New York Part VI

More walking, wandering. Vintage shops in the East Village, lusting after Verameat jewellery, purchasing Saipua soaps (we never made it to the Brooklyn store, more's the pity). Kitchen shops and stationery stores. Bagels, cream cheese stuffed, wrapped in greaseproof paper. Sitting in small parks on wooden benches, a couple of saxophonists playing soulfully nearby, making cocktail bar reservations on my mobile. The Museum of Modern Art on free Friday, far too many people. The most delicious Mexican at La Esquina on Kenmare, blood orange margaritas, tacos, yucca root fries. A queue to get a table, but most definitely worth it, shout out to slowdownapproaching30 for the recommendation. A bar hidden behind a telephone booth in a hot-dog joint, a couple of cocktails that tasted of cough syrup, worse. Nice stuffed bear though. Late night Dunkin' Donuts, just because.

New York Part V: The High Line

Breakfast at Cookshop (delicious) then up some stairs to explore The High Line, a stretch of disused elevated railway that has been converted to a public park space, complete with art installations, viewing areas, sun loungers. Trees emerging from between railway sleepers, railway tracks emerging from concrete. I thought it was FANTASTIC. Wished my Dad (who is an architect) could have been there too, because he would also have loved it.

New York Part IV

And so the sun comes out. We meet up with a colleague of M's who was also evacuated from Japan, head to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, contemplate what has brought us here, under the cherry trees which are blossoming in abundance. Clouds of pink and white above green grass, beneath blue skies. Magnolias with creamy white petals, black branches. An exhibition of bonsai, small, perfect. Humid hothouses, stone pools with orange goldfish, terrapins basking in the sunshine. Walking and walking through Brooklyn, soaking it in. Pizza, later, in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, red and white checked tablecloths. Afterwards, we say goodbye to K, and M and I walk together over the bridge, back towards the lights of Manhattan.