Monday 29th Pleasantville

Pleasantville is 1 hour North of New York on the train.  It is one of a string of pleasant towns along the Hudson Valley. I went there this morning, as arranged, to have lunch with the cousin of my sister-in-law’s husband and her ( the cousin)’s husband.  It was delightful. They are a very interesting couple, conversation never waned, the food was delicious.

Sunday – a day of rest.

Well, sort of.  I did not want to walk much today.

On Sunday morning there is a greenmarket  ( ie farmers market) which starts a few blocks from me and extends for several more blocks  then a flea market after that. This weekend and next weekend there is also a spring craft fair with lots of stalls selling the usual things – jewellery, bags, pottery, glass stuff, kids clothing, photos. I bought a few food items, but nothing much. Walked a bit.

I then went into Central Park and had a long leisurely lunch at one of the little cafes.  There were many people out enjoying the sunshine and it was relaxing just watching the wide variety.  I wandered around more and found some more bridges.  Too much walking. Then came back here and read some of the newspaper and did odd things. I have just come back from having a glass of wine and bean salad for dinner ( cross 1 street)

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Saturday Snug Harbor on Staten Island

I learned of Snug Harbor from my Peaceful Places book. It has been a long but very enjoyable day. I will quote from the brochure. “Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden is the largest, ongoing adaptive reuse project in America. It consists of 28 historical buildings….on an 83 acre campus on Staten Island. Formally Sailors’ Snug Harbour, a home for retired sailors built in the 1800’s Snug Harbour is now a distinguished regional arts centre where history, architecture, visual arts, theatre, dance, music, environmental science and botanical gardens provide dynamic experiences for all ages”

I want to make sure I visit all the boroughs  ( background :  5 boroughs make up NYC : Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island)  Snug Harbour seemed interesting.  The cousin of a Cbr friend, who I met last year ,  and I met , as arranged at the  S I  Ferry terminal. We walked east around the shore line of SI for several kilometres to Snug Harbour ( S H)  . We got there at 10.30. The main building was not opened so we wandered around and found a children’s activity play area that looked great. They had a sort-of café . We spent several hours chatting as we looked at different buildings. The main hall had lovely  tiffany  glass panels above the doors.  There was very little about the origins of the place.  It was used as a home for retired sailors til the early 1970’s. There was an exhibition of musicians that had some connection  with  S I . Sometimes the connection was tenuous.  It was not very well explained. Often there were newspaper clippings, but with no dates.  There were several large halls that were connected by passage ways.  Some group was rehearsing for their production of the Pyjama Game. In the Music Hall. We were told by some other visitors of a place to have lunch. We were initially taken thru the empty bar area to a table next to a huge U shaped table of 35 women at a hen’s party. Needles to say the noise was deafening. We had a very pleasant lunch chatting to each other and the bar lady in relative peace.

After lunch we went back to S H and wandered around the gardens. Like the buildings, some were in better shape than others. There was a maze that we wandered around,  a butterfly garden ( no butterflies) , a conservatory ( work needed) , a Tuscan garden ( dead squirrel in pond)  plus more. It sounds rather bizarre, but it was a lovely day, there were lots of lovely trees in full flower,  there was a wedding being set up, a children’s party in the children’s area, some interesting sculptures, lovely old buildings, a peaceful air. We  laughed a lot.

Walk back to Ferry terminal through streets , ferry back, tea/coffee stop on way to subway. I stopped on way home at last of eating places in my block – a take/away  taco place.  OK, but I donot have to go there again.

Bed time, excuse mistakes.

Friday Roosevelt Island, Whitney and 2 frivolous treats

Roosevelt Island is a narrow strip of land in the East River between Manhattan and Queens. There is not much of interest on it apart from the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial 4 Freedoms Park which opened last year after a checkered history. It was designed by Louis Kahn, a ‘monumental modernist’ in the early 70’s but he died suddenly and New York was  almost bankrupt. So building didnot start.  In 2010 the project got moving again. I went to see it.

On the way there I saw a very fancy watch shop on Madison Ave with clocks on its outside wall with the current  time in different cities in the world.  Sydney was wrong.

One of the ways of getting  to Roosevelt Island is by  what I would call a cable car. It is called an aerial tramway. There probably is a technical difference. The views are good.

The memorial was interesting. Very plain and stark, but I liked it. It stood out against the cacophony of shapes just over the water in Manhattan.  The 6 lane highway on the eastern shore of Manhattan, that I have objected to at least twice before in this space, was not as intrusive. More like a steady gust of wind than the objectionable din closer .  The ‘4 Freedoms’ are from FDR’s speech in 1941 – freedom of speech, freedom to worship God in the way you want, freedom from poverty and freedom from fear ( not sure I have the order of the last 2 correct) .  There were no coffee shops, nor food carts anywhere in sight, so I sat on a marble wall, eating my very funny tasting muesli bar left over from last weekend’s walk’s freebies, thinking of how fortunate was I .

Next stop was the Whitney Museum of American Art. I had lunch first. After a nice salad I ordered a cappuccino. After several mouthfuls, I thought this is good. In the past , I taste the coffee, and think variations of ‘well, it’s not too bad’ .

After I paid my admission, I went to get a free audio. They wanted photo id but did not accept passports or driving licenses.  Even if I had my whole purse, I have nothing other than my license with my photo on, that I can think of. The lady said she could not give me an audio thing. I had my national trust membership card with me that has my name.  I was very polite and said that while I accepted their rule , I thought it discriminated against retired visitors who come from countries, like Australia, that do not have photo id on anything other than their driving license. ‘Shsh’ she said as she took my NT card and passed me an audio. ‘I agree’ she said.  I enjoyed the exhibition. 2 American artists that I am learning about-   Edward Hopper and Georgia O’Keefe - had about 5 paintings each and lots of info on the audio guide.

I planned on walking home through Central Park getting to the nearby café ( 1 street to cross) in time to try another of their grain-free desserts. Not sure I mentioned – several days ago I stopped in for a piece of no-bake, no grain, no-dairy ( vegan café)  key lime pie which I really enjoyed.  Anyway, I entered Central Park just near the pond with the remote control sail boats . What a good idea – why not now. I should have paid closer attention to the wind though , it would have been better if it were stronger.  $11 for half an hour seemed like good value to me. I think a horse ride in one of those carriages is about $50 fro 20 minutes.   I had 2 controls . One lever – I was supposed to move left if I wanted the boat to go left and right if I wanted the boat to go right. The second lever either pulled the main sheet  in or let it out ( that is not what the explainer said, but from a few other things he said he clearly had never been in a sailing boat). The first lever was a problem initially. On a small boat you move the tiller to the opposite direction of you want to go, not the same, like this lever.  I found if I talked to myself, left, right, not ‘port’ ‘starboard’,  I could manage. Several people came up to me and it was a bit hard to be polite. I wanted all my 30 minutes. There were 2 things sticking out of the water and I pretended they were buoys I had to go around.  There were several controller-less boats sailing around that had to be avoided. Another guy was operating a boat near me. Only once  did one of my childhood mantras ‘port gives way to starboard’ come into my head. What use it would have been is another matter..

