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My Mum hits 50 next Christmas and we wanted to do something BIG for her. She's kinda homey, doesn't get to do anything huge or crazy or exciting very often and I figured New York would be as good of a place to take her for a her birthday as anywhere, in terms of doing something she's never done before and may never do again.
She grew up in a large family of eight kids, and her (their) father died from a nuclear test that he was involved in in the RAF. Seriously, they were testing nuclear bombs on this little island, and he was an engineer there and someone thought it was a good idea to drop 'little' bombs on the island to see what happened. A letter home said he saw his bones in his hands when he covered his eyes, like an xray. They were never particularly well off, lived in a small house with 4 or 5 kids sharing a tiny bedroom each and she's never spent much on herself. She's owned ONE pair of shoes as long as I can remember. Just one.
Anyway, me and my brother are taking her and her fella to NYC for a week over Christmas 08. Her birthday is 25 December, and America is somewhere she's spoken of before as being a kinda magical faraway place that she'd never see but wanted too, so it seemed like a suitably 'big' gift for her.
We're going next December for about a week I think, and she loves getting out on her own and checking out stuff, which will no doubt leave me a fair bit of free time. So, what to do?
I predict Fredo's house will be quite the tourist trap by then, so I'm booking early, but any other suggestions of cool music/culture/eating things to do would be much appreciated
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12/15/07
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j_chot
that sounds like great fun!
be sure to be up on your exchange rate so you don't get ripped off by street vendors, I saw an article about how EU tourists were getting lightly taken advantage of.
12/15/07
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Fredo
wonderful Japanese Tea in the village: Cha-an
fantastic Japanese Soba in the village: Soba-ya
fantabulumtuous pizza in the village: Luzzo's
wonderful Portugese brunch in the upper west side: Luzias
excellent village brunch spots: Prune, and Café Mogador - Prune being more snooty, hipster delicious, Mogador just being excellent middle eastern delish
in terms of sites, I recommend the old Gugenheim museum, then a trip to the Metropolitan. You can get lunch there and just chill out, going from Japanese Garden to Temple of Dendur, with a peak at the Rembrants or the new Roman wing in between. (The Met is truly one of my very favorite places in NYC)
I also highly recommend a trip to the upper west side. You can visit the Museum of Natural History, but while you are there also definitely take a lovely brunch. This area is brunch central. One of my favorite places used to be Luzias. I'm not sure if they are still great, but they used to be. And also in the vicinity is H&H bagels, which some consider the very best in the city. Every time you enter they are bringing out some batch of piping hot fresh bagels. There's also an awesome gourmet food store, for some reason the name escapes me, but it's right across the street from B&H and is wonderful. Especially with the dollar so weak you guys will be able to buy up the whole town!
I'm not a great club goer, but there's always some good music in the city. The Lower East Side has been kind of a hot spot for a while now, with the Annex, The Living Room and the Mercury Lounge. Also, definitely check out Williamsburg Brooklyn.
So looking forward to your visit!
12/16/07
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Analog
Fredo: you should work for the tourist board. I well wanna go to NYC again now!
When i went i was 19 so couldn't drink or anything. it was so hot i spent most of my time sat under a tree in central park reading Naked Lunch.
I managed to get to CBGB too which was nice.
12/16/07
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theflame
Yeah, the exchange rate is pretty good for us right now (about two dollars to a pound) so I'm gonna change a bunch of money before hand. Last thing I want is to go all that wayand run out of cash! Great suggestions Fredo, thanks so much bud!
I'm a little sad that it's a whole year away, but at least I've got THIS Christmas to entertain me in the meantime ;)
12/16/07
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mynameismud
theflame - if you describe your mum as "homey" I'd generally recommend anything you'd find on a touristy website or guide to NYC. Not to disagree with you, Fredo, but I think Williamsburg (where I live) might be a bit... overwhelming for theflame's mum. But if you think she's down for a loud, hot, sweaty hipster party that lasts until 4 a.m., you're welcome to stop by my place, flame.
In addition to Fredo's excellent suggestions of the AMNH, the Met and the Guggenheim, theres also The Whitney or the New Museum. Also, the 42nd St Library is quite historic, and has the beautiful Rose Reading Room pic here
12/17/07
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xik
Haha its all about the MeatSwords, enjoy the cab rides haha.
12/17/07
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theflame
MNIM: yeah, she is but she'll no doubt find her own stuff to check out. I'm after things to check out when she's in bed. Like 4am-ending hipster parties!
WTF is a meatsword?!?
12/17/07
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mynameismud
theflame said: "I'm after things to check out when she's in bed. Like 4am-ending hipster parties!"
Not as fun as it sounds... it's become an annoyance. Japanther and Lightning Bolt playing on my roof = no sleep. But seriously, if you want to do something when you're in town, let me know.
12/17/07
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theflame
Thanks man, much love!
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