Tag: sightseeing

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New York City

This will by an introduction to several posts about my two trips to New York City in the past few years. The first trip was right before the pandemic hit. The second trip was in November 2021, just as things were reopening but still requiring proof of vaccination for inside seating. During the first visit, highlights included Belvedere Castle in Central Park, the show Drunk Shakespeare, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. During the 2021 trip, I got to see Hamilton!! I had tried to get tickets prior to the pandemic, but never could. AS SOON AS tickets went back on sale in August, I went on-line to find tickets! I also got to hear one of my MOST favorite entertainers ever, Marc Broussard, live at the City Winery!

Quick Health Update

My cryoablation went well, according to the electrophysiologist. I am in a lot of pain, but it is getting a bit better every day. We spent about 11 hours at the hospital and I had some bleeding complications. In fact, as recently as last night (2 days after) the wound in my groin was still bleeding some. I have been sleeping with an 8 pound kettlebell on my right groin. But it is over, and I am glad. I just hope it does what it is supposed to do.

NYC 2020

My pre-pandemic trip was in February/March 2020. Little did we know at the time what would happen just days later! On March 1, we were visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island; a week later everything was closed. Shortly after that, a hospital ship was in the very harbor where we had just been sightseeing! We also visited Belvedere Castle in Central Park during this trip. A few short weeks later there were hospital tents in Central Park! Needless to say, this was very surreal for me!

I had been to New York City and Central Park many times before, but I had never been to (or even known about) Belvedere Castle! It is a beautiful little castle in an idyllic setting on a pond. I enjoyed it immensely!

My oldest son, Seth, and I. Taken at the Statue of Liberty with the skyline of NYC in the background.
Seth and I; March 1, 2020. Taken at the Statue of Liberty with the Manhattan skyline in the background.

NYC 2021

As soon as I heard that Broadway was going to reopen in mid-September, I was on my computer trying to buy tickets for Hamilton. Seeing Hamilton live had been a dream of mine for years, and I immensely enjoyed it when it was released on Disney+. I was able to find tickets for early November, so I booked them right away! I made everything else work around that. As fate would have it, my favorite musician was also going to by in New York City that same week! Marc Broussard has been one of my very favorite singer/songwriters since I first saw him as a young man opening for Los Lonely Boys (about 2001 I think). Since then, he has matured as both an artist and a person, now being a father and husband. His soulful southern blues vibe is amazing, and never gets old!

Marc Broussard at the City Winery in NYC November 2021
One of my most favorite recording artists live–Marc Broussard.

To Be Continued!

I plan to do at least two more posts about New York–one about each trip mentioned above. Also expect reviews of some of the places I visited during each trip. Things have been slow going over the past two weeks with the cardiac procedure and aftermath of that, but I hope to be back in full swing next week! In the meantime, let me know if there is anything else you would want me to cover!

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The Last of Our Sightseeing in Paris

Today I will finish up describing our Paris sightseeing fun! On Saturday we started out at the Louvre. I had been there before, and we were pretty museum fatigued, plus it was pretty crowded. We checked on the ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman exhibits, then took the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe.

We walked up to the top of the Arc–that was exhausting! You see, I am on a medicine for my heart that keeps my heart rate from increasing much (I can’t seem to get it above 104), so I get short-winded more easily than I should. So the walk up was killer, but worth it!

After that we walked down the Avenue de la Grande-Armee (a continuation of the Champs Elysees) to the chocolate shop I mentioned in a previous post, A La Riene Astrid. We then had lunch nearby at L’Escale which I wrote about earlier. We took the Metro back to our hotel and rested for awhile–my feet were dead!

Later the same day we went up to one of my favorite places in the city–Montmarte and Sacre Coeur Basilica. More steps!! AND it started to rain! The view from the top is amazing, though my pictures  were no good due to how foggy it was! When we got to the top we discovered we could have ridden up on a Funicular!!! We did ride down though!

After descending we escaped the rain in Cafe Chappe, which I described previously, and took the Metro back to the hotel. I was a bit sad we missed the Place du Tertre where the artists hang out and peddle their wares. We figured they would have escaped the rain too!

Well, that finally finishes Paris. Chronologically, we have been in London for 3 nights. I am going to try to combine our cultural and culinary adventures for our time in London over the next few posts.

Thanks for reading my blog and keep visiting!!

 

 

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Paris in Review

I am writing on the Eurostar train between Paris and London. Au revoir Paris! I thought I would take this opportunity to add some of my sightseeing photos and remarks so we start London with a clean slate!

On our first day after our rest we took the river cruise to see the sights along the Seine. I definitely recommend this early in any trip to Paris! It is a great way to “get your feet wet” so to speak.

Well apparently there is not enough bandwidth on the train to add my pics so I will do those later.

When viewing the wall around the Île del Cité I can’t help but think about the episodes of Vikings when they attacked Paris. I was envisioning this as we sailed around the original heart of the city.

After the cruise we walked to the Eiffel Tower. The lines were too long to go up, but it was just amazing being there and seeing it close up. Seth took a cool picture from the ground looking up !

On our walk back to our hotel we passed the place where Princess Diana was killed. There are tributes there around the replica of Lady Liberty’s flame.

Well I will catch up with the rest of Paris tomorrow and start with London! Night all!!!

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