In New York At Last! A Day Involving Happy Reunions, Yet Another Doctor’s Appointment and a Grand Dinner with East African Safari Friends.

Friday, October 3, 2025

Fairfield, Connecticut

In New York At Last! A Day Involving Happy Reunions, Yet Another Doctor’s Appointment and a Grand Dinner with East African Safari Friends.

Finally, after a whole week of being in the New York area, we were able to spend the day in New York City. Hard to believe that having once spent almost every day of our working lives in the USA in Manhattan, we had only scheduled one day for a visit to this most vibrant of cities and that too because we had our appointments with our ophthalmologist scheduled today.

On the Train to New York City:

Accordingly, we left at the crack of dawn as I had scheduled a coffee-morning meeting at 9.30 am with my former NYU colleagues. As the journey takes almost two hours from door to door, we woke up to the setting of our alarms, dressed quietly and were out of Swapna’s home before the household had quite surfaced.

We drove to Fairfield railway station really early as we were not fully familiar with the Day Parking arrangements there and wanted to be well in time to obtain the parking permit before we booked our train tickets and boarded the train, Fortunately, while I held the fort at the car, Llew went off to find the machine that would provide the parking permit. It was all rather seamless actually, and while I awaited his return, I gobbled up the one piece of pizza remaining from our dinner at Vazzy’s last night. Hence, while we did pick up decaff coffees at the little tea stall on the station, it was only Llew who bought a pain au chocolat while I chose to wait to eat more at my meeting with my colleagues.

It was really super fun and super nostalgic to make the train journey into the city. Autumn is definitely in the air at this point and the warm range of colors (reds, yellows, rusts, oranges) were already tinging the trees as we passed through the bucolic settlements of New Canaan and Darien and over the bodies of pretty water that grace the landscape between Connecticut and New York. I had my eyes glued to the window as I took in these sights and did not even realize the passage of time as the train pulled into Harlem across the East River. At Grand Central Station, I parted company with Llew as he went out to try and meet his former colleagues. I hurried towards the subway platform and there a huge drama awaited me.

Trying to Board the New York City Subway:

They say the more things change, the more they stay the same. Well, yes and no. While the Metro-North and subway lines coalesce at the magnificent Grand Central Station (that I had always felt so privileged to use during almost three decades that I lived in New York City), a lot had changed. Yes, in the one year since I had last been into Manhattan, the entire ticketing system had been overhauled. The old Metro-Card that I still carried so proudly in my wallet had been phased out and a new card (the OMNY—One Metro New York) has been introduced. As seniors, both Llew and I are now entitled to the new cards, but to make one, I had to spend at least 45 minutes at the booth where the assistants did not even seem to know what they were doing and irritation began to mount in the queue that formed behind me. Eventually, when it came to the point where I had to pay for my new card, it was discovered that since Llew uses the same credit card to pay for his commuter card, I could not use it too. I had not been carrying another credit card with me on this trip with which to pay and so the entire operation was aborted and I was back to Square One. No doubt, I would also be late for my meeting with my colleagues and I felt mortified. However, they did manage to provide me with a temporary Seniors card (not sure for how long it will be valid) which would also give me the Seniors’ discount. Such an irritating way to begin my day in Manhattan! Meanwhile, as I waited, I had the opportunity to take in the spiffy new changes that have been wrought to a station that was under renovation for at least the last three years of my life as a working commuter into Manhattan. Eventually, I did get on to the train using the new card (nothing has changed in the trains or on the stations) and hurried along the Manhattan streets to get to the venue where we were to meet.

Coffee Morning with my Former Dean and Professor Colleague:

When they got to know that I would be making a visit to NYU, some of my colleagues put the word out that a coffee morning meeting with me would enable a whole bunch of them to see me. However, being that it is a Friday and none of us teach today and do not even come to campus (unless it is for a meeting), it was doubtful I would meet many. Imagine my delight then when my former Dean Julie Mostov invited me for coffee to her apartment in the NYU Faculty Housing—a coffee morning that would also include my former colleague, Prof. Peter Valenti.

