In the City

'It's survival in the city....' I wonder if The Eagles might have been in the middle of a New York snow storm when they wrote that song lyric? Hubs had a meeting in the city this week and he asked me to tag along. Everyone knows when I say 'city' I am referring to 'the city' as in New York City, right? Moving on.

Did you know it's been snowing a lot here on the East Coast? Well it has. And we just can't seem to get away from it. It snowed almost two feet in Central Park while I was there. Do you know how many sidewalks and streets and crosswalks there are in NYC? There are many. Do you know how many people need to make their way along these sidewalks and streets and crosswalks on a daily basis? More than many. Its amazing you can get around at all but New Yorkers are nothing if not plucky and they do not let a little snow keep them down. Or in.

Hubs meeting was midtown in the Chelsea section of the city so we stayed there, actually not too far from the Empire State Building and the Fashion Institute of America. Tuesday night we decided we'd like to have Italian food for dinner and fyi- you pretty much cannot go wrong with Italian food in NYC. I consulted an app on my Ipad which is a restaurant finder. You enter your location and the type of food you want to eat and the distance you're willing to travel and it gives you restaurant names and details. I entered Italian restaurants within one mile of the hotel. It gave me 365 choices. I love this city.

Wednesday hubs had to skedaddle off to his meeting so I was on my own for the day. It was snowing so first thing I did was stay in my comfy hotel bed and sip coffee and read. What good is it staying in a hotel if you do not make full use of the amenities? I finally pulled myself together and walked about a block to a nearby coffee shop for more coffee and a freshly made bagel. Bagels are also something it is hard to get wrong in NYC. The snow was falling steadily but it was beautiful and I managed to hail a cab and ride it all the way to 89th and 5th. I've never been to The Guggenheim and it was a good day to be indoors.

The museum building itself was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and is uber cool. You might recognize it if you've seen The International or Men in Black. They were in the process of installing something new so I couldn't go all the way to the top but essentially its a big spiral with artwork along the ramps and in special annexes off the ramps.

I could stand in front of The Hermitage at Pontoise by Pisarro all day...makes me long for a trip to the French countryside. Well, the French countryside on a sunny spring day anyway. Sigh.

After I left the museum I decided to walk for a bit. It was snowing steadily but it was nice. I walked about 40 blocks along Fifth Avenue, which runs parallel to the Park at that end. And by park you know I mean the park as in Central Park, right? Anyway, Central Park in the snow is stunning.

There were people walking dogs, sledding, cross country skiing, and of course there were still the usual crazies out for a run.

This girl looked like she needed a calorie laden four course meal but instead she was out for a run with bare ankles in the middle of a snowstorm.

I walked on past the zoo...

and continued down Fifth, past the lovely Plaza Hotel...

I strolled thru Tiffanys and admired the windows at Bergdorfs all decked out for Chinese New Year...

...then took a break inside Trump Tower. The Donald is over the top in many ways but this building is really beautiful. If you go all the way thru the lobby you'll come to an enormous atrium and it feels like you're sitting outside except its January and its snowing and you're warm and dry.

I ordered a salad from a little cafe in the back of the atrium called Obika, aka The Mozzarella Bar. They import mozzarella and prosciutto from Italy on a weekly basis and yum!

Why do I need so many words to tell a story? Good question. I don't know the answer but I just know that I do so I think I will tell you about my delicious dinner at Bobby Flay's restaurant in part two. Oh, and the snow. More snow. Lots of snow. Mustn't forget the snow.

Can we talk too much about the weather?

No we cannot.

And here ya go...you're welcome!