Yikes, work got crazy. I got my first taste/soul-crushing of pitch work :)

Day 3 (August 6)

So, back to Manhattan. With Matthew & Christina out at Long Island for a wedding, I was on my own for the rest of the trip. I took the metro down to East Village and planned to walk my way back toward home (which ended up being 6+ miles of walking!). The humidity had definitely lessened, but it was still considerably hot. This day hit me the hardest overall. Saw so much but completely exhausted myself!

• Grabbed a deli sandwich and parked on a bench outside the historic St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery, known to have been a spot of worship for over 3.5 centuries, the longest religious location in New York.
• Walked around East Village a bit, past Webster Hall where, as part of their Wave Goodbye shows, NIN played through “The Downward Spiral” in its entirety. It was also the first place Bob Dylan was ever recorded!

• Ventured past Union Square and ended up in the Flatiron District. Sadly, the lighting was all wrong to photograph the Flatiron Building, but it was still one of my favorite architectural moments being able to look up on it. The Empire State Building was in view up ahead and I noticed a helicopter, which looked like it was going to land on the top. It was sooo close. I couldn’t figure out what it was doing.

• Ended up in Times Square (a place I’ve decided I never want to be for NYE). It was so much bigger than I realized. I sort of walked through quickly, noting morning news locations, marquees, and NYE ball. It really wasn’t a place that contained anything I found too interesting but it was something I needed to see. I did almost buy tickets to a comedy club, but the only time slot my choice comedian was performing was 12:30am :-/ I knew better than to think I’d make it back across town at that hour. Next time.

• I returned to 30 Rock, since we hadn’t seen much of the interior during our visit to Top of the Rock. Sadly, the interior of the main entryway was covered in scaffolding, but I looked around the murals lining the hallways and pretty much ventured anywhere not roped off. I admired the gold rotating doors, spotted some real NBC pages, and had my “sigh, I love you” moment at the photo of Jack & Liz in the hall (after I made my first & only souvenir purchase of a 30 Rock mug & Blurgh! magnet. The NBC experience bag killed my street cred the rest of the afternoon :)

• After nerding out at 30 Rock, I visited my other love, Dave, at Ed Sullivan Theater. I’d seen the marquee a million times, but the building was surprisingly un-theater like. It was cool to see the neighborhood he always references, though. Walked past Carnegie Hall, too. In retrospect, I should have tried to stop in.

• I continued you north, making my way to Lincoln Center, but I passed this great building, Alwyn Court, along the way. The detail work was incredible. You can get a $227 brunch at the fine dining restaurant, Petrossian, on the ground floor hehe.

• The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts was pretty awesome. There was a girl setting up a little tripod to take a picture of herself in front of the plaza. I admired her courage. I looked around the lobby of the opera house and saw signs for Avery Fischer Hall. Then, Julliard was just around the corner! What a great location for a student of the arts. I chilled in the shade there for awhile before mustering up the courage for more heat walking.

• I pulled up the map and realized I was fairly close to the Hudson, but after missing my turn by a few blocks and walking around for 8 blocks, without finding a way to cut over to the water, I gave up the quest, tired & exhausted. I did run across the Mini of Manhattan dealership on my way to a bus, though!
• After chilling out at home for a bit, I walked up a few blocks to William Greenberg Jr Desserts for a black & white cookie, which I read was a NY favorite. I packed it in my bag for later and hopped on the bus to the Upper West Side.

• A few blocks northwest of Central Park, on the border of Columbia University, was the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, noted as the world’s largest Gothic cathedral (disputed by a cathedral in Europe). I kicked myself for not considering I’d want to see inside and thus, not checking the hours. It closed 15 minutes before I arrived. On the bright side, the light was superb!

• The exterior left plenty to admire, though, especially the Peace Fountain located in the surrounding grounds. It depicted a battle with satan, animals, and a sun & moon. Simultaneously a little disturbing and fascinating.
• Now began my biggest planning failure. I was starving but I didn’t think about that until I had walked away from all the food places. I had no idea it would be so hard to find a slice of pizza in NY! I was on the brink of walking death at this point, but the 6 block out the way journey was worth it to satisfy the craving!

• I entered Central Park at 103rd on the west side, where I was greeted by a girl handing out programs for the play I came to attend. I had no idea what to expect. The online description merely said it was a free performance by the New York Classical Theatre of “Much Ado About Nothing” in Central Park. There were about 20-30 people seated on the ground, and I arrived just as they explained how this night would work. They called it panoramic theater, so we would need to turn around and walk other places for different scenes. That was bad news to the group of girls in front of me who had spread out a mountain of a picnic. Luckily, I was mobile. I grabbed a spot on the grass and devoured my pizza as the play began. I was skeptical about how enjoyable it would be, but with the weather around 76 degrees, food in hand, and a place to sit, I was already in a pretty happy place.
• Well, they blew me away. All the actors were superb, and per the program, most have appeared in several Broadway & off-Broadway performances. What a treat to see them from 5-10 ft away, outside on a beautiful summer evening. Our first move was for the masquerade ball, where we walked up to a grassy knoll where music was playing. They handed out masquerade masks, so we became part of the scene. Some people danced with the actors, but I had my heart set on my black & white cookie instead. It was more like a cake in texture than a cookie (4” diameter!) but definitely delicious!
• We moved to about 4-5 different spots around Central Park over the course of the 2-hour play. After the sun went down, some people in the front used flashlights as stage lighting. We had an (almost) wedding down by a creek and the whole thing ended on a hill with a song & dance number. The lead guy & girl did this awesome swing dance move. If my wikipediaing is correct, it’s called a “tomahawk”, where they stand side-by-side, and the guy extends his arm and she rolls up & over it. I was impressed! The crowd of people watching doubled to at least 60 by the end of the night.
• It was another NY moment and possibly the highlight of my entire trip. I literally kept repeating to myself, “You’re watching a play that you love (for free!..I’m mailing a donation, though) in Central Park right now. How cool is this?!?” The moment was only extended by wandering home through the silence of the park in the glow of the streetlamps (even if I did get a little turned around). Yet another beautiful end to the day.

All of my day 3 photos are up on Flickr here.