Breakfast with Former Southport Neighbors at Gruel Britannia, Mass at St. Anthony’s, Lunch with Friends at South Street Seaport in Manhattan and Viewing the Frick Collection in the Met-Brauer Museum

Sunday, August 20, 2023

Southport and Fairfield, Connecticut and Manhattan, New York

Breakfast with Former Southport Neighbors at Gruel Britannia, Mass at St. Anthony’s, Lunch with Friends at South Street Seaport in Manhattan and Viewing the Frick Collection in the Met-Brauer Museum

Today was unbelievably eventful and very very enjoyable. My day began early as I had to get ready for breakfast at 8.30 am in Southport. I was lucky that, after I washed and dressed, Leslie dropped me to Gruel Britannia, the cool British-themed restaurant that opened, a few years ago, in Southport, Connecticut.

I took my seat in a place that was practically empty at that hour. I was really hungry and ordered a decaff coffee right away as I waited for my friends Pui and Ken Hom to show up. They came about 15 minutes later, after I’d had a chance to study the menu and decide what I wanted. There were so many exciting choices (I certainly had my eye on the smoked salmon brioche roll), but eventually, since it was a British eatery, I chose The British Breakfast Plate. Pui chose the Smoked Salmon Platter and Ken had the Avocado Toast—all of which are absolutely scrumptious, I am sure). Certainly my platter was much too large for me to finish at one go and I asked for it to be packed for me. I had a hard time, to be honest, carrying it around with me all day, but I had little choice in the matter.

We had a truly wonderful time together and the Homs treated me to breakfast—they refused to allow me to pay and I was really grateful for the treat. We chatted non-stop through the entire two hours we spent together and I have to say I was reluctant to leave as we were having such a good time. But I did have to go to Mass which began at 10.00n am. They dropped me to church (which was literally just around the corner) and off I went.

Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Church:

I had attended the 8.15 am Mass last Sunday when I had run into a few friends. This Sunday, I was attending the 10.00 am Mass--when you usually see different people and I was surprised that so many of them came up to say Hi to me and Welcome Back—just as several had done last week. It’s funny…but I recalled the early years when I used to go back to my parish in Bandra, Bombay (35 years ago) and folks used to come up to me to say Welcome Back to my parish in Bombay! Of course, as the years went by (all 35 of them!), people moved or passed away, younger congregations became evident and fewer people continued to know me—the old timers still do, of course, and they still know my Dad and Russel…but time does have an impact, all the same.

Mass was said by Fr. John Murray, SJ, whose masses I always enjoy. Indeed, there is something extraordinary about returning to Mass at St. Anthony’s, indeed hearing Mass in any part of the world, except India. I hate to say this because I don’t want to appear as if I am simply bad-mouthing my own city (as it is now), but I find the music, the choir, the sermon simply superb when I travel as the priests make the Mass so interesting and refrain from putting their congregation to sleep. If there is one thing I miss about living overseas (whether it is the UK or the USA), it is the quality of the Masses I enjoy in these countries. We, in Bombay, simply cannot compare (in my humble opinion).

After Mass, I went to the sacristy to say Hello to Wendy Long, my friend, who was at the Lectern—only to discover that there was high drama going on. Fr. Murray was flat out on the floor. Whether it was the ‘heat’ that got him (to my mind, it was a really pleasant day....but he had his heavy vestments on) or a heart attack, who knows? Many people were swarming around him, bringing him water, a candy bar and calling the ambulance and the EMT services. Through all of this drama, I met Joanne and Fausta, two friends, who hugged and kissed me and looked very worried about the priest’s fate.

Touring our Lovely New Church Gardens:

I had been hearing a lot about the new church gardens that have been created on our church property, thanks to the efforts of a bunch of parishioners who planted them and take care of them. Fausta had to run but Joanne offered to show me around them and then to drop me to Fairfield Station as I had to take the train into Manhattan for my next appointment with my friends.

Yes, the gardens are lovely. We used to have just one, devoted to Our Lady (the Blessed Mother), but I was surprised to see that a large Vegetable Garden had also been planted. The beds were filled with various kinds of tomatoes, Swiss chard, lettuce, chilli peppers, and all sorts of herbs. I was told by Joanne that the produce is harvested and donated to Merton House, a Catholic charity nearby. We then moved on to the Pollinator Garden which was absolutely buzzing with bees and monarch butterflies. Since these gardens receive full sun, it is almost magical the towering heights to which they grow.

Finally, we stopped at the piece de resistance: the Labyrinth Garden that was designed and planted in memory of our beloved Parish priest, Fr. John Baran, who died in 2016. He was deeply loved by all of us because he was such a special person. When he passed away, he left us all bereft and it was decided that a great way to remember him would be by creating a stone labyrinth on the ground in a maze-like design that would be surrounded by flowers and plants and benches (many of which have been placed there in memory of other parishioners who have died such as my friend, Fred Wheeler). Yes, I could sense the spirit of Fr. John in this space and I was glad I had the chance to spend a few thoughtful moments in his garden.

On the Train to New York:

Joanne was lovely and she did drop me off to Fairfield Station to allow me to get on to the 11.12 am train (which was running late—which was why I managed to get it). I bought my ticket and settled down to await the arrival of the train. During the long journey into the city, I spoke to my friend Ian who was supposed to be present for lunch in New York City today, but who had developed a sudden and very painful attack of gout. He told me all about his ailment before we went on to talk about a large number of things. In fact, our conversation went on for over an hour while we pulled into Grand Central Station. I realized that I needed to use the facilities so off I went to the basement rest rooms where I could not believe now long the line was! Fortunately, it moved really quickly and I was able to then hop on the subway to get to my next destination.

