Walking around New York City

Tags

fast pace, New York City, postaday2012, subway, travel, walking

This morning the hubby, my mommy, Jack and I got into the Subaru to go pick up the babies from my sister’s house. Last night right before my sister’s clan left; my niece and nephew both begged my babies to go over their house for a sleep over. Even though there is a fairly large age difference between my two and my sister’s two; my oldest was born in 1991 and my youngest 1994 whereas my niece was born in 2003 and my nephew born in 2007, a solid 40 years between us. They get along really well and I know that my two love how excited my niece and nephew get when they see them.

Afterwards we came back to my mommy’s house and left Jack in my old room with all of his toys, his bed, his special papers and his food. I promise you, when I was packing up for Jack for our trip to my mommy’s, I felt as if I was experiencing deja-vu from the time the babies were toddlers. We took the subway into the city. My mommy’s house by subway is only fifteen minutes away from 59th Street and Lexington Ave. That is the only thing that I miss about living in New York City; the freedom that the subway gives you to go large distances without being dependent on a car. We walked near Radio City Music Hall, we stopped at Rockefeller Center and walked along Madison Ave for a bit and headed East to Third Ave. My mommy left us to go to Citerella, a specialty food store and we were looking for somewhere special to eat. My hubby directed us to Grand Central Station which is a landmark in and of itself and within the terminal if the Oyster Bar & Restaurant. We had a nice late lunch there and afterwards I rushed home to release Jack from my room and give him a proper walk.

While I was walking back to the subway, I realized once again that I don’t really miss the city like my hubby does, I find it too hectic for the most part, but at the holiday’s, it is magical. The lights and the architectural aspects to so many of the light montages really takes the Christmas spectacle to another level. Fifth Ave with the ultra chic boutiques such as Cartier, Tiffany’s Henri Bendel, Harry WInston and leading down to Saks is resplendent during this time of year. The only negative is the hordes of shoppers still overwhelming the streets where you constantly experience pedestrian traffic jams, especially along Fifth Avenue. Aside from that, the city for a nice part revels in the Christmas pageantry and holiday spirit.

Once I got back to my mommy’s, Jack was more than ready for a proper walk. I took him ten blocks down to Astoria park where he gratefully sniffed around piles of leaves and huge swaths of grass. He was a relieved little baby Jack, poor lamb. He has been very well behaved these two days, only one small accident and it wasn’t on a rug, phew! However I am fairly sure that he will be ecstatic when he gets back to his house, his smells and the peace and quiet of Blandford.

I will be happy to be home as well, I love my mommy but now that I have my own home, I am happy to get back there. So Jack and I will be happy to get back to walking paths away from traffic.

What was the strangest thing that happened while you were on public transportation

Tags

early morning, postaday2012, subway

I was heading into the city early Saturday morning, off to work at Conran’s, sitting in the corner of the subway trying not to be that awake for a 45 minute subway ride down to Astor Place in the village. An African-American women came onto the subway and started pacing up and down the car, mumbling her story but apparently I wasn’t the only one trying to not be awake at that moment. In a fit she whipped off her wig and started to rub her bald head, talking louder. Apparently she wasn’t receiving quite the attention that she needed because her shirt came off next and she was trying to show her breasts to anyone who had the courage to look, not I. My eyes stayed firmly closed when I felt her presence approaching me. I don’t know if anyone was more relieved than I when she got off the subway finally, ironically she did get a huge round of applause after the doors closed. Peace at last.

Humidity soup

Tags

Greenwich Village, humidity, New York City, postaday2012, subway

Today, my hubby, the baby girl and I spent the day with my mother in New York. After an easy lunch of Frankie’s pizza, the baby girl mentioned that she would really love to take the subway into the city and walk around. New York had been in an awful heat wave but today seemed to break the cycle. At first since the subway cars are air-conditioned, we didn’t feel any inching up of the outdoor thermostat , the subway ride was very pleasant. It wasn’t crowded as it normally would be during the work week, the four of us sat and talked back and forth until we got to 8th Street in Greenwich Village. I was proud to show the baby girl a little of my alma mater, N.Y.U. What surprised me most was how much 8th Street had changed, it used to be so busy with door to door shoe stores and vintage clothing stores with tons of tourists and young people. Now it is emptier and the shops are closed, it was a little sad. The vibrancy was gone or so it seemed.

Perhaps it was the heat dragging everyone in the city down, the longer we walked the heavier the air got or so it seemed. We walked for a bit down 6th Avenue heading further downtown towards SOHO, we cut up to Waverly Place and then went towards Lafayette. By the time we got down to Little Italy, we were a little pitiful to look at, at least I was. I felt like a wilted plant, droopy from heat and drippy from the humidity that felt like a thick blanket over my shoulders. My mother said that perhaps something cold and wet would be a good idea, we found a nice playground and my hubby chivalrously got us bottles of Perrier and Evian to drink. We all felt better but the heat was too much and we all decided that home was the best place to be, cool and quiet. Tonight is our last night here for awhile and tomorrow will be a new page to my summer story.