Pandemic Diaries - Year 3 - A New York State of Mind (sorry, Billy Joel)

5 May 2023

I know, I somehow missed April.  Between physical therapy sessions twice a week for me (plus daily at home), and Richard going to PT three times a week, we were just busy.  Then re-packing all of our stuff, and cleaning our cute little St. Augustine house, the month just sped by.  Before we knew it, we needed to either drive north, or figure out another option.  (We did have a few beach visits, so enjoy the sunny photos.)

My hand really was not ready for driving some thousand plus miles, not even for sharing that trip.  So Richard and I decided sure, let's try the train again, maybe it will be better with a larger room and not on Christmas Eve.  We splurged for the full size room, twice the size of the "roomette," so we could spread out a bit more.  And the upper bunk actually had a ladder!  I could even crawl on my hands and knees on that upper bunk.  However, it's still a two-inch-thick pad on a metal plank, and while it might be fun for a child, it isn't optimal for a senior citizen.  Oh well, it saved us about sixteen hours of driving, so we were happy.  (I've included a few photos from the train, so you can see our room.  If we ever do the auto train again, we might need to just book two roomettes - at least that is the thin pad on top of seat cushions, so it's a bit softer than that upper bunk.)

We spent a week in New Jersey with S & J, my in-laws (Richard's brother and sister-in-law).  Richard had a minor car accident in which the right mirror was knocked off, so we needed to leave the car to get that repaired.  (Just as well, parking in New York city is always an issue.)  But we all had a big family event in Philadelphia, so off we went for a family weekend.  It was a wonderful double Bat Mitzvah, where two cousins who are best friends did a beautiful job reading from the Torah, we saw tons of cousins, in-laws, nieces, nephews, and grand-nieces and -nephews.  Lots of dancing, almost as much talking, and even a bagel brunch the next morning.

It turned into a rainy weekend, but Richard and I headed to New York City for a little ten day break, and that's where we are right now.  It's been cold and rainy, but we're managing with layers and raincoats.  We're staying in a nice hotel somewhat north of Times Square, somewhat midtown south of Central Park.  I haven't gone over to ride the carousel yet, but will definitely do that before we leave.

 

Actually, we wandered around our neighborhood our first day, and just enjoyed the city.  We both grew up close enough for city visits, and Richard lived here for years.  So we both have familiar places to visit, and favorite foods we want to eat.

 

On our second day, I had an appointment with one of my favorite hairdressers.  Yes, I know, not everyone maintains hairdressers in more than one location around the world.  But my hair grows shaggy rather quickly, and certain stylists seem to do better with my hair than others.  So my guy George, here in New York, gave me a fabulous cut four years ago.  He's at the same salon, and they were able to book an appointment.  Turns out he also remembered me (I was surprised, I don't feel memorable!), and I now have another great cut from him.  We both seemed to click as friends, and enjoyed catching up on each other's travels.  It was a wonderful afternoon on the Upper West Side, and an easy subway ride there and back.  (In my lifetime, subways have shifted from tokens to ride cards, and now cardless rides!  Just swipe a debit or credit card with a chip over the reader, and off you go through the turnstile!  Contactless rides, and SO much faster than a taxi!)

Day three, we had lunch with Richard's cousin, who came in from Long Island.  Lots of talk, lots of eating, and even more laughing.  We have an amusing selfie from his phone, and the photo is on both our phones.  But we're both low-tech people and have zero clue how to get the photo from a flip-phone to a computer, so no, I can't post it here.

I spent day four with a friend down in the Lower East Side, or at least what used to be the Lower East Side.  Neighborhoods shift, boundaries blur, and we're never quite sure.  Anyway, another easy subway ride - our hotel is well-located!  We met at Katz's deli, which opened in 1888, according to one of the employees!  We both had my favorites, a bowl of matzoh ball soup (delicious), a slice of cheesecake (a little slice of heaven), and a Dr. Brown's diet soda (cream soda for me, of course).  We ended up sitting next to an Italian family, so I had a small conversation in my minimal Italian, and helped the little girl build a tower out of napkin holders and condiment bottles.  We said our arrivedercis, and headed to The New Museum.  They had an interesting exhibit showing varied works by Wangechi Mutu, a Kenyan artist who went to school in the US.  Her works are in a variety of media, often mixed, and explore themes of life, death, exploitation, creation, and a synthesis of human/animal/mythical/mechanical bodies.  Yes, hard to describe.  That's why museum educators are so essential!  We had a wonderful educator show us around, and she led us through discussions trying to explore, interpret, and understand what the artist was saying through these artworks.  Then we had time in the museum's studio where we could create mini collage sculptures that were our synthesis of some of the themes of Wangechi Mutu's artwork.  (We started with little boxes - I cut and reshaped my box so it came out like a mini Carnival parade float with a canopy.  I made the outside all pink and frilly, and inside the canopy was reflective silver with a plastic beetle.  It was sort of playing with external societal stereotypes of what is feminine, with all the typical frilly pink, and the internal feelings which don't conform to those norms, and might even include such "masculine" behaviors as liking insects (gasp!).  Playing with what qualifies as feminine and masculine, and trying to blur those lines.  Because none of us are all one or the other, and who defines what is masculine or feminine anyway?)  It was fun, and if I lived in New York I'd be able to attend similar workshops at quite a few museums around the city - that would be wonderful!!!

Today is our fifth day here in the city, and we opted to make it a slow day.  Our backs and knees are tired, we're no longer as young as we feel we are inside, and it's another chilly day.  So, a little more exploring our neighborhood, and a little more relaxing.  At least I have time to catch up on blogging!

 

Our next five days include more meet ups with family and friends, more wanderings, and of course more eating.  We've enjoyed the diverse menus of the city, ranging from Jewish American to Irish pub food to Asian to Italian trattorias.  And the occasional French patisserie.

No celebrity sightings yet, but I will keep you posted!