Well, I hurried up to the appointed place and apologized for my tardiness and explained the debacle regarding the Metro-Card (now OMNY card), of course they understood. We spent the next hour and a half over delicious nibbles and steaming hot peppermint tea as the two of them brought me up to snuff on the many goings-on at Liberal Studies where I had once taught. There was indeed much to talk about and discuss and my colleagues were very keen for me to continue to be involved although far away. As an Emerita Professor, there is every reason to keep me in the loop and I was happy to absorb everything.

But soon, it was time for me to leave. I realized when I tried to enter one of the NYU buildings that I have an ID card that expired, two years ago. The Security Officer told me to visit the NYU ID Office to have it renewed. Hence, as soon as I left Julie’s place, I made my way there and, within ten minutes, I was the proud recipient of a brand-new ID card which will now magically open all doors for me (at least at NYU!).

Using my new ID, I was then able to go back up to my office at 726 Broadway and, as expected, did not find too many people around. However, I was really delighted to see Billy Helton, a very old friend and administrative colleague who had always been exceptionally helpful to me, over the years that I had worked closely with him. We had a really wonderful visit of about 15 minutes before I had to say goodbye to him and return to my next appointment. With this done, I raced off to my next appointment for the day.

A Long-Pending Visit to the Frick Museum:

The Frick Museum is one of my favorite places in Manhattan and I was delighted to know that after being shut for a very lengthy period (owing to a complete overhaul of the premises), it had re-opened to the public. It was very difficult to get tickets (which are issued strictly by appointment on a timed basis), but I hoped that my Metropolitan Museum ID card would get Llew and me entry into it. Accordingly, we had made plans to meet at the main door of the Museum at 11.30 am and Llew happened to be there already when I arrived. And yes, there was a line snaking along the block, so I did feel a bit embarrassed to go up to the guard and present my credentials as a Docent at the Met (together with my ID card).

Llew and I were granted instant access to the main doors and within seconds we were inside, going through Security and then obtaining our (free) tickets to the venue. For the next hour and a half, we lost ourselves completely in the world of Henry Clay Frick and his monumental collection. Of course, both of us had seen this collection several times before, but one never tires of it. Going back to it repeatedly is like going to say Hullo to old friends. Yes, we were impressed by the newness of the spaces but the general curation of the art works (paintings, sculpture, decorative arts) remains the same. It is such a thrill to walk through the rooms and living spaces of the wealthy and privileged—it takes me back always to another, long-lost era. To be in the same vicinity as the art-loving, affluent New Yorkers of more than a century ago, is a unique experience. And then to dwell on the works themselves is always a deep joy. Yes, the place was mobbed—no doubt about that. But it did not detract from my pleasure in the works.

The best part of this visit for me, however, was the current special, temporary exhibition which is a collection of commissioned porcelain flowers by Ukrainian artist, Vladimir Kanevsky (born 1951) whose works, scattered throughout the rooms, were meant to evoke the floral ambience of the Museum when it first opened to the public in 1935. I have to tell you that I actually had to discreetly touch one of the first exhibits I saw as I simply could not tell whether or not they were real or man-made. What a shock I received when I found them to be made of clay! Last year, I had made a special visit to Boston to see the Glass Flower Gallery, permanently on display at the Harvard Peabody Museum of Natural History. There too I had been blown away by the craftsmanship of the artists, a Polish father-son team. And this year, I was here, viewing this incredible collection of porcelain flowers at the Frick. Truly, it blew my socks away. The flowers are life-size and in the exact colors of their real-life models. There were roses, peonies, lily or the valley, hydrangeas, etc. etc. etc., I mean every possible flower that you could think of was represented in this collection. I simply loved it. I have to say also that the flowers were beautifully arranged, strategically, among the sculptural works themselves. It enhanced the art works so amazingly. Indeed, it was really hard for me to tear myself away from the sculptures but, in the end, we had our eye on the clock and had to leave the Museum. We did manage to see it all but we could not linger. Next year, I think I will return—the crowds will have decreased and I shall allot more time to really admire this exhilarating space.

