December 1998

Carl always gives our trip a name at the end of the adventure--God knows what this one will be called. The afternoon before the trip, Carl touched a wall mirror in the small bathroom and it fell and broke--7 years of bad luck!! or the end of a 7-year cycle of ill health and life trauma? Time will tell. Carl kept saying he gets a sense of trepidation about this trip--what does that mean!?!

Two hours before we leave for the airport, Carl gets a call from a 33-year-old guy who wants to buy his old Mercedes for his girlfriend as an Xmas present. He comes over so quickly that he must have flown in a helicopter over traffic and after a cursory look, sits in the breakfast room and counts out $6,000.00 cash. The whole thing was suspicious, but after 9 months of trying to sell his white elephant where he made love to everyone he ever dated, except me!!! He was relieved but literally in a state of shock.

Ella took us to the airport--it's a tradition since she's taken us to every international trip. We were able to upgrade out tickets on the day it was to expire to FIRST Class at the airport at check-in. Me from Johnston, RI flying first class, now that's a life moment. We take our Burger King burgers into the Ambassador Club area, but are told "no food or drink allowed" so we gobble our burgers by the trashcan and then enter the world of the rich and famous. It's a pleasant experience--we try some yummy vodka fruit drinks until boarding time. TWA First Class, mostly ordinary folk, but very pricey clothes and some high on drugs. We of course are in our tacky cheap travel clothes!!

The seats are like recliners with so much legroom a 7 feet person would be comfortable. The attendants are 30-year-old veteran ladies and one blonde looks like Joey Heatherton and Carl LIKES her. There are 24 travelers and 4 attendants. Quite different from tourist class. We are pampered the whole trip. Cloth tablecloth, china, silverware, and glassware--the food is good. The 5 hours flight flies by. I sleep, Carl continues with his insomnia.

JFK---we hire the first car we see to take us to the Holiday Inn in Manhattan on W. 57^th St, which cost $165.00 per night a total bargain in NYC. How can I describe the car??? A '87 Lincoln with lots of mileage under its belt. The driver has no front teeth--he is a very large man who talks incessantly in his NY accent. He gets us through the early morning traffic for only $30.00....

We arrive at the hotel at 7 AM and are told no room is available until 11:30 AM. But since Carl is a Priority Member (lucky me) we get a room and are fast asleep in seconds.

Now off to see the City. My first impressions are very good. Mayor Guiliani has done an incredible job--no sex shops, no graffiti, no bums or panhandlers and you get a $350.00 fine if you honk in traffic. We have breakfast at a NY diner with watered-down egg omelets and delicious cheap white toast. We spend the day walking.

The city is decorated for Christmas; the windows have fabulous scenes even from Peter Pan. We see Lincoln Center-quite a disappointment. TV makes things look bigger and better. "La Traviata" is sold out Rockefeller Plaza is a wonderland of lights--again it looks much smaller in person. There are huge skyscrapers everywhere. I love the architecture. We go to Times Square-an overload of lights.

We get tickets for tomorrow's Rockette Xmas Show at Radio City Music Hall. We walk into St. Patrick's Cathedral, an awesome church of Gothic arches, stained glass and statues--I take Communion. The bookseller comments on how happy we look--Carl says to her that we're different from one another in everything except our souls---how sweet...

We have photos taken in front of the red Christmas ornaments in front of the Time Bldg, tree bulbs in front of great offices, the NY Public Library's back entrance with it's weird statue.

We go to the 86th floor of the Empire State Bldg-home of King Kong--Carl takes a picture of him and me. The crowd is quiet and polite--quite a difference from the rude boisterous crowd at the Eiffel Tower. At 3 PM we are in Times Square and notice lots of people looking up at the live bombing of Iraq--the city stops. Maybe the whole world takes a gasp--the technology of the world now allows you to see LIVE scud missiles on a screen in Times Square. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people stop in their tracks and stare, transfixed at the screen. It's a moment seared in one's memory--like the moment JFK died for my generation and the moment Pearl Harbor was bombed for the generation before me. But is this "Wag the Dog"????

We spend the night going to the theater. We'd walked down Broadway in the day and got tickets for "Cabaret". I wore my travel dress finally --the Studio 54 setup was like the "Kit Kat Club"--the musical was emotionally troubling--so much like our feelings that were evoked in Berlin this past spring. ---Evil, perversity and anti-Semitism. We had an early dinner at a French sandwich shop before the performance--great gingerbread men. I love NY!!!

Why did it take me a lifetime to return here??? I had been here on a trip to the U N Bldg at age 15.

Will we make it to Egypt or have to stay here longer because of the bombings?? So far TWA says our trip has a green light inspite of the Iraqi bombings...I tell Carl that we will tell people we're from another country--he says Winnipeg, Canada--but I pick New Zealand--can't be too careful with anti-American sentiment.