Now, my question is ‘was that frivolous fun?’  I concentrated quite hard for 30 minutes, so probably not.

I walked on through the park, photographed another few bridges and got to the information place. I have realised that I have only sent 1 postcard – to my eldest granddaughter. I bought a few.  Near the info place is a largish carousel. I watched it for a while and decided that to have a ride would definitely be frivolous. So, I did. I hope some of my self-taken photos will turn out as proof.  I thought if I was there with anyone else, we would have had a ride, so why shouldnot I?   My horse went up and down, and the horses went quite quickly. I had to hold on, so taking a photo  required concentration.

Dinner was a Spanish place. ( cross 1street)  I  did not recognise any of the wines so picked one based on the odd name  sangre de toro   ( bull’s blood) – a white  wine .  ???    

It was OK. The seafood paella was delicious and I had no desert.

Thursday 25th Elevated Acre

I  had read a brochure about the South St Seaport Museum and thought it might be interesting.  I found the area,  but many of the buildings have not yet had their post-Sandy repairs completed and the whole place was a non-event. The brochure talked about  old printing workshops, wood carving, displays of this and that and old ships. You could not get near the ships and the museum was not open. There were lots of shops still closed.

I walked on to an area called the Elevated Acre that I had read about in my peaceful book.  You cannot see this place from the street . You go up some stairs between 2 office towers and find yourself in a nice space of shrubs, bushes, grass(fake), some benches and a lovely view over the East River. -    and the 6 lane expressway beneath you. I tried sitting for a while but the drone of the traffic  bothered me.

I looked at  Stone Street , said somewhere to be the last cobblestone street in NY. It may well be, but it is now filled with tables for the cafes that line either side of it.. I went on to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal where I will meet the cousin of a Canberra friend  who I met last year. I stopped for lunch in my block on the way home and then fell asleep. I was going to go to a concert of a music school nearby tonight but will go to bed early instead.

Wednesday Tenement Museum.

I got off to a slow start and caught a subway to Bryant Park and bought a sandwich at 11.30 before the main lunch rush. Delicious – very grainy bread with goats cheese, avocado, walnut pesto and greens. I sat in an area where they have juggling every lunch hour. It was enjoyable reading in the sun.   There was a group of young people – late teens- who were obviously waiting and they jumped up as soon as one of the jugglers asked if anyone wanted to try. I was half thinking of it but chickened out. It seemed like a suitable frivolous thing to do. I went to watch the carousel . That would definitely be frivolous. There was a whole group of school kids waiting to get on. The nearest horse to me was  called ‘Granny’s Folly’.  But I chickened out again and went to explore the bathroom. In this public place there was a building with Ladies and Gents. In the Ladies there was a huge vase of flowers at the entrance. ‘They’re real ‘ I  accidently said out loud to noone in particular. ‘Er, yes’ i.e. so what , several locals said in an off hand manner.   In the cubicle, there was an automatic seat cover dispenser. I have never seen one of these before.

I got a subway south to the southern part of Soho / northern part of Chinatown. I was looking for an art installation called the Broken Kilometre at 393 Broadway. This is in my Peaceful book. There was certainly nothing like it at that address. Ah well. When I got home I looked up their website and found it was at 393 W Broadway. I did not know there was a west Broadway. The place was only 800m away. 

I walked east through Chinatown ( same shops and smells as Chinatown anywhere)  to the Lower East Side to a café called Café Grumpy. I had read about this in the CT. I had a nice flat white and muffin. I sat for quite a while watching the passing parade. Quite varied on the LES!

I walked north into the main part of the LES to the tenement museum. I was early so did a few circuits of a few blocks. The LES has been the first port of call for many immigrants – mainly European initially. In the 50’s, 60’s it was the main garment district.  There are a few shop fronts that have not changed. There are a few fancy new clothing shops, some new galleries and cafes but in between the new places there many be e.g.  an old plumbing fixtures shop .

According to our guide, currently 40% of the people living in the LES were born outside USA and 60%  speak a language other than English at home. The median wage is $40,000.

The tenement building we saw was built in 1863 by a German entrepreneur. It was very similar to many others. The Tenement Museum mob bought it 20 years ago as a derelict building. They had restored some of the apartments to  be like a particular family’s place at a particular time. There are 5 stories with 4 apartments on each floor. Each apartment has 3 small rooms.   If we say 5people per apartment that is 100 people . There were 4 outside dunnies and 1  outside water tap.  The first apartment was  lived in by a German couple and their 4 kids in 1890 for  quite a few years. There were only 2 windows in 1 room – the only source of light other than candles and lanterns.  In 1905 there was a Tenement Act which said there had to be 1 inside WC  for 2 families and every room had to have a window. Trouble is, they did not say the window had to be towards  the outside. We looked at an apartment lived in by an Italian family from 1930 and listened to  description by the daughter of the family about what sort of things they did.

In 1935 the government brought in legislation that said that tenement owners had to make all sorts of fireproofing changes. Many owners said ‘too hard’ and lots more people were on the streets that year.

I have just come back from having dinner at a nice place (cross  1 street). I remembered that last year I had had scallops several times. They are relatively cheaper than in Australia. I had some tonight and they were delicious. The crème brulee I had was just because I felt a need to boost my calcium and needed  some milk. My bag will not be the only thing that comes home heavier.

Odds and Ends

It is a nuisance to me that prices are not displayed in shop windows.

I have visited 13 out of the 39 bridges in Central Park.  If I run out of bridges, I may start on statues

Several days ago I was watching cars going in and out of a parking garage . The garage had a second doorway that the attendants sometimes used to get cars in and out from. When closed it had a sign saying ‘No Parking’ Fair enough. Underneath it said ‘This is an active driveway’.  I know what they mean, but sounds funny to me.  We would say ‘in use frequently’  or something. Then yesterday I saw one better. I passed in the bus an ‘active’ cemetery.    Again – people visiting frequently – but I had visions of corpses having zumba classes  in the middle of the night.

 Some info on Central Park from the brochure:

First major landscaped public urban park in the US

Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux  who won a competition to design it in 1858.

Constructed in 1858 to 1873.

843 acre.

800m   by 4 km

 A few days ago in a café at lunch time an old guy sat next to me and ordered a martini. He specified the brand of gin, how many twists of lemon, in a wine glass not a martini glass ( I donot blame him, martini glasses are hard to hold) , ice in a separate glass with a spoon.  He sounded exactly like Woody Allan.

Apparently, when Nelson Mandela  was in prison in the 1970’s , no books except a few bibles were allowed. One inmate convinced  a guard that his copy of the Complete works of William Shakespeare was a ‘Bible by William Shakespeare’. This book was passed around the inmates for years. They signed their favourite passages with initials and a date. The passage that Mandela signed and dated  16 dec 1977 was from Julius Caesar : “ “Cowards die many times before their deaths

The  valiant never taste of death but once.

Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,

It seems to me most strange that men should fear;

Seeing that death, a necessary end.

Will come when it come.”

The Gatsby era costumes I saw in Brookes Bros were the actual ones from the film ‘Gatsby’ to be released soon here.

Tuesday Metropolitan Museum of Art

This morning I wanted to look at only the  paintings of particular artists that I have been reading a bit about  and knew I would be there for only about 1 ½ hours – about all I can take in at one go.  The entry prices have always been only suggested, but last year the fine print was very small.  There has been a bit in the media about this. This year it was far clearer on the sign that the price was only a suggested amount $25 adult , $17 senior ( 65 and over) . I stood at the window and said in a confident voice ‘ Good morning, I am not quite a senior but feel like one this morning so would like to pay $17’  . 'Certainly madam" was the reply. When I return I will pay them only a few $.  I was disappointed that my favourite Chagall painting is not on display. I had looked everything up the previous night to find what rooms to go to. I pottered around , enjoying myself.  Then it was lunch time and I went to the nice place that looks onto Central Park.  It is a long rectangular room, with the long side parallel to the  floor to high ceiling windows. The first row of tables are small ones for 2 people and the 2 rows  behind are tables for 4  (or put together for more). I went early and got a 2 table so I had an uninterrupted view of several large cherry trees in beautiful flower, several  still bare deciduous trees and joggers and cyclists. I was amused by the waiter. He said ‘good morning’ politely, but then got off on the wrong foot with me. He said ‘Would you like a drink to start, perhaps a chardonnay?’  I am afraid that I could not stop myself and said, politely I thought, ’ What makes you think I like chardonnay?”  I donot like being put into a box.  He stammered and stuttered and backed away.  Maybe I was not quite as polite as I meant to be.  I was undecided  about whether to have a glass of wine. It is becoming a habit. But after his remark I thought I would have a red( which I enjoyed) . And a hamburger ( which was delicious) . And I asked for a second breadroll. I did not have a dainty ladylike salad!

There is an offshoot of the Met in the far north of Manhattan called the Cloisters. Quoting from the pamphlet it “is devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe’ . The building is ‘designed in a style evocative of medieval architecture’ . The collection includes ‘sculpture, stained glass, tapestries, painting, manuscript illuminationand metalwork. There were a couple of recreated cloisters.   I had taken the bus from the Met thinking it would be a good opportunity to see Harlem. The bus trip took 1 ½ hours and I had seen enough of Harlem after about ¾ of an hour. I did, however, enjoy talking to a large black gentleman . He encouraged me to go to the Abyssinian Baptist Church which I had  recently downgraded from a 1 ( must see) to a 2( would like to see but won’t be heartbroken if I don’t) on my ‘To Do’ list. I said to him that I had looked on their website and I thought there would be too many tourists and I would find somewhere smaller. He went to that church and he did not know any where else. He did say that while there were a lot of tourists, there were still far more regulars.  Hmm.

Back to the Cloisters. Some of the things were interesting, But I was tired and unimpressed with the setting. I have been fortunate enough to see lots of similar things in churches in Italy and Spain, in their original locations, so I caught the bus but only to the nearest subway stop and came home.

Central Park

Monday – non tourist day.

Yesterday I was very tired. I think I may have been a bit apprehensive about the walk. Also working out where to go when and how to get there in a new place is more tiring than I give it credit for.  Normally I have an idea the day before of the next day’s activities. It was all too hard yesterday afternoon so I said  to myself ‘it’s ok to stay in all day’.

As an aside, I did discover yesterday another café in my block. It is only open Fri, sat and Sun. I ate there  last night – tomato soup and a delicious fancy cheese sandwich.

Last night I was falling asleep reading and put the light out at 9.10. Next thing I knew it was 6.20. I lay in bed thinking  “Where will I go today?”  Amazing what a good night can do.  Just about all the museums on my list are closed on Mondays and my list of alternative things all require walking, which I thought yesterday I wanted to avoid.

I went to a terrific place.  As background, in NYC there is a non profit  organisation called Housingworks.  It was started in 1990 to fight the 2 related problems of  AIDS and homelessness. It now provides all sorts of other health services to a variety of people.  It has about 7 thrift shops ( the one I went into in the upper east side a few days ago was more like an ordinary shop, not a junk shop of leftovers) and 1 bookstore / café.

Another piece of background, a year ago I was lent a small book called ‘Peaceful places in new york’ or something similar, thank you Jenny.  I went to several of the places in it, returned the book, decided to come back to New York, bought my own more up-to-date copy. Mostly it has parks – some big, some vest-pocket ( the term used for the small between- 2- skyscraper spaces), some commercial places, many free. There are only a few eating places, and this coffee/bookshop is one.

You walk off the street into an old building ( 1 ½ levels in height)  in SoHo and think you are in a nice bookshop – dark wood shelves,  spiral staircase up to the balcony, tables nicely stacked ,  really old copies of books behind glass and you remember that everything is second hand. You walk further into the shop and the back half , still with books lining the walls, but no balcony, is a café. Still with high ceilings and not chockerful of tables.  Very pleasant young people staffing the café.  Nice coffee – probably the best I have found yet and delicious muffin. There was not really a view to the outside, but the space was big enough for that not to matter. I could have spent much longer. I sat for about an hour watching people come and go. There were quite  few volunteers. One lady sat at a large table covering books in contact plastic, but it was not as instantly contacting as the stuff I remember covering my kids books with.  I spent some time reading my novel, but was really quite content to sit. There was a variety of people. Mostly between 20 and 30, but some older (not quite as old as me) . Some fairly unkempt looking. I watched one lady in a very tight short skirt as she carefully descended the spiral staircase on what looked like 10” heels .I was a very relaxing space. Why are cafes associated with bookstores comfortable places?  

One of the places I want to go to is the Tenement Museum. This is a building in the Lower East Side which was one of the main areas that poor immigrants lived in. To quote from the brochure ‘97 Orchard St was home to an estimated 7000 people from over 20 nations between 1863 and 1935.’.  Various apartments have been restored as they would have been for a particular group of residents.  Today I went to the main office where you buy tickets.  The only way you can see the apartments is on a tour and you cannot do every tour everday. So it is pot luck or planning. I have the time to plan, so I got a ticket to one of the tenements that had an Italian family living in it for Wednesday afternoon.

On my way from Housingworks Cafe to the Tenement Museum I passed a cafe that I went to last year when I was wandering around this neighbourhood. Afterwards I could not remember its name nor where it was. I wanted to so I could return because I enjoyed it. So this time I wrote it down so I could go back. It is the cafe attached  to  McNally Jackson bookshop! They have books suspended from the ceiling. 

Back here for lunch at Bistro Citron ( cross 1 road) . French menu, staff all speak Spanish amongst themselves, boss is Chinese. This is NewYork.