Lunch with Llew’s colleague at Milu:

Yes, we were in time to see Llew’s former colleague, Amy, at Park Ave South and 24th Street at a pan-Asian place called Milu. It was quite a nondescript place but the food turned out to be quite delicious. You choose a starch, a protein and a vegetable side from a large variety of items on the menu board—very casual. Amy was already there when we arrived and it was delightful to see her and reconnect with her as she is the sweetest person. We chose the crispy chicken over brown rice with broccoli and cauliflower and it was all very healthy and very good indeed. Of course, we chatted non-stop with lovely Amy who gave Llew a lot of news about former colleagues with whom they had both worked as well as about herself, her family members and her own current position. It was a lovey reunion and we enjoyed it thoroughly but then it was time for us to hurry along to our next appointment on the Upper East Side.

Yet Another Medical Appointment—with our Ophthalmologist:

Thank goodness for the NY Subway which got us very easily to our next port of call after we’d thanked Amy for insisting on treating us to lunch and for the really lovely time we’d spent in her company. Within a half hour, we were on the Upper East Side making our way to the basement clinic of our ophthalmologist, Dr. Daniel Rossberger, who is simply the best in his field.

Both Llew and I have been under his care—Llew much longer than me—and have great confidence in his expertise. Yes, we went through the paces of getting our eyes tested through the Reading board, then getting them dilated, the going through the scanners, etc. so that all the readings were taken for both of us. Finally, the doctor himself showed up and did an independent examination before he gave us his assessment of the state of our eyes. Both of us got a fairly clean bill of health and with no further action necessary (at least for the moment), he instructed us to make an appointment to see him next year. And with that, the last of our doctors’ appointments was done and we were free to enjoy the rest of our time in the New York Tristate area. But, for the immediate present, we had a dinner party to attend on Long Island.

Meeting our Friend John at Grand Central Station:

Our dinner party was on Long Island and since we were actually already in Manhattan, it made good sense of us to take the Long Island Rail Road from Grand Central Station itself to get to Syosset where our friends, Doreen and John, are based. It was to their home that we were invited for dinner. But since John happens to be working nearby, we decided to meet him at the station and ride on the train with him. This would give us personal and private time with him and also enable us to get a ride in his car, which was parked at Syosset station, to his home.

Accordingly, Llew and I walked past the hurrying Manhattan crowds at the end of a long work week and arrived at the newly-created LIRR Branch at Grand Central Station that eliminated the need for us to get to Penn Station to take our train. Both Llew and I were thoroughly impressed by the brilliant new maze of walkways and passages and tunnels that have been created along 42nd Street to enable commuters to get to New York from Grand Central Station. There are wide, beautifully lit walkways with clear signage and indications to provide directions. We saw the ticket kiosks and got our tickets--sadly, there are no seats or any place to enable weary commuters to rest—as they have been deliberately removed to discourage the homeless from occupying them. I did find a little quiet spot where I could sit down and in about ten minutes, John joined us.

The train ride to Long Island (my very first, I believe) was quite exciting as we passed by places like Jamaica which have changed enormously since I was familiar with the area more than thirty years ago. In many other respects, it was very similar to our ride into Connecticut on Metro-North trains. In about an hour, we were at Syosset and jumping into John’s car at the station, Within ten minutes then, we were at his home.

Dinner with the Bellomos:

Doreen was all set and ready to welcome us when we walked into her beautiful home after our long day in Manhattan. First of all, it was an absolute joy to see her after we had parted company at Nairobi airport at the end of our East African Safari in August. Her appetizers were set out already on the table and drinks were being fixed by John. Since we did not expect the rest to troop in for at least another hour or two, we savored the private time we had with them as we chatted about their forthcoming travels in India in November. Lauren, their daughter, also joined us and we had a lovely conversation together.