At the hotel the housekeepers are from Bosnia--the new wave of immigrants in the city of immigrants. A young 21 yr old boy from Visalia, CA is our usher at Studio 54--studying acting in NY of course--he's worried about his mom seeing his belly tattoos--mom's worry about the same things everywhere too. I've seen 5th Avenue with its fabulous upscale stores, walked through the Plaza Hotel... I've never seen so many fur coats. We go into Tiffany's, peek into Carnegie Hall, see the Trump Bldgs everywhere, and see fabulous sepia murals in the GE Bldg.

Day 2

Breakfast at the Morningstar Cafe across the street from the hotel on the corner of 57^th St and 9^th Ave.---a family owned diner for 30 years--our server is one of the brothers-an outgoing flirt who keeps touching Carl's arm and then turns his attention to me. They made poached eggs and again have that great tasting cheap toast. The other brother takes our money--he's serious and doesn't crack a smile...Fric and Frack.

As we walk to MOMA, we stop in at several churches: St Thomas Episcopal with a grand carved altar; St. Bartholome's Greek Orthodox with gold mosaic ceiling; later we saw Trinity Church with gorgeous bronze doors and a noon concert which we didn't have time to enjoy--right in the heart of Wall St. The Jackson Pollock exhibit was a retrospective--fascinating to see that at the beginning he was a hack trying out the techniques of other great artists like Picasso, Kandinsky. As he descends into alcoholism with the support of Peggy Guggenheim, he develops HIS technique--dripping paint into a complex maze of lines--several are quite beautiful. We like the lavender one. As his alcoholism continues and depression takes over, he reverts to his earlier style and loses his moment of greatness.

We spend 30 minutes seeing some of the regular collection--FABULOUS--there are Cézannes, great Picassos including the Demoiselles de Avignon; Van Gogh's Starry Night; Chagall's, Miro's, Kadinsky's.

We are on sensory overload--this museum deserves much more time--next trip. We walk into the Waldorf Astoria--Carl sits in the lobby to straighten his socks and clean the lint from his toes-------Jed Clampet of the Beverly Hill Billies; again women in full length mink coats stroll by.

We go into Grand Central Station--a grand marble structure. There is a strong feeling of history here--troops, old movies, so many lives have passed through. The subway!!!! We heard the horror stories and are pleasantly surprised. The workers are polite. The car though packed is clean--stainless steel panels to prevent graffiti; narrow seats; stops are poorly marked but other riders are very helpful and we get off at Wall Street.

NYSE is fascinating-watching the action and the players on the floor. They show a film about the NYSE and we note the rapt faces of the future investors. There is a large statue of George Washington at the Federal Bldg in front of the NYSE, where Washington took his presidential oath of office. We walk to Fulton's Fish Market, which is burned out, but the bldg remains. The area is now upscale shops and restaurants. The ticket seller at the boat cruises suggested lunch at Carmine's Italian restaurant. It's been there forever and the tabletops look it. Our waitress is a round lady from Brazil. She starts out with an unfriendly attitude (the one we expected to find in NYC but honestly she was the only one who had it--everyone else from the cops, to subway riders to people on the streets were friendly and helpful. An "A" for the City...anyway, by the time we left the restaurant our server was smiling and laughing and remarked "are you two a comedy act?"-------No we just enjoy our life together...my lunch was with a marinara sauce on the pasta from my childhood and a chicken spinach dish with delicious cream cheese sauce. YUCK. We walk over to Battery Park--in the distance as the sunsets I see the Statue of Liberty. What a moving sight. We can imagine how immigrants felt when they saw this statue and the emotions it must have evoked.

We saw a fabulous sculpture memorial to the immigrants, which captures THE moment when they disembark in America. We miss the last boat but will return tomorrow for a frigid ride to the Lady and to Ellis Island where both of our ancestors passed through--mine from Italy and Carl's form Central Europe. We take the subway back to our part of Manhattan--there is a Reggae Band playing Xmas music-like the subways in Paris. The escalator out of the subway is broken and we climb about 100 stairs and unfortunately discover that our thigh muscles have deteriorated but we do make it to the top. As we exit, a hawker is selling Combat Roach Traps for $3.00 each--"They're worth $10.00 in the stores”. We go into FAO Schwartz--The toy store in NYC, which is packed with toys, and people-we quickly leave. We stop in at the most beautiful McDonald's done in silver and blue and we walk through a disappointing Lladro Museum--the store in Beverly Hills is far superior. Next into Baccarat and are surprised to see that the selection is inferior and prices higher than in Paris---Our "free" vase from the Paris store costs $120.00 and they didn't have any of my beautiful pendants or rings that Carl bought me in Paris.

