Concert in Central Park, NYC |
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It was in 1999 after 10 weeks in the States and Canada that we finished our travel in the city that never sleeps. After some 10000 miles on American roads we looked ahead to some sightseeing but that is not what this report is about.
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Well what can I say about a city where everybody already has been and so much has been written about?
And it is already quite a while since we have been there. But there is this wonderful experience we had one evening in Central Park.
We stayed for a few days in late July in New York City, had a nice Hotel off Broadway and hot hot weather. We were sitting in a coffee shop slurping some Frappucino coffee when I found an advert saying that the New York Philharmonic Orchestra does several free open air concerts in various Parks of New York. It turned out that there was one that evening on the great lawn in Central Park. Even though we weren’t that much lovers of classic music we thought it could be a nice and money saving thing to do that evening. So we decided to go there.
The Advert said the concert would begin at 8:00 pm. We left our hotel at 19:15 with plenty of time for leisurely strolling to the great lawn, with even having some time for window shopping on the way on 5th avenue, to be well in time for the concert, at least we thought so. My memory of how far it would be to the great lawn deceived me, I underestimated the way from the park entrance to the great lawn, so we ended up walking instead of strolling...
On the park roads we met some people with coolers, blankets, deli bags and so on apparently they were going to have picnic somewhere in the Park, it was a nice thing to do on this hot evening. But the closer we got to the great lawn the number of people with coolers raised. Apparently they were walking in the same direction as we were. I was making jokes that they would attend the concert too.
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When finally arriving on the great lawn we couldn't believe our eyes. There were people all over the lawn. Behind the rows of chairs people were sitting on their blankets, picnicking. Glasses were clinging, happy chattering was all around, people were winking “hello we are here”. A big family picnic was going on. Everywhere were balloons indicating where everybody is just that their friends would find them.
We managed to squeeze in between two groups of friends on their blankets and sat down on the soft green grass. I did put my hand on a blanket when supporting myself and got some angry looks and words telling me not to take away their place that were reserved by first comers some hours before. We gave our apologies and managed to keep a low profile afterwards.
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Soon the concert began and everybody had enough place to enjoy the music. It was a brilliant evening under a cloudless sky with beautiful music and all for free! We were sitting there in a crowd of over 60000 people! All listening to the beautiful sound of one of the best classical orchestras in the world while dusk was setting in the city.
The contrast of the vibrant City just outside the park, with the multilane streets and the traffic that never slows down significantly, and the harmony and peaceful atmosphere at the concert was great.
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Some tips for your free concert in the park:
- The concerts are held every July in various parks in NYC
- The concerts begin at 8.00 pm
As told before bring some things with you:
- Blankets, Candles the concert goes on until dark, Jacket depending
on the weather, Food, Drinks, Bug spray.
Plan to be there quite early when you want to get good seating near to the orchestra
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There are so many places in New York to eat. The choice is absolutely fantastic. Sorry I don't remember any names, I just remember this terrific restaurant just round the corner from our hotel where I ate the best tuna steak ever!
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The two towers of the world trade center in the background
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Some other places we have been to in NYC that we liked a lot:
MOMA, Guggenheim Museum, Shopping, Central Park in general
Just one important thing about NYC for me to point out is that this is the only place in US that we have been to with a working public transportation system. This makes it so much easier for visitors to get around.
Sorry folks there are no pictures that would be in context to the text available. I did however put in a few just to make the report look nicer, these are not my best pictuers ever but my camera was nearly broken at this time....
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Published on Sunday September 26th, 2004 by mortimer
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