Soon, the rest of the party turned up—Ralph, his wife Lynne and daughter Sacha, following their long drive from Connecticut. For the rest of the evening, we had the best time as chatter flowed easily and we fully relaxed at the beginning of the weekend. When we adjourned to the dining table, we enjoyed Doreen’s vast spread that included Shrimp with Pilaf, Chicken, Pork, Brussels Sprouts and Tiramisu with ice-cream for dessert. Indeed, we feasted like kings and there was not a dull moment around the table as we fully enjoyed ourselves.

But, as all good things must come to an end, Ralph and family dropped us off to Fairfield Station (I must admit I dozed off a bit in the car on the long drive home) where we had parked own car and within fifteen minutes, we were finally home at Swapna’s ready to call it a night.

What an amazing day it had been! Certainly the most eventful since our arrival in the New York Tristate area. But we were knackered and it was with gratitude that we sank back in our beds and switched off the lights.

Until tomorrow, see ya’...

Flight from Canada to the USA (NYC) and Settling Down in Somerset, New Jersey

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada-New York-Connecticut-New Jersey

Flight from Canada to the USA (NYC) and Settling Down in Somerset, New Jersey

Today was rather bizarre in more ways than one. When I had planned our itinerary, it had not occurred to me that we’d be flying on that dreaded day—9/11. Yet, here we were, awaking with the knowledge that we’d be airborne on the same day (and at the same time—yikes!) as those passengers who had lost their lives on that fateful day! No more to be said!

So, you can imagine that I was quite keyed up as we awoke in Sylvia’s place for the last time and had a quick breakfast before we gathered our backpacks together to get to Pearson International airport in Toronto for our flight to New York. Yes, Phase Four of our travels had come to a close and we were about to embark on Phase Five (the final phase) in the USA.

Accordingly, we called for an Uber to get us to the airport, said our goodbyes and thank-yous to Sylvia who had been an exemplary hostess at a time when she was herself dealing with a new challenge in her life as a ‘Singleton’ and were on our way. The ride to the airport from Woodbridge took us about an hour and, as we did not have to deal with the return of a rental car at the airport (as we had to do on two previous occasions), we simply went straight to our check-in counter and with loads of time to spare, made it to our gate.

Flight from Toronto to New York City:

We had a very comfortable flight on Delta from Toronto to New York City. Really clear, cloudless skies and bright sunshine, during a flight that left at 11.30 am, meant that we had beautiful views of downtown Toronto, the City Center and the Harbor Front as we skimmed out of Canada. I managed to get some really good footage of the receding city before Llew and I settled down for the short flight. We had a very nice stewardess to take care of us in-flight and she plied us with packets of almonds, much to our unexpected delight, before we disembarked.

As we approached New York, I could see the East River and then the Hudson come into view. I kept clicking pictures with my camera and then, before I knew it, we were approaching JKF while flying over the Tappan Zee Bridge first and then the Verrazano Bridge. At this point, I realized that we’d probably be able to see the Statue of Liberty (and we did—although it was in the far distance and not very distinct) and Governor’s Island (much clearer). It was not lost on me that had we made this descent on 9/11 in 2001, we’d still be able to see the Twin Towers standing proud and tall in Manhattan Harbor. Instead what we did see was the Freedom Tower as we flew eastwards and made our way to JKF. I did get some footage but we did not have a very clear day and so my footage is not so clear. However, we reached down safe and sound—and that was all that mattered, really.

And so it was that we arrived again in the USA via JFK again. This time, the two of us merely picked up our back packs and made our way towards the Air Train. We were on it in no time and getting off at Federal Circle (where the Car Rental offices are) and within minutes, we were at the Budget counter claiming our rental car which we had booked way back in advance. It was then about 1.00 pm and yes, we were hungry, but we wanted to get on with it as we needed to get to Connecticut first, to the home of our friends the Factoras, as we had left the bulk of our baggage in their garage. Once we picked it up, we’d be able to make our way to South Jersey to Somerset, where we’d be spending the next few days.

