D's parents visited for two weeks from May 20, and life was all action stations. We wore them out with a full tourist itinerary, and it was great! Them being here gave David, in particular, a chance to do lots of touristy things he hadn't done in NY (I mostly worked over those times, having done most before), but we just also took them to neighbourhoods and places they would never go if they were here by themselves as travellers.
On one of their last evenings in New York, they got serenaded in the subway, by a guy with a guitar and a wonderful voice - and he wasn't even looking for money. He chose a song, quite coincidentally (or not?), which was personally meaningful to them. It was really lovely. We also went to see Joe Turner's Come and Gone, a play written as part of a series of plays dealing with black experience in different decades. it was fab, and the play Barack and Michelle Obama went to see on their Broadway date. Good taste, us! quite presidential...
With that visit, they are practically NYC natives. But we did a 5 day road trip as well, as part of their visit (in a bright red Dodge Charger - my grandfather had a charger in the 80s, though it wasn't red and was only 2-door). We set out up the Hudson valley; first stop DIA: Beacon for the most wonderful fabulous art experience. Situated on the edge of the Hudson in a 120,000 square foot ex-box factory, the space and building were incredible; the art was also exceptional. After many hours there, we set off again and stopped for a late lunch at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America - where the 'top chefs' in this country are apparently trained). Set in the most ornate grounds, it was an experience... We weren't able to eat at the restaurants ('country club casual attire at a minimum, no jeans and sneakers thanks - well that took D & me out!), but the cafe was great. We completed the day with dinner in Woodstock - where hippie residue remains (although the festival didn't actually happen there), but is kinda quaint and cute!
We ended the day in the state capital, Albany, and slept in a cheap motel opposite SUNY-Albany, a campus with integrated architectural design that looks somewhat Islamic. Really stunningly beautiful!
We didn't spend much time in Albany, only enough to wander around the Rockefeller Empire State Plaza, a really quite stunning plaza integrating water, art and a range of buildings, which seems despised as much as I loved it. They have an 'egg' performance art space, but overwhelmingly it is dominated by (apparently) brutalist architecture, and has the feel of the grand communist architecture...
I loved it completely, although D's dad, the engineer, inspected one of the buildings and decided it had cancer. oops! Randomly, I happened upon an Aussie colleague there - weird!We then went to the Adirondacks, the largest state park in the US. On the way, we visited a small (tourist) town which happened to have an Elvis impersonator event on... there were crowds... and fans!
That sure is some dedication! We didn't dawdle, however, as hoards and hoards of bikers were arriving for a week-long motorbike festival starting a few days later. We stayed in a really cute B&B with a very knowledgeable host, in a region called Indian Lake. The supposed Moose capital of the state/region, and it certainly was moose-terrain... but still, no moose were seen (Bill, our B&B host, had only ever seen 2!). The closest we got to Moose were signs,
and Moose heads on the wall at a lodge we ate in one night near Indian Lake (they sure love shooting and stuffing things up there), and dinner in the Moosewood restaurant (yes, that moosewood!) in Ithaca a night later, In fact, the natural wildlife was remarkably absent in all the up-state rurality... While we most of the time drove through forests, nada on the animal front. Crazy. We saw a few deer (in towns) and one fox on the side of the road (and a few dead porcupine on the road), but that was it. Even the birds were underwhelming. Not impressed. More wildlife is seen regularly in Prospect Park. And there we have found animals cuter than squirrels! What could possibly be, you may ask, and the answer would be: Chipmunks! oh my god they are so cute:
David and I climbed Blue Mountain in the Adirondacks, but they're not really proper mountains (3700+ feet, and wooded), that was fun... we completed the road trip with a night in Ithaca, home of Cornell University all old stone buildings as befits its Ivy League status, and then a wonderful IM Pei designed art gallery. quite stunning...
So, the trip with Di's parents was wonderful, and then back to NYC, and life resumes normality... It's been hot hot hot, but other days, bloody cold! And May 31 - it snowed! not once, but twice! (admittedly this was in the Adirondacks, but we were only about 1000ft above sea level). Who would have thought the puffer jacket would be out again, after we were sweltering in 30+C temps the week before.We've been starting to (sadly) prepare for our trip home, but routines continue. This morning on our weekly dog-oggle (ie visit to prospect park when the pooches are off the leash before 9am, weekends) there were literally 100s and 100s.
craziness. best viewing: a Rastafarian man with 3 dreaded dogs (same breed) - long dreads, it actually looked cruel, with all the weight they must be carrying. Quite the image, nonetheless.Anyway, to end on a 'high note' - last night we went to a free David Byrne concert in Prospect Park, as the first event in the summer 'celebrate Brooklyn' festival. It really was fantastic. Of course, there are loads of clips on youtube - here's one from one of their three encores... And today we visited two events that simply require superlatives... the first, the opening of 'the highline', the start of an elevated garden/walkway/park that weaves up the west coast of lower Manhattan. It's an old abandoned railway that has been restored... and it's spectacular - we walked the first half mile. the second, a show called 'anthropodino' - a sensory interactional art experience. The pictures do it justice, but you miss the smells from the suspended bulbs of spices. my favourite was the ginger, I wanted to immediately make and eat ginger crunch! But I satisfied myself with 'to die for' salt caramels from Nunu chocolates. They're a small local Brooklyn chocolatier, and boy are they good. The other eating experience of note were arepas from Caracas Arepa Bar, a tiny Venezuelan place in the East Village. Corn pockets filled with deliciousness. On that note, I'll have to stop raving about the food...
rolling-over and out!
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