All that jazz

Lovely sunny day, another big breakfast in the diner next door. We have to step round cameras and crew who are making a film shoot in the hotel’s Blue Bar. There seem to be film shoots all over the place in NY. We hop on the subway to Central Park and hire a couple of bikes and set off to explore. Lots of people around. The circular road is one-way and is marked with lanes for cycling and for walking/jogging. We cross into the jogging lane while stopping to take a photo and get severely told off by an old lady for blocking her path!

There are few little hills in the park, but it’s an enjoyable trip. The park is huge. Lots of big trucks in one part as they set up a stage for an outdoor concert.

We hop on the subway again for a few stops up to the Guggenheim Museum. The building is fantastic (but smaller than I imagined!), but some of it is closed while they set up an exhibition. The art is good, more Picasso, Cezanne etc (yawn) and some interesting modern stuff.

We ride the bus back down Fifth Avenue home, a slow crawl through the afternoon traffic.

Later, it’s off to the subway, this time downtown to Greenwich Village and the Village Vanguard, a famous jazz club. It’s through a tiny door, then down stairs into a small basement room. The decor is dark, the walls covered in pictures of jazz greats. The music is from the Kirk Lightsey Quartet – piano, bass, drums and guitar. Great stuff. Kirk is pretty ancient but a terrific piano player.

Afterwards we head deeper into the village and find a street lined with restaurants. We plump for French. It’s noisy and crowded but the atmosphere is great and the food good. We get chatting to the young couple next to us. After we pay the bill, the waiter brings us glasses of champagne, very nice. Lots of champagne being drunk on the other tables. As the champagne is brought out, the waiter lights a little firework on the neck of the bottle and there is a big bright fizz! Truly fizzy wine.