New York Hacks!

Yesterday it was very rainy in the morning so I spent the time reading the New York Times Sunday paper!  It stopped raining around 1 p.m. or so I set off on a hike.  My goal was the Barnes and Noble on 5th Avenue, which is about a mile from my apartment.   Since I polished off three Dostoevsky novels in my Russian literature course at UCLA (part of the Seniors Scholars Program) last quarter before I left LA, I decided to round out my education in Russian literature by tackling War and Peace by Tolstoy.  I figured it was a good goal in the remaining 100 days I have here in New York!   So, it was off to Barnes and Noble to get a copy.

Turns out it was a great day for walking – not to cold, not to hot – so I just kept walking and ended up all the way up at Central Park.  It was quite a hike – I live on 34th and Central Park starts on 58th – but I had the ‘privilege’ of walking by Trump Tower along the way.   It was probably a good 4 mile walk by the time I got home with my brand new Tolstoy classic!

Jordan gave me a book for Christmas entitled, “Secret New York, Curious Activities” so I started paging through it.  I earmarked several things that sounded interesting and then got to work on my computer.  I found out, for example, that the New York Philharmonic has open rehearsals that the public can attend when they are getting ready for a concert at Lincoln Center.  Cool!  So I bought tickets for an open rehearsal next week.  My ticket was $25 and I can show up in my jeans.  The tickets to the very same concert that same night start at $135 and you have to get all gussied up!!  How cool is that?  So, next Thursday morning (Feb. 8th) I will head up to Lincoln Center to get dose of culture.

They also had info about a ride-along with the New York Police Department which I really wanted to do – much to the chagrin of Jordan! – but it turns out you have to be an official New York resident!  Bummer!

In any case, it’s shaping up to be a busy week.  Tai Chi class tonight.  My tour at the New York Federal Reserve on Wednesday and I have tickets to the Frick museum on Thursday.   And I’ll fill in the blanks with gym time, walking, finding new hole-in-the-wall restaurants and reading; and spending time with Jordan when she can breakaway from college life!!  The NYC adventure continues!