Category: New York City

What Do Travel Bloggers Do When They’re Not Traveling?

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

I’ve been home for several months now dealing with life and work. I knew exactly what I was going to write about this week but, as you’ve probably read, things changed. It’s as if my brain went gone on vacation and my body got left behind.

So what do travel bloggers do when they’re not traveling? I can’t speak for every travel blogger, but when I’m not traveling, I rely on my city to provide inspiration and content for my posts. And New York delivers, all the time.

Take last week. In the middle of the heatwave that had many of us chained to our air conditioners, I decided to go to Coney Island. It’s one of my summer places. By the ‘D’ train, it’s a direct train ride from my neighborhood. (For variety, I can also take the #6 to Union Square and transfer to the ‘Q.’) Believe it or not, it was my first time to Coney Island this summer.

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Travel Photo Thursday – New York View

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

New York has a million faces. It just depends on where you are. Of course, the city looks very different when you’re not at ground level.

I took this from the Time Warner Building. Before the sun set, I could see directly to New Jersey. A few hours later, these clouds came into view and washed the buildings with an inky tint.

View from the Time Warner Building
View from the Time Warner Building

Those saucers are the light fixtures from inside the building. They just bounced off the window.

I love New York, New York!

Manhattan to Spain via the Bronx

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

I wanted to revisit Barcelona earlier this year. Had reserved a room at a hotel that’s located steps from the Ramblas. I was excited. For years since I left Barcelona, I had not felt the urge to return. My experience has so shaped me and my view about travel, I wanted to preserve the memories.

But quite unexpectedly, I started feeling that I needed to go. What would Barcelona look like since I was a student there 20 plus years ago? Would the images I’ve clutched to my heart look like anything I’d see? Would I recognize the street I used to live on?

All these questions flooded my brain as if the door behind which they had been stored had finally been opened. I was excited to find out.

Then life intervened and I returned to New York nursing my disappointment. It had been a perfect plan.

Things looked up late in May when I noticed an article in the New York Times about an exhibition that was set to open at the New York Botanical Gardens. Titled Spanish Paradise: Gardens of the Alhambra, it seemed an answer to my longing for Barcelona and Spain.

The Alhambra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a palace that was built in the 14th century by the Moorish leaders who ruled Southern Spain. Its gardens are beautiful and legendary. Although I had studied the history and architecture of the Alhambra, I had not seen it during my time in Spain. An exhibition was not Barcelona, but I knew it would satisfy my longing. So last weekend, my friend and I, cameras in tow, made a trip to the New York Botanical Gardens.

Located in the Bronx, the New York Botanical Gardens spreads approximately 250 acres. An oasis of tranquility and beauty, it houses plant laboratories, gardens, plant collections, old growth forest containing oak, beeches, cherry, birch, tulip and white ash trees, some more than 200 years old, a cascade waterfall and wetland area. It’s the perfect location for an exhibition of this nature.

The focus of the Spanish Paradise is the replica of a Spanish garden that takes over 15,000 square feet of the Haupt Conservatory. With the aroma of lavender, jasmine, sour orange and lime trees, olive, fig and saffron, you are transported immediately to Southern Spain.

It’s an exhibition that appeals to the senses. Poems about nature by the Spanish poet, Frederico Garcia Lorca, line the Poetry Walk while Flamenco dancers provide entertainment on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Sangria and tapas are available in the cafe.

In the library, rare prints, 19-century photographs of some of the courtyards of the Alhambra, paintings and other artifacts can be viewed. The exhibition also pays tribute to American poet, Washington Irving, who lived at the Alhambra while he was writing his collection of essays and sketches, Tales of the Alhambra, which sparked renewed interest in the palace. The Alhambra is one of Spain’s major tourist attractions.

Spanish Paradise sated my appetite temporarily. Now, I want to see the real thing.

Spanish Paradise: Gardens of the Alhambra will run until August 21, 2011 at the New York Botanical Gardens. 2900 Southern Blvd., New York. 718-817-8777.

Hours: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays

Tickets: All Garden, $20. Grounds only, $5. The grounds are also free all day on Wednesdays and from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays.

