NYC and a cold

Snivel snivel whine whine. Or is it sniffle sniffle? Hmmm. Whichever, I really hate having a cold. Compounding the misery - we had booked to spend the weekend in New York City. My sad life. Not a bad weekend by any stretch, but not as much fun as I wanted it to be.

We arrived after work on Friday and, having checked in to our delightful little room at the Hotel Giraffe, strolled down Park Avenue to a nearby sushi place. Good people watching. The staff shoehorned us into a table near the back next to three very stereotypical Noo York guys - loud, obnoxious, kind of entertaining. Our food - generous in portion and tasty - came out super fast, and I think our whole experience of the restaurant was a half hour in length. I fear I wasn't good company, though, and with the aid of some medicine, I was soon asleep back in the room. Unusual for me, I was in bed for about 11 hours that night. I don't think Conrad minded.

Late Saturday morning, then, we ventured out again.


The Guggenheim was our destination. I'd never been to that museum and was curious to see it. All the more so, in fact, once we learned there would be an exhibit of Spanish artists. We saw again a few works we'd seen in Spain by familiar names like Zurbaran. Wonderful show. Some Picassos there really surprised me in how non-abstract they were.



Once done with the show, we wandered through the mild early afternoon across Central Park. The reservoir was still covered in thin ice, but the weather was lovely.



I, on the other hand, was doing my best not to be irritable and difficult. My sinuses were going haywire, and I was using up kleenex by the bushel. Do I look miserable? I think I do, but I hope I was putting on a good enough face.




We were intending to find Zabar's but we realized we needed lunch first. Chancing by Bistro Citron, we headed in and settled down to a simple lunch of a salad for Conrad, a quiche and a coffee for me.





Happily, we did make it to Zabar's. Two chocolate babka now sit in our freezer. Nice!


Our wandering then took us about town the rest of the afternoon with no particular destination. We poked in a few shops here and there, but mostly we gawked and took a few photos. Hence, the Time Warner Centre at Columbus Circle:



And this building in the West Village (I think) that I recalled reading about in the New Yorker (I think):



And the sights around Madison Square Park. Conrad had been trying to get s over to Gramercy Park, but as the map told him, we were not quite there.







Dinner was at a Spanish place called Ureña. We dined early, so the place was mostly quiet while we were the only table for a little bit. Still, I had hoped we might try to find some live entertainment afterwards. The meal itself was fine. Some dates with bacon, olives, and a lamb empanada to start. Cured tuna for me (and a salad for Conrad, too blurrily photographed to post here). A seafood soup for me and striped bass with green garlic foam for him. Desserts were quite nice. Conrad had chocolate buñuelos while I had a lovely lemon cake on blood orange curd with a star anise sorbet. I am happy to report that the flavours of the food did get through to me because I had a token glass of wine and all I could do was nod politely that it was fine - I couldn't smell it and it tasted of, well, just wine. Oh, and the waitress was terrific - middle aged and French or German - my ear for accents was also impaired. Great recommendations from her, though!









No live entertainment followed. We instead went to a nearby wine bar where Conrad enjoyed a flight of Italian reds and I had a glass of an Italian Sauvignon Blanc. It was all rather wasted on me again, I'm afraid. Ah well.





I slept poorly that night - why must New Yorkers honk so much yet so uselessly? Sheesh. The morning was sunny, but I was, you can tell, still irritable.


We had time before check out, though, to stroll in the neighbourhood, and sit with coffees. That was pleasant, I must concede.


So, not the most stellar weekend for me, thanks to my cold and an inability to just deal with it. Sorry Conrad. Next trip I'll be better, I hope!

At home today letting the cold wear off (I hope - it feels like it's weakening). We're expecting fine weather tomorrow - spring at last, he wonders, hopefully.