High sights and high lines

New York stayed cold and we found ways to stay indoors with a day at MoMA and a night at Matilda. The music was very Tim Minchin, with clever, broken lyrics and memorable tunes. The twist ending took us a little by surprise but on the whole it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

The next morning we breakfasted at the Doughnut Pub (exactly as good as it sounds) and booked our tickets for the Circle Line (more on that in a later post).

A bit of ice on the Hudson

It was cold but not as bad as the last couple of days so we headed up the Empire State Building.

The wind had died down and we got outside to take a few photos.

Looking up 5th

Chrysler building

Flatiron

All the way downtown

Afterward we headed to the Meatpacking District to source some food. We wound up at the Chelsea Market.

That's the High Line, more on that later.

Lunch was a plate of meat and cheese and some brilliant but very strong dark beer. We followed that up with a wander through the markets and some sweet treats.

This was the 'small' platter

Along Manhattan's west side is the High Line, an old elevated train line which has been turned into miles of parklands. We walked the High Line from the Meatpacking District all the way back to the Fashion District and our hotel.

Ali on the line

It gave some different views of the city and let us walk back uninterrupted which was quite a rarity in New York.

School bus!

We had to keep one eye on the time as we walked. We had a plan to meet Reuben for dinner and all three of us had tickets for the Knicks that night.

Walking New York as the sun sets.

We had dinner at the hotel and walked up to Madison Square Garden.

The game was supposed to be an easy win for the Miami Heat. The atmosphere was almost the opposite of the football game we attended, starting low and building as the lead seesawed through the first two quarters.

In the third quarter the Knicks pulled ahead and the crowd began to believe that they could pull off the win. When the buzzer went the Garden erupted.

Knicks win!

In both of the sporting events we attended on this trip the home team won, leading us to believe we are extremely good luck.

All worth it for the look

About a month before we left I caught up with a mate for lunch. He was moving to Sydney but had some time off between leaving Brisbane and was going to travel. We compared notes and figured out that we were going to cross over in New York.

He is also a friend of Alison's. We didn't tell her. It was an opportunity for surprise.

The day we could meet up was cold. The minimum was thirteen degrees below zero. The maximum was twelve degrees below zero. It seemed like a good day to go to the Met.

Ali and I got a cab uptown. It was Ali's first New York cab ride, and it was a doozy. Our driver assured us as we got in that he wasn't drinking a beer. It was a malted drink. On the drive to 82nd and 5th he cleaned his ears, played with a hat, spat from the window, all while driving like... well, a New York cab driver.

None of this phased me. New York cab drivers are out there every day; I figure they know what they're doing.

We arrived in one piece ready to see some art.

Byzantine Psalm book

The Met was far better than I had anticipated. In particular, I enjoyed walking straight into the section dedicated to Medieval Europe and seeing it filled with Byzantine artifacts.

Ali was frustrated that I spent so much time fiddling with my phone when we arrived. She couldn't know that I was coordinating. I pretended to be taking photos of the Viking display.

Yeah... pretended...

In a way it was nice to go to a museum with so much variety. My last trip had been all Viking and Byzantine stuff, but history is fascinating no matter what is on display. As long as the stories attached are interesting. For that the Roman items were the best.

To my surprise the area I liked the most was the European art upstairs. So many amazing works of art in one place, but with incredible variety. It was worth the visit just to see them.

David with Goliath's head

We dawdled for a little while taking in displays of ancient art and religion and religious art.

This was amazing

Ali was just about ready to move on when someone walked up behind her and commented on the item she was looking at. She turned around and saw...

...this guy!

We were gratified to see her do a full double-take. She later told us that she was still uncertain it was Reuben until deep into the conversation which followed.

He stayed with us as we explored the rest of the museum and we agreed to meet up that night for dinner.

Reuben's return heralded the chance to do something we had missed on the last trip. The legendary Five Napkin Burger. The burgers were good, five napkins may have been an under-estimate. Afterward we searched for desserts nearby.

What we found was astonishing.

Deep dish cookies.

Deep dish cookies.

Deep. Dish. Cookies.

One last night of talking.

Then it was Sunday, and yea there was football.  The day was passed watching as many games as we could handle, eating an enormous buffet breakfast and drinking citrus-y wheat beers.

We spent the Talk's last night with us the way such nights should be spent; drinking copious amounts of scotch and reflecting on the things we had seen and done.  In the process, he dragged us up the Stratosphere tower to look down on Vegas which was not that bad.

Everything looks perfect from far away...

In spite of my decision to have a quiet night in preparation for the morning's drive, we all got a little drunk and stayed up a little late.  It was a worthy send-off.