Yes, we went to New York again. This time, Steven had to go for work and I tagged along because, well, see above. Every time I go to NY, I want to live there, but I also want to travel. It’s one or the other, so instead of looking for apartments, we’re looking for more flights.

Since Steven had to work, I took the opportunity to wander on my own. We arrived Wednesday afternoon and were surprised when it only took us 20 minutes to get from LaGuardia to Midtown. What is going on? Also, LaGuardia now looks like all the other new airports with it’s fountain and central food court/shopping mall. A big improvement over dumpy old LaGuardia for sure especially since you don’t have to walk outside through the construction to get to an Uber.

We walked around for a bit and Steven had pizza. For some reason, I wasn’t in the mood for pizza so instead I had a falafel sandwich from a food truck. It was OK. I cannot believe I was in NY and didn’t eat any pizza (clearly the sign of either derangement or dementia). Something is definitely wrong with me. I didn’t have a bagel either (I did!). Double weird. Wednesday night, we noticed that quite a few buildings were lit up in blue and white, although we also witnessed a Palestinian protest (very peaceful) from our hotel on Friday. I’ll refrain from commenting any further since this is a casual blog.

Wednesday night we had Japanese food, which was fine. I keep thinking that all the good types of restaurants we would like are in Queens because that’s where immigrants live and eat. Maybe next time we’ll try out my theory. (We should be safe from disease since we will have had all our booster shots!).

Thursday, Steven headed to the office and I headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the Manet/Degas exhibit, which I had read was amazing. It was. The exhibit is free with admission, but once inside the museum, you join a virtual waiting list and are notified when it’s your turn. That prevents extreme crowding, although I can’t say that it wasn’t a bit close. Anyway, the exhibit compares the work of these two, charting their relationship and influence over each other. I highly recommend it if you happen to be in town.

Thursday night we had dinner at Sant Ambroeus with Uncle David. Aunt Marcella was busy, but we hear she is fine. It’s always a pleasure to see Unky and the food is excellent too.

Friday, Steven again headed off to work and I decided on a not-quite death march to Little Island, the semi-new park on Pier 54 on the Hudson. The park is inspired by the wooden piles that remained after Hurricane Sandy swept in and damaged the pier. Despite the fact that it is a tourist attraction, I was able to find peaceful places to sit and admire the landscape. When my ability to be still waned, I headed back on the High Line, definitely a touristy experience, but equally scenic. Check out the photos below to see who made a cameo appearance.

Friday night, after the protest dispersed, we headed out for dinner. We had delicious Thai food and met the owner of the restaurant, Thai Food Near Me (OK, I guess it was near us), who was very proud of his recipes, but moreso of his glassware choices. We weren’t able to get good photos, but the glassware was in the shape of male and female torsos. Good for a laugh. The portions were enormous, but we managed to suffer through most of it and would definitely go back if it’s near us again.

Saturday we went to the Townhouse Diner, and much to our delight, it was a typical NY diner experience. The waitstaff is brusk to semi-impatient (and then they call you Doll or something like it) but very efficient and the food is what you would expect. It was fabulous.

We returned home in the late afternoon after a debacle in which our car was supposed to be fixed, but was not. By that time we were tired and annoyed. Luckily, at least our Uber driver hung out and took us home (although his Tesla driving left me carsick — even Steven wasn’t feeling great). Our plan was to go grocery shopping, but instead we went to a very shady looking takeout place we had been meaning to try that is a few blocks from us. Johnny’s, which serves a mix of Chinese, burgers, cheesesteaks and wings, was better than expected, although the expectation was low. (It was perfectly mediocre gloopy American Chinese food).

The weekend hit its highlight on Sunday with a trip to the zoo with our granddaughter (oh, yeah, and her parents) followed by brunch at Open City (We ate out a lot last week!), where the food was good, but we hit it at the end of the rush and the service was slow, but that just meant more time with family.

With only 10 days left here, we’ve turned our attention to eating all the food in the house, packing and all the other last-minute details of moving on. Oh, and we just booked a trip to sit for our favorite Parisian cat, Seuss, from Dec. 16-Jan. 2. New Year’s in Paris. Woo hoo!