We were initially supposed to meet in midtown Manhattan but Susan, who was joining my friend Jenny and me for lunch suddenly decided that Midtown would be too crowded and that we should meet downtown at South Street Seaport. She wanted us to eat at a new place that has sprung up right on the waterfront and which she discovered yesterday—called Industry Kitchen. I have to say that the journey to get down to Fulton Street from Grand Central was long and annoying as it involved changing trains.

Anyway, Susan had made a reservation for 1.30 and it was just 1.30 when I arrived at the place. Both Susan and Jenny were there and we were soon seated in the shade on the patio which happened to be buzzing. As in every major touring destination, here too, in New York City, there are tons of tourists everywhere. We had little glimpses of Brooklyn Bridge from our table and under really benign blue skies and a river that sparkled wondrously, we ordered our meal. I had a frozen margarita (that was really stiff) while Jenny Lou had prosecco and Susan had a Bloody Mary. For our brunch, I chose Waffles with Strawberry Compote, Whipped Cream and Maple Syrup, Jenny chose the Bean Soup and Lamb Chops and Susan had Huevos Rancheros. Needless to say, our meal was simply splendid. Portions were not outsized and all of us managed to finish them all while we chatted nineteen to the dozen. We are old friends that go back at least 35 years—so you can imagine that we have a whole history to recount when we meet and so many people to inquire and talk about—not to mention ourselves and our lives and the turns they have taken.

But, by 4.00pm, Susan said she had another evening’s appointment, Jenny said she wanted to get back home as she had a long way to go to Southern New Jersey and I wanted to go and see the Frick Collection as I had tried to see it last November and had not succeeded.

A Walk Around Wall Street:

However, before I got on the subway to try to get to Uptown Madison Avenue, I decided to take a stroll around South Street Seaport which used to be my haunt in my early days as a new immigrant in New York. I have really happy memories of this place as it was instrumental in enabling me to accept the reality of my new life as an immigrant in a city for which I did not care too much and where my experiences were not very happy.

I was also quite happy to wander around the city’s Financial District and to take in the sights of the skyscrapers of the old and new corporate buildings towering all around me. It was such an uplifting feeling. But I realized that the reason I had found this area so dirty and decrepit thirty-five years ago, had much to do with my own state of mind at the time. Now that I am in a different mental place, the world seems like a far happier place to me! It is really uncanny! Anyway, it was great to pass by the Federal Reserve Bank and to notice the heavily grilled windows that house the country’s gold reserves in the basement and to catch a glimpse of the new Peace Tower that has taken the place of the old twin towers of the World Trade Center. Almost 25 years have passed since that fateful day when I was in Manhattan and saw the twin towers fall! Now the 9/11 Memorial and Museum stand in the place of the former towers. The new building is much shorter but it is still quite striking.

I got into the subway at Fulton Street and then found myself going through a really horribly complicated journey to get across town and then uptown. So irritating. It took me a full hour to get to the Met-Brauer because the L train which would have connected me to 14th Street and Union Square was not running, Instead, we had to go back to street level and take a special shuttle bus that was running passengers to Union Square.

Seeing the Frick Collection at the Met-Brauer Museum:

Anyway, by the time I finally arrived at the Met-Brauer, it was about 5.10 pm and since the Museum closes at 6.00 pm, I knew I had just 45 minutes to see it. The assistant told me that it was on three floors. I was given a free ticket with my Met ID card and off I went. I took the elevator to the fourth floor and thought I would make my way downstairs. This seemed like the most efficient way to do it.

Sadly, no photography was allowed in the Museum, but I managed to feast my eyes on the absolutely first-rate collection of art and decorative objects that Henry Clay Frick managed to amass in his lifetime and which he housed in his mansion on 70th Street and Fifth Avenue. Of course, I have been to the Frick Mansion many times—it is one of my favorite places in New York City. But I had not seen the art work for a really long time and I was delighted to take in the masterpieces of painters such as Rembrandt, Monet, Turner, Constable, Vermeer, Bronzino. Hobbema, El Greco, etc. Plus, there is a huge amount of work by Chardin and Boucher (which reminded me very much of the Wallace Collection in London). Truly, it was a feast for the eyes and I was satiated. I was super thrilled that despite the awful journey to get to the site, I managed to make it on time and was able to see it all—because who knows when I will be able to return to New York City again or have so much time to see it all.

On the Bus Back to Harlem:

Now that I know that there are buses that go uptown to Harlem so easily, you can bet I will give the subway a pass. Accordingly, I jumped on to the Uptown Madison Avenue bus and, since it was a Sunday, we just zipped through to the north. In the bus, I had a chance to chat to my friend Raquel in Boston who was very disappointed that I was not able to make it to Boston on this trip. Still, maybe next time…when Llew is with me, I shall.

On the Train Back Home to Westport:

I was very happy to discover that Leslie was free to pick me up from Westport station and take me straight home. She had cooked dinner and there was the appetizing aroma of chilli wafting around the kitchen. She had also baked cornbread from a package which was absolutely delicious and I volunteered to fix a green salad which I did. With her husband Sunil at home, the three of us had a really nice dinner and caught up on our day.

Yes, it was, as I said, a truly eventful and very satisfying day and I felt deeply pleased at its outcome. I simply then brushed and flossed by teeth and changed for bed.

Until tomorrow…cheerio!