Terry took these off the TV screen
A friend, Margaret, from Australia arrived on July 26. She'd been touring around Greece, Turkey and Italy on an extended holiday over about 10 weeks and decided to spend the last 10 days in NY before heading back to Aust. We've done a few different things - walked from the apartment up to Times Sq then up Broadway to Central Park. It's not a big walk, about 20 mins without stops for photos or shopping. Found our way to the Loeb Boathouse for a late lunch, great view over the lake in Central Park and very relaxing. We hadn't been there before, good lunch spot & also opened for dinner until 9pm in the summer/autumn months.
Margaret and Pam at the Loeb Boathouse
Concert in Central Park
Terry and Margaret went sightseeing the next day - Empire State building (long queue but worth a look from the top according to Terry), financial district, Battery Park and a ride on the Staten Island ferry to see that "statue" for free. Pam had a rest day. Later that night we headed over to Brooklyn to watch a dance group with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra at Prospect Park, quite good. Stopped at a pub for a quick bite to eat before we headed back to Manhattan.
View of the Chrysler Building from the Empire State Building
View of the Financial District from the Staten Island Ferry. The building with the crane on top is the new tower being built at Ground Zero. It will be the tallest building in the USA when it's finished in 2013.
The next morning Pam and Margaret headed back to the shops, we hadn't quite covered all Margaret was keen to buy. Margaret lives in Darwin so you can imagine the difference in choice! We'd promised Terry we'd be home in time for a lunch date and we were, much to his amazement. Terry had researched a lunch place he was keen to try up near the Lincoln Centre, Josie's, so that's where we went and the food was fabulous. Vegetarian but great salads, pasta, pancakes and sangria! A little more shopping along the way between lunch and yet another free concert at Lincoln Centre. This concert featured some original singers from female bands of the 50's and 60's. Took a while but we found a spot in the shade and the music was pretty good and familiar. Headed back to the apartment briefly as we had tickets to Mary Poppins that night. It was a great Broadway show, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as did the rest of the audience. It's been going for 5 years and expect it will go for many more as the show we were at looked like a sellout.
We had a lazy start to Sunday and headed off to a midday Yankee's baseball game in the Bronx. It was a pretty hot day so we paid a little more than usual and got seats under cover and in the shade for the game, well worth the investment. Yankees won 4-2 against the Baltimore Orioles, great game for Margaret to see her first and probably only baseball game. We headed into Harlem after the baseball as we'd decided to see if we could attend a gospel service which we'd found on the internet with a start time of 8pm and not on the tourist circuit. Much more civilised than trying to get to jam packed Sunday morning session at 8 or 9am. Found the church and told the service had a male choir and would start at 7pm not 8pm.
It was only around 5.30pm so we looked around for a bar to pass the time and happened to come across a little jazz "hole in the wall" place which was just perfect. The musicians were finishing at 6pm but what a band. We got talking to the bar owner, from the Dominican Republic, and found out this bar has live jazz music quite a few times a week so we'll be going back. Not a very big place, there was only about 6 other people listening to the music and it couldn't hold more than 50, they asked for a $5 cover charge but it was well worth it even for 30mins. The musicians were an eclectic group - black, asian, latin but what a sound.
Got back to the church around 7pm, quite a modern place - stage and auditorium, no religious icons as such. Most of the people in the auditorium were dressed in their Sunday best, some ladies wore hats like you'd see at the races, men in suits and then us, the only Anglo's to start with, in very casual attire. We had asked when we first got there if our clothes were OK as Margaret and I had packed a skirt just in case but the ladies we spoke to thought it was a funny question and said we were fine. Time passed and apart from some people standing up close to the stage saying lots of amens and hallelujahs and clapping their hands from time to time as well as a few men in suits who looked asleep lying on the floor of the stage, nothing happened. One woman dressed all in white, white long dress, white jacket, white hat came and welcomed us to the congregation and introduced herself as "Sister Audrey" or something similar. Another older lady dressed in a suit walked past the row we were sitting in and told us "to put a dress on, you don't wear pants in church", we think we were sitting in her row and she was none to pleased, however no one else had given us a hard time so we just ignored her. Then at 8pm, as we'd originally thought, it all started. The pastor told the congregation they'd be a $2 offering so everyone takes $2 up to the stage and places it on the floor of the stage, Terry and Margaret took ours up, then another man comes along and sweeps it into a basket. Then the choir started accompanied by a drummer and a pianist and off they went and all the congregation joined in, pretty much like you see in the movies. The pastor then did a reading, then more singing and jumping about from the choir and the congregation. The pastor then announces he'll do a blessing so the congregation lines up along one wall and up they file onto the stage with the ladies in white and other men in suits assisting people to the pastor and off the stage. The pastor kisses the women on the forehead and just briefly holds the shoulders of each man as he passes. Some of the congregation fell about as if some amazing thing has just happened however most just walk off the stage. Terry and Margaret joined the "blessing line" but they didn't fall about. Pam watched the procession with amusement. There was a lot of singing during this procession. Then it was finished, it took about 50 mins. Interesting experience!
Finished the night at a little Tapas place we've found not far from the apartment in 46th street. This street between 8th and 9th avenue is called restaurant row, funnily enough, and of course there's a huge variety of all types of restaurants.
Margaret headed off on a 2 day bus trip to Niagara Falls on Monday morning back Tuesday early evening. Then she's off to Washington DC on the train to visit a friend Wednesday morning, back Thursday night before flying back to Australia on Friday night.
So another couple of hectic weeks but doing lots of different things and experiencing more of the environment that is New York..
Till next time
Pam & Terry
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