The Botanical Gardens are accessible by car or public transportation. If you’re in the New York area or planning to visit, add it to your list.

Enjoy!

 

Travel Photo Thursday – Old and New New York

Posted on by Marcia Mayne
Old and New New York

One of the newest hotels in New York, the Hyatt 48Lex, will open in August.

The old building, which housed a camera store, a deli and an antiques shop, was demolished around 2005 or 2006. I was curious to see what would take its place.

Once the scaffolding was removed, I was surprised a thoroughly modern structure which is a lovely counterpoint to the building next to it.

Several gargoyles adorn the older building, also a hotel. I wonder where the water that they normally channel will go. I guess it’ll roll off the glass siding of the Hyatt.

I’ll definitely take a closer look when it opens.

 

Tasty Thursdays – Gelato

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

I can’t remember a time in my adult life when I’ve eaten more ice cream, sorbet and gelato.

A pint or more of sorbet or ice cream is on my shopping list every week. I tell myself I’ll only need a pint but if I don’t pace myself, I can eat all of it in one sitting.

Last weekend, I was in the Bronx where my friend and I had a wonderful meal at Emilia’s on Arthur Avenue. A family-style restaurant, it was packed when we arrived at a little after six. Pat, one of the owners, told us the wait would be about 20 minutes. We took a short walk down the block to check out another restaurant that had been recommended but it was closed for holiday. So civilized.

I don’t normally order lasagna when I go to an Italian restaurant but this time, I decided to. I was very pleased with my selection. The lasagna was light, each layer almost as thin as a wafer.  My friend’s Chicken Parmigiana made me wish I had ordered it instead.

Gelato

When the dessert menu came, I looked longingly at the different flavors of sorbet – peach, coconut, orange and lemon – but had to pass. I had no room!

One thing that endears me to a restaurant is the people. By the time we left Emilia’s on Saturday night, we both felt as if we had returned to a place we’d been going to for years. Pat had us in conversation while we waited for our table, then she or her husband would check on us during the meal. We weren’t being singled out for special treatment, they did that routinely with everyone. Pat even introduced us to her granddaughter, who works at Emilia’s on weekends. I could see why the place was so packed when we arrived. It still was when we left hours later.

If you ever make it to the Bronx, just ask anyone how to get to Arthur Avenue in Little Italy and check out Emilia’s.

It’s been in the 90s here in the northeast this week and it made me think of gelato. There was none on the menu at Emilia’s. Anyway, here’s a recipe, courtesy of allrecipes.com

Ingredients

2 cups milk

1 cup heavy cream

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

 

Directions

In a medium saucepan, mix milk and cream. Warm until foam forms around the edges. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until frothy. Gradually pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Return mixture to saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture gels slightly and coats the back of the spoon. If small egg lumps begin to show, remove from heat immediately.

Pour the mixture through a sieve or fine strainer into a bowl. Cover, and chill for several hours or overnight.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a sealed container, and freeze until firm. If the gelato is too firm, place it in the refrigerator until it reaches the desired consistency.

Buon Appetito!

 

On the Great Lawn, That’s Where I’ll Be

Posted on by Marcia Mayne
Great Lawn, Central Park

It’s a beautiful day here in New York. Sunny, not too humid, with a gentle breeze. I can’t think of a better way to spend the day than on a blanket in Central Park.

I’m sure I won’t be the only one there so I’ll have to get there early and secure a nice spot on the Great Lawn.

The Great Lawn, one of the most famous lawns in the world, is located on 55 acres from 79th to 85th Streets.

The Great Lawn has been the venue for world class performances by the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera.

On Monday, July 11th, opera lovers can attend a concert in the park. For details of the schedule, go here.

And for tickets and information on Shakespeare in the Park, check out their website.

I’ve packed the food, the blanket and my hat and I’m heading out to celebrate this beautiful day. Whatever you’re doing or plan to do, enjoy!

What, to an Immigrant, is the Fourth of July?

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

It’s July 4th, and after nearly 30 years of living in this country, I still don’t feel comfortable celebrating. I wasn’t born here. My independence came through another country, so what exactly am I celebrating? Do I have the right to celebrate?

