New York City - Part 2

Conditions at 5:20 am: foggy and 17'
Expected later: 24' and sunshine

 

Okay- where were we? Hotel London and Gordon Ramsay's Maze

What an elegant experience!  The hotel is beautiful and the restaurant is gorgeous as was the food. We were well looked after by an assortment of staff who came and went with great efficiency. The courses were served impeccably and with great efficiency. In spite of the fact it was restaurant week, I feel we had the same great dining experience we would have had at any other time. We had limited choices of course, and we all chose the same thing.

Chilled tomato gazpacho, 
with marinated lobster, avocado puree and dried tomato 

Pan roasted Wing of Skate
Preserved lemons, ratatouille, caper and almond butter

Valrhona chocolate fondant 
with green cardamon, caramel, sea salt and almond ice cream

It was an amazing lunch experience that I've very fortunate to have been able to enjoy. After lunch we parted company with Kristi, who had to return to work for a little longer and Jana and I headed back to see some more sights.

One thing I've never done is tour Central Park  and visit Strawberry Fields. In spite of having a poster size print of the monument on my wall, I've never actually seen it for myself.Being as I was in town to see another member of the Beatles,  this seemed like an appropriate time to visit. We were a little pressed for time so we took a pedal car driven by a very knowledgeable young man. He pointed out all kinds of attractions and historical places.

There were all kinds of people there when we visited, a short walk off the trail, and I suspect a good many of them were also in town for the same reason.
Because we didn't have a lot of time, we didn't linger too long. But I can see coming back again, it's a very peaceful and lovely part of the park .

When our tour was over, we headed back to Kristi's apartment. It was time to get ready to leave for Yankee Stadium.

After a fairly lengthy subway ride, we arrived right at the Stadium. We had to pick up our tickets at the Will Call counter and when we got them, we suspected our seats were pretty good. But we still had to wait till Kristi and Jackie arrived so we walked across the street and picked up some food at McDonalds. Jana had some fries and  I had a Rolo McFlurry. We sat outside at a table, in view of the subway train and the stadium to wait for the girls. When they arrived, we ventured inside. You can only imagine how delighted THIS fan was to find that our seats were in the 8th row from the stage, almost dead

centre!  You could not have gotten the smile off my face for anything. First we became aware that Paul's son' James was sitting right behind us.(I've since learned that Paul's fiance, Nancy was in that row as well). Then we saw the mayor of NYC arrive and sit in the row behind us, at the far end. But then there was quite a buzz in the crowd and who should arrive but Alec Baldwin of 30 Rock fame. Turns out he was in the row behind us as well, just a couple of people down from us. Within a few minutes Chevy Chase arrived and was on the other side of us and just behind. At one point the two actors met right behind
us, to chat. The two girls asked Alec if they could have a photo with him and he obliged. They are both big fans of the show, so what a thrill for them. What an exciting start to an even more exciting evening. Of course, for me and the other thousands of people there, the star of the show was Sir Paul. And once again, he never failed to deliver. Three hours of non stop great music. It was another evening I will never forget. One of the most ironic things is I ran into the two ladies I had met while waiting to see Paul, in Halifax. I was standing up before the concert and someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was Sandy. I turned around and there was Jennie. Seated in the 15 row just behind us were her and Patty. So I went over and chatted with the two of them. How ironic that we would meet in that huge crowd. But I was wearing a pink hat and that's what caught their eye, and when they looked a little closer, they saw that it was me. Amazing!
When the show was over we went to the Hard Rock Cafe in the stadium to wait for the crowds to thin out a bit before heading back on the subway. We made it home around 2:00 am, almost 23 hours since I'd gotten up the morning before. But it was totally worth every second! Because I'm having some trouble loading photos this morning, watch for lots of pictures and little text tomorrow.