Make it half a day, please…

Tuesday 9 October

We did sleep well, considering having had such mentally taxing day, although I wake up with a very bad headache.  I don’t want to spoil the day before it even starts, so I stay in bed, take some medication and relax for a while till everything settles.  

Some time later I start slowly with shower and breakfast (oats with honey and brown sugar this time) and download the pictures on the laptop.  We have decided not to leave so early to-day and as the weather isn’t any better we are not in a hurry.  Frank also takes it easy and does some reading.  

A quiet morning at 'home'

When Nancy and Eric (both work during the day) come home early they are surprised to see us still at home.  By then we are getting ready to leave and they are getting ready to go to a birthday party in Brooklyn later that day.  Because we are leaving a lot later we are going to catch the train from Bellport and will drive ourselves to the station.  Before we leave Nancy wants to show us the town and we have a 10 minute drive around the area.  It is a lovely little town.  Nancy says it’s a real New England type of town and I agree, although I only new New England from books, but indeed it has that great atmosphere and look.  After I have had a quick lunch of bagel and boiled egg we drive to Bellport station and catch the 12pm train to Penn Station.

A few impressions of Bellport:

Fire Island in the distance

In the city we know our way by now, although we have also bought a little map of Manhattan so that we can find specific places that we still want to visit.

We walk via Bryant Park, the city Library, the Chrysler Building, Grand Central, and the well-known Waldorf Astoria to Central Park via Park Avenue. 

A game of Jeu de Boules (Petangue) in the park on a rainy day

Definitely not in the mood for a game :-)

Bryant Park

Still Bryant Park

and another one

Statue of William Bryant

The Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue

'Riksjas', ready to take the tourists for a tour

Central Park

Central Park

By that time we are a little tired ;-)  We buy pretzels (one has to try pretzels while in New York City) and sugared nuts from a street vendor on the corner of the park and sit down on a bench to give our backs a rest.  Our feet are not tired (hip hip hooray for my excellent new walking shoes), but our backs are short of broken.  The place is packed with horse-and-carriages to take the numerous tourists for a tour through Central Park.  We’re not going, not even for a walk, because it is wet and miserable and we decide to walk back to the station to catch the train home.  The weather might not have been optimal, but we had again a great afternoon, although the walk didn’t sound like much.  Believe you me, if you walk from 32^nd Street to 60^th Street in Manhattan, with a few side streets thrown in, you have done well!  The subway was not an option.  We like to walk and besides… a train is a train, if it is below or above ground, and we are seeing enough ‘train’ these days.

We walk back via Broadway since we can’t get enough of the exhilarating lights and sounds of the place.  By the way, the traffic in the city is pure chaos.  It is amazing the cars and pedestrians are still moving and haven’t come to a standstill, since nobody seems to care much about pedestrian traffic lights when they turn red.  Ah well, by now we have become ‘pushy New Yorkers’ too and press through.  No care in the world.  We walk across the streets and around cars like we’ve never done any different…

We come across our Naked Cowboy and his mates again and finally get closer to the station.  As we walk past an Asian restaurant we realise we’re hungry and walk in.  The menu is excellent and we get a Wonton Soup each and a shared meal of Singapore Noodles.  We don’t want to order too much, since we don’t really want to take a doggie bag home.  The meal is great and the company too, since we discover that the two girls at the table next to us are Aussies from Victoria and we have a pleasant chat.  They wonder if what they feel could be jetlag and tell us that they are going to drive a hire car from NYC to Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles.  Pretty courageous girls!

In the end we catch the 7.30pm train to Bellport with a change at Babylon again and are home by 9.30pm.  Frank goes to bed straight away and I download all the pictures and start working on my blog, because I am far, far behind.  Dear Nancy has left all kinds of stuff for us on the kitchen bench: soup, crackers, hummus, bagels, coffee, blueberry pie, etc.  Sooo kind, but all I can manage is a coffee and a few crackers.  I work till they get home at 11.30pm and then it is definitely time for bed.