To the very end

It may appear that I dropped off the face of NYC.

And I have.

SAD

But we squeezed every last drop out of it.

Monday dawned bright but veeery cold and we had a veeery long day planned.

A day of all things artistic.

We headed uptown....to the Upper East Side.  We got off at Lexington Ave and walked over Park Avenue and Madison Avenue to 5th Avenue to the section known as Museum Mile where we could have spent the entire time of our trip......in just that one mile.

But this morning we came for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  It's a bit of a travesty to give the Met one morning.....and impossible to do it all so we had to be selective.  For me it was no contest....I came to see Van Gogh and so I did.  As always when I see great art I am moved.  I am no expert but some of those paintings stir my soul in a way nothing else does.

It was a gift of a few hours and I loved every moment.

Lindsay went off with a friend who is studying in NYC and my Mom and I had a very lovely lunch in a museum cafe overlooking Central Park..... so very civilized.

We met Lindsay back in Midtown and wandered through the Garment District and into the Empire State Building (we decided not to go up a building..... it just didn't feel to us that it would add much to our NYC experience....and left us something to do next time we visit ;).

We kept darting in to coffee shops to warm up and keep us fueled up.

We made a return to the NYC Library and their excellent gift store.  the grand marble halls are quite something.  We poked our heads into some of the hushed reading rooms that have to booked months in advance.

Waiting for our show at 8pm and trying to keep warm and busy we revisited Times Square and then headed into our Bistro for dinner.  We ordered slowly and chewed slowly and joined the theatre line just as the doors opened!

We had box seats which sound fancy and look fancy but give a slightly oblique view of the stage which did nothing to diminish our total delight at the show.  The music and staging were superb and we loved it all.

Getting home at 11pm can be slow on trains and the taxi's are crazy so with Lindsay's help we downloaded the Uber app and the introductory $30 coupon and we Uber'd home.....we Uber'd to the airport as well and I am a huge fan..... I can't wait until we have it in VanCity.

Anyway .... it was another amazing, arty NYC day that we will long remember.

Our last day was Tuesday and with a 10pm flight we had a full day.  We found a great service that took and stored our bags for $10/bag so we did that and then found a hip little breakfast place called Dudley's and run by Kiwi's who do know how to make a proper Flat White!

Lindsay had to attend to a little retail project she had planned and so we hopped Uptown again to Madison Avenue and strolled in the refined fashion air to the Kate Spade Flagship store where a purse was acquired.  It was a beautiful store and the people very friendly to even tourists dressed for a long day and a long flight.....that is to say very untrendy.

Mission Obtain Purse completed we finally had time to grab a pretzel from the ubiquitous food carts and then stroll through Central Park.  It's hard to imagine there could really be ANOTHER highlight moment but this was indeed ANOTHER pinch me moment..... add a saxophone player under a stone bridge and really - it was like being in a movie.

Despite carefully keeping track of everything all week, with two more subway rides to go I lost my metro pass..... Ai ya...... oh well ....new day pass acquired and off to Grand Central again because you cannot go to Grand Central enough times...in your life.  We transited after a brief coffee (aka as cawfee) and walked towards the river and the United Nations.

We go through Security with our Group Leader Lindsay Byres and wandered around the UN for a while.  A building that is quite unremarkable to look at had a very weighty feel to it.....You could feel that it was an important place, a place of significance....it was almost somber but also quite inspiring.  David aspires to work here one day and I hope that happens for him.  And so he gets the pass to take me to the Main Council Chambers..

There was still one meal to be had in NYC before heading out and we knew exactly what the plan was. We still had to Shake Shack and my Mom still had to have her NY Hawt Dawg.  The Grand Central location had no line up and we thoroughly enjoyed our first Shake Shack burger and ...... chocolate shake!  A perfect last meal!

And so having Uber'd through Queens in rush hour we found ourselves back at the underwhelming JFK Terminal 7 for another disappointingly underwhelming Cathay flight - certainly not worth the slightly higher fare.

And home .... our 3 boys showing their love by being at YVR at 1:30am to get us.

I don't exactly know how to sum up the trip..... or if that even needs to be done.

But this I know.... I left a little piece of my heart in NYC and I cannot wait to go again.

Thanks for sharing the journey.