Off to radio City Music Hall--a mob of people, chaos, every age, every ethnic group. Turns out there are 6000 seats in this movie palace, which opened in the 30's. We don't know what to expect but not what we experienced. The auditorium walls were lit like parchment with red lights and there were 2 huge organs being played. There was a live orchestra, Santa, the incredible Rockettes and wonderful Xmas scenes. My favorite was the wooden soldiers-the signature number done since 1933. They also did numbers of green holy, red and white carol of the bells, and Raggedy Anns.

Carl and I had the same reaction: we became teary eyed throughout the whole performance--it was So beautiful and So holiday and So Xmas. Carl tried to think about unhappy things to balance out the happiness ("DON'T ASK, IT'S A JEWISH THING). He said to me that if we didn't make it to Egypt, these 2 days would have been enough--we had that wonderful of a time.

The program ended with a live Nativity. It must be a show tradition, but we wished the show had ended with a Rockette number. Oh well. The Nativity had a weird Joseph and Mary who kept raising outstretched arms to heaven (who was the religious consultant?!)--But the donkeys and sheep and camels were so well groomed.

The building itself is a work of art. The ladies bathroom evoked images of the heyday of the rich and famous out for an evening at Radio City Music Hall--there were Art Deco crushed velvet sofas and chairs, in gold/russet; pedestal sinks in light jade; and pastel-painting murals of women being groomed and pampered. After the program, we and everyone else went to Rockefeller Plaza to see the lighted tree and angels--it is a moving sight.

We walked back to Times Square, up Broadway on the streets of NY in 32 degrees and we were so cold even with our Long Johns on. But nothing could put a damper on our incredible day and night in this incredible city. P.S. There was a disappointing train exhibit at the City group Headquarters and an even more disappointing Knish from a street vendor. But, oh the aroma of the hot dog grease!!!!

Day 3

Carl wanted to sleep in but I made him get up so we could go to the Statue of Liberty. We took the subway again, but something went wrong and we had to get on another car--then we were told only the first 5 cars stopped at the Statue, so we and our entourage hopped from car to car--I felt like I was in an Agatha Christie movie and I was escaping the police. We made the boat with a few minutes to spare. It was a picture perfect day--blue skies, but icy cold--32 degrees plus winds off the Hudson. The trip to the Statue was only 15 minutes. I froze standing outside to see the Statue grow bigger and bigger. I took a whole roll of film, I was so excited--the Lady was so breathtaking in the literal sense. I could just imagine my Italian relatives seeing this statue--how relieved that the trip in steerage was over and they could disembark and breathe American air; how terrified they must have been to look out and see the sky line of NYC with its tall glass and steel buildings; were all the stories they heard true? Would they find freedom and wealth in their new life and if not could they return to their homeland and return to what? To let family and neighbors know they had made a mistake and not made it in America.

Carl had his own thoughts. His father came to Ellis Island as a 14 yr old teenager and had to stay 3 days in holding because of poor health. How terrifying to be left behind, even if for a while!! We walked around the base of the Statue and met a "cool" cantor from Cleveland with her mother. They gave us the name of a relative in Egypt in case we want to scuba dive (remember Carl is a Pisces), but Carl and I think it would be good to have any number if things get "hot" in Egypt. I simply can't describe how I felt seeing the Statue of Liberty. I've seen it on TV, books and photos, but in person it's a whole other story. It evokes strong American Feelings, a sense of being connected to peoples all over the world. It's right up there with other life moments--Mona Lisa, Sistine Chapel, Pieta, Grand Canyon, Stonehenge, Coleseo, Leaning Tower of Pisa, etc.

Ellis Island was a bit disappointing. They had a museum with lots of photos, but one wasn't able to find ones ancestor's names. They are raising 25 million to do this. The Registry Room was empty but you could feel the spirits of the millions of people who had been there--it's eerily clean and quiet now--but you felt the confusion, the noise, the stench of bodies packed like sardines on the lower decks of ships. We saw a dormitory--a mini jail of bunks and sinks where people were held. Carl pictured his young teenage, sickly father being in that room. Fortunately this room was for those with legal problems. The sick were housed in a separate building--we hope it was somewhat better but those buildings were closed today. After the ferryboat back to NYC we walked to Virgil's BBQ for lunch--the place is off Times Square and was packed. Carl said it's famous and maybe it is. We ordered pork and lamb sandwiches and they were good. They serve towels with food since most people get buckets of BBQ sauce on their food while we get ours dry. Oh yes. On this trip we saw 2 celebrities. While we waited for "Cabaret", John Mauceri the conductor for the Hollywood Bowl passed by and today as we stood amid the Friday afternoon shoppers on 5th Ave we rubbed shoulders with an old actress-Polly Bergen. I remember her best in "Kisses for My President". No not like the sordid presidential scandal of today. Also, on the subway the girl next to us said she had been Martha Stewart's assistant and that Martha was a very unhappy person.