Note to self: Do not ask to look at desert menu if you have had a glass of wine. . You always weaken and  ignore your  resolve to have no desert. This has happened many times in the past.

After pottering in my apartment for a while I caught a train to the northern end of Central Park and wandered through some lovely parts – Harlem Meer, the Conservatory Gardens,   very formal with lots of bulbs and huge magnolia trees in bloom, and Northwoods . Apart from the formed paths and occasional glimpses of skyscrapers, you could have been anywhere.  More bridges – big and small.

I have found out about another wholefood organic shop 7 blocks away that I stopped at on the way home from Central Park. She put my goods into 2 bags . I  was surprised at how vulnerable I felt having no hand free. I put both bags into 1 hand.

Yesterday when I was walking past the place I had a big, ordinary breakfast at about midday, I counted 45 people waiting in line .  I was tempted to go ‘Baaa’. Maybe I’m missing something.

Sunday 9/11 Memorial Fun Run / Walk

No bombs, no disturbances, just a lot of people being polite to everyone else in a well-organised event.

The starting point was a huge empty building on the edge of the Hudson River at 15^th st. I knew I was getting close to it by the police presence on every corner. There were hundreds of them out today. Several every 50m or so along the route, many at the finish, many at the start ( and they were the ones I could see) plus boats, helicopters. We were all handed out  to wear blue and yellow ribbons to remember the Boston events, which I did, and the lady on the loud speaker several times said ‘Please, when you cross the finish line, put your hand on your heart and remember the people of Boston’   which I did not do. It was a lovely walk along the edge of the Hudson on the SW tip of Manhattan . 

The finish was very close to the entrance to the 9/11 memorial.  Anyone with a bib could go straight in and bypass the normal queue.  According to a sign I read, part of the usual entry procedure requires you to produce photo id. Luckily they waived that today.  To quote from the brochure , the 9/11 memorial consists of “ 2 pools set in the footprints of the original Twin Towers…32ft waterfalls cascade into the pools, each then descending into a centre void. The names of the victims are inscribed in bronze parapets around the pools” 

The organisers wanted everyone to go to the family day organised a few streets away, but I came home after first finding a café that was open and had a bathroom. Not that I wanted a bath, but to ask for what I wanted would be impolite.

Saturday Julius Caesar in Africa

This morning I went to the running shoe shop where I bought my New Balance Minimus shoes last year. There are wearing out so I thought I would take the opportunity to buy a new pair. ( 2/3 price of that in Australia). Then I bought some wool at Knitty City. There was far too much choice.

This afternoon I went to Brooklyn to the 1 of the 3  BAM ( Brooklyn Academy of Music)  performance spaces.. It  was founded in 1861 and is the country’s oldest performing arts centre.. The Theatre  I was in  had not been restored. It looked a bit like chunks of the pillars might come off at any minute.  When I went in, about 15 min before the start, there was a group of musicians playing African music and various ‘village people’ wandering around, chatting and dancing. They became the crowd in the first scene. All the actors were black from the Royal Shakespeare company.  They were talking in the sing-song voices that I associate wit Africans which often fitted the language well. The  actors all moved with typical loose-limbed ease . The part when Cassius and Brutus were arguing , at the beginning of the 2^nd half, was very realistic..

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 Often in the subways I have heard announcements  ‘ Tell us if you see something strange’ , ‘be nice to others’ etc . It was interesting on the subway home.  The train was quite full and at a station several people who had seats  got off.. 2 young girls  who had been standing dived for the 2 available seats and 2 old ladies who just came in dived for the same  2 seats.   One old lady got one and 1 young girl got one. She would not budge despite the glares of the standing old ( in her 80’s) lady. The guy the other side of the young girl got up, she slid along and old lady sat down. About 2 minutes later there was ‘ please give your seat up for the old or sick’ message.  About 10 minutes later a beggar got onto the train and walked through my carriage asking for money. Everyone ignored him except one person who gave him a few coins.  2 minutes later there was a ‘donot give anything to beggars’ notice over the loadspeaker.  I wonder if there is a person (s) sitting somewhere watching the video cameras in all the carriages  - the trains are very long- or is it just random which carriages he watches?

I stopped at an Italian restaurant on the way home for dinner – about 4 streets to cross. I will get back to my project on Monday.

Friday 19 th Museum of Arts and Design

I had a very nice morning pastry and decent cup of coffee at Bouchon Bakery – same family as Per Se – apparently one of the top NY restaurants -  almost overlooking Central Park in the Time Warner centre at Columbus Circle.  Then I went to the Museum of Arts and Design over the road. It ‘explores the intersection of art, craft and design today..’ The first gallery was called ‘Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft and Design.’ . There were some amazing pieces.  One of my favourites was a rocking chair that looked like a recumbant bicycle ( without the flag on a stick)  made of  bubinga wood.  I donot think I can put photos here. Pity. The second gallery was called ‘Playing with Fire’.  There were large bowls, small bowls, combinations of things with a message. My favourite was a bright 2 dimensional piece by Lino Tagliapietra  called Central Park. It is on his website.  There was another gallery of jewellery, most of which was big, far bigger than a normal person would wear.

My next task was to pick up my Tshirt and bib number for the 9/11 Memorial Fun Run / Walk on Sunday that I have entered. I had wanted to do the run but did not get my entry in in time and so am doing the walk. This is better because logistically I was not sure how to manage the run with clothing. They are not having a bag drop.   Anyway, I looked up the address, caught the train and got out at the wrong stop. I had not wanted to walk any more than I had to today. Ah well, it was only 10 blocks.  I chatted to a few people in the queue for the 10 minutes or so I had to wait. I was expecting longer.  The store Brookes Brothers was giving 10% off to participants today only. All I could see from the concierge’s desk, where the collection point was , was fancy men’s clothes and a big display of models dressed in the super elegant evening clothes of the Great Gatsby era. I asked the doorman  if the store sold women’s clothes. Yes, he said, but not quite like those, pointing to the beeded brocaded slinky numbers.  Oh, said I, I thought I’d like a new little black dress’. He grinned at me, and proceeded to describe in great detail  all the dresses.  Upstairs in the women’s clothes I found that they had a buy 2 and get a third free promotion. An hour or so later I was paying at the till for a pair of shoes, black pants and shirt.  I said  ‘that doesnot sound enough’, having done a quick sum in my head. What I did not know was that they were also giving 20% off for some charity promotion. She said ‘ Because you have saved $x today, would you like to make  donation?” I think , in retrospect , I was meant to donate the 20% to the charity Make a Wish.  I did make a donation but not 20%. The whole process was very tiring. I am not good at ‘shopping’. 

I looked at my map to see if I recognised any food places nearby. Sure enough, Grand Central Station and its oyster bar were only a few blocks away.  So I went and had some oysters and manhattan chowder. Delicious.