Flag on the Gate House, Central Park

I’m conflicted.

I came to America as an adult, convinced that being here would afford me a better life, and it has.

But like a child caught between two parents – the parent who gave her birth and the one who adopted her – I struggle to detach, to give myself permission to love the new parent as unconditionally as I love the “real” one and not feel like a betrayal. So I sit on the fence unable to fully embrace the new parent, reserving that secret part of my heart for the real one.

Some would argue that my position has probably been detrimental. By not fully committing, I’ve kept myself from engaging.  But being familiar only with the mores and lexicon of the real parent, how does one fully engage?

I’ve involved myself in the things I believe in: volunteering to teach and mentor, campaigning and voting for candidates I support, demonstrating for causes I feel strongly about, and buying and selling property. I’ve done my best to be a good citizen.

So what will it take for me to feel like I’m really part of the family, to feel like I have the right to celebrate? Is it length of time or giving myself permission?

Would coming here at a younger age and going to school have helped me form stronger bonds or teach me to decode the lingo, the secret hand signals? I wonder.

I’ve also wondered if having children to shepherd through the “system,” children who could potentially force me to commit, would have made a difference. Probably.

Add to the complexity of my internal conflict, the fact that the household I chose used to own people like me, and a whole new layer of emotional baggage is added to the mix.

When I lived in Washington, D.C., routinely around the holiday, I’d hear black people refer to July 4th as the 4th of You Lie. It sounded catchy but it was said with such cynicism and disdain, I knew it had to be serious.

July 4th is the day of celebration of the colony gaining its independence from Britain but for nearly 100 years more, blacks remained chattel slaves until December 6, 1865 when the Thirteenth Amendment ending slavery was ratified.

Frederick Douglass summed it up best when, in 1852, he posed the question that still hangs in the air nearly 160 years later, What to the slave is your fourth of July?

Today, I’m asking, What, to a first generation immigrant like me, is the true meaning of the fourth of July?

 

Harlem’s Backyard Gems

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

“Harlem’s Backyard Gems is my entry into TBEX Blog Carnival Contest sponsored by Choice Hotels International Services Corp.”

When I decided to move to New York in the late 90s, the only place I wanted to live in was Harlem. I imagined myself in a brownstones like the one of a family friend I visited in the 1970s that became symbolic of this historic neighborhood. With sweeping steps that led to beautifully hand-crafted double doors it seemed to welcome everyone in.

But brownstones are just one of many things Harlem is known for. Formerly a Dutch village, Harlem got its name from the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. It was also once the second largest Jewish community in the U.S. and home to a large population of Italians.

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5 Things To Do When The Temperature Hits 100 Degrees

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

What to do when the temperature in hits 100 degrees?

Reach for cover and do these five things:

1. Wear light-colored, loose fitting clothes and limit strenuous outdoor activities.

2. Slather on the sunscreen. The highest rating is generally best but minimum SPF35.

3. Wear a floppy hat.

4. Drink lots of water. Add a twist of lemon or lime for flavor.

5. Carry a hand or mini electrical fan – perfect for times when you have to wait on a hot platform for the subway.

My favorite summer hat -- Maynefoto

The warm weather doesn’t stick around very long so enjoy it as much as you can.

 

Manhattanhenge, 2011

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

What’s Manhattanhenge?

As you may know, the city of Manhattan is laid out in a grid pattern. Twice a year, when the sun sets, it aligns perfectly with the east-west grid of certain main streets: 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd and 57th Streets.

During Manhattanhenge, a viewer on one of these streets can watch the sun setting directly opposite in New Jersey.

Astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson of the American Museum of Natural History is credited with popularizing this phenomena.

This year, according to Dr. deGrasse Tyson, the remaining dates for Manhattanhenge July 11th and 12th (it was also possible to see it on May 30th and 31st). On July 11th, the full sun will be visible on the horizon, whereas on July 12th, only half will be seen.

So, if you’re in or around New York City in July, make sure to look out for Manhattanhenge.

But Manhattanhenge is not limited to Manhattan alone. According to Wikipedia, Chicagohenge will happen on September 25th, Torontohenge on October 25th, and Montrealhenge on July 12th.