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Published: January 21st 2010
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Hotel Empire
Great hotel on the west side Her Majesty, Queen Victoria
Some time in the spring of 2009, on a return flight from Seattle, my husband Bob and I came upon a
USA for Today newspaper with a full-page advertisement for an amazing cruise on the newest Cunard Line ship. The
Queen Victoria was going to make her maiden voyage through the Panama Canal, leaving New York City on January 12, 2010, traversing the Carribbean Sea, passing through the Canal, and traveling all the way up the western USA coast to arrive in San Francisco on January 27. And the price was 2 for 1----we just couldn't say "no"!
"New York, New York!"
We blew (rather....flew) into town on Thursday afternoon January 7, 2010. New York City is all the song "New York, New York!" says and more. Our five-night stay was just a slice of the Big Apple, but it was vibrant and full of life. We stayed in midtown on our last visit; this time we tried the west side. Hotel Empire was a real find. Located at the cross streets of Broadway and Columbus, it is just across the street from Lincoln Center where we would see the show
South Pacific.
Rooftop deck of hotel
It offers a view up Broadway and Columbus Streets In fact, the view from our room looked directly down onto the central court water fountain with the theater in the background prominently displaying the blue "South Pacific" show banner (hard to get lost from here!). Hotel Empire was completely remodeled recently, and it has a very warm and inviting atmosphere with contemporary earth-tone colors and comfortable furnishings. The lobby-lounge has an abundance of cozy conversational seating modules, making it an enjoyable place to linger a while to read, chat with friends, or enjoy the moment. Our first night there, after the flight from California, we were thankful for a sound night's sleep. When we woke up the next morning, the rooftops and streets were dusted with snow. And BRRRRR! It was really cold---at a grand high of 22 degrees that day. We got out and walked a few blocks, but we had to retreat indoors frequently lest we lost our noses and fingertips to frostbite. This certainly wasn't California! No wonder there are so many coffee shops and great deli's spaced along the streets. Fortunately we thought to bring woolen scarves, gloves, caps, socks, and---really important---silk undergarments. We survived.
That night we went to the Oak Room Supper
Lincoln Center
We could see the theaters from our hotel room. Club at the Algonquin Hotel, where they serve dinner and feature a cabaret show. One thing we learned on the way there is that not all New York taxi drivers know where things are! It wasn't until the fourth taxi driver that we finally got one who knew where the Algonquin was located. Amazing, for the Algonquin is a venerated long-standing fixture on 44th Street, smack in the middle of the theater district just off of Times Square. It is known for its old-fashioned ambience and its historical interest as the home of the famous Round Table luncheon club including literary personalities such as Dorothy Parker. Upon our arrival we had martini's in the famous Blue Room bar, and Bob went off to have a discreet talk with the Oak Room dinner captain - which assured us the best dinner table for the show. The dark-paneled Oak Room is an intimate setting where every table is close to the performers (ours was the closest). We were fortunate to see Sandy Stewart and Bill Charlap, a talented mother and son duo, singer and piano player respectively, who perform a show of romantic music titled
Somebody Loves Me. She has sung in
Lincoln Square
Park area and fancy shops, brightly lit at night theaters and cabarets for years, while he is an incredibly talented pianist who is known in many U.S. as well as international music circles. Together they presented an enchanted evening in the classic intimate New York cabaret style.
Saturday evening we enjoyed the show
South Pacific. We knew so many of the songs: "Some Enchanted Evening," "There's Nothing Like a Dame," "Younger Than Springtime," "Bali Ha'i" and more. What a delight. And then there was Sunday with a walk in Central Park, a visit to the aircraft carrier
Intrepid sea-land-space museum, and a dinner with a New York friends at the extremely popular---and extremely good---restaurant named
Babbo. It is near Washington Square Park, in the heart of Greenwich Village. At 8:45 in the evening it was jammed with people, a very trendy crowd. No wonder - it was a paradise of Italian food. We asked ourselves, how could we "top" this?
Monday, our last day in the city, we explored Battery Park and the Old New York downtown areas. Believe it or not, there are still parts of the 18th-century city standing among the skyscrapers. One is Fraunce's Tavern, the place where U.S.'s first president George Washington held
Snowy Central Park
Val photographs wintry scene his farewell dinner and said goodbye to his officers, was a real highlight. You'll find it on the corner of Pearl Street, which once was the embankment of Manhattan. To see the famous "Long Room," where the actual tearful dinner took place, was haunting. Oh, the history that has happened at that Tavern! The restaurant area and museum should be on every visitor's "must-see" list. From there we went to the old South Street Seaport and Fulton's Market, also very historic, which retain a bit of the flavor of New York's maritime past, the days of sailing ships, busy wharves and warehouses. Today, of course, shops, restaurants and museums abound and are fun to poke around in. We finished our day with a taxi ride over the Brooklyn Bridge (which we have walked before) to the elegant River Café, which lies tucked in at the base of the bridge on the Brooklyn side and gives you the classic lovers-in-Manhattan movie view that we all know. As the lights came on in Manhattan, it was magic. The sweeping view encompassed the towering Brooklyn Bridge and the bright lights of the skyscrapers of Lower Manhattan. It even extended out to the Statue
The aircraft carrier "Intrepid"
The ship, moored next to the cruiseship terminal, is now a sea-land-space museum. of Liberty in the distance. The darker it got, the brighter it became - it just glimmered. The view from the River Café bar and dining room will be forever in our hearts. Surely this was the "top." The next day we would be embarking on Cunard Line's newest cruiseship
Queen Victoria for a trip to the Caribbean and through the Panama Canal. We could only dream of what enchantment lay ahead. (Hopefully it would be a bit warmer than New York!)
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Kim
non-member comment
Fabulous!
Wow. I didn't know you were going on such a trip. Have a fabulous time.