sometime during the summer of 2021,
pandemic optimism overtook us.
things were looking up!
we bought two round trip plane tickets to New York City
& booked a pied-a-terre in the East Village
for a ten-day sojourn six months in the future,
leaving our grown(ish) sons to fend for themselves
back in the old country.
we packed light, took a little jet hop from our quiet gso airport,
hoofed it from Queens via bus & subway,
and arrived at our home-away-from home in time for lunch -
which we found around the corner
at Veselka, a Ukranian restaurant
(in keeping with our lodgings in
the Ukranian East Village)
we had snagged audience tickets
for a taping of the Colbert Show
- the last one of the year -
and, being completely energized
by our easy navigation of public transportation,
decided to walk the entire way there.
then we stood in line
outside of the old Ed Sullivan theater
for close to two hours
(the glamour of 'priority' tickets -
oh, those poor 'general' admission folks
who stood in line closer to two hours
and ten minutes!)
(they've winterized all the outdoor restaurant seating,
which is - literally - in the street for virtually every restaurant
in the entire City of New York,
so you are somewhat warm & somewhat COVID-safe)
we loved our walk uptown!
(especially through the non-tourist neighborhoods)
~ everything old is new again ~
all the amazing little shops
of exquisite talent & vision
"We make a limited number of interesting clothing
for a limited number of interesting people."
oh, to be one of those...
hahahaha
loved the old signage still up on these gorgeous buildings
no photos from the Colbert Show.
suffice to say, he's a pro:
the taping was exceedingly efficient.
the warm up comedian and our mandate
to cheer three times louder than normal
kind of turned me off.
we watched the episode recently,
and it was much better than live, for me.
which makes sense ~ it's a tv show.
but the BAND is amazing in person!
just WOW
the next day,
we walked & wandered some more
(in fact, some of the photos above
may be from that...cannot recall)
up to JP Morgan's Library.
simply stunning! gobsmacked.
what treasures...
just a few of them here:
he, not surprisingly, also collected other beautiful art...
the other thing i don't have photos of
is our second day's Broadway show,
(the venue was Studio 54)
***it was fabulous***
(and has now closed its run)
i especially loved the
anthropomorphic characters
(washing machine, dryer, & the radio)
we sat next to a man who
had been to Studio 54 several times
during its heyday.
he said the balcony area (where we sat)
had been the celebrity hangout...
all painted black & off-limits
to the masses down below.
a great start to our NYC trip!