When we got back to the hotel, Carl checked in again with TWA--the bombings were continuing in Iraq and TWA told us that the U S State Department had issued an advisory "To Travel at Your Own Risk" to the Middle East--so we canceled the trip on the proviso that a refund and a return ticket to L A would be made for the next morning. Carl is relieved. He really felt a great trepidation about this trip and even told his cousin Dolly things that one does when you don't expect to return. Why, even I told Hannah about the will in my safe deposit box and how to access it.

Surprisingly, we don't feel devastated about not going to Egypt-there will be another time-a safer time-and we had such a fabulous time over 3 nights in NYC we feel it was a perfect vacation already. We check into another room in the Holiday Inn--a cookie cutter lay out but noisier and less comfortable than the previous room.

Carl wants to celebrate our being alive at the Oak Bar of the Plaza Hotel-so we walk. I must have walked dozens of miles this trip. The Oak Bar is wall-to-wall people and we had envisioned a quiet tete a tete. We stood at the bar near three 25 yr olds: a girl trying to get into physician assistant's school; a guy with an investment company; and another guy with a small family connected investment company. Somehow we juggled Beck's beer, peanuts, chips and hard-boiled eggs. The Indian waiters watched the ticker tape above the bar-they all invest in the stock market--they get their tips from the investment broker customers they wait upon.

Carl wanted to see Lincoln Plaza with the Xmas light. So we walked over. The Metropolitan Opera has 2 fabulous Chagall's in the windows--my red music scarf that Carl bought me is one of them. The performance that night was "Lucia" with Ruth Ann Swenson and Ramon Vargas. Carl, ever the spoiler of me, gets us 10th row front orchestra tickets. I can't believe that I'm going to the Met!! We grab a bite at the Avery Fisher Hall coffee shop: apple strudel. Of course we are unsuitably attired for the opera, but what's new and fortunately the fashion's range from minks and haute courtier to more casual. I must say only Carl had white Reeboks on!! It was quite chaotic getting into the Met hall-when they lifted the ropes inside, people pushed--why don't they collect the tickets outside and these are reserved seats anyway. Maybe too cold, but there must be a more organized way. The ushers seemed indifferent-not like San Francisco where it's an honor to be an usher and a position fiercely held onto. The opera house has the recognizable gold curtain and 5 tiers of circular box seats. The top one must be as high as the one in Vienna. It holds 6000 seats and most are filled. There are beautiful chandeliers like star bursts. My impression of the opera itself: the conductor, Carlo Rizzi, really dragged the tempo; is this the great met Opera Orchestra?; where is Jimmy Levine?; the stage is cavernous and the voices sound distant and muffled- both chorus and principals. Ruth Ann had her moments, but she surely isn't in the Bel Canto class of Sutherland (who is!); and her acting skills are adequate at best. She sang well in the mad scene especially when her voice blended with the flute. Ramon Vargas whom the crowd loved has never done anything for us. We had just seen him in "Werther" in L A-he loved to pose under the spotlights whenever possible.

Sitting next to us was an opera fan from Michigan-he said the Met audiences are "very generous" to the performers and they were--the audience applauded more than Carl and I felt the performers deserved. Some left before the curtain call--the same rudeness everywhere except San Francisco. The lower lobby of the Met Opera House had a very nice portrait gallery of the famous opera stars of the past. All in all it was a nice but not a great experience--still I was thrilled that I was at the Met, hearing an opera after 10 + years of listening to the radio broadcasts.

We walked back to the hotel and I called Hannah to tell her the trip had been cancelled--"so you'll be here for Christmas" is her excited reaction.

Get wake up call at 4 AM. The Gray Line Shuttle that we had reserved does not come and we have to take a cab with a Russian driver who has a totally morose life including 5 or 6 kids, an autistic grandchild and a wife with colon problems--and to make matters worse he wore the floral hair tonic that so many immigrants, including my father, wear.

The TWA terminal is nice and the plane takes off as scheduled--2 boys, 9 and 3, hang around us as we play cards on the flight home--the 3 year old humps Carl's leg--what kind of world is this???

All in all, I'd call this trip "Winter Wonderland", for it was as perfect as an Xmas trip or a trip to NYC could ever, ever be. Carl still calls this trip "Trepidation", but he agrees it was a fabulous, magical, perfect time in New York. As if we needed any more confirmation about our decision to cancel Egypt, our shuttle driver in L A to the house was from Jordan and he told us (who had just become an Italian Catholic and a German Lutheran) that it had been better that we had not gone to Egypt at this time since so many Moslems could get irrational and crazy with emotions against Americans.

And so this adventure ends.

December 1998 Trip

“A Trip of Trepidations”

By Sandra Nuti and Carl Korn

Day 2

Day 3