A WICKED Day in New York -- Day #4

After stuffing on the breakfast buffet (they call it the "Broadway Buffet" here), we headed out for another bus tour...this one is the "Downtown Tour."  We had a fantastic tour guide today...her knowledge about the City was broad and deep.  She talked brilliantly about everything: architecture, history, art, music, theatre, demographics, literature, science, and international affairs.  And she did it all with this great winsome and funny manner.  It was a great way to get to know Downtown Manhattan. Definitely had some show-biz in her past, you could tell.

One of the first stops this morning was the great Carnegie Hall.  The picture looks like it was raining...that's actually these gross smears/stains on the bus window.  Just pretend it's rain, ok?

This is one of the original sites of the Macy's Department

Store.  Macy tried and failed THREE TIMES 

to get a store off the ground.  He lost 

everything he owned on three different occasions.  The

fourth time, it worked...he eventually moved 

to the present 34th St. site.

This is one of the downtown Bloomingdale's Stores.  It

occupies what used to be a factory building "back in the day."

I forget what these buildings are...there are just

SO many gorgeous places downtown.

(Again, pretend rain!)

Love this building with the clock.  Like Bloomingdales

in the picture above, this was originally a factory

 building way back in the 19th century.

This is the very famous jazz club in the Village--The 

Bitter End.  Has been around for YEARS and still

quite the hot spot for musicians and audiences alike.

This is one of the city government buildings.  If

I recall correctly, the original theatre district was

in this area...it moved along with the NY Times to

the "Times Square" area where 7th Avenue and Broadway

converge.

This is just one of the many city streets we

passed this morning.

This wall mural was one that DKNY had posted

at the time of the 9/11 attacks.  (Note the Trade

Center Towers in the "N").  Because the

Towers were featured in the mural, it became a

protected landmark...so DKNY will be advertised

there from now on with the City's protection and

blessings.

After 9/11, children all over the world painted their

"feelings" on little tiles.  These tiles were 

attached by an artist to this fence near Ground

Zero.  It has become one of the most poignant memorials

of the great National Tragedy.

We got off the bus at the Waldorf-Astoria for two reasons. 

 A) We neededto go potty;  B) We wanted to see this world

renowned hotel.  Glad we did.  I can see why

the Obamas (and every other world leader) like

to stay there!

Here's one of the many trees in the beautiful lobby

of the W-A.  We didn't take pictures of the

restrooms, but they were gorgeous.  The men's

was white marble, with fancy chandelier in the center,

and beautiful crown moulding on the ceilings.

A guy handed me a paper towel after I washed my

hands.  AND, he wasn't expecting a tip!

(At least he didn't make it blatantly

apparent when he didn't GET one!  haha)

A shot of Lyn in the lobby.  She looks like

she belongs there, huh?

This was Cole Porter's piano....it's prominently 

displayed in the hotel lobby.

This marble mosaic is part of a HUGE 

circular design in the lobby floor.

After we left the W-A, we went to St. Patrick's

again.  I wanted some daytime shots.  Here's a long

shot of the nave ceiling.  Gorgeous.

More ceiling and some beautiful pointed-arch

blue windows.

One of the rose windows at the north trancept.

Tonight we ate dinner at Bobby Flay's 

Bar Americain near the Gershwin Theatre

where we saw WICKED.  The restaurant

was really pretty.  The waiter was great, and

the food was excellent.  Lyn's a huge BF fan.

These wreaths were on a wall opposite our 

table.  Kinda sad to realize that soon these and

all other decorations around the city will soon

be put back into their storage boxes for another 10-11 months.

It was a great day...But we're ready to go home tomorrow!

(After we do ABC's Good Morning, America)

Hope you had a Happy New Year!