Intermission: Hot town, summer in the city

New York City, as it's seen today.

Bono sang, "In New York, freedom looks like too many choices."

This has been my impression each time I've gone. There are so many things to see and do, but I always just get caught up in the simple pleasures of walking around and riding the subway. I'm such a philistine.

We had other things to do, however, than get lost in museums: We were meeting Jenn's friend, Jen, and her friend, Chris, who was in town for her birthday (nice timing, huh?). We picked up a breakfast of bagels and coffee/tea and sat in the park, loving the heck out of life and each other, and then we took the subway to Midtown. We sat on the steps of the public library and talked about the city while waiting for Jen. We later met at a Mediterranean restaurant called Pera, and the food — and company — were great.

The Jen(n)s had met while living in Italy several years, and they fell back into old times, telling stories about fun times and odd people in Italy. I was quiet a lot, but i didn't mind at all — I enjoyed listening. Jen now works for a major recruiting firm, and her work, which involves tracking the careers of thousands of people, is fascinating.

We parted ways and made our way down to Bleecker Street, with the intention of going to Little Italy and the Village. We ended up in Chinatown. Oh, well. We considered walking farther, but we were both getting a little tired from all the walking. We took the subway back and rested awhile before going out that night.

We met our war party of birthday revelers at the Park Avenue apartment of one of Chris' friends. We chatted for awhile and then the group of seven of us went to eat Mexican food.

The food and drink were great, but we had plans of meeting Chris (the cousin) and his wife at their Midtown apartment, so we dipped out a little early. Several minutes later, we arrived at their beautiful home: a pre-war two-bedroom that was gorgeous — and probably cost more money than I'll ever see. They cracked open a bottle of wine and we spent the rest of the night talking about politics, life in the South and music.

Jenn and I left with our heads somewhat swimmy, but we relied on each other to get back to the subway and, eventually, the Upper East Side. It was rough, but we make a good team, even if when our balance is a little off.

We went to sleep after a great day, knowing that an even more exciting day was ahead: Our landing in Boston.

WHAT I LEARNED: I would love to live in Manhattan. (This view is being revised a little as I fall more in love with Boston each day, however.)

FAVORITE PART: The evening spent with Chris and Delfina. They're both the perfect non-Manhattanites: Down-to-Earth, funny and incredibly kind and generous. I wouldn't mind coming back to the city just to hang out with them.


Fung Wah, I've got your number. Let's get our NYC on.

OTHER THOUGHTS: Once again, I wish I had taken more photographs. Oh, well — New York is a lot more accessible now than it was while I was in Jacksonville. I'll be back, soon — maybe on that $30 Fung Wah bus service.