Big trip to NYC

(L) Musician in the park playing an accordion

(C) A statue of Hans Christian Anderson in Riverside Park
(R) a view from their apartment (very hazy humid day)










(top L) art in their apartment I liked
(C) an ancient temple on display at the Met
(R) part of a cool display of arms & armor at the Met
(left here) City street



(L) Dim sum - could not believe how crowded!

(R) Ground Zero.

World Trade Center subway line/train station

I was fortunate enough to be able to go to NYC this past weekend to visit Jhoanna, a very close friend, and really spend some time with her.

Here I am in line at the famous Magnolia Bakery where we bought some of their delicious cupcakes...yes, it was worth the wait, even in the heat!
This is the view from their apartment on 106th St. looking down Broadway. (Hey mom I finally made it to Broadway, haha).Here we are at the famous Central Park "sailboat pond," featured in many movies. Weather was great...just a bit of rain both Friday night and Sunday night (we dashed between the raindrops to get home from our dessert stop and walk through Columbia's campus) but we didn't melt. Otherwise it was HOT and humid.

We did a 2 mile run through Riverside Park Saturday, walked in Central Park, then kept walking and walking; we walked through just about every neighborhood, so I could get the full experience of Manhattan. We ate dim sum, did lots of furniture shopping (yes yes yes that was fun, stop apologizing, Jho...), clothes shopping, window shopping, eating popovers (yum), grocery shopping, bakery shopping, street fair shopping, souvenir shopping, chocolate shopping...and of course lots more eating, reminiscing and girl talk!

I did the Met on Monday with Nina, while Jho and Will were in the ER with Ben (a birthday party, an exercise bike and a serious foot injury...but nothing broken thank goodness).

I learned a lot about NYC real estate and architecture as Jho is writing a column for New York Magazine now, on both topics. She also knows where the famous people live. No star sightings this weekend as all of them were off to the Hamptons for the holiday weekend. But I did see the coffee shop from "You've Got Mail," the "luncheonette" that Seinfeld and pals supposedly hung out at, and the spot where John Lennon was shot.

Tuesday before my plane took off I squeezed in a very fast tour of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, both great places to be when it's 95 degrees out, because you're on the water. I also stopped off at Ground Zero and was surprised at how much sadness was there.