Saturday in New York

[redbird]

We had one full day in New York on this trip, and cattitude spent part of it visiting a friend on the Island. adrian_turtle and I met my mother at the Cloisters at around noon. On our way uptown, we'd gotten into line for a Metrocard vending machine when a stranger came over to the line and asked if we had just gotten into the city. When we and the woman in front of us said yes, she handed us each an unlimited-ride Metrocard with four days left on it, saying that she was leaving town and didn't want them to go to waste. The woman in front of us asked "how much?" and the donor shook her head and said "Merry Christmas."

The trip uptown was unremarkable, and I found that I have a good memory for the details of that trip, including the irrelevant ones: I knew we were approaching 110th when the track sloped downward, and then (having lost count of stations) recognized 145th by the color of the pillars supporting the roof.

Adrian was delighted by the Cloisters, including the famous Unicorn Tapestries. This visit what caught my eye most was sculpture and artifacts (including a unicorn-shaped hand-washing pitcher in the room with those tapestries); when we went downstairs to the Treasury, I pointed out the wooden carvings on the staircase we had just descended. We had time to look at almost everything before we decided it was past time for lunch, which we got at the diner Cattitude and I used to go to regularly when we lived in Inwood. The staff has changed and the menu is shorter than it was, but it was basic good diner food, and they still know how to make tea.

Then we took the train down to the Village so we could go to Varsano's, my old favorite chocolate shop, which roadnotes had first introduced me to. I was pleasantly surprised not to have to wait (the Saturday right before Christmas), and we bought lots of interesting chocolate. My mother asked the difference between a lemon cream and a lemon truffle. I wasn't sure and asked the shop assistant; she passed the question to Mark Varsano, who explained and then put one of each on the counter for Mom to taste.

After I'd paid for my chocolate, Mark said something like "I still miss our friend," meaning Roadnotes, and we talked about her a little; one thing he mentioned was her dry sense of humor. I'd been afraid I would have to be the one to tell him she had died, and warned Adrian on our way downtown that I might need my hand held—but it's unsurprising that the same "small town that just happens to have eight million people" feeling that had Mark asking me how she was after she moved to Seattle means he'd gotten the sad news from some other mutual friend.


Saturday evening we had dinner with my aunt Lea and her husband Dave (who Mom is staying with) and my cousin Janet. Some of the conversation, unsurprisingly, was about politics; I will pleased to learn that Janet's father, my uncle Hank, who was "the family Republican" when that meant Nixon and Reagan, has not drunk the Fox Kool-aid, and voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 (and neither for nor against Obama). Janet also said that the shapes of activism I've been doing, both the rallies and the phone calls, are very hard for her and she admires me for being able to do them. For me, while a rally isn't my favorite shape of crowd, I can handle them, as I handle Canal Street (Chinatown) at lunchtime on Saturday, or a crowded subway train. Janet said she'd written a lot of postcards to voters, which I had to limit for the sake of my writing hand. I suggested the shape of voter registration volunteer work I've been doing might be congenial; I may ask MIRA if they know of anyone working to register just-naturalized citizens in New York City the way they are in Boston.

The day involved a lot of walking, including at least ten flights of stairs; by the time we headed back to our hotel my ankles were complaining about the stairs in front of my aunt's building, but my knee and hips were (and are) doing okay.

Comments

[kate_schaefer]

I miss the Cloisters, my favorite New York museum.

[carbonel]

I always do the same thing with my final bus pass in Montreal. I have to buy a full-day pass to take the 727 bus back to the airport, and I give it to someone who's about to buy one. But a four-day pass is a really pleasant surprise.

[redbird]

We'd thought of passing these passes along the same way we got them, but took a cab back to Penn Station, so I gave one (with 2.5 days left) to my mother before getting into the taxi, and I think Adrian still has the other.

I once gave a 24-hour Montreal transit pass away in the Air Canada gate area at LaGuardia, and may try that at Logan the next time I get a paper ticket instead of putting the pass on my Opus card. I once had to stay an extra day because all flights from Montreal to NYC were cancelled because of weather at the destination, so would rather hang onto the pass as long as there's any chance I'll use it again; once I'm on the ground at Logan I only need my CharlieCard.

[minoanmiss]

*reads and delights bittersweetly in your trip*

[amaebi]

I'm glad your body survived all the walking and climbing pretty well.

[bibliofile]

Sounds like a good trip, all told.

The Cloisters is full of lovely things.

I miss Roadnotes, too. I'm glad you and Mark got to talk about her a little.