This one is gonna be quick cuz I gotta get a shower and get dressed soon....

I had an incredible night's sleep. I swear, if I could stuff the bed and the linens from this hotel into my suitcase and take them home, then I most certainly would!

Yesterday, after we arrived at JFK, we had to wait around to get a taxi. Due to the Transit Authority Strike, we had to wait until there was one more person headed in our direction because the rule stipulated that 4 people must be in each car below 96th Street. Our hotel is on 50th & Lexington. Once they paired us up with someone, we were on our way.

We arrive at the hotel but they didn't have a room ready for us yet; we stowed our luggage in their luggage storage area and headed next door to our favorite diner for lunch. After lunch, we decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

It's on 86th Street. We're on 50th. The strike was in effect. This meant no subways or busses to take us there. So, we walked.

ALL THIRTY SIX BLOCKS!! That's a hell of a walk, I tell ya! We certainly burned off them lunch calories. We didn't get to see a whole lot of the museum because they were closing in an hour an a half. But we did see a lot of cool things in the Egyption exhibits as well as in the American Art exhibit. Saw a few famous painter's works like Picasso. Very cool. (He was weird! Maybe he had a mental illness? I dunno.)

We decided to splurge and pay the $20 to take a taxi back to the hotel. We justified it because when we came out of the museum, the sun had begun to set and the temp had dropped from 45 to 35! Brrr!!

The rest of the evening was uneventful unless you count the crummy dinner at the Brasserie on 53rd. The omelet we each ordered was underdone (and it was a $16 omelet mind you!) served with (of all things) french fries. And our waiter was a snobby, arrogant French guy. Ugh.. Oh, well. On our way back we discovered that Au Ban Pain (a small bakery & soup place) as well as Metro Cafe (serves soups, salads made to order, and sandwiches as well) are a quick walk from the hotel. We'll be frequenting both, I'm sure.

So, there ya have it folks. Our first night in NYC for 2005!

Until next time... peace, love & HEALTH!!!

ps--hopefully I'll have time one of the days to post a few pics....