The trip to NYC was fine and uneventful… Just the way I like it-- especially as I've been really testing the boundaries of the luggage weight limits everywhere lately. And this trip involves my two carry ons and my checked bag…
TECHNICALLY Megabus has a policy to only allow me 1 carry on. Fortunately, it was a a half-empty trip (middle of the day on Sunday of Memorial Weekend-- I lucked out there). So there was absolutely no issue… Easy trip into NYC… and an easy spot of NYC. They dropped me off right at the 1 train, that I could take straight up to Sara's place. Now, I have the WORST luck on the NY subway… I really HATE the NY subway, to be honest. So how would this trip compare--especially after dealing with the Tube, Metro, and so on for several months now? Answer: just as obnoxious as ever!! I bought my ticket and couldn't get my ridiculous bag through the turnstile… and of course the New Yorkers grumbled and stared at me as I struggled MIGHTILY. Eventually I "jumped" the stile (it's good I have REALLY long legs!) and then dragged my 50 lb bag over the stile-- 1 handed if I remember right. My fingernails paid the ultimate price there. At least at that point no New Yorker would have dared to hassle me-- I would have given it RIGHT back…
And an issue of the subway all weekend was construction--and in fairness this was also an issue in London-- so what should be simple was inevitably way complicated. Shockingly, this didn't hurt me at all going up to Sara's from the Megabus drop off… It wasn't until the Brooklyn journey that my insanity meter started going off.
So, all that under consideration, it was an easy jaunt up to Sara's stop at 79th, and then 3 blocks down to Sara's apartment. A lovely Manhattan place (upper West, to us peons) just a couple blocks from the Park and the Natural History Museum. I got in early enough that the baby hadn't been put to bed yet, and Lance was still running around. And that was the goal. :)
AND of course, it being NYC, there was a vegan restaurant right around the corner from Sara that she wanted to try out while I was there-- so that was my first restaurant of the day. Yummy!! And fun! And it reminded me so much of the vegetarian pizza place I happened upon when I was out there for Sar's wedding. I just love the idea of a place that can be THAT specialized. AND that is basically my perfect specialization, too. This new vegan place won't achieve the mythical status of the veggie pizza restaurant of a bygone era-- but it was fun-- and got the job done!
For the rest of the evening, it was the Lance and Hannah show. Fortunately, Aunt Casey was a hit with both!
Monday, I was able to visit Aimee and Kevin down in Brooklyn. Oddly enough, and unplanned enough, we were both in NYC over the weekend, overlapping on Monday… :) And THAT involved the subway story of EVIL… But I'll try not to remember it… (Oh who are we kidding? How can I not? I had to be on 4 trains instead of 2… for a while my northbound journey required a southbound portion b/c the north train just wasn't stopping at certain stations, so you had to overshoot your stop and then go back… I saw a chick fight--that actually freaked me out royally-- when crazy people start acting crazy, I never know what they'll do next… and am afraid of it!… It was hot and sticky, as I was down to just a few outfits left, and they all involved jeans and long-sleeved shirts-- and in 1 week my weather had changed from the 50s to the 80s… and I never got a seat on the subway the entire time! A 50 minute trip took over 2 hrs! Also-- and hopefully this will be the last word on this subject, London's trains are WAY cleaner and more pleasant. I thought the Tube drove me nuts, but I take every nasty thought back… Give me the slow and plodding Circle Line train again ANY day!!)
Actually hanging out with Aimee and Kevin, though, was totally great. I stopped by Cafe Grumpy-- a hipster mecca in Brooklyn--which is hipster mecca in itself! Then we went over to the park and sat there for an ungodly amount of time next to a dog park with a pond in it set aside for the dogs to play in. It was SOOOOO cute! And Aimee and Kevin are just like me in terms of not having a dog, but totally loving them! SO we were there for simply ages! Until I finally had to beg for food… I actually waited until I was feeling kind of faint… THAT'S how much I was enjoying just watching dogs playing, hanging out and chatting with them again after 5 years, and sitting in pleasant weather for the first time in 5 months! I'm not sure how great an idea our next stop was in terms of fixing my hunger/faintness… so we went to a hipster wine bar… It was LOVELY… and we sat on the back patio and drank rose` (after rose`) and nibbled on a cheese plate. And continued chatting… Simply HOURS went by without me noticing at all!
