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Whew – talk about a whirlwind vacation, add to that 12hrs of driving solo cross the northwest x two, 4 days on exciting, nonstop Manhattan and I’m spent – bu
t only for a day or two and then my wanderlust begins again…It’s a rare thing to have my family visiting the US, but this week it happened. The occasion was the wedding of my 2nd cousin Estelle to Josh Gross of Long Island. I joined my cousins, Gracie, Irene (Irene’s daughter, Claudia), Krissy (Estelle’s mum), all sisters, in Long Island to commence our NYC adventure. Having been in NY more than these Aussies, I willing stepped in as their guide/chauffer (isn’t it always gr8 to be needed). Its exciting to see old sights through the eyes of newbies – and thus experiencing a destination from a new perspective.
Our first 4 days were mainly spent on Long Island (by JFK) in an orthodox Jewish community c
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alled Cedarhurst. On our 2nd day we subwayed it into NYC central – to wonder about the giant Macy’s store . There are few things in life that get my heart racing and traveling to an action and humanity packed city is one of them! This ‘center of the modern world’ can be exhausting to some, but to me, its like a breath of fresh air,... the concrete, the volumous selection of restaurants, shops and of course, all the hu.jpg)
manity converging in a just few sq. miles is something to behold.
where allowed to pick their own dresses, close to the color combo selected for the (green/brown) Truly a glutenous and enjoyable time was had by all.On Friday, we packed our overloaded bags and moved on up, to the Upper west side, courtesy of an apt I found on Craigslist. This refurbished 2
bedroom apt was a delight to live in, cross b/t 'this old house' meets Crate & Barrel sans the elevator. This is one of the many occasions we could have used some male muscle to get our 5 pieces of luggage up the 5 flights of stairs. Fortunately, the parking was free and when parked the car, I felt like George Costanza in a Seinfield, when I quite literally, found a parking spot smack dab in front of our building – not wanting to think of moving it for years. Every time Claudia would say 'can't we just take the car', I had to help her understand that I won the parking space jackpot and off we would go, to rack up miles on our MetroPass.
So w/ the car not being a transportaion option, we were going to use these few days to get our lazy butts fit by hauling ourselves up/down the apt stairs and seeing Manhattan the local way by bus/foot/subway. Although the subway system is quite easy t
o comphrehend there's a bit of a learning curve involved. One Sat, it took us 1.5 hrs to go a distance of 4.5 miles - my bad, but I do believe we learnt from that :-). I think the real surprise for the Aussies was that they found NYC to be much safer than what they portray on TV. Even driving through lower Harlem seemed tame than in yrs past (thanks to Bill Clinton for moving his office there eh) After a few more family gatherings and kosher meals, I .jpg)
sadly drove the Aussie's to the airport, said our farewells. Before the the long 12 hr drive home, I stopped off at a party for the happy couple in a million dollar mansion (with catered servants mind you), flirted with some nice jewish 20 somethings and kissed Manhattan goodbye. I'm certain we'll meet again soon..I must add that I miss the lively company and all the trademark polish fussing - already. Although the night driving is much calmer, there are far fewer people to call that can keep me awke (ok none without having long distance on my cell) so the last 3 hrs were grueling. No fear though, I got home in one piece (thx Toyota Corrolla)
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