Thursday, June 09, 2016

New York's Washington Square Arch And When Harry Met Sally

As I shared in my previous post, I decided before going on my recent trip to New York City that I would spend most of the day in Lower Manhattan. So once my bus arrived, leaving us at 7th Avenue and 27th Street, I began walking. As you all know (especially, Val, my New York City walking buddy) that whenever I go to the Big Apple, I love to walk everywhere. Very rarely will I take public transportation because my greatest joy about being in a city like New York is that I can walk for hours and hours, and yet never notice how far I've walked because there is so much to look at and enjoy. On the average, I walk 80-85 blocks whenever I visit Manhattan - and that is over a 9-hour day.

Last Wednesday while I was in the city, the weather was drop-dead gorgeous. It was sunny, breezy, and only slightly humid; therefore it was the perfect condition for walking.

One of my rituals upon departing the bus in NYC is to run into a nearby Starbucks to use their restroom because I usually have to pee like a Russian racehorse after the hour and a half ride.

My second ritual is to immediately eat something because I'm usually starved by the time I get there.

This trip however, I spontaneously decided to walk down to the Village and then find a place to eat lunch, which I'm so glad I did because I ended up walking directly into Washington Square Park. And when I first spotted the infamous Washington Square Arch, I got so excited because I haven't see it since the 1970's-80's, when I lived in New York.

So do you know what I did? I grabbed a sandwich and chips from a deli and then walked into Washington Square Park, where I sat on a bench and ate my lunch while I people-watched. Oh, and I also fed part of my sandwich to the park squirrels.

After lunch, I took out my camera and photographed the arch and surrounding area.

Take a look...

*looking through the arch at Washington Square Park and the NYU campus

*beautiful homes/apartments directly across the street from Washington Square Park

And as I was snapping away, I suddenly remembered that my favorite romantic comedy film, When Harry Met Sally, was partially shot at the Washington Square Arch. If any of you are fans of the film, I think you'll remember the scene. It's when Harry and Sally first arrive in New York City after sharing a ride from Chicago together.

So, I couldn't resist Google searching for photographs from the film to show you that I was actually in the same spot where Harry and Sally (Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan) once stood...