“And they’re off!” The first leg of our around-the-world trip was New York for 3 days. We have been to New York before. We decided to try a few things outside the typical NY tourist scene on days 2 – 4.

We are the purple star.

Day 1:

We arrived in Newark Tuesday shortly after noon. We took the New Jersey Transit train into New York Penn Station from the airport. It cost us ¼ the money and was about 20 minutes faster than taking a cab. Penn is just a few blocks from our hotel.

We had an early check-in so we were out into the city by 3:00. Our first stop was the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). I was aware that Dali's The Persistence of Memory is there. I didn’t realize Van Gogh’s The Starry Night was there, too. What a privilege and an honor to see these fabulous works of art. Along with so many other great works.

After a quick bite, we made our way back to the theater district to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I am a big Harry Potter fan and really enjoyed the show.

Day 2:

We spent a bit of time walking around the SoHo district in lower Manhattan. It has an eclectic mix of early architecture, mom-and-pop shops sprinkled in with upscale art galleries and the occasional Gucci and Celine.

Heading further south, we saw a firetruck returning from a ghost eviction, one of Gozer’s minions getting out of hand. No Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, just a petty specter.

We spent 35 minutes enjoying the music during the lunchtime mass at Trinity Church, before making our way across the East River (technically under it) into Brooklyn for some views of the city and the botanical gardens.

We wrapped up the evening at the Winter Village at Bryant Park back over in Manhattan.

Day 3:

We wanted a more low-key of a day given that our flight to Cape Town would be the next evening. We slept in a little late and then made our way over to the Bronx for a bit of Italian food for lunch at Dominick’s in Little Italy.  I had some linguine with sausage and a chunky red sauce. Faith had ziti in meat sauce.

A nice carb-y kind of lunch that put both of us half to sleep. Since we checked out the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens the day before, we decided to check out the New York Botanical Gardens there in the Bronx as well.

Walking around sleepy-tired, as it turns out, may not have been the best idea. Lots of beautiful trees and flowers still blooming. That was great. An aid car ride followed by an afternoon and evening spent in the emergency room at Jacobi Medical Center after Faith took a really bad fall, well, that part could have been better. (I love you girlfriend! I'm so sorry you got hurt.)

Faith is a wonderful, thoughtful, gentle-hearted person. I wouldn't call her sure-footed. Playing some heavy hitting arts and crafts with the grandkids, step aside! She is like a crafts MMA master. Flitting around rocks and hills with the mountain goats…or walking casually along an empty, crowd-free sidewalk…mmm…not her thing. Yeah, definitely not. Seven hours in the ER, an X-ray, a CT and a broken humerus later, we took a Lyft back from The Bronx to central Manhattan. Faith is doing okay and she earnestly wants to continue the trip. Girlfriend is a crazy tough lady! Or is it a tough crazy-lady?

Day 4:

We got up late on our last day in the city. Faith was moving about as well as expected for somebody who had been recently smacked around by her lifelong nemeses, gravity and concrete. IYKYK.

We repacked our bags. Note to self. Next time don't pack half your stuff in one checked bag and half your stuff in another. It's a colossal pain to find anything in either at that point. I had it in my mind that this would reduce the impact if one bag got lost or stolen. In retrospect, if one bag does get lost or stolen, it's probably better just to shop for one person instead of both of us.

We thought we would head over to the Gugg because the last time we were here the spiral was closed. Funny business there. The spiral was closed this time as well. LOL. It's all good. We took a walk through Central park. Hung out at the obelisk for a bit. Headed down to Alice in Wonderland. And made our way back for our flight to South Africa.

-Cheers-