undue suspicion.
I haven’t been able to show you a full wide-angle view of the Back Room because there are pictures hanging from the walls which are not necessarily appropriate for an AFF forum; apologies if something has slipped through.
Needless to say, I had a lot of fun there!
I arrived back at my hotel room happy, but exhausted. I tried to do some more of this trip report but I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Time for bed.
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