I warned that this might be repetitious and a little mixed up. This is back in Central Park. The fountain above, with the pond behind where you can rent a boat or hire a gondola ride. One of the castles in the park, below.
This is the part that allows me to be able to enjoy NYC, the open parts like this one of many huge expanses of grassy park in Central Park. Times Square is usually very open (it was blocked off after 9/11) with bistro tables and chairs to sit and relax, talk, people-watch. There are many parks in the city like that. Apparently I can't upload any more than these photos on this post (the machine rules the human-I am submissive); you will see some of my flower photos from other parks in another post. Yeah, we aren't done yet.
At Carnegie Deli, one of the most famous restaurants in NYC, this is an 11 year old girl singing opera for the customers. The owner (behind her) had heard she was singing at Carnegie Hall that night and had her perform; she was amazing. Just as the last time we were there, we ate next to a table of Texans. You can't spit anywhere...she had on a Texas Tech sweatshirt, him a UT t-shirt. It's all good when it's Texas. That's the little Red Raider/Longhorn spawn in the forefront of the photo.
This guy on the left is the brother of the young opera singer. We're gonna be seeing him on the tee vee one day soon. I don't know if you can tell but he's HUGE. And check out that sandwich-also huge; the owner made sure he got the house special. His legs were bigger than my waist-big. They were right across the isle from us. Lunch and a show.
Back in Central Park. Remember the fountain? This is a tunnel going from the fountain to the other side of the street from there. Beautiful painting on the ceilings and wall and fab arches, as you can see. If that wasn't enough, these two dudes pull up and start playing Vivaldi. Inside that tunnel...well, it was amazing.
This is the start of Strawberry Fields, the area that John Lennon had dedicated to the countries in peaceful treaties; this is the plaque for that. (That's my boot-I had to prove I was there-I was not trespassing)
Me at the official John Lennon memorial-Imagine.
He's the official mayor of Strawberry Fields and gives the spiel on all things SF and John Lennon. He pointed out The Dakota behind, where John was shot (I wouldn't look), the window where the white room is, the shutters where...I didn't keep up-Yoko still lives there-I felt the need to respect her privacy. Yep, we found a boundary for Stephanie and celebrities. Who knew?
Immense respect and reverence for a man who was so dedicated to peace. That drew a line for me.
This is the stage they were building in Times Square Friday afternoon. Mum was the word as to what it was for until late that day then it was revealed that Nicki Minaj was performing that night but the reason was still secret. Matt and I decided, after much waffling, that seeing NM in TS would look pretty good on our life resume so we went. It turns out she sang to promote the lauch of Nokia's new touch phone. She started out with Super Bass, of course, then sang a new song that Matt actually liked because it hadn't been worn completely out via radio. We were glad we went; it was very crowded but we are pros at navigating and did very well. I forgot my camera, took a photo on my phone, and sent it out. Justin replied back, "Miley Cyrus?". Ya, easy to get them mixed up.
