The Acela train was an experience. We were facing forward which made it nice. The couple on the opposite side of our table hoped to be able to swap seats, but it was a full train. We did have pleasant conversations along the way though. It was a three-hour trip with 4 or 5 stops before Penn Station and a crew change before they went on to Boston. Since we had treated ourselves to first class, lunch was served to us and we didn’t go check the dining car. It was a nice enough meal and the steward was quite pleasant.

Our Times Square hotel is only about a 10-minute cab ride away and the weather was mostly sunny and in the high 50s. We settled in the room, then went for a stroll to get oriented. We walked by a number of theaters and of course plenty of folks hawking different tours, shows, photo ops with dressed-up characters and so forth.

We decided on Becco for dinner; about a ten minute walk although the temperature had dropped. I wouldn’t have wanted to be out much longer. We did think to make reservations and it was crowded. When I had been looking for restaurants, I went to lists of where to go that weren’t chains (and there are plenty in sight) and Becco was on three different lists. It is a large place as I imagine most are considering the size of the population. The tables were of course quite close together and you do “absorb” the sounds and snippets of conversation. Hubby had osso bucco and I was a traditionalist with veal parm. Both were delicious and if we’d had the ability to do anything with leftovers, we would have taken a portion home. Needless to say, there was no room for sharing a dessert.