Almanac Travel: Travel Shorts NYC #12

 

 

Lincoln Centre and Greenwich Village

Saturday 5^thSeptember 2014. 7.30am.  Lynda’s just read the weather report for NYC today, 35 degrees and 95% humidity. Boy oh boy. We will need to be strategic in our travels today or I’ll be a sweaty grumpy beast.

Yesterday started with a trip to the Lincoln Centre for a tour. We knew nothing about it so it was all new to us. It’s home to the big three of the performing arts, The New York Ballet, The Met for Opera and The New York Philharmonic.

Each are housed in three seperate theatres and are funded almost entirely by private benefactors. We weren’t allowed to take any photos other than the foyer of The Met, but the theatres, in particular the ballet, were incredible.

The Met itself is the size of a forty storey building lying down and all of this wouldn’t haven’t been possible without the generosity of the Rockefeller Family who wanted the fine arts to be accessible to all New Yorkers, hence it’s possible to get a ticket to any of these performances for as low as $20. Not a bad lot the Rockefellers! They also pretty much own their own Skyscraper, Madison Square and Radio City. That’s what I call giving back into the community!

While we were there, there was a launch of New York fashion week and “walking coat hangers” and the glitterati were everywhere. I thought I might be a chance to get my photo taken given my hand made punk shirt that my friends Karl and Liane made for me, but alas K&L, you won’t see your T-shirt in the next issue of Vogue.

The photographers were armed at the ready with their telescopic lenses searching for lithe, sexy, celebrities and then they caught their eye on me. You could see them mouthing to themselves, “f… it!” in the sheer disappointment of the millisecond they wasted gazing on me! Well paparazzi, let me tell you bunch of shallow bastards, one day the ‘dishevelled imbecile look’ will be all the rage and you lot will be all over me like a rash! So there!

From there it was street food and off to Greenwich Village for a wander. We decided to see the movie “Brotherhood” at the local Indie cinema. A brilliant Richard Linklater film, he has done a first whereby he has filmed the movie over twelve years using the same actors so the actors grow with the film. All the actors have just been brought back over a few weeks each year to film bits and pieces and the result is remarkable. One of those films that goes for nearly 3 hours but you don’t notice it. Bought Lynda a couple of jewellery mementos from a hand-made market in The Village and then grabbed some Chinese at a local in Brooklyn.

I might chuck some tips and  facts in as I go now, given we will sadly be leaving on Tuesday.

• August is HOT! It’s supposed to be Fall (Autumn) now but it’s not happening. It’s not the heat so much but it can get very humid.
• Pollution…the air quality is very good. Most cabs in NYC now are hybrid so you won’t see a lot of the gas guzzlers spewing black smoke which is good whilst maintaining the old cab’s aesthetic appeal. Also no one seems to smoke! It’s been a real pleasant surprise. Not cool anymore.
• New Yorkers are friendly! Yes I know it’s a shock but can’t tell you enough about the kind nature of the locals. Lynda has had a couple of run ins where she has accidentally got in the way of a cyclist and a runner in Central Park and copped a spray but that could happen anywhere. Customer Service has been excellent but you will get the occasional blank look. Remember they get paid peanuts. My advice when asking directions etc, refer to them as Sir or Ma’am. Never fails.
• Tap water is excellent! No dramas.

Hope your weekend was great. Lots of love Willow and Lynda.

 

 

 

 

To read more from Ian Wilson click here.

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