Tenth Visitors

We have been pretty quiet lately and you might be wondering if we are still here. We have been very busy with guests since October 2nd. That Saturday our friends from Switzerland, Jürg and Hanny Bollinger, arrived in Manhattan for a week long stay. Jürg has been a mail order customer of Village Records for fifteen years and he almost always ordered by phone so we got to know one another since he orders nearly every month. On our first trip to Europe five years ago Jürg picked us up at the airport in Zurich and we spent the weekend at their home and got a great tour of their village, Neuhausen, and some of the nearby villages. So this was a reunion of sorts.

They had booked a room at the Manhattan at Times Square which is very convenient at just a block from us on 7th Avenue. We greeted them at our apartment for snacks and wine. They brought us some wonderful chocolates, biscuits, and cheese from their canton in Switzerland and we had to sample a little bit before we took a quick stroll around the neighborhood and then off to dinner on 9th Avenue. They were naturally tired after the long flight and called it a night but they hit the city hard and strong the rest of the week. During their stay they were at the observation decks of both Top of the Rock and Empire State, took the Circle Line boat tour, walked the Brooklyn Bridge, toured Greenwich Village, Battery Park, Staten Island Ferry, the Museum of Modern Art, took a day trip to Pennsylvania to see a friend, an overnight trip to New Jersey to see another friend, and more.

Monday evening the four of us went to a small concert in the East Village, Rod Picott and Amanda Shires. Rod has written many songs with Slaid Cleaves who has been fairly successful. Rod and Amanda record together and separately and they both deserve to be better known. There were only twelve in the audience counting us but it was great and they didn’t seem to mind the lack of a crowd and gave an enthusiastic performance.

After the show we went around the corner to perhaps the most famous deli in New York, Katz’s Delicatessen. This is where the famous restaurant scene from “When Harry Met Sally” was filmed. The ordering and paying system there has to be unique. When you enter you are required to take a large ticket at the door. One long side of the restaurant is actually the kitchen/grill with a high counter. There is one cook for each category of food and you order directly from him to assemble your meal. The guy making sandwiches takes your ticket and marks the price on it and hands it back to you to take to the French fry guy or whatever else you want. On your way out you go by the cashier who tallies your ticket. I don’t know but it seems inside out. For the more traditional types there is a section with waiters. My Philly cheesesteak sandwich practically melted in my mouth.

We had a great time visiting with the Bollingers over their stay in NYC and we agreed to get together again in five years…that will involve a return to Switzerland.