The Saga of Getting a Rental Car from Budget:

Picking up our car at JFK was pretty painless but getting out of JFK (always a maze) is a bit of a stresser). Still, we did get on to the Throg’s Neck Bridge and once on it, it was a piece of cake getting on to the Merritt Parkway and into Connecticut. The weather was nice—nothing to complain about. However, by the time we had left New York, it became evident to Llew that there was an error message on his dashboard that worried him. He asked me to call Budget to find out what could be done to fix it as we did not want to stay in a car for nearly a week that was not of optimal quality. The phone call to the Customer Service folks at Budget led us to being advised to take the car over to the nearest Budget office to have it seen by a mechanic. As we knew where the Budget office in Fairfield, Connecticut, was, we decided to just head there first. Isn’t it annoying, when time is at a premium and you are trying to get to someplace before night falls, that you have all these unexpected glitches to deal with? I began to feel really frustrated at this nonsense.

Anyway, we finally made it to Fairfield, Connecticut, after fighting endless traffic, and headed straight for the Budget office. We found a single attendant there who told us that he had no mechanic present and no spare car available to give us, other than a hybrid. We told him that we did not want a hybrid and wondered if we could pick up an alternate car from his Budget Office in nearby Westport. He said we could try, When we asked if he could call his office in Westport to request them to hold a vehicle for us, he said he could not reach them. He gave us the number and told us to call them. While I was in the process of calling them, Llew went off to use his rest room and a little later, I did too. When I returned, I found the attendant on the phone himself. I have no idea to whom he was talking or what was being said. But next thing we knew, he miraculously had an alternative car in the back that he told us we could use (that was not a hybrid)! It was not a compact or mid-size car, but a larger one (not our preferred choice) but since we had no option, we agreed to take it. It actually worked out well for us (so, in the end, all was well, as we had a lot of baggage to fit into the trunk and it helped to have the larger one). About an hour after first arriving at Budget in Fairfield, we were finally ready to drive on. However, this car proved to be a real curse to us. Wait until you hear what happened to us at JFK airport just before we returned the car to Budget on our flight back to India!

By this time, it was past 3.00 pm and we were both starving. Even before going to the Factoras, I told Llew that I needed to buy a few items from Stop N Shop at Fairfield (olives, essentially—not bottled ones) as I was not sure where in New Jersey I would find them. Getting to Stop and Shop meant that we had the opportunity to pick up some food. I bought Clam Clowder for me and a Chicken Wrap for Llew. We then called the Factoras to tell them that we were on our way to their garage to pick up our stuff. I also called my brother Roger to see if they would be at home so that we could pay them one last visit before we left Connecticut. Sadly, neither he nor his wife, Lalita, responded to my text as they were both busy at work. I left them a voice mail message and told them to call me if they could see us at about 5.00 pm. By the time, they did get back to me, we were already on the highway to New Jersey—so we lost the opportunity to see them one last time.

We ate our lunch in the Factoras’ driveway at about 5.00 pm—if you can believe it. As I said, it was a bizarre day! Then, having been given the code to their garage door, we opened it, got our bags loaded into the large trunk of our car, had a final look around to make sure we had left nothing behind and we were off. As we passed by our own home on Pequot Avenue, when heading to the I-95, we took one last look at it and waved it goodbye. Finally, we were on our way to New Jersey. We called our friends, Imraan and Ghazala and told them that our ETA was about 8.15 pm. as it was almost 5.45 pm by the time we left. Needless to say, we were right in the thick of traffic throughout our journey, but at least we were moving forward.

