Girls in the City

Girls in the City

Caveat:  This is a long post!  

 

I recently returned from a “girlfriends” trip to New York City.  For five glorious days, my friend Gale and I camped out in The Village, i.e. Greenwich Village, a neighborhood filled with nostalgia for both of us.  During my high school years, I spent many Saturdays and Sundays lounging around the fountain in Washington Square Park, that dangerous haven of hippiedom in the 1960s.  Just an hour’s ride on the Long Island Railroad, and I was free of the confines of suburban safety – free to commune with long-haired strangers of the male persuasion; free to lose myself in the sound of drums and guitars and flapping of pigeons’ wings; free to gulp the clouds of hazy fragrant smoke that peppered the air; free to imagine a life where I could engage in the kind of behavior that would horrify my parents.  

Washington Square Park

 Gale, who grew up in Queens, can recall similar times.  On this trip, we walked down familiar memory-laden streets – Macdougal, Bleeker, West Fourth – but experienced The Village in a new way.  Instead of roughing it, we stayed in the Washington Square Hotel, a lovely boutique property on Waverly Place.  On our first evening, we dined at Perilla, a fine restaurant a few blocks west of our hotel.  I definitely like this Greenwich Village as much, if not more, than the Greenwich Village of my teenage years.  

Some things, however, never change.  The subway station at West Fourth Street is just one example.  There’s a certain quality to the air in the underground stations that is impossible to duplicate elsewhere.  It’s one of those memory triggers for me.  As soon as I breathe that air, I know I’m back in my hometown.  Of course, the grimy subway tokens of earlier years have been replaced by flimsy plastic cards.  Having my own subway card (and knowing how to refill it) helps me imagine that I’m a real New Yorker again.  

Anyway, as much as I love The Village, I didn’t spend all of my time there.  On our first morning in the city, Gale and I took a short subway ride to Brooklyn, to explore the neighborhood where Elisa and Christian will be married in November.  It was perfect walking weather – sunny and not too hot or humid – for a stroll down Smith Street to Union Street, where we were able to take a peek inside the Green Building, the venue of the upcoming wedding.  At a little shop on Smith Street, I found a bracelet (glittery, but not overly showy) to wear with my MOB (mother of the bride) dress.  On Court Street, we stopped for an al fresco lunch of superb pizza and salad at a little Italian restaurant, Enoteca on Court, and then a quick dessert at The Chocolate Room.  I could actually see myself living in this neighborhood.  

Pizza at Enoteca on Court (Brooklyn)

 Late on Thursday afternoon, we headed up to the Times Square area for a totally different side of New York.  Although this isn’t my favorite part of the city, we had tickets for a 7 p.m. performance of Kinky Boots, a Tony Award winning musical.  Not surprisingly, as soon as we exited from the subway station, we found ourselves packed into a crowd of people (primarily tourists) jammed together on the sidewalk.  I immediately had to suppress feelings of claustrophobia.  After making our way north a few blocks, we were able to escape into the tranquility of BlueFin, where we had a reservation for a pre-theater dinner.  I ordered their signature cocktail (the color of the Caribbean) to erase the lingering effects of the Times Square crush.  Although the restaurant offered a special Restaurant Week menu, we opted to create our own tasting menu of five small dishes:  shrimp and lobster spring rolls, shrimp dumplings, shrimp lettuce wraps (have you noticed a theme here?), red beet and goat cheese salad, and lemon-herb gnocchi with mushrooms and peas.  All delicious.  

The signature cocktail at Blue Fin (there's a red Swedish fish swimming in it)

Our feast at Blue Fin in Times Square

 The show, Kinky Boots, was energetic and uplifting, with knockout performances, especially by Billy Porter, playing a drag queen.  I don’t know how he managed to dance in those 6-inch high spike heels.  Afterwards, we stopped at the nearby Junior’s restaurant, crowded with other theater patrons, for coffee and their famous cheesecake.  The cheesecake itself was good, but I was disappointed that the fresh strawberries were masked in a thick sweet glop that I had to scrape off.  In the dark, Times Square is a much more attractive place.   In fact, I found all the dazzling colored lights quite mesmerizing.  It was nearly midnight when we returned to the hotel, and I wasn’t feeling a bit tired.  It must have been the New York effect. 

On Friday, the fine weather continued and we set out after breakfast for a day of walking.  Thanks to Gale, I discovered a couple of very interesting stores, both on Broadway around 19^th.  Fishs Eddy has unique items for kitchens.  And ABC Carpet and Home is much, much more than a place to buy rugs.  It’s an amazing emporium of clothing, jewelry, furniture and housewares from around the world.  (Think a very upscale Pier One or World Market).   

So many tempting items at ABC Carpet & Home

Afterwards, I made a quick foray across town, stopped at the big Macy’s in Herald Square and managed not to get lost inside the store, and then back to the East Side to meet up with Gale and a friend of hers for lunch at Franchia, a vegan paradise with an Asian accent on Park Avenue.  

Cantonese rice noodles with "shrimp" at Franchia Vegan Cafe

Our Friday evening activity was dinner with Elisa and Christian.  My brother and sister-in-law came down from Westchester to meet all of us at the restaurant I’d chosen for our get-together.  Osteria Laguna, which specializes in Venetian cuisine, was just a short walk from Grand Central Terminal.  We spent a couple of hours sharing good food (including salmon and goat cheese stuffed ravioli), a bottle of Italian wine, and a luscious dessert – ice-cream filled profiteroles drizzled with dark chocolate sauce.  All in all, another completely satisfying meal.

 

At Osteria Laguna (photo taken by Gale)

 The original reason for this trip to New York was to meet up with two dear childhood friends on Saturday.  Lynda took the train down from New Haven and Audrey took the train in from Long Island.  Lynda and I took a leisurely hike up Madison Avenue from 42^nd Street all the way to the mid-70s.  There was so much to see along the way that I didn’t even notice that I was racking up the miles.  Our mutual Audrey met us for lunch at Atlantic Grill on Third Avenue.  Audrey is my former piano teacher from West Hempstead.  She still teaches and performs, looks decades younger than her eighty-something years, and comes into the city frequently to attend concerts, opera and ballet performances.  On Saturday afternoon, she was showing off her newly painted turquoise pedicure.  After lunch, the three of us walked over to Fifth Avenue to see the Austrian and German art at the Neue Gallerie.  Since I’d recently read The Lady in Gold, I was especially interested in seeing Gustav Klimt’s stunning portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.  We stopped for Viennese coffee and sachertorte in the museum’s café before we parted ways.  

Sachertorte (with 3 forks) and Viennese coffee at the Neue Gallerie's cafe

 Also on Saturday, Gale and I whiled away an hour or so of the late afternoon sitting on the shady bench in Washington Square Park before walking over to the East Village to meet up with Elisa and Christian.  Together we walked back to the Lower East Side and had an impromptu gin tasting (3 different brands) at E&C’s apartment.  Then it was time to make the next big decision, i.e. where to eat dinner.  Fortunately, Elisa and Christian are just as fanatical about food as I am!  We ended up dining outdoors at Banjara on Curry Row, the block of 6^th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue that got its nickname from the preponderance of Indian restaurants.  I’m always happy to eat Indian food.  We had some marvelous vegetarian dishes, most memorably coconut stuffed samosas.  Afterwards, it was a pleasant walk back to our hotel from the East Village. 

The following morning, we lingered over breakfast before packing up.  Gale was heading back to Tucson, and I had a bus to catch back to Virginia.  Elliott would be waiting, and I was eager to share the details of my New York adventure with him.