Sat 14th April

This morning I woke early in order to get the subway to Penn Station to be there at the same time I have to be there in 2 weeks time to catch a train to Boston. I have a train ticket, but there is no way of reserving a particular seat. I found out this morning : they only display which track number the train is leaving from about 15 minutes before departure, at which point the many passengers who have been milling around rush to the appropriate gate , there is a nice enough looking bakery for breakfast, the toilets are clean.

I walked from there through the garment district to the main long-distance bus terminal. The streets were littered with rubbish. It was about 8:10 . I wanted something to eat and walked past 2 starbucks, 1 KFC, 1 McDonalds, 1 dunking donut, several Asian shops until I got to a passable bakery with a few tables. No cafes. Not an auspicious start to the day.

At the bus station my questions about the bus from Boston to Woods Hole were answered. The toilets were very unclean. You need to know this?

My next destination was Bryant Park which I had read about, next to the main library. By then it was about 9am and the street cleaners were all out and picking up, so maybe it was too early in the garment district. On the way I walked past a massive queue stretching several blocks of mainly young black men. The queue started at a movie theatre. I asked a guy who was watching the queue what was going on. Apparently some actors from an upcoming movie were coming and the people in the queue would get to file past them and get autographs. What fun. He did say the movie’s name, but I have forgotten – not surprising given the demographics.. I am learning the local lingo. Not only do I ask for the check and tip appropriately ( it is now 20%, fairly standard, in all restaurants and cafes) , but I said to this gentleman as I moved on ‘Have a good day’ (I cannot manage 'Have a nice day'). Quick as a flash he replied ‘You too, ma’am’ .

There are interesting light effects early in the morning with the rising sun shining on some, but not all of the skyscrapers. I would like to be a better photographer. I tried to take some photos of skyscrapers reflected in the shiny exterior of other skyscrapers.

Bryant Park is a lovely area, used by all sorts of groups, with a small oval, plants ,lots of paving and little round metal tables and chairs ( not bolted down) , some food kiosks. I sat down and started to read the New York Times I had bought. I wish I had waited to have my breakfast there, it was lovely. They have early morning tours to talk about the birds that live there. I walked from there to the main tourist bureau, and, third time lucky, it was open. Apparently the Muppets were visiting on Thursday. They are official NY abassadors to somewhere or maybe from somewhere to NY – I was struggling with the guys accent and lost the thread of why the muppets should disrupt the hundreds of tourists who must pass through that place daily. After the Muppets visit all their computers went down. Hence the second days closure. What did the Muppets do?

I set off in the direction of Central Railway station, stopped in at St Patricks Cathedral , was not in the mood, moved on to the Rockefeller buildings forecourt. I was not feeling brilliant – lack of sleep, lack of food and decided to come home and do nothing for the afternoon. That was easier said than done. I waited on the platform for ages and ages – about half an hour. I was on the platform at which B and D trains depart from. I wanted a B train – local, stopping at all stops . The D goes along most of the same line but skips a lot of stops ( including mine), until it gets to the Yankee stadium. There must have been a Yankee game on this afternoon, given the clothing of most of the people who were arriving at the platform. 3 D’s came along before my B – and I can understand the train scheduler’s logic.

I had a nice lunch on my way back to my studio. Next to the Italian café where my brain scrambled on Thursday morning is a French bistro. I went there for their $25 fixed price lunch. It was excellent value – a delicious onion and goat cheese tart, nice salmon and beans and then the highlight – a lemon tart. But – another muddle- one of the menu choices was ravioli du jour and most of the wait staff were Spanish . I have been looking at the wine lists of lots of places looking for North American wines with little success. There were none on the menu today, so I asked whether he had any. He produced a chardonnay from the Carneros area of the Napa Valley. It was not particularly to my taste, but I drank it. As far as I have seen wine by the glass is consistently more expensive relative to the food than in Australia. The glass today was $10 – the lower end of what I have seen.

I have spent some lovely relaxing time this afternoon sitting in my window seat , doing some embroidery, watching the passing parade of locals – many going for a walk, cycle, jog in Central Park I surmise by their clothing.

PS

Yesterday with my crabcake on the plate was ½ lemon tied up in a bright yellow bit of gauze material. I asked what it was and was told it is so I did not get pulp on my crabcake. I thought – I’d rather pulp than that garish dye, but said nothing.

Yesterday , with the salad that came with my tofu and veg curry in the evening was chip-size pieces of a vegetable I did not know. – jicama. It is otherwise known as Mexican yam or Mexican turnip. It is the fruit of a vine, eaten raw and did taste a bit like a turnip.

Yesterday I passed a lovely little ‘urban park’ in between 2 skyscrapers. There was a paved area, tables, chairs , a waterfall ( excellent at providing background noise so you did not notice the car noises) , murals, plants in pots.. I passed another today, this one with a clear roof through which you could see the neighbouring skyscrpers.