Let me describe -21oF for you

Our last day in NYC was cold. Like really cold. Then we went to the top of the Empire State Building. Let's just say it was colder up there. It was -11 F, -21 F with the windchill. I think this pretty much sums it up:

But the view from the top was pretty great!

I took a little video of going most of the way around the top. Not that interesting, but you can see the view pretty well and hear the wind whipping.

And get a good whipping by the wind we did. NYC was so cold that when we got to Reykjavik early the next morning, it seemed warm at 32oC! Little did we know that Iceland also has wind.... and snow....
...Until tomorrow, when we find our weary travelers in the southern Icelandic countryside!

Good thing we have back up booze.

Today we decided to take it pretty easy and bum around the Met, maybe run a few errands before we head off for Iceland tomorrow. It was overcast and threatened to rain a bit, but much warmer so we took advantage and walked through central park up to see the Guggenheim.

Then a few blocks down to the Met to see the JAR exhibit.

Our walk along the park.

The exhibit was incredible. It was hard to believe the pieces were made of stone and metal, some looked so soft to the touch.

A Camellia Brooch, Click to see more of the collection.

We took a little break from the oohhing and ahhing for some lunch on Madison Ave. Dad says there is nothing like a New York patty melt and egg cream.
Then we were back at it, this time just to drop in on the Monet and Van Gogh collections. Next to famous paintings that we've seen pictures of a million times were a couple that I don't think I've ever seen. I think I like them more than some of the most famous.

Van Gogh - Vase with Roses

Seurat -The Forest at Paumbert

To put everything in perspective for ourselves, we left the Met and walked along Park Ave. to the subway, which we took directly to... KMart. Yes, it seemed to be the best option for what we needed (forgotten sunglasses, flip flops, etc). It didn't disappoint.

We had planned our evening, a trip to the West Side with three stops all wrapped up in a little bow. First a light dinner (that egg cream did us in at lunch), a drink at the top of the Empire Hotel, then a stop at Trader Joe's to stock up on wine.
The place we ended up choosing for our "light dinner" was Ed's Chowder House at the base of the Empire Hotel. After going inside it became obvious that it wasn't a typical chowder house and that it was good that we had dressed for dinner. We learned later that it is a popular stop for dinner before the opera or ballet. We found some suitable items on the menu and the food was very, very good, just not exactly what we had intended. Next on the list was a drink at the top of the Empire Hotel, but as we waited for the elevator to take us up we found out that the bar is closed for the next two months....
So onto Trader Joe's it was. We found it pretty easily, went inside, and found out that they don't sell wine at that location. To quote New York's own Liz Lemon : "WHAT the WHAT?!"
I know, right? A TJ's without wine? Can you even call it a TJ's at that point? Evidently you can in New York.
So with two of our three plans for the night dashed, I guess it's good that we still have our back up booze at the hotel room. New York City is turning out to be a dry town tonight.

Perfectly Drizzly

Well, the weather cooperated... as far as the temperature was concerned. Not so much with the rain though.....
I spent the morning  sleeping in... er, I mean sight seeing. Yes... it wasn't like I slept in while Dad padded around the block reading the paper and then brought me coffee in bed or anything. What is this, vacation?!
So... yeah. We started the day with a hard earned understanding of the subway system and made it down to the Empire State Building. The visibility was zero thanks to the drizzly weather, so we declined to go to the top.

We might try another day. Next stop was Rockefeller Plaza. It wasn't so much the Plaza, which was nice and all, but there was a raman house that I really wanted to try. A perfect meal for a wet day!

In the afternoon we went down to Times Square again (tickets in hand this time!) and saw A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. A great show, very clever and fun. As an adult on vacation I must admit that I take (probably too much) pleasure in the fact that at the theater you can buy not only peanut M&Ms, but also alcohol. And the alcohol comes in adult sippy cups. It makes me smile to sit in the dark watching a play like a real grown up, but I'm actually drinking and eating candy.

