New York day 6 October 6

 Saturday October 6 Brooklyn bridge
 Today was predicted to be a little cooler but sunny so we took the opportunity to walk the Brooklyn bridge.

 We are becoming masters of the subway now and found our way down with no trouble. There is a level above the car traffic just for pedestrians and bikes. 

On the way to the bridge

The beautiful Gehry apartment building

We've been under it, Now it's time to walk it

What a joy. This bridge is beautiful And a master of engineering. It took its toll of workers in the initial stages because they had to work under water in cages with pressurized air and many of them died of decompression sickness. The original engineer was killed in the early stages by tetanus and his son was made an invalid by the bends leaving his wife to complete the project. Go girl engineers!

 The view from the bridge is spectacular. The combination of the soaring sandstone with the city architecture was really lovely.

Barriers on the aproach

Even though there was reconstruction going on and some large barriers blocked some of the view. We had a wonderful time.

Looking back towards Manhattan

It's like a cathedral

The road underneath

 

Manhattan bridge from the Brooklyn

 It was a busy day and there were many pedestrians and bike riders on the bridge. Bikes to one side and pedestrians to the other and heaven help you if you wander to the wrong side!

There are 2 exits off the bridge and of course we took the wrong one. So we ended up taking the long way around into the area known as DUMBO.

Down under the manhattan and Brooklyn overpass. This area reminded me of the Rocks in Sydney.



 

Towards Brooklyn

Seaside industry and old warehouses have been converted into shops , museums and galleries. We found a great place for lunch. Looks like it is jumping at night but it had a great daytime ambience.

 I left Monica there to explore some more and made my way back to Times Square for my next show. This time Nice Work if you Can Get It. Songs by Gershwin but a new book starring Matthew Broderick and kellie Ohara from South Pacific . The story was true musical comedy. Unlikely plot twists and character progress but the singing and dancing was good and it was really fun. Monica had been shopping for presents so I made my way down to Macy's and met her there and we walked back up town .

Bryant park carousel

 It was dusk as we came upon Bryant park again. It was so pretty in the moonlight with the trees lit up and the public library in the background. The weather had turned cool but I braved the cold and we found a cafe in the park for dinner.

 The food was ordinary. Mostly salads or bread based things which was a pity because it is a great setting but I guess they don't have a big kitchen or something. Still it was a lovely experience eating dinner in the park. A good way to end the night.

New York day 5 October 5

New York day 5 October 5

Of blisters and heat.

First aid to poor feet

I really got the weather wrong when I packed. Expecting the highest temp around 20 during the trip, today was quite a surprise. It must have been at least 27 at times. But it was lovely to see the sun.

 Unfortunately I have been breeding a monster crop of blisters and they are taking their toll as well as my general unfitness meaning every muscle in my legs seems to be aching.  Even jelly bad aids and nurofen at not making a great deal of difference. But my desire to limit growing my blisters means we have mastered the art of catching buses now. Today we walked down to 34 th st and caught a bus across town. Then down to the corner of 9th Avenue and 30th street for the start of the high line.

Monica at the start

The high line  is a new garden planted over an old railway track no longer used.

See the rails incorporated in the walkway

 It has been planted with native grasses and plants that were naturally occurring along the line already.

Echinacea

  It seems to be an oasis for birds and natural life in the middle of quite an industrial part of town and now there are some interesting architectural developments springing up around this newly beautified area.

Taking advantage of the green

 And great street art taking it's inspiration from the graffiti New York is famous for even though there isnt as much of it around on the subway.

Well at least it's imaginiatve advertising hoarding

A well loved and used area

We got to the area that goes through the Chelsea markets and found a place making real espresso. So I had a macchiato. And it was good. Especially combined with peanut butter gelato. Yum.  Walking along looking for a seat I saw a vaguely familiar face. Sure enough it was the husband of one of my patients back home. We stopped for a chat and a photo. Nice to hear the Aussie accent although you hear it all around the place. 

Chelsea markets were calling. Set up in the old nabisco factory. Home of the Oreo it is a mix of food shops flea market and stores. The lobster market was serving freshly cooked lobster at very reasonable prices. People were taking advantage and it looked delicious. But I have never really been a fan of lobster so we found a Thai place and ate there.

Chelsea Market

We then went our separate ways. I headed off to the south st seaport to get show tickets and Monica stated to explore Chelsea. Except she got lost and ended up in Greenwich village which was also fun.

The TKTS booth at the seaport is much less crowded. Definitely the way to go for tickets. I had my purchases within 20 minutes and made my way back uptown. 

South st seaport

The seaport is a lovely place to visit of itself. A bit like the rocks in Sydney. It pays homage to the history of the city and there were lots of outside eateries and nice shops to visit. My feet were getting the better of me and I needed a rest  our tour guide had recommended the shopping area on 6 th ave between 14 th and 23 rd so I walked that strip. 

 This weekend the stores are full of sales for the Columbus Day weekend so I was able to get a few things in Gap for people at home. But I was exhausted so headed back to the hotel for a rest.

Later that night I headed back into the theatre district for the spoof show Forbidden Broadway. Rewritten regularly to reflect what is currently showing on broadway, it was very very funny. And the performers very talented. I was sitting next to a girl who had clearly seen all of the shows they were spoofing . She is a New Yorker living and working in London. She gave me a few show recommendations because after seeing everything sent up it was hard to know what would be good.

 Finally I understand what broadway and off broadway mean. And it has noting to do with location of theatre. A broadway show is in a theatre over 500 seats. 100 to 499 is off broadway and under 100 is off,off broadway. 

