When MOSY Met Harry And Sally

Posted on by

Sally Albright: Well, I guess we’re not going to be friends then.

Harry Burns: I guess not.

Sally Albright: That’s too bad. You were the only person I knew in New York.

One of my all-time favourite movies is When Harry Met Sally starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. At the height my passion, I could quote whole tracts of dialogue and to this day I can’t see pecan pie on a menu without descending into a silly voice – “But I would be proud to partake of your pecan pie. Peeecaan piiiieeeee.”

(Interestingly, in doing some research for this post, I discovered that the silly voice scene was improvised by Billy Crystal and he dragged Meg Ryan along (you can see her look over at director Rob Reiner in confusion at one point).)

So on a recent jaunt to New York City, how could I not be excited to find myself in places where Harry and Sally once stood?

It’s not that I went on a When Harry Met Sally scene hunt. (Although, I have been known to do that. Harry Potter in Oxford, Doctor Who in Cardiff, James Bond in Monte Carlo…) Most times we just stumbled across it or were there for other reasons and the movie connection was just a bonus.

Of course, no visit to New York is complete without a visit to Katz’s Delicatessen.

Katz1

Katz2

I told myself I was there for the pastrami but really, why go to New York and not visit the site of that infamous orgasm scene?

Eating at a diner one night, I ordered apple pie for dessert (of course).

Pie Ala Mode

When the waiter confirmed, “Pie a la mode?” it took all my willpower not to launch into a complicated pie request for heated/not heated, vanilla/strawberry icecream, real/canned cream.

We had very limited time on our visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (I know, I know, we managed our timing badly. So sue me) so we picked out the ‘must see’ items in our guidebook. One of these was the Temple of Dendur.

Temple of Dendur 1

 

Temple of Dendur 2

It was only when we walked into the space that I realised it was where my favourite pecan pie scene was filmed. I also love Harry’s view on hieroglyphics.

I only purposely hunted down one site from the movie. I had assumed the archway where Sally drops off Harry in New York was at Central Park.

Running around the park twice a few days after we arrived, I could not see it anywhere. But on a visit to the top of the Empire State Building, there on the mounted guides of what we were looking at was the arch. It’s at Washington Square Park. So off we trekked and found it.

Washington Square 1

Washington Square 2

We found it full of people with pillows. We’d stumbled across International Pillow Fight Day. Well, that was just a bonus, really.

Pillow Fight

While I didn’t find the arch in Central Park, we did pass the Loeb Boathouse restaurant and Bethesda Terrace on our rambling travels one day which also feature in the film.

Boathouse

I’m sure, had I thought to watch the movie before we left, I could have gone to more locations both intentionally and accidentally but in the end, I loved the spontaneous and serendipitous nature of it.

Hm. Speaking of Serendipity, this place was familiar.

Ice Rink

Oh, that’s right…

 

 

 

HOME button Able Theme small

41 thoughts on “When MOSY Met Harry And Sally”

  1. That pillow fight looks like so much fun! So does your trip…..nice when the stars align in an even greater way than you first expected, huh?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I so wish I’d realised it was International Pillow Fight Day – I would have joined in! I’ll have to stick it in the diary for next year along with World Toilet Day, International Talk Like A Pirate Day and Towel Day (actually that last one is coming up soon). And if you think I’m kidding that those days exist, you can look them up. 😀

      I love it when unexpected things like that happen. When we arrived in Certaldo Alto in Tuscany on one trip, we found red carpet down the main street (cars aren’t allowed in the old town). Turned out they were having a big food and wine festival that weekend. Such a lovely bonus!

      Like

      Reply

  2. I envy you, because When Harry Met Sally… inspires me everyday. It inspires me to write better. It inspires me to have more meaningful conversations. It inspires me to be wolfish like Harry. It inspires me to be more optimistic like Sally. It inspires me to maybe believe in love.
    Maybe I’ll make it to New York one day!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      • Thanks for the welcome.
        Until I read your post I’d actually forgotten that the Bethesda Terrace was a location in When Harry Met Sally… I always associate it’s fountain and “The Angel of the Waters” statue as the backdrop for George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer in One Fine Day.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  3. Ok – I’m impressed. Really impressed. I doubt I could ever reconstruct scenes from movies or TV shows in the locale they were filmed.
    … now I get your reference to Peeecaan Piiiieeeee 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Yes, sorry it took so long to explain that little bit of madness. 😀

      I tend to do that a lot. Lots of places I go it’s a case of “Oh, look! That’s where…blah blah blah…” I have the best photo of the boys standing on the steps at the entrance to the Mirabell gardens in Salzburg reconstructing the scene from Do Re Mi in the Sound of Music. 🙂 In hindsight, I should have put myself in it as Maria! 😀

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  5. You’d be a New Yorker in no time if you stuck around long enough for it to get into your blood. I loved much of that movie too, Heather, especially this part. I’ve always felt couples who have their own little language/dialects have something special going on.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Oh I love it!! Mad, crazy, eccentric post – so wonderful! I love ‘When Harry met Sally’ and I’m also fond of ‘Serendipity’ too. I don’t often re-watch movies but I have to confess to doing so with those two. Peeecan Piiieee is brill. Thank you H, I shall go to bed happy 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Now, why didn’t you join in the pillowfight? I’m sure there would be a spare pillow around somewhere… 😀 Seems like you managed to squeeze in quite a bit of sight seeing. Some spontaneity is always nice on a trip…you never know what you can discover or recognise 😉 Or maybe it was luck for you.

    When Harry Met Sally was one of those movies I watched each year when it came on TV around the holiday season. Not a diehard fan of it, but certainly a movie that made me chuckle.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Well, they did have a pile of them sitting there because people were encouraged to donate a pillow to the homeless so they were collecting them as people finished. But I think it would have looked a bit ordinary to pinch a pillow from the poor even if I was going to bring it back. 😀

      I love the spontaneous and unexpected surprises on a trip. Well, as long as they’re good ones. But even the bad ones give you a good story to tell in the years to come. “Remember when we stayed in that hotel in Geneva and there was something living under the bath and we ate breakfast with the prostitutes and drug addicts who lived there?” Just an example. It might be true….

      I think it’s a movie that’s easy to come back to for a repeat viewing. 🙂

      Like

      Reply

      • It would be odd taking a pillow for your own fun when it’s meant to go for a charitable cause. Maybe next time…or your could always have a pillow fight at home 😀

        I wouldn’t want to go on a holiday and find something living under the hotel bed…I really don’t. You are certainly more game than me.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  12. Bought the video ‘When Harry met Sally’ from Aldi this week, so am looking forward to seeing it! Also making pecan pie tomorrow! Loved your photos Heather, it gives a real feel for the New York seldom seen by someone who has never been there. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. You’re full of surprises, MOSY. You’re one for the sentimentals alright. 🙂

    International Pillow Fight Day?! 😀 I was well trained in the art of the pillow fight by my brother. Would love to take him on these days :mrgreen:

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • It’s my life’s mission not to be predictable. 😀

      It’s on every year and all around the world. Keep an eye out! Doesn’t seem to have a set date as such but looking back at previous days (on YouTube), seems to occur around Easter.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Talk to me. I love a discussion. I might learn new stuff.