end of 23 in nyc

From open fields, clean crisp air and rolling hills we headed for tall buildings and traffic.  We stopped in Ithaca, NY and arrived in NYC just after 11 on Friday night.  We found parking in Chelsea, the place not the person (*note* for this post Chelsea L. Amato will be referred to as Amato so as to avoid confusion).  With all our belongings on, in or otherwise attached to Frida we were a little worried about our security.  So Amato chatted up a resident of the street, Michael, out walking his dog, Sasha, who reassured us of the niceness and longevity of the street with a lot of dog owners who are out and about frequently walking their beasts.  “You’ve just got to chat it up with the locals” says Amato.  Too true. 


Close to midnight, looking like hobos with our bikes and backpacks, we arrived at Amato’s friend Andréa’s Chelsea apartment (yes it’s grammatically correct; go ahead and read that one again).  Andréa was more than welcoming; she gracefully took all of us, our three bikes and our backpacks into her home, located just above the Unicorn.  Soon after midnight, bikes stored in a stairwell, and backpacks and people all tucked into her cozy room, we broke out a bottle of the 2007 Riesling from KLV and drank to another year of Iris.  Like tweens at a slumber party, we stayed up late into the night talking, laughing and swapping stories.

In the morning after sleeping in, we went in search of food and an open air market in Union Square.  We found both and spent a lovely Saturday morning/afternoon walking around.  We wandered into Strand and spent a good deal of time there preening over our books, even getting an addition or two for our library.  We ended the afternoon in Washington Square Park listening to music and watching street performers.  In particular we enjoyed the mini-battle of the bands that ensued when one man and his guitar was singing out soulfully and then a 4-man band plugged in on a stage-like space nearby and drowned him out entirely.  Amato gave him some pennies for his trouble, and we turned our attention to the band which was pretty rocking (and we’re bummed because we can’t remember their name)!

The birthday night was spent delightfully at the Red Bamboo in the village, complete with a surprise guest:  Emily made our three a party of four.  The food was wonderful and we indulged and chatted the evening away.  As we were leaving, it began to rain, and we wandered around hopping from store to store looking at the wares and stepping in and out of the rain.                          

Lovely.

By Sunday morning, we felt it was time to move on--to the other side of the river.  First we all holed up in the lovely Paradise Café for a while, updating the blog, letter writing, reading and more conversing and relaxing.  Hours later we traversed the Hudson to Amato’s cousin’s Brooklyn brownstone.   


There we were welcomed by a full house of: Lisa, Paisley, Grace, Georgia, little Greta and Butter, Alfie (the dogs), Zeus and Hermes (the guinea pigs).  With the convergence of so many people there were so many more stories to be heard and told over another homey dinner and more KLV Riesling.  We heard about Grace and Georgia’s school, Greta’s eating patterns, Lisa's latest book and Paisley’s relative freedom from work and re-focus on family.  After dinner, dessert and dishes cleared, we cozyed in with the girls and the dogs and enjoyed the quasi-feminist flick, Ella Enchanted with pillows, blankets and beds abound.  There is something about this trip that is like one big ongoing sleepover vacation.  

 

We love it.

Our trip to NYC could not be complete without a visit with the Amatos.  So on a lovely Yom Kippur (day off for them) afternoon they came into the city and we biked the breadth of Brooklyn in beautiful September weather to DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).  
Donna Jean and Dr. Lou both grew up in the city, but had never been to DUMBO:  They loved it.  We wandered around the small sometimes cobble-stoned streets of this semi-industrial, quasi-artsy area of the city.  We strolled past a line of tourists waiting to get into Grimaldi’s, apparently NY’s best pizza, and heard stories about Louie’s days as a cab driver while DJ caught us up on all the gossip!  There were great views of the bridges and the city from the park.  We shared a lovely meal with them at the gem Rice and then said our goodbyes as it began to sprinkle.

We rounded out our NY experience with a bike ride in the pouring rain getting drenched to the bone in semi-summery rain--not quite cold, but cold.  We warmed up/dried off and spent the rest of the evening playing a twisted game of Twisted Fish with Grace and Georgia and taking in moments with Lisa and Paisley in turn, sharing with them more about our plans and travels.  


The next morning we packed into Frida and took off on our wild ride to the next destination: Philly!  


the bean counter
miles travled: 262
pieces of snail mail sent: 5
mullets: 0