So even though forbidden broadway is in the next block from Book of Mormon, it is off broadway. And neither of them is actually on the street called broadway!
 I love this city

Aussie Curves: Skirt

The ladies at Aussie Curves are exploring Skirts this week. I must admit for much of my life I hardly wore skirts. A combination of not liking the way they sit on me and having the kind of feet that need supportive shoes and those kind of shoes often dont go with skirtts. But two things have happened in the last few years that have solved my problem. I discovered leggings. Yay for TS14 plus and city chic before them. And I found boots that fit my calves. I love the look of skirts with boots as you saw in my Blue post.

I have about 5 black skirts. They are different lengths and weights because they are a great staple to just give enough length to make a gillet a dress. But today I am going to show off one of my New York purchases. I didnt buy a lot of clothes in New York for me. Aske me about what I bought my daughters! But I did spend a few hours in Macys in the Plus size department. It takes up half of a whole floor! and this skirt was one of my finds.

I was prepared to pay the ticket price which was quite reasonable but it was columbus day week so I was happily surprised to find I was only charged $17 for this beauty. Cant complain about that.

Normally I would wear a slightly longer top to hide the ample tummy bulge in fornt but it was still damp when my photographer was available. Even when I was a teenager there was a bulge there so I have learned to live with it.
But dont you love the colour? Even though I wear a lot of red I love this magenta and will be able to make it work across the seasons.

Skirt Macy's NYC

Top decorous top 2010 TS14 plus

Leggings TS 14 plus

necklace TS14 plus

Shoes Rivers

This is a blog hop. See what the other beauties are up to

Aussie Curves Breaking the Rules

All this week the girls at Aussie Curves have been breaking the fashion rules.
Meanwhile I have been busy thinking about rules. Are they made to be broken or there for a reason? I found myself quite unwilling to break many of the "rules" of dress I follow because they work for me.
But there are rules for fat women that are just stupid
Like " fat women should never wear white"
I wear white a lot. I love it in summer. Black pants are too hot in summer and well fitting white ones are fresh and lovely.
And rules for "women of a certain age" that also dont always work. Like "if you remember wearing it the first time around you shouldnt wear it this time"
And boy do I remember wearing fluoro brights in the 80s. Even though they broke another rule which was " Don't wear colours that are not flattering for your skin"
So here I am breaking all of the above rules.

White cropped jeans from Big W, white Tshirt and over vest from TS 14 plus last year. Bright Yellow scarf from Gloss.

And by the way, I bloke another personal rule. "Dont wear really flat shoes. You are too short.

But these cute multicoloured ballet flats from Target were too tempting. I think they will get a work out in summer.
Here's to pushing myself to experiment a little more and not always be bound by the "rules"
If you haven't already, check out the other posts.
This is a blog hop

New York day 4 October 4

New York day 4 Thursday October 4

Rockerfeller centre.

Another overcast and sprinkle day so we planned a day of mostly indoor pursuits.

The architecture and art of the rockerfeller centre beckoned. We walked  up Madison ave and noticed a decided change in feel once we got north of 42 nd street. The road is wide, the cars are fancier and the trees a buildings make it feel classier. The people are also a little dressier.

One of many murals in the foyer of the main building

There are a number of tours available at the Rock and we do plan to go back to go to the top on a good visibility day but today's plan was to visit the building itself. Our tour guide was very knowledgable about the Rockerfellers  and the building.

mosaic of the influence of thought on civilisation

There is a lot of good mural art and a famous incident involving Diego rivera was described with relish by our guide.

So much thought has gone into the buildings all over this town and this is no exception.

Towards St Patricks in scaffolding

The lobby most striking to me was the lobby of the building facing St Patrick's cathedral.

facing the cathedral

towards commerce

Cathedral like in its own proportions, there are long windows designed to give the best aspect of the cathedral across the road. The statue of atlas outside the lobby is interesting too. Viewed towards the cathedral atlas looks like he is carrying the globe rather like Christ carrying the cross whereas looking towards this building of commerce, atlas looks quite triumphant. Same statue. Different aspects.

feature made of pyrex!

From the entrance

It was the seat of the United Nations for a time

The Christmas tree is inserted here

Every one of the buildings has art like this

After the tour we visited the anthropologie store at the centre. I can see why so many people recommend it. Such a lovely mix of home wares and clothes. And quite a different style to what i had seen before. It is hard to shop for clothes for presents because I am not sure of sizing but there were other things to get as presents. 

We decided to have lunch at the centre and found a sandwich shop called Witchcraft.    Both of us had soup and half sandwich again. This time mine was cold zucchini soup with sandwich of goats cheese, walnuts, olives, greens and avocado.

After that we walked towards Times Square to get show tickets from the TKTS booth. Luckily the play only line was much shorter. I arrived at 2.15 and the booth opened at 3. I was about 6 th in line so we easily scored tickets to Steppenwolfs production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe . 

We the headed downtown to the library of J Pierpont Morgan. ( the illusion from the show how to succeed in business was not lost in me ).

The receiving room!

 This collection of important manuscripts and works of art is astounding. He collected manuscripts of original compostitions and private correspondance between people as varied as napoleon and josephine and jd salinger. his actial office and library were sumptuously decorated. red silk wallpaper and huge fireplace.

Mosaic walls and decorative ceilings. an amazing display of wealth.

the library

A decorative air vent

From a Gutenberg bible

a Jewelled Bible

The connecting space between the various JP Morgan buildings

We were both pretty tired by then.For the first time we headed home for a little rest and a quick bite to eat of cheeses and nibbles and a cup of tea! Oh, and some time for me to do my washing. Then a quick brisk walk back to the theatre.

Our seats were 9 from the front and to the extreme right but we had a good view of the stage. What a performance! I had never seen this play. It is easy to understand why it is a classic. The performers were marvelous and looked absolutely spent by the end of it. Three acts and almost 3 hours later we were also spent. By the time we walked home we both were happy to fall into bed.