Wimbledon, Katz Deli and Lion King

The title says it all. We watched Wimbledon from the comfort of our hotel beds. We loved it. We have a strong Swiss connection because of our extended family, Marc-Andre and Catherine and their children, who live just across the French border from Geneva, and we have watched Wimbledon with them previously (Baghdatis vs Federer in fact). I like Roger Federer because of his love for the game, his philanthropy and his temperament on court. I wasn't too keen on Andy Murray but couldn't help liking him after his gracious speech at the end.

It was great having a "sleep in". Our hotel is really luxurious by our usual standards, and the staff have been excellent. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone. At $223 per night for four people (through hotels.com) and considering its position, it was a fantastic find by V.

After the speeches, we took the subway downtown. I haven't told you that my portable camera had a protruding proboscis type death. My beloved Fujifilm Finepix F70 EXR is dead. I can't retract the lens or focus or anything. With its lens stuck out, its no longer a pocket camera.

W tried to dismantle it but was foiled by some specialised screws. The hotel cleaning staff put the nail in the coffin by discarding the paper cup containing the removed screws, so the repair idea is also screwed and I can only use my iphone for those quick snaps. It's a 3gGS so the camera is pretty poor.

My iphone view from inside the train

We were on our way to see Katz's Deli (of "When Harry met Sally"fame). We entered, we saw, we left. I reckon we were in there for all of 70 seconds. It was really busy. We were greeted with "NO TICKET, NO EXIT" (I think imprisonment is illegal in the US unless you've had a fair trial and found guilty of a heinous crime) Next we were being herded to the counters and pressured to order before we had even looked at what was available. The sarcastic "Have a nice day" from the security staff as we left added to the bad vibe. It seems we are not alone. Reviews tell a similar story.

Fortunately we found a nice restaurant just down the road and enjoyed a nice lunch. It's called Spitzers and I can recommend it.

I had a delicious avocado omelette with salad. W enjoyed his meat and V her vegetarian (no it's not easy cooking for the family). It was pretty hot again, and we had Broadway again (Lion King) so we Subwayed back towards Manhattan.

Near Spitzers. I dont think you can legally display this on a chalkboard in Australia

Heading homewards

I picked up our tickets and quickly checked out the Centre of International Photography. I have to say this was the first time I have ever been disappointed by a photographic gallery. The featured exhibition was "Murder is my business"which was a voyeuristic display of murder crime scenes. I didn't enjoy it. There were some good photographs there, but I was glad I hadn't planned a long session.

Screenshot of the website

Back at the hotel we changed into our best clothes (well at least we changed out of our sweaty tourist gear into non sweaty tourist gear) and headed out to the Lion King on Broadway. Warning.. if you intend seeing it, skip the next paragraph.

The opening was stunning, with fantastic African singing, great music and a procession of animals making their way from the back of the theatre onto the stage. The way the actors portray animals is absolutely stunning, as are the sets, the technologies employed and the lighting. They are all superb. The singing throughout the show is great, and the actors do a really good job. The plot and dialogue are however, seriously underwhelming. I nearly fell asleep despite the volume. After interval it picked up a bit, but I couldn't really recommend this show (am I a killjoy?)

I was keen to visit the Carnegie Deli, it having been recommended by three friends independently (thanks David, Belinda and Sally!) We had a great meal .. but I have to say it was GINORMOUS..

Viv's salad was served in a salad bowl.. the ones that serve four people usually

Don't go here if you aren't famished. We struggled and conquered the meals. I had the Deli Omelette which I reckon must have had 8 eggs in it.. that means today I ate a dozen. Lucky eggs haven't been associated with any adverse health effects despite their undeserved bad reputation)

After a full day and with overfull stomachs we struggled up the stairs to the 12th floor... the stairs are our ritual... and bedded down.