When one has a day or two to kill in Philly, what does one do? Go to New York City of course!
I decided on Friday that it might be fun to go to New York. So I texted my cousin, who lives there, and asked if she was free on Saturday. She had some time to hang out, so that was that; I was going. I took the cheaper train ($24 each way) from the 30th street station to Penn Station. It is a surprisingly stress-free and pleasant trip, if a bit lengthy (2.5 hours). Once in NY, we met up at Beach Cafe as she was finishing up brunch with other cousins. We stopped for a smoothie and pastry for me, then walked through Central Park towards where she needed to be. We parted ways in Lincoln Center, after checking out a little local market that was going on, where we both got some apples and she also got honey and cheese. I ended up wandering over to The Met, where they have a small gallery exhibit inspired by Prince Igor. The guard was super nice and even gave me the informational booklet. Some of the art was really good, but most of it was meh. My favorite was a gilt-framed synopsis of the opera by Peter Schjeldahl. It was hilarious. Hearing Werther echo through the halls, I decided to go see Enchanted Island that night. I'd been debating whether to go all morning, but being there really made up my mind. A couple of my programmer friends from SF happen to have been in NY for the past month or three, so I called them both. I met up with one in Chelsea. We walked that overpass thingy near the Hudson with the nice view and it was absolutely lovely. The weather was a beautiful 50-something, so I could wear my winter coat, but not freeze my butt off if I left it unbuttoned. Gorgeous. We looked at some bomb-diggity paintings, then wandered over to Joe's Pizza in the Village. We each had a slice, then met up with our other friend for coffee. I got to see where they've been living, then raced off to the opera. The Met is absolutely gorgeous. I got a $30 ticket in the upper balcony and got to my seat 10 minutes before curtain. The Enchanted Island was very good. I won't go into detail here, since I plan to write a review, but I thoroughly enjoyed the show. The cast was phenomenal. Like mind-blowingly good. Seeing Susan Graham and Placido Domingo in action was so beautiful and inspiring. I spent the night on my cousin's couch. We went to a fitness boot camp class she often goes to at her gym this morning. The instructor was a hard-ass who was actually incredibly nice. She gave me modified versions of the targeted exercises to do when I told her I'm an opera singer and don't want to work my upper abdominals too hard. I actually kept up in almost all the functional exercises, like lifting people and running. It was only in the core-targeting exercises where I had to ask for special treatment. Go me for not being too out of shape! After the class I went out to breakfast with my cousin and her friend who does the class with her. Good food, good coffee, and good conversation all around. [edit: My breakfast came with homestyle fries. They are not fries at all, but delicious potatoes. If you are offered this dish in the future, accept it gleefully and savor the deliciousness.] Then we went back to my cousin's place so she could get some work done and I just showered and chilled for a bit. I took the subway to Penn and caught the train for Philly. Sitting on this train, I'm truly glad I went into New York. I had a splendiferous time.
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AuthorMaayan is a Manhattan-based opera singer. Archives
January 2019
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