My Adult Sippy Cup

We ate dinner at a french bistro, Pigalle, that was right around the corner. So good that I'm gonna have to walk more if I want to fit into any of the clothes that I brought. I thought it was the holiday food that was going to do me in, but no.. 3 days in New York is going to be the final nail!

Well, I'm off for now. I'm trouncing Dad in a game of Scrabble, and I'm gonna wring it for everything it's worth!

New Year, New York.

I am trying to start the new year off right and actually posting, you know, once in a while…

It's true, I never got around to posting about the Great Porter Migration of 2010, but it was pretty awesome. 3 generations of Porters (my grandfather, father and I) flew across the country, saw New York City and then Niagra Falls and then took the train back west across Canada. We were having so much fun that as we looked out over the map of the railway system, we vowed to plan another trip. It all started with “where else could we take this train?”. The most exotic place was Churchill Canada. I only call it exotic because it is the farthest the railway goes and the most north –actually just inside of the arctic circle.

Now we’re all for travel for travel sake and stuff, but we figured that there had to be a reason the railroad would go all the way up there to the seeming middle of nowhere. So of course we googled that.

It turns out that up that far north there are a) polar bears and  b) a chance to see the aurora borealis. Let me do that math for you a + b = we were sold.

At that point the issue became when and how and then Grandpa decided that 92 was too old for that kind of cold, then dad got a hold of google again and it morphed into a whole different animal.

Which is how I find myself in New York City again knocking around for a few days with Dad until we get on the plane to Iceland.

We arrived on the red eye this morning, properly red eyed but hungry for some city sights and well, just plain hungry. Also Cold. So Cold. Stepping into the air was like being slapped in the face with a cold, mean, mean hand. I can only discribe the windy New York cold as stinging. 

After some frustrating attempts at the subway we finally made some progress and visited the Waldorf Astoria. It seemed like a good place to look around while drinking some tea.

A beautiful building with a nice history exhibit so you can see the Waldorf Astoria of the past.

After a bit more wrestling with the subway and street maps we made it (just in time!) uptown to grab our timed tickets to see the Girl with a Pearl Earring which is showing at the Frick Collection. The Frick was pretty crowded, but worth it. There were a few Rembrants, Monet and other Vermeers. 

By that time we were hungry again and on the look out for some broadway tickets, so we headed to Times Square and ate at Tout Va Bien. So good. Before befriending the waitress:

After befriending the waitress (now with wine!):

(I love being a Porter!)

Times Square

On the way home we scored some great matinee tickets for the Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and were ready for bed. 

A great first day, it's going to rain tomorrow so hopefully it will be a bit warmer. We can wish, can't we?

Birds of a Feather

If you haven't heard, Dr. Seuss kept a secret hat closet in his house.

 Everything about that statement makes me smile. 

SECRET. HAT CLOSET. DR. SEUSS. 

This closet was filled with crazy hats he had collected and he would open it up at dinner parties and let everyone pick a hat to wear. 

“In Dr. Seuss’ home, a bookcase opens up with a false door, and behind it are literally hundreds of hats, as well as paintings he never showed to anybody.” (Click to see the article)

The subject only gets better the more I read about it. 

Best of all, the hats are part of a traveling exhibition. Knowing my friends, a day trip to see the exhibition is going to be the easiest sale I've ever made. 

Also, everyone I know (MIMI!) is hereby informed that 1) I'm not going to wait until I am a crazy old lady to have a secret crazy hat closet. 2) If you help me build a secret hat closet, you get to know the location (duh) 3) At dinner parties, be prepared to pick a hat to wear.

 Don't say I didn't warn you. 

Another data point

Another piece of evidence that we use the word "Adult" pretty loosely around here. 

This was the "Adult's" snack for the night:

The new Snack of Champions. Jealous?

Changing Weather

It seems that a neighbor left their sprinklers on......

 and with a recent cold snap there became a "scene"

It seemed as if all the houses where in the middle of a regular California winter, 

but then one was having the Minnesota version.

Didn't the groundhog say there would be an early spring?!