On the town with Terry

For years, my friend Terry and I have been thinking about a day in New York together. With that, my belated birthday seemed like the perfect excuse to get in the car and get going. After some planning on my part, this is how the day the ended up.

Of course we started the day at exhale — one of my homes away from home. Since 2005, this has been the place I have been taking my classes at. This is the place that made a major impact on my life. 

The class was taught by one of my favorite teachers — Tyler. I have been talking his classes and workshops religiously since I first met him. But this is a whole another story. When I meet someone who truly loves and tries to understands the concept of barre, I try to bring them to Tyler’s class. Terry loved Tyler and his way of teaching  so much that now I’m afraid I’ll never see her again at my studio.

After the class, a walk through the Central Park seemed like a perfect thing to do. The day was absolutely beautiful and we slowed down by Alice — to rub some brass.

And there was also time to check out Bethesda Fountain. Surprisingly, it was not crowded even though the weather was perfect for a boat ride on the lake.

All that Central Park wandering made us hot and thirsty. We got tickets for our next event and settled in at Indie, one of the Lincoln Center places overlooking Julliard, for a glass of wine.

With my love of French cinema and Claire Denis, I could not miss this one and dragged Terry to watch it with me. Not sure she loved Let the Sunshine in as much as I did  but she did not complain — just laughed off our differences.

Neither of us had anything to eat since we got up in the morning, so by the end of the movie, we were ready for some Italian fare. Tom found Polpette a year ago. We so loved their outdoor courtyard — secluded and quiet in the middle of a noisy Upper West Side. Here’s Terry — always with her granddaughter’s picture on her phone making sure they are having a good time together. But isn’t that place lovely? 

Instead of ordering a meal, we split a bunch of appetizers. Terry, with her Italian heritage, absolutely approved of these meatballs. She said they reminded her of those her grandmother used to make. It says a lot coming from an Italian — they are very particular about their meatballs.

Apparently, both of us share a thing for escarole. Obviously, this one was a must and it did not disappoint.

And those muscles in white wine were garlicky-y-y-y! But we did not mind and actually loved it!

We were planning just on a broccoli rabe with some Italian sausage, but missed it on the menu that they were sliders. Instead of sending them back, we said: bring them on! And we weren’t wrong. I helped here a lot — Terry started slacking at this point.

Shrimp and mushrooms was our desert to round out a perfect meal and we were ready to move on. The night was still young.

That kind of a meal called for a good walk. Terry and I decided to go along Hudson to our next destination. We got to the river at high 60’s and our point of interest was at 48th and 11th. It started drizzling but we couldn’t care less about such little things. We kept going. At some point, Terry had to stop for another drink. Oh, Terry!

Our final destination was one of the best Manhattan rooftop bars, The Press Lounge.The place was packed with millennials but the weather gave us the upper hand. It was raining. Not raining too much to make you feel cold and uncomfortable but enough to ruin your hair and makeup. Perfectly coifed youth were huddling under the plastic tent, so Terry and I got the whole Manhattan rooftop for ourselves. That gorgeous view is at the top of the post.

And by the way, we walked more than eight miles that day.