My last day in the Big Apple...
...and my mid-morning walk took me to Central Park and a few moments to rest my feet.
This truly is one of the most spectacular landscapes Frederick Law Olmsted ever designed. And although I did not walk the entire 843 acres {wink}, I did walk enough and could count myself as one of the 25 million who visit this wonder each year.
When I left the park to meet "my people" for lunch, I was confronted with an enormous mob of observers all over the place celebrating Israel in a parade that took over The Avenue of the Americas, Fifth Avenue, Park Avenue, and all the other streets in between.
Weaving my way through the bands and crowds of visitors on the streets...
...as they were preparing to march,
I did an about face and took a detour...
...to enjoy some visual decadence for a few moments.
This bronze goddess greeted me as I entered the palace on the park.
While sparkling chandeliers, gilded Corinthian columns, polished marble floors and...
...clouds of pink peonies...
{everywhere I looked}
...and hot pink miniature calla lilies filled the elegant lobby.
Ivana Trump surely loves pink!
I loved how this arrangement of peonies was bundled and large banana palm leaves were wrapped around the vase. The contrast between the soft and frilly peony petals and the waxy dark green leaves was very dramatic.
Even the ornate ceiling was illuminated in soft pink light.
I wonder where this corridor could take me...
Directly across from The Plaza Hotel is this beautiful square with a fountain...and some wacky bronze sculptures of animal heads on bird feet.
I then got my feet walking to Park Avenue Summer.
It is a boutique restaurant that changes its entire decor every season. {I am sure the interior designers have so much fun with this project every three months ~ I would love this job!}
The entire restaurant was bright sunshine yellow and golden yellow Gerber daisies filled every nook. The food was not too bad either.
I must admit though, the highlight of the weekend was the BEST MUSICAL ~ Jersey Boys.
I cannot say enough about how much I enjoyed this show...the set design ~ so minimalistic and creative...the costumes...the lighting...the dialogue ~ so witty and so Italian...
The music...all the fabulous songs from my early childhood had the audience singing along and on our feet so many times.
...and even that handsome one on the far left in the top photo gave me direct eye contact and a smile with a wink from the stage. {We were sitting in the orchestra seats in the third row.} I loved it when the guys would sometimes break out of character and give the audience a humble smile or laugh a bit at each other's dialogue. {Oh, and especially smile at me once or twice. I felt like a groupie.}
It's no wonder this show won a Tony award and has been going on for ten years on Broadway. {Be careful, you may be hearing some of the Four Seasons songs on my Playlist soon.}
We ended our evening and weekend appropriately, at a small neighborhood Italian restaurant ~ Il Gattopardo which means "The Leopard" {where they say, "passion is our main ingredient"}. It was just down the street from our hotel, across from MOMA, and nestled in the basement of an apartment building. Designed with bright white painted brick walls and stark furnishings, this tiny spot was obviously a favorite of the locals.
It was an exhilarating weekend, but it was time to go home...
Back to LaGuardia and to board our plane...
{Ooops! That one is not ours. My mistake.}
So long New York. I hope it will not be too long before I see you again.
Ciao amici,
Suzanne