Weekend in New York

 

Well, last weekend we did a most unusual thing! We went to New York!

We were there for a wedding which was out in Long Island. We only had one short day to spend in Manhattan because we had to gather early Saturday for a rehearsal dinner. The wedding was Sunday and there was no time to travel to the city and back. So, what did we do with our part of a Saturday? We took the train in to Penn Station--the first major stop--and got out. The first thing we saw was the Empire State Building, so that is where we headed!

There were very few tourists there and we were able to take an elevator to the top. These pictures are from the 86th floor where there was no glass and we were out in the open air. We went all the way to the 102nd floor.  Up there, I swear I could feel the building swaying slightly.

Can you see Central Park? The big green behind the skinny towers on the middle left.

That's the Statue of Liberty sticking up on one of those islands to the right.

The day was clear and cool. Well, we thought it was cool--some guests from Alaska disagreed!

We wandered around a little and stopped for a light lunch in Bryant Park before passing through Times Square and heading back.

Bryant Park

The wedding was a HUGE event.  This is a wedding that was cancelled because of Covid. I feel like maybe because there was so much planning time, the details in this wedding  snowballed and there was just a little too much going on. I was happy to just be a guest!

Even though New York is a long way to go for a weekend, I felt I really needed to go because the parents of the young man getting married are some of my dearest and most generous Italian friends from the time I lived in Italy. I remember when the groom was born! I remember his first birthday party! And I remember when he came to the hospital to see my little son when he was born. He kept pushing the call button for the nurse.

 At the wedding, I realized that he is the age of his parents when we met! I can't believe it. Time turns and here we are.

Although the groom was born Catholic, he converted to Judaism. 

The mother gives a speech in Italian and the father translates into English.

Italian friends and their children were at the wedding. These are people I haven't seen in probably 20 years! It was remarkable to see the children all grown up and find that they had memories of me being places and doing things that I had forgotten. My Italian was shamefully rusty, but it was wonderful to be able see and talk with these people again.

When I was a little girl, my mother went to New York and brought me back this book.

It's funny that it took me practically my whole life to get to New York! I have been all over the world, but this was my first time in New York. It was truly a "whirlwind" trip! And we had such a great time.