It was quite late when we finally arrived at our very cosy Airbnb unit in the Hell’s Kitchen area of New York. But there is something about this city that pulls you onto the streets, even if you are tired, so we had a bite to eat and a wander round before hitting the pillows.

I was up bright and early the next morning in search of a coffee and found Frisson Express, a very tiny coffee shop which became my early morning home for the our stay in New York. I never found out the name of my waitress but we discovered a shared interest in musicals, in fact she had an audition for My Fair Lady the day after I met her. Yes, she was the struggling waitress trying to make it big in the city. She had no luck with that audition, she’s a petite redhead and they were looking for tall brunettes, but she had other auditions lined up. I hope she makes it, her amazing coffee and chat brightened up my day!

It was football day so we did some shopping and wandered the streets again before heading off to the game, NY Giants v New Orleans Saints. I’ve already told you about waiting in line so I won’t go over that again! The car park at the game was interesting, lots of people set up with BBQs, awnings, fridges and TV for watching the game, oh and let’s not forget the Stars and Stripes waving above all.  It sort of intrigued me as to why you would sit in a car park to do that when you could do it in your back yard…..but maybe they don’t have a back yard!

The excitement built as we approached the stadium

And the roar when we walked into the seating area almost took your breathe away. (The Giants had just done something good, but don’t ask me what!)

We negotiated the crowds to get beer and hot dog, beer was ok, hotdog not great.

I understood a bit more about the game by the time we left, but I’m still to appreciate the intricacies, like why when the guy from one team kicks the ball from a set shot all the way down the field and a guy from the other team catches it unopposed, everyone cheers. Not sure which team is being cheered or why. Never mind, we had a great evening! Oh and the Saints won which didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of the largely Giants supporters.

The sky was gorgeous when we left,

 

of course there was a huge queue for the bus, but we were prepared this time!

Back in Manhattan it was too exciting to sleep, we found an outside table, ordered beer, bourbon sour and nachos with guacamole, and watched the people and traffic go by.

The next day was THE day for Papa Bear, the reason he flew across the USA, to visit to Katz, the delicatessen that is said to make the best Reuben sandwich in New York!

We  walked to Times Square, all hustle and bustle, people and neon lights! I was disappointed not to see the Naked Singing Cowboy!

Then negotiated the subway, buying the card and making sure we were heading in the right direction for the Ground Zero Memorial. On a previous visit to New York we ended up in Harlem instead of Staten Island!

The queues for the September 11 museum were very long so we were happy just to wander around the park.

It was beautiful, the two pools were lovely

and the story of the Survivor tree very moving.

It is a wonderful memorial and I am so glad I went. September 11 is D3’s birthday and I will never forget her birthday celebrations being disrupted by the horrifying events unfolding in New York.

Another walk, another subway ride and at last we were there -Katz Deli, the moment of truth had arrived. Was the famous Reuben sandwich going to live up to its reputation?

As it turned out the moment of truth was more than a moment, we could see the queue from the street, a small queue, granted.

These places can be so confusing, the crowds and the service staff who speak so quickly with broad accents, however we eventually found out that you could either walk straight up to the 7 Cutters Lines and place your own order and find your own seat, or you could wait half an hour for table service. This was a no-brainer really. I would rather have poked my eye with a blunt stick than tackle the Cutters Lines!

So we stood in what was essentially a holding pen for half an hour and finally got shown to a table. I have to say as an aside how impressed I was with the staff who dealt calmly, pleasantly and effectively with the huge crowd of people, even those who wanted to wait their half hour at the very front so that when your name was called you had to push your way through a crowd, stressed in case you took too long and they gave your seat to someone else!

And another aside, who knew that Katz Deli was the place where that famous line was uttered “I’ll have what she’s having!”?  I didn’t!

Anyway, I digress. We sat, we ordered, and we ate!

Oh my oh my oh my! It was big and delicious and worth every second of waiting! What else can I say!

Tummies full and completely satisfied we returned to our unit, via Times Square, where I did see Naked Singing Cowboy who turns out not to be naked after all

Hell’s Kitchen is an area of New York where the Broadway theatres are located and I walked past this on a few occasions

It was a sign of course,  so that evening I left Papa Bear with beer and Netflix and headed off to the Majestic to see my ‘twenty something’th  performance of Phantom. I used to know exactly how many, but I got lost after 20! My seat was middle front row, so close to the conductor in the orchestra pit that I could see the score.

No photography or recording of the performance allowed of course, in my early days of Phantom obsession I totally ignored that and had many bootlegs recorded furtively on a portable cassette recorder, black tape covering the recording light and a strategic cough covering the click as you started recording. But you can take photos before it starts

It was a wonderful performance, one of the best I have seen, although Raoul was not strong and the chemistry between Christine and Phantom  was powerful, so for the first time ever I found myself on ‘Team Erik’ (it’s a Phantom Phan thing!) It may be my last performance, go out on a high!

All in all it was a wonderfully quintessential New York day!