There is a place described in my ‘Peaceful Places’ not far. I found it and sat for a bit, In a plaza between 2 streets is a 4m plexiglass tunnel with water cascading over it. It is quite calming.  

There are 3 banks near me. Last year 1 found 1 of the 3 did not charge me a fee. This year I walked past the first 2 to the one that did not charge me last year and found that my card would not work.  The guy said it was too scratched. Hmm, I thought , it is hardly used. Stupidly I walked further away, rather than going back. The next bank charged me.  Next time I want money I will look at the start of the day rather than end.

Trefoil bridge

Thursday Jewish Museum

This morning I walked a different route through Central Park to the Upper East Side. It was cold and windy.  Apart from my project to eat at all the cafes in my block and then cross 1 street etc , I have started a project to visit and photograph all the 37 bridges in Central Park.  However I will not be disappointed if I donot see them all.

The permanent display in the Jewish Museum was very good I thought. It was arranged in 4 sections : Forging an Identity 1200BCEb to 640CE, Interpreting a Tradition 640 to 1800, Confronting Modernity 1800 to 1948 and lastly Realizing a Future.

One of the first exhibits that caught my eye was a small female clay figure dated somewhere between 800 to 700 BCE.   She could be several things, including the Godess Asherah who existed before  monotheism became in vogue. Amongst many other things, there was a bit of the temple wall that was destroyed in 70 CE, some really ornate Synagogue Hanukkah Lamps, some  small Hanukkah lamps from all over the world, including Australia, some old, some very modern, one made of 9 small plastic statues of liberty. There  were some interesting paintings depicting Jewish life. I had a pumpernickel bagel with lox and cream cheese for lunch.

After lunch I looked at  the few temporary exhibitions on display. They were a bit odd and required too much thought.  I walked through the streets of the Upper East Side to Carl Schurz Park on the East River.  It was too cold to linger. The part of the park nearest the river is higher than the land to the west. There are several sort of pockets of protected areas with seats  which were probably protected from the wind. South of the park  there was a smaller path along the river. Only trouble was the noise of the 4 lane highway next to the path. I found it unpleasant, so I walked back through UES to Central Park and a few more bridges on my way home. I stopped on the way for a coffee and did not finish it, it was unpleasant. I watched and looked at some people operating radio controlled model boats on the pond in CP. I realized they were hired and will go back another day and have a go . That would  definitely qualify  as a frivolous treat.

This evening I had dinner at another eating place in my block. I think this one is categorised as a pub. I did well. On Thursday’s you get a free house ( i.e. less alcohol I think)  cosmopolitan ( shortened to cosmo in this place. Maybe everywhere? )  with a fish entrée. Suited me.

Some lessons I have had and hopefully learnt

Do not assume that just because the pedestrian sign shows a man walking that cars will stop.

When crossing a road and looking for traffic, do not assume that the car with engine idling nearby has noone in the drivers seat and therefore is not a possible obstacle.  Try to remember that the drivers seat is on the other side of the car!

Do not leave behind new map of other boroughs when going to  a borough other than Manhattan. Just because a website says the location of the box office, does not mean it is actually there now.

Do not forget to take headphones  for tablet.  Extra info available in museums from downloads accessed by QR reader.

After going through the gate into the train station , always put train pass back into purse and purse back into zippered pocket before going down steps. Especially at the end of the day. It is easy to slip.

Wednesday Brooklyn

This morning I caught the subway ( except when it went over the  Manhattan Bridge it wasnot ‘sub’ ) to Brooklyn. Brooklyn is made up of a whole lot of small neighbourhoods and it is hard for a first time visitor to tell the boundaries.  I went first to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens . I am not sure if it was a special ‘small kids get in free’  day. But there were many many groups of very well behaved small children. I got a map when I entered that was very comprehensive, but had no scale, a pet peeve of mine.  I will forgive the guy who took my ticket who I asked ‘how far is it from here to here’ as I pointed.  He said , with the biggest smile possible for a large black man ( and that is pretty big) ‘How should I know, I only work here’.

There were different gardens  - a herb garden, a Shakespeare garden with plant labels and quotes referring to the plant, a fragrance garden etc. One of the major features of the garden is a group of cherry trees, most of which are just about to come out in flower. They hold, every year, a cherry blossom festival. I wandered around the pond with a Japanese style tea house and Shinto shrine.  Despite the lovely trees – cherry trees that were out and magnificent magnolia trees, the highlight for me was a ‘treehouse’ called Sandy Remix. It is a tree house made from the wood of 14 types of  trees, blown over by Sandy, by the ‘master tree house artist’ ( according to the sign) Roderick Romero. 

Then it was morning tea time. The menu said  ‘Gorilla coffee’ . I asked, of course, if I turned into a gorilla if I drank it. With a straight face she replied’ Depends on how you react to coffee’ .  Gorilla coffee is roasted in Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn museum, around the corner, was my next stop. It is known for its Egyptian collection, but I ran out of interest before I got to that.  I looked at the galleries showing works of American artists. I discovered Georgia o’Keefe when I got to Washington last year and bought a last postcard of her painting of Manhattan.  Today I saw another  one she did that appealed to me – Brooklyn Bridge. There were replica rooms of different sorts of houses in different time periods in different parts of the country that I found interesting. I looked at a historical display  of quilts. There was an interesting installation of many skateboards placed in an area of floor. They were individual covered in bits of Muslim prayer mats. Cross culture. There was another installation of a whole set of plates and cutlery and serving dishes suspended from the ceiling as though they were positioned correctly around a table , but they had all been flattened.. It was called ‘30 pieces of silver’. The artist is , according to the blurb, interested in death and resurrection. I did not count the number of pieces.   Then it was lunch time and there was a long queue for a simple sandwich thing.

Then I walked through several different neighbourhoods to Fort Greene. After a bit of toing and froing due to an out-of-date website, I collected my tickets to Saturday’s performance of Julius Caesar that I  had booked.  Then I walked some more to a café that was written up in the CT . They make flat whites.  I had one and a muffin and wlked some more to a subway station and came home.

This evening I had a nice dinner at a ‘french mediterranean’ restaurant in the same block. I had a good window seat t watch the passing parade

I saw a car  - same  propotions as a  mazda 6 but bigger –  with hood down reverse very quickly into a space just outside the window near me. The number plate said LAWYER93. A bib black guy climbed out. He had overalls and large sunnies ( it was 7pm and the light was fading)  . He went into a shop to the left of me, came out and went to the right out of my vision. Then there was a space in front of him. A car with a light (like a cop car) reversed in and made no attempt not to bump into BBG’s car.. Driver got out, looked around for a while then went into a shop on the left. He came out and put the light back into his car and disappeared to the right out of my vision.  BBG returned and got into his car, pulled out into the traffic with no regard for anyone else. Much horn tooting. He pulled into a space that had come vacant in front of car 2 with about half a car between him and car 2.  I saw nothing for about 5 minutes and then I saw  his car backed back to near car 2, hood was up, petrol tank cover hanging open and an ambulance beside his car with him holding his leg. What happened in 5 minutes.?  I had to leave. This is New York.