Monday evening was back with the fam… and playing with the kiddos and doing the air mattress Tetris game in their apartment… It's good practice for my niece, clearly! ;)
Tuesday Sara had to do some work, so I was "on my own…" This is code for grabbing a bagel (when in NYC…) and going to the Natural History Museum, then walking across the Park to the Met… And then I DIED!!! Turns out these must be the 2 biggest museums in the WORLD… and I decided to do them both in 1 day. Because I'm a crazy crazy woman!!! It was great though. I have seen my fair share of taxidermy over the months and years, and the NHM does it better than anywhere. It's a weird skill, but still a skill… And I LOVE the gemstone room there… Just love it! I think this surprises everyone--as I'm not such a girly-girl with jewelry or anything. But these stones, petrified trees, chunks of earth, a whole display on CA gold-- they're just beautifully displayed and fantastic! AND my heart breaks every time I see an opal display-- as I used to have a cheap-o opal that I found on the ground in an abandoned opal mine in Australia from all those years ago that I lost along the way. And this is still hurts!! (It had been created in a shell, no less!) BUT I also saw a display of huge pieces of agate and petrified tree that are both represented in my home in the form of bookends… :) Geode me, people, for my next present, apparently!! AND there was also an exhibit about the extremophiles… life on the edge, I think it was called… all about weird creatures behaving weirdly… and that was also fun… And of course there were the skeletons of dinosaurs and whales and such… ;)
Then the Met was ALMOST too big for me to even deal… I kept getting lost-- even though I knew I had to just choose 2 or 3 sections to really study if I was going to handle it. And I wanted the Impressionists… the Greeks/Romans, maybe Egyptians… and then the Americans (only fitting, as I was back…) But to get there there were also trips through basically the London V&A museum-- 19th century housewares and such… and earlier painting… BUT I finally got to my Impressionists, and got to gaze at all the Monets I could--and some new Picassos I wasn't used to (everyone seems to be focusing on his early stuff where he's in Paris and painting himself drinking absinth as a Harlequin, for example)… and a TON of Degas… It was great!
Between--I made the discovery that the Park has a castle! How did I not know that already??!!
That evening was also our theater run. I took Sara to the Audience--with Helen Mirren-- It was an amazing show-- Sar said she thought a lot of the British stuff went over her head-- specific political and cultural references, for example… I think I caught a lot more of that… But still I'm sure I missed some stuff. I was surprised how funny it was… The time just flew by! And my tickets were toward the back of the place, but they were centered, so it was actually fine. I have had many a worse seat!! Poor Sar also almost fell asleep during the show… But she insisted it was just because she has a 3 month old… and sleep is a vast luxury for her now. Also, it was way past her bedtime!
AND that was the trip!! Wednesday we walked Lance to and from school… grabbed a bagel-- as you do-- and just hung out. I headed out early for my flight… NOTE: I took a cab to the airport! I think I will never take a subway to the airport in NYC again!!! It was lovely NOT to stand while trying to keep my bags in line AND avoid the brawls AND the stench and mugginess and discomfort. Now, to be fair, the subway on Tuesday to and from the show was FINE! We even got seats on the way back uptown!
That cab ride, though, was the end of the pleasantries of the day. The flight was delayed 4+ hours. We were stranded on the tarmac, then BACK in the terminal, then FINALLY we made it to StL… where poor Kev had been waiting for me the whole time… I felt so bad for him!! And it was after midnight before we actually got into Rolla. I was delirious with exhaustion by then…
BUT there was a lovely silver lining to the flight craziness. I saw Candace Waid at the airport!! It was lovely to give her a hug and quickly catch up. How is her son graduating from college??!! He's 10!! She seemed just as lovely as ever… and I hope she was able to get home that day, as well. (Not everyone was as lucky as I was that day… NOT that I was feeling very lucky for most of the time…)
OTHER silver lining: my cats were absolutely normal (as normal as they ever get) when I got home. They welcomed me home right away. Oz on my lap-- Missy playing with a toy (a bottle cap) I got her… There was no aloofness or me having to remind them of who I was… Even better-- they also are comfortable around Rong. There are times in the day or so that I've been back where they'll both be in HER room and not mine. Which shows that they must have been good around her while I was gone! I am soooo happy that they are so normal on my return!!!
And I will try not to get too nervous about the new addition coming next month!
So--now I'm back! And oh-so slowly unpacking, working on fixing my lawnmower to mow the yard that is SO overgrown, figuring out how to navigate the house with Rong and her family here… and eventually (though not much has happened here yet) get back to work!
So I guess that's that for London Calling!! For THIS trip, at least! :)
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