November Travel Part I--New York City

November--just before Thanksgiving--is always the time of Jim's annual Society of Biblical Literature convention and this will be his 44th one in a row.  He said last year it might have been his last one but here we are again!   This year the trip is extended however to include pre-convention speaking at Boston College and Yeshiva University and post-convention time with family for Thanksgiving.

Jim left on Sunday, spoke at BC, and then took the train to NYC.  I left home yesterday and we met up at the Krispy Kreme donut shop at Penn Station.  I got confused getting off the train at an unusual place and had to ask an Amtrak policeman where it was!  But we found each other--and were so glad to see each other again--and walk to the hotel together.

Hilton Garden Inn Times Square South--"only" 50,000 Hilton points a night--and now I might know why.  Noisy construction is going on across the street so there will be pounding all day.  The "white noise" of a fan bothered me last night until I put a pillow over my ears.  The view from the 17th floor is of a working garment factory--we are definitely in the Garment District.

No plans for today at all.  We shall see what evolves.
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We walked to Times Square,  to get lunch at Pret A Manger, and to the NY Public Library--104 minutes of walking according to my Fitbit.  After all of that, we were happy to eat at the hotel bar again and watch sports on TV for the evening.

I have been to all the major museums in NYC with the exception of the new Met Breur (the old Whitney).    I'm not a shopper.  I am beginning to think that NYC doesn't hold the attraction for me it once did.  And that makes me sad in a way!  The thought of coping with the subways is daunting.  I have observed previously that I was often the oldest person I saw on the trains underground.

So the highlight of our day was really our trip to the New York Public Library where we found the reference desk on the third floor and Jim made his inquiry for the 10th edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica's index.  It took three librarians to help him and not one asked for his credentials.  We could have waited for the volume or picked it up today but Jim chose to have them scan the relevant pages and email them to him.  Amazing if it all works out.

The view from our 17th floor room is of several floors of a so called "sweat shop," a garment factory.  I have been watching people cut patterns, sew fabric, and one poor fellow ironing quickly with repetitive motions.  I wonder what they are making and who owns the place.

Other vignettes today--the man ahead of me at 7-11 buying breakfast--a Red Bull and a huge cookie.  The barrista at Gregory's Coffee who, when I asked her, said she gets up at 3:30 am to get to work at 5:30 am but she's "used to it." The stooped over man standing on the sidewalk with a puddle in front of him--his drink or his place to urinate.  It's the big city and a long way from Deerfield Loop in Granger!

The "Vessel" (a sculpture)

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A bonus of the day was being able to meet Dan briefly at 10 Hudson Yards.  He had flown into Newark on the red-eye from San Francisco that morning.  He had several meetings but was able to take a break and see us.


We took Uber to the Lucerne Hotel at 79th and Amsterdam Avenue where Yeshiva had booked us a room for one night.  The Lucerne is a step up from Hilton Garden Inn which means that  instead of free bottles of water, you could pay $6.75.

At 5:20 Jim left for Yeshiva Unversity where he had dinner and gave a presentation to about 15 scholars.  I walked to Lincoln Center for the concert The Routes of Slavery--but after some confusion, I learned that my concert at the Rose Theatre was not a part of that campus.  I walked another six blocks and saw "Jazz at Lincoln Center."  I found i!.  But no--it looked like a shopping mall--and it was.  The theatre was on the 5th floor hidden away but actually seating hundreds in tiers.

  I made it in time for the pre-concert lecture.  I had thought that if the concert was not great I would leave at intermission.  However, the music was lively and dance was colorful and the narration about slavery was profound and my seat in the first row on the edge was right under the action.  I stayed and loved it--except for the encores when I was ready to go!  Jordi  Savall  is known for bringing musicians together and these folks were from ten countries and three continents.


Jim met me walking back and we had tacos and drinks at 11 pm at Playa Betty's on Amsterdam Avenue.
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November 16, 2017

.  My breakfast was a NY one--a roll with egg and cheese.

The Sick Room

  Our major jaunt for the day was across Central Park to the Met Breur for the Edvard Munch exhibit.  I had renewed my Met membership just in time--the card came on Saturday.  The exhibit included several rooms with themes like Despair, Nocturne, Passion, and Self-Portraits (which he called self-scrutinies).  There was no "The Scream" except for one lithograph. Almost all of the works came from the Munch Museum in Oslo.

We had supper with Dan at Whitmans in Hudson Yards.  This involved our first subway trips which we did not handle with perfection.  We neglected to see the Uptown sign, slid our cards through, and then realized our error.  We had great and greasy burgers with Dan and he told us of his adventure of the afternoon--descending 26 floor by stairs because of a fire on the 22nd floor.  After supper, he helped  us combine our Metro cards at the new Hudson Yard subway station and get us on our way.  We're now back in the hotel, ready for Thursday night football, and planning on leaving NYC in the morning for Boston.
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 About 17,000 steps  each of the last two days according to my Fitbit!  Jim was congratulated by Uber for being rated five stars by each of his three drivers on Wednesday.  First ever purchase from a food cart when we got rolls and coffee at the corner near our hotel.  And now on Amtrak to Boston.