Tuesday Part 2 Rigoletto

I got to the Lincoln Centre and went intot he opera hall in plenty of time so that I could look at 2 large paintings that were done by Chagall specifically for the space. It was hard to see them.  There was a very fancy restaurant and a glass wall between me and them. I did my best at nonchalantly strolling past and peering in without appearing to peer. 

I had forgotten how hot it is in the opera hall and I needed to take off my leggings that I was wearing under my lightweight pants.  This required careful manoevering in the cubicle. I emerged and discovered, standing at the basin, that my belt was hanging down my back and a very well- dressed woman was watching me.  ‘OOPs’ I said as I threaded it back through the loops and quickly did it up.. She sort of smiled and I smiled, thinking to myself that I knew for a fact that my plain black top was very comfortable worn as a pyjama top but her beautiful slinky, sparkly, bejewelled number would be very uncomfortable if she ever wore it to bed!  Besides I had a very nice scarf .  Trouble is, my smugness disappeared when I realised I had forgotten to change my shoes  to my spare, as yet unworn this trip and therefore sparkly clean, even if they are my granny shoes. The shoes I was wearing were very dusty and had peculiar whitish marks that appear after I dry them in front of heat , as I did on Friday.  From experience, the marks disappear with polishing, which I hadn’t.

The opera was great. The 3 leads were different to the production at the Dendy Met we saw a few weeks ago. There were 2 oldish New York frequent opera patrons, going on their conversation, sitting behind me. One had obviously read a bit about this production set in Las Vegas in the 60’s, but he clearly did not know what a pole dancer was. At the beginning of the third act  I heard him sort of splutter when he realised that the topless woman moving round the pole did not necessarily come from Poland.   Did they have pole dancers in the 60’s?  

I found it difficult initially to get my head or more specifically my eyes and multifocally glasses in the right position so that I could read the subtitles on the back of the seat in front of me.

It was a lovely evening. 

Tuesday Part 1 - Bryant Park and Morgan Library

This morning after breakfast I went to Bryant Park. This is a block in the centre of Midtown Manhattan  made into a lovely park with nice lawns, fountains, paved areas, flower beds and lots of tables and chairs. Last year I enjoyed this space for myself and I appreciated lots of things that have been done to help other people enjoy the park. It was no different this morning. I arrived at 9.20. There were not many people around. I sat at a table in the ‘reading room’ to have my coffee and croissant and whatever else I wanted to do. The guy did not come till I was leaving at 10.15 to take  the covers off the racks of books and fill the newspaper racks, so I could not read  about what NY’s response to the Boston trouble is. There is a 9/11 memorial fun run/walk on this Sunday in NY that I have entered.  

There were lots of birds in the park ( maybe I will go on an early morning bird tour) . There are many bulbs out ( maybe I will go on a flower tour). There is a ‘games’ room and, according to the magazine about the park, you can play anything from scrabble and mancala to dominoes. I had to look up ( easy on the WiFi throughout the park) what mancala is. Near me , near a permanent flower pot, there was a small pipe sticking up from the ground with a cover on the top to protect the 2 electrical powerpoints. There are 42 of these throughout the park.  Later in May and then summer they have lots of concerts, classes, exhibitions etc. The last entry in the magazine was an article about a one-off event on the lawn. Giant musical chairs with 400 people.  I looked at a youtube clip of last years event. They started with lots of circles of about 9 chairs, whittled these down and then reformed the circles etc etc  till there was 1 winner.. What fun ( except if you were eliminated on the first round) .

I then walked to the Morgan library. On the way I saw a sign  in a dry cleaning shop. It said “ We clean your clothes with EM ( Effective Microoganisms) soap."  Really ??  

Pierpont Morgan was a very wealthy financier  1837 to 1913 who assembled a large collection of manuscripts, printed books, and other artefacts.. These are now housed in his original library plus another building. In 2006  a new addition designed by Renzo Piano joined these buildings and  added more space.  It is an interesting building. Many things are on display in some of the lovely old rooms. One of his 3  Gutenburg bibles are on display. ( 4 institutions in Australia have 1 page each)   There were illustrated manuscripts and very old Sumerian stone tablets with cuniform writing.

I had a nice late lunch at a café I enjoyed last year ( same block).  I enjoyed it again.

I have just had an afternoon sleep so that I won’t fall asleep in Rigoletto tonight.

Monday Central Park part 2

 At about 2pm, on my way back to Central Park to look at the Shakespeare Garden,  I realised I had had no lunch. I stopped at a nice vegan place that I went to several times last year ( in the same block) and had a bowl of soup. As I was walking through the park I passed 1 of the many icecream vendors.  Normally I would walk straight past but for some reason I saw an icrecream of the gaytime variety called ‘Good Humor Birthday Cake’ advertised. How completely frivolous. Only 1 day late. I walked on about 10 m and then changed my mind and went back and bought 1, took it and sat on a seat that was dedicated to Charles Stover 1861 to 1929 the founder of outdoor playgrounds ( a useless bit of trivia) .  The view was lovely, the sun warm, the icecream less than average. I will not buy another one, but I still smiled at the frivolity of buying 1. Smile 12 . On the way back I stopped for a cup of coffee ( 1 street from my block to cross) . Anyone would think I was on holidays.

Then another first. I took my clothes to a Laundromat.  The machine took quarters, which are fairly big coins – bigger than a 10c and less than a 20c. I had to put a note into a machine to get coins. It was misleading what size notes it took. It clearly took  $10 , but it was not clear whether it took smaller notes and, knowing my performance for the day, it would probably gobble up anything I put in. I put in $10, but  that is a lot of coins.  I pocketed them ( less the $3.50 that the washing needed) , sorted the washing out and put the machine on and bent down and all the coins went everywhere. It took a while  to retrieve them all. Smile 13. After the washing finished, I dumped the wet clothes into a  large bag thing I had found in this apartment and before I was out the door a handle broke. Smile 14. I carried the bag very carefully home under my arm. I had visions of the bottom of the bag dropping out and my washing being spread all over the road I had to cross.  I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Monday Central Park Part 1

 Today I have smiled a lot – mostly at minor mistakes I have made.  This morning I decided I better get on with seeing some of the places on my list. Then I remembered that just about all the museums and art galleries are closed on Monday . Smile 1. Nevermind, plan B. Last night people had said that Central Park is particularly pretty at the moment. That would be good. Firstly I went to breakfast as part of my research project ( fancy name for justifying eating out)  of seeing how many  restaurants in my block and only crossing 1 road I can eat at. There are no places in my block where I can have breakfast, so I had to cross 1 road this morning. I went to this place called Good Enough to Eat last year. It is described as 'New England country' with quilts on the walls, pictures of cows and hens and ‘wholesome home-cooking’ to match. ( As an aside, last night none of the other people around the table knew what a ‘chook’ was.  They said in NY there are only chickens or hens, never chooks). Yesterday when I walked past this café, there were about 20 people lined up waiting for a table. This morning I arrived at 8.25 ( it opened at 8) and got the last table. By 9 there were people waiting out the door. I had an omelette filled with smoked salmon and cream cheese. Like last year, I thought – I can make this.  But I would never serve this much to 1 person. Last year I had a cappuccino  for $4 and it wasn’t very good, so this year I had ordinary coffee at $1.50  and free refills. It seemed to be one person’s job to walk around filling people’s coffee cups.  I won’t go there again. Smile 2.

