New York City

Our son and his wife made friends with Lisa while attending UCLA so they go way back. They have all stayed friends, visiting each other on occasion both in New York and California. Lisa is a musician, has a band that plays on occasion. So I lay this background to say that we planned to visit Lisa while in New York. I’ve met her couple of times but very briefly and was looking forward to getting to know her a little better.

Bel and I hoped the train at a nearby station and rode into NYC’s Penn Station. Trains are efficient and easy to navigate.

We walked up to the Broadway district and over to the Majestic Theater for a production of Phantom of the Opera. We had tickets center and 8 rows back, just far enough to see the whole stage but close enough to nearly touch the chandelier. Great seats for last minute purchase. The Phantom, for anyone who hasn’t seen it, is well worth the price.

From the Phantom we walked thru Times Square where it appeared that some sort of filming was being set up. After gawking at Times Square it was the off to Rockefeller Center where we were to meet Lisa. We got tickets to go to the Top of 30 Rock for Lisa, Bel and myself. While we waited for Lisa we picked up a snack and set by the Ice Skating Rink that is normally shown on the Today Show. That is interesting to see but it is actually quite small up close.

When Lisa arrived we took the elevators up to the top of the building. The sun was setting over the city and we had the best view.

After dark we went to the Eataly http://www.eataly.com/ for dinner. What a food experience! 7 restaurants within the building plus specialty grocery areas including cheese, salami, pastas, deserts. We sat in the vegetarian restaurant where I had a fabulous Polenta with a glass of wonderful Bruciato wine. It was an overload but we were glad to eat some great food after so much walking.