The dress.

The tickets.

Once a year we try to do something really special in the city. The first year we saw Wicked on Broadway, last year we went to the Christmas Extravaganza at Radio City Music Hall. Last night we had tickets to Don Giovanni at the New York City Metropolitan Opera House, better known as The Met. It was our first opera, and we loved it. We’ve seen operas on television of course and enjoyed listening to opera on CDs, but had never seen a live opera. Sung in Italian, we had read the synopsis of the story before we went so we would be prepared. [Don Giovanni is of course an operatic retelling of the story of Don Juan.]

Getting there last night was a breeze which isn’t always the case when driving into the city. Traffic was very light and we made the drive in just over one hour. Incredible to believe we really live that close to such a vibrant city! I had reserved parking at Lincoln Center and believe me, this is the the way to go! We had our own special parking lot for reservations and merely had to walk a short distance from the car to the entrance of the Lincoln Center complex. We enjoyed a glass of champagne before the performance and then found our seats.
 

The Met is beautiful inside.

We had really good seats in the front row of the first tier. The dazzling snowflake-like chandeliers at our eye level quietly slid upwards to the ceiling as the performance began.

We were surprised and very pleased to find that right in front of us, buried in the balustrade, was our very own translator. At the push of a button we had the English translation of the performance as it played out in the form of an electronic display. Just like watching a foreign film with subtitles! They were very discreet and you could only see your own screen that was right in front of you and not that of your seat mate on either side so you had no idea if they were following along or not. It did help to know exactly what was being said but we found ourselves getting caught up in the drama and the music and sometimes forgetting to look at the translation.

I got goosebumps at one point when Don Giovanni and Zerlina sang a duet [“Là ci darem la mano”] and I recognized it from Babette’s Feast as being the one that Martina sang with the visiting star from the Paris opera. [If you have never seen this movie you should. But please don’t get the dubbed English version. Instead, go with the original subtitles, you won’t be sorry!]

The opera was a bit light-hearted and comic at times, and wonderfully done. Bravo!

There is a restaurant right inside the Met and next time we go it would be fun to have a meal there beforehand. With having a new puppy in the house we didn’t feel that this was the right time to spend the extra time away from home. [Bella did just fine with her babysitter by the way.]

People were dressed from jeans to long gowns and tuxes. Rick and I were dressed somewhere in the middle. I can’t really see why people would attend an opera in jeans though, can you? Plenty of fur coats were being worn and as cold as it was last night I was almost, almost wishing I didn’t have an aversion to wearing a dead animal on my back. Those women looked really warm. My wool coat wasn’t quite cutting it!

When the opera ended at 11:45 we headed home. Finally at 1:30 a.m. (we hit a bit of a traffic snarl on the Henry Hudson) we tumbled into bed, happy with our night’s special entertainment.

The ferry arrived around 7:45 p.m. and the game was scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. It was about a ten minute walk from the ferry to the stadium. We walked up to the line feeling pretty good, excited and happy to be there. Then the person taking tickets told us that backpacks weren’t allowed in the stadium and that we’d have to take it back to our car (uhm, no car lady) or check it at the bowling alley across the street. What bowling alley? We sure didn’t see one. If we couldn’t see it it must be further away and how would we have time to collect it after the game? We looked at each other and decided to empty the backpack and leave it behind. Okay, everything out of the pack. Let’s see, binoculars, keys, money, video camera.

Rick walked over to a hot dog vendor and asked him if he was going to be there until the end of the game and could he watch the empty pack for us? He said yes he would for $20.  Time was ticking away. Behind us in the stadium the music was reaching a crescendo and the crowd was going wild. We were missing something important! We decided the pack wasn’t worth that much to us and left the pack with the vendor, telling him he could just keep it.

Back in line once again. Uh oh. No video cameras allowed inside the stadium. What?? Such a silly rule since nearly every camera you buy today can take video. But ours was a video camera. Just great. They shuffled us from person to person until one guy pointed out the bowling alley, which really was just across the street. So, Rick went back over to the hot dog vendor (who by this time is thinking we are completely and totally whacky) to reclaim our orphaned backpack and put the video camera back inside. Over to the bowling alley we went where a guy was sitting in front of a tiny room filled with checked items. Five dollars and fifteen minutes later we were finally on our way back to the stadium. Really, the camera is so tiny Rick could have put it in his jacket pocket and gotten away with smuggling it in but we didn’t want to risk another timely setback.

Inside everyone was on their feet and we had to ask several nice people where our seats were located because we couldn’t find them. Turns out someone was using our seats, so we go that straightened out. Finally we were in our seats and the game was about to begin.

So, sing along with me, won’t you? If you don’t know the tune to Take Me Out to the Ball Game, just click on the link to get you started.

Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don’t care if I never get back,

Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don’t win it’s a shame.

For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out,
At the old ball game.

Two exciting home runs! The Yankees won of course. We left at the bottom of the 8th inning so we would have enough time to get back to the ferry (it leaves 20 minutes after the last out) and collect our backpack. I’m glad we had the chance to be there on the last night.

The ferry ride back was quicker and quite chilly. Here are two strange photos that could be abstract paintings I took on the way back. Does anyone know why the Chrysler Building has that strange upside-down superimposed image beside it?

And yes, that white blob in the photo above is the moon!

We finally tumbled into our bed at 3:00 a.m. A late night, but worth it!

For more great photos of this epic event please check out a fellow blogger’s great pics!

On Sunday we had tickets to the final Yankees game in old Yankee Stadium. Rick had also booked us on the Yankee Clipper, the ferry that travels around the point of Manhattan and drops you off right at Yankee Stadium. They say that half the fun is getting there, and it was.

We boarded the ferry at 6:00 p.m. from Port Imperial in Weehawken. It was beautiful weather for a cruise.

The clouds and the skyline were fabulous!

We made a stop at Hoboken to pick up more passengers. I liked the old style architecture of the Lackawanna terminal. I didn’t get to see much of it but I think this is a place I need to go back to and get some photos. Built in 1907, it’s one of the oldest railroad terminals still existing.

As we pulled away from the pier the sun was starting to set.

The reflections off the buildings from the setting sun were hard to resist.

They looked like lighthouse beacons.

one if by land ...

two if by sea ...

As we rounded the point, the sun was pretty much gone. Here the Staten Island ferry pulls away from us and the Lady Liberty can be seen in the distance on the left.

Under the Brooklyn Bridge we go!

Looking back at the bridge through another.

Night falls on the city.

And we finally arrive at our destination. I hope you enjoyed the ride!

To be continued ...

I need to catch up on some sleep before I write a more comprehensive post ... last night was a late night at the last ever Yankees game in old Yankee Stadium. Here is a shot from the Yankee Clipper ferry of the Manhattan skyline. I aimed high with my wide angle lens to get a slightly skewed view. (Empire State Building is dead center.)