I decided to try the buses. The subways are great at getting you quickly around, but you can see interesting things from buses. I caught one this morning, but only for a few stops and went into the park. I remembered that last year several times I was not paying attention and ending up going in the wrong direction because of the curvy paths.  Sure enough, smile 3,  I lost my bearing. I wanted to go to the visitor’s centre to get a good map. I asked someone with a pretzel/nut stand. He could not understand my English ( I wondered if he understood anyone else’s).  Smile 4.  ( Not a mistake, but still smile-worthy) Next I asked a guy in shorts walking his dog – probably a local. He had no idea. Smile 5.  Next I was walking next to a grandfather pushing his grandson in a stroller. The little boy was saying ‘Mama’ the old man was responding in Italian, ‘she is not her’ . I said to the little boy, in Italian, ‘but your grandfather is’.   He, the grandfather, did not speak English. We talked for about 10 minutes in Italian – he lives in Bari so I was able to tell him that 10 years ago I visited Trani, nearby.  He is in NY visiting his son and his family.  Smile 6. I found the visitor’s centre and a good map. I wanted to get rid of some of my coins so I carefully counted out the right amount and then she said the price. I had forgotten about the tax and had to start all over again. Smile 7. 

The wireless connection in this room is dodgy. It is very intermittent on my tablet and there is a cable I can use for the laptop.  I will get the owner to look at the wireless , but he is away for a few days. He said yesterday that they sometimes have problems with it. I wanted to buy a webcam so that I could use the visual part of skype on my laptop.  So I went to the shop I had been recommended and bought one. I took off a layer of clothing because it had significantly warmed up. At the bus stop, there was a cold wind whistling around the corner. Smile 8.  On the way back here on the bus I read the sign that said you must exit from the central door. Oops, I thought. That was what the driver muttered at me as I got off at the front earlier. Smile 9.  On the way home I stopped at the local library. Susan had given  me her card to use. I did not ask if that was legal because I was fairly sure it was not. Anyway, I found a DVD and took it and the card to the desk. Apparently the card had expired.  The desk lady asked me if I had anything on me that had my permanent address. ‘No’ said I with a straight face, suppressing Smile 10. She checked out the DVD for me anyway.

I got back here , opened the webcam box and remembered that I have no way of reading the CD with the software.  My old laptop has no CD drive. I tried hard for smile 11 but it was a very grumbling smile.

Sunday in my Neighbourhood. Nevermind

I wandered around today in my local area with 4 things on my list and could only see 1 of them. Nevermind, it was enjoyable. Not far from me is a large community garden that is having a spring festival – later in the day I discovered. Nevermind. It was nice to wander round the small paths and look at the beds of bulbs about to come out. The next place several blocks away was a row of very old houses. I think they were behind the scaffolding and temporary fence that I could not see through, because there was nothing else like the description in the street. Nevermind.  Then I went to a large bookshop  which had free wifi.  My tablet has stopped being able to connect to the wifi network here.  Nevermind.  I will buy a webcam for my laptop. My tablet worked fine for several days.  It also worked fine at the bookshop. My laptop is perfectly OK here too.  My lunchtime sandwich was good. I came back via the wool shop where I spent several hours browsing. I was thinking of buying a book of different sock patterns, but the lady who helped me said ‘don’t do that – just get on from ravellry. After an hour and a half  I did not know what I wanted to make. Nevermind.  I will think about it another day.  I went back to my apartment.

There is another community garden nearby that my book said was good. It is only open to the  public on Sunday afternoon. It is on top of the roof of a garage. I found it, there was a billboard out the front that said ‘Open’ but it was locked and there was no-one around. Nevermind.  My final destination was a house where there are many paintings of the Himalayas on display. I found it, but the front door was closed, there were no ‘Open’ signs, no lights inside. Nevermind. That was not meant to be either.

However the day ended very well. I went , as arranged, at 6pm to the downstairs apartment of Susan and Warren , the owners, for dinner.   She called it supper. Delicious fish soup and then salad.  It is the trend now for New Yorkers to have a big Sunday brunch – usually with other people out, judging by the queues outside all the overfull cafes. Anyway, it is now 10pm and I have just come back to my room.  Also there were 2 friends – neighbours from the next door building ( who I had met last year) and Warren and Susan’s lodger who helps with their rental clients when they go away.  It was a lovely evening. All sorts of talk about families, big Jewish families, NY life, etiquette,  etc etc. Part way through the meal I said something and stopped part way through the sentence because I realised that what I was going to say would not make sense if I did not say it was my birthday. I told them , they all said ‘ Happy birthday’ and then when Susan brought the desert in, she had put a candle in my portion and they all sang ‘Happy Birthday’. Now it is bed time. 

Saturday – an early birthday lunch

I forgot to mention the tulips next to my bed. There is a deep red / pink / purple / green bed cover/doona cover on my bed. On the bedside table is a vase of light purple – just the right colour  to match – real tulips. There are lots in the shops, but it is a nice touch.

After breakfast and a Skype chat I set off down Broadway looking for a DVD rental shop that Mr Google said existed. No luck.  After getting sidetracked for a while looking at the craft magazines in a bookshop, I went to the nearest subway station, bought a monthly subway pass, caught a train and walked to the Union Square  area  and went to the Strand – supposedly the biggest bookshop in NYC.  I wanted a map of the burroughs other than Manhattan.  They had a big range.  Then I wandered around the greenmarket  (.farmer’s market to us, but better)  held 4 days a week in Union Square. I bought an interesting fairly flat Finnish rye bread roll and some apple and oatmeal cookies made to support a refugee group. There was a place with quite a few large bins where you could put your fruit and veggie scraps.  Near Union Square was another Wholefood shop. I returned the ‘natural bristle’ toothbrush because the first time I tried to use it some bristles came out!

