Every Picture Tells a Story

Between jet lag and the gym, laundry and the dry cleaner, G'ma and the Big Cuter (who's here for a visit and is a very attractive nuisance), I'm am post-less.  Absolutely out of deep thoughts.  Stuck in this semi-exhausted state, I am going to let my photos of New York City amuse you today.  I will try to do better on the morrow. 

For now, take a walk with MTF and me as we stroll down 5th Avenue, from 31st Street to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village:

We walked out of the Chandler Hotel on Thursday night, looking for a glass of wine and an appetizer to tide us over until MTF's travel angst had passed.  As we passed Guy and Gallard's Cafe

we overheard someone mention that the wine was 2-for-1.  Perfect!  After an artichoke pizzette (tiny pizza, apparently) and 3 glasses of Malbec we were rewarded with a warm elephant ear pastry by the smiling waiter.  There was no reason to search for dinner.  Our bellies were full as we returned to our small but lovely room and collapsed from exhaustion.  We used to have more stamina.

The next morning, we returned to Guy and Gallard and the same waiter and the same table for breakfast.  Bagels and Lox tastes much better in New York.  Is it possible that the foodstuffs feel more comfortable there?  I drank orange juice out of the same kind of glass we'd used for the wine the night before; I felt quite elegant.

We started to walk down Park Avenue, but there were no shops for browsing so we headed west to 5th at 25th Street.  Suddenly, we were in Madison Square Park, gazing at this fellow 

Passing this preserved stump

One wonders why it's fenced.... people must have loved it when it lived, don't you think?

we marveled at the greenery

To my eyes, accustomed to spiky cacti and teeny-tiny leaves, this was just wonderful.  There was no litter in the beds and the plants were perfectly pruned.  The Parks Department should be proud of itself.

We exited the park and found the first guy's friend awaiting us

on 5th Avenue. Were two of them necessary?  Apparently so.

6th Avenue is now Avenue of the Americas and 7th Avenue is Fashion Avenue and I was very glad that 5th had not been renamed Snob Avenue.  Some things should remain unchanged. 

The architecture continued to amaze us.  The details, the strength of the buildings, the solidity they presented.... it was very New York.  Take a look and see if you don't agree:

I love the triangular buildings, taking advantage of Broadway crossing the Avenues

It felt like we were looking at a French chateau

Credit Suisse has 3 buildings over two blocks, two of which are connected by a Sky Bridge 20 stories or so up.  They are very well protected.  These pretty filigree covers

sit atop metal poles sunken into the ground.  No one is going to drive a terror vehicle into their lobby, that's for sure.

Washington Square Park is aptly named

as George adorns each side of the Arch.  My photo of him in full Revolutionary War Hero garb is too blurry to share, so we'll just have to settle for George the landowner/surveyor/statesman for now.

The park is concrete and playground and benches and buskers and a man reading from a book at the top of his lungs.  We were hungry and thirsty and decided to walk back uptown, passing through a Farmers' Market with this sign

With visions of New Yorkers carting dripping bags of fermenting vegetables in our brains, we headed back to Guy and Gallard for lunch.  Why not?  The food was great and our waiter was holding our table.