It was 11.45 and I was getting peckish. I remembered that I had been recommended a nice place to eat – Gramercy Tavern, that was not far away. I got there to find a queue of about 20 people, thought this a bit odd at that time and discovered that the restaurant was not yet opened, they did not take bookings, so I looked at the menu on the door – thought ‘Why not, it is my birthday tomorrow ‘ and joined the queue. I will worry about another excuse if I need to when tomorrow comes.  At first  I thought I was in a flower shop that sold only yellow and white flowers. There were huge arrangements all over the place. I couldnot help smiling. Other people seemed regulars and took no notice – aparently it is normal.  Everthing was delicious and interesting.  For appetizer I had roast  brussel sprouts, goats cheese, pecans and pickled onions – all cut up in a nice looking salad. For entrée I had cobia , mushrooms, ramps and potato dumplings. Mr Wiki says that one of the alternate names for cobia is ling, but the flakes were bigger than the ling we get. It did taste like ling though. The mushrooms , called maitake, looked like broccoli gone wavy and wrong and grey. I have probably seen them in Asia and may well have eaten them chopped up in Asia, but not served in a large bit like they were. I had to ask the waiter what ramps were too – a cross between a small spring onion and garlic. Apparently they are eagerly awaited in restaurant food because they are a sign that spring has come. These ramps obviously did not know about the weather yesterday.  Accompanying this I had a glass of pinot gris from Oregon. I could choose between a 3 oz and 6 oz size glass. I asked for a 3oz glass making  noises about while I enjoyed a glass of wine with a nice meal, I had to be a bit careful in a strange city on  my own and it was good to have the choice of a smaller than normal size. A few minutes later she brought me a glass that clearly had more than 90ml . I said ‘that’s a goodly amount’ . She replied in a deadpan voice, but a twinkle in her eye,  ‘My hand slipped’.  I had a delicious  individual apple pie with vanilla bean icecream.  I like the meal portions – an appetizer is a bit smaller than an entrée in Australia and an entrée here is a bit larger than an entrée in Aust. That is usually quite enough, as it was today. The apple pie was gluttony. I had a good seat on the edge of the room where I could see other people and see into the open kitchen where a lot of the food was being prepared.

I then caught another train to the tourist bureau to collect some info , then came back here, stopping on the way for more delicious navel oranges from the nice corner-shop man. 

Wet Friday

I went this morning early to have breakfast at one of the 2 local  ( 210m away according to Google maps)  places I liked last year. I arrived at 7.45. There were several people sitting having coffee and a pastry. She told me that the kitchen did not open till 8am. Fine, I asked for a coffee. At about 755 I asked the waiter  for the poached egg dish.  I thought I said that I was not in a hurry. I am not sure what he heard because soon after that he brought me some nice bits of bread saying the eggs were not quite ready.

I put on more clothes before I ventured out again. It is wet, windy and cold. I went on a roundabout route to a Wholefood store near Columbus Circle. Last year I discovered this chain in Boston and found one near me in Washington. Like a giant health food store selling fruit and veg, meat, prepared delicious salads etc etc. On the way I stopped at a Laundromat and found how it operated, then I called into the Lincoln cntre to pick up my opera tickets. On the way I quickly realised why ¾ of the locals I saw were wearing gumboots. It was not raining particularly hard, but the drains were all overflowing and it was impossible for me, even with my fairly long stride, to not have to slosh through water at each curb. Before I left I had painted my shoes and bag with supposedly water-proofing liquid, but it did not work.

Some of the shops put up a temporary sort of box like heavy-duty plastic structure in front of their entrance to minimize water from umbrellas etc in their shop. These structures just make it all a bit harder to dodge the umbrellas.  

 It has been suggested to me by my 2 Frivolous Friends and 1 other  that as well as having fun, I should try and have frivolous fun. Wholefoods is in the lower concourse of the huge Time-Warner building. There are shops on the ground level. I was walking past a fancy chocolate shop and  I  looked at their spring display including chocolate truffles  covered in brightly coloured stars and a butterfly and suddenly thought – definitely frivolous.  I bought 2.  

In the Wholefood shop they have interesting things. I could have browsed for ages, but my feet were wet, my hands frozen ( wet gloves) , my 2 handkerchiefs soaked - mainly rain and I wanted to go to my nice warm cosy room.  I wanted a toothbrush. I could have bought one made completely from recycled yoghurt containers or one hand made from biodegradable plastic material or one made from natural bristles( which I chose).  Wholefoods give a 10c discount if you take your own bag, which I did. They only have paper bags , for free I mean, which would not have lasted very long this morning.

From Home to New York

Practice is not making me more patient  on long distance flights. I flew to Sydney on Wednesday afternoon and spent the night in a hotel near the airport. After loitering around the airport on Thursday morning, I was annoyed by an incident at the departure gate.

Previously I had bought an exit row seat. I had chosen 58B – the middle of 3 because I had been frequently bumped last year in the aisle seat and disturbed by the light from the nearby galley. I checked in about 7.15am. At the departure gate I was given a new boarding pass – 58C. ‘No, thank you,” – or words to that effect  I politely said. I was directed to another person who had a cabin seating plan. He said that there was a problem with the tray table mechanism of 58B and that 58C was a good seat too.  I said I had paid specifically for the middle seat and was unhappy about the situation. I did not properly hear his mumbled response. I asked if the fault would mean that the seat would be empty for the whole flight.  He said he would probably put a cabin crew member in it. Odd, I thought.  I could think of no alternative other than to say ‘OK’ and go and sit down. Soon after I arrived at the seat, a couple arrived with boarding passes for 58 A and 58B. They had checked in at about 8am and had firstly been told that there were no 2 empty seats together. Then the person had said that they could sit in 58A and B.   I donot know if either the person who checked them in, or the man I spoke to at the gate knew that I had prepaid for the seat rather than just having requesting it when I checked in. I think it should have been clear from the system. Either way ,the man at the departure gate lied to me. The couple were very pleasant but I was annoyed, and, despite chatting to Chris intermittently through the night was annoyed with the situation, particularly because there was a bunch of teenage girls on the plane on a dance group trip who all made several trips throughout the night to get snacks from the galley and stand in the doorway disregarding the effect the light had on nearby people .  I had very little sleep. I am unsure whether to complain  formally. There was nothing obviously wrong with the tray table mechanism.

After clearing customs at LA, we sat on the ground for ages while the bag for a non-show passenger was removed from the plane.  Half way through the safety demo , the plane stopped taxiing and the captain announced that they had just found out that the passenger had checked in 2 bags, so we had to go back and sit for a while longer while they searched for the 2^nd bag.  Surely someone should have looked at a list to say how many bags he had checked in initially? Ah well, the wait was made easier by chatting to the very pleasant cabin crew seated opposite us.

The very pleasant couple next to me had booked a hotel in NY that was  turned out to be 2 blocks away from  the subway stop where I was due to change subway lines on the way from the airport to my apartment so they came with me and saved themselves a fair bit of money on the taxi ride they were proposing to take.

It was cold and overcast walking the few blocks to the apartment, but the leaves on the trees were just about to open up. I was happy that I would see the trees become green in the time I would be here. It was lovely to be welcomed warmly by Warren and Susan and shown to the charming room.  There is plenty of cupboard and drawer space and I delighted in  finding homes for my meagre pile of belongings. .

When I left Sydney I had a head cold. It was not helped by lack of sleep, and stuffy aircraft air and I snuffled and sneezed my way though last night.