Dinner at the Masuds:

By the time we reached our friends, the Masuds’ home, in Somerset, darkness had well and truly fallen over New Jersey as it was almost 9.00 pm. Still, our friends had a superb dinner all laid out and ready for us. Ghazala had laid the table beautifully and the meal was just delicious. We had paneer with chicken, mutton carry, rice, salad, rotis and papads. So you can imagine that having subsisted on soup and a sandwich during a really annoying day, we were so happy to feel embraced by the company of loving, hospitable friends once again who would serve us nothing but the most delicious, home-cooked meals for the next few days. They showed us downstairs to our beautifully-appointed basement apartment which gave us full privacy while we would eat all our meals upstairs with them. It was really the best kind of arrangement and we felt very grateful for it. Just before our meal ended, we were joined by their daughter, Kiran, whom we were seeing after a very long time indeed.

It was at about 10.30 pm that we finally said Good Night to our friends and went down to bed at the start of our last few days in the USA. We had just a bit more shopping to do (while keeping the weight allowance uppermost in our minds) and a lovely wedding to look forward to as we settled down to bed.

Until tomorrow…cheerio.

Lunch at The Metropolitan Museum of Art with Fellow-Docents, Appointment with an Ophthalmologist and Dinner with Friends at ‘Il Tinello’.

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Fairfield-New York City-Fairfield

Lunch at The Metropolitan Museum of Art with Fellow-Docents, Appointment with an Ophthalmologist and Dinner with Friends at ‘Il Tinello’.

The Big Apple called today-and we responded!!! It was so fab to be New Yorkers again But to begin at the beginning of the day… We awoke this morning in yet another venue—the well-appointed guest room of our friends, Bonnie and Art, in Fairfield, Connecticut, where we had arrived well past midnight. It was little wonder that we woke late to go downstairs and find that Bonnie had put out a lovely mini-breakfast buffet for us: her homemade blueberry muffins, her homemade granola (she told me there was yogurt in the fridge) and Art had actually gone out, while we were still asleep, to buy me decaff coffee! Now how thoughtful is that? My mind was blown away! We had a quick breakfast, however, as we had to get to Manhattan on the first off-peak train, if possible. And, prior to that, we needed to drive to our friend, Mary-Lauren’s house to pick up a bag of my DVDs that she had left there for me. I was going to take those into the city to drop them off, later in the afternoon, at the apartment of my friend, Ruchi, who had offered to carry them to Bombay for me. So, there were 20 DVDs that I picked up that morning.

That done, we drove away without meeting anyone in the house as they were already at work. We parked our car in the Day Parking slot at Southport Station, bought our senior discounted tickets from the ticket machine and we were off.

Journey into Manhattan:

It was just wonderful to ride the Meto-North train again. Although it was reminiscent of the countless journeys we took, over three decades, into Manhattan to get to work, this was slightly different. We were clearly on ‘vacation’ and had a whole lot of things to think of that were not work-related. As it was end-August and my NYU faculty members were all on vacation, it did not make any sense for me to go to my old office building to meet anyone—it would be completely dead. Llew, on the other hand, had plans to meet his former colleagues and, in particular, our friend Anna, with whom he would have lunch. I was headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to have lunch with some of my friends.

So, I got off at 125th Street in Harlem (still filthy & smelly--as I always do when I am headed to the Met) and Llew carried on in the train to the last stop at Grand Central Station. I then walked one block down to the subway station and took the 5 train to 86th Street from where I walked a few blocks to the Met. It was already almost 1.00 pm. It was simply terrific to stroll along the Upper East Side (still immaculate and ultra posh) on a particularly lovely day when the temperature was just perfect. I reached the Met in ten minutes and at the Main Info Desk on the main floor, I found my friend, Friea waiting for me. One big hug later, we were joined by our other docent friend, Liz, and without much ado, we made our way to the Staff Cafetaria for lunch. It was great fun to see my learned friends again.

Lunch with my Met Docent Friends:

It is always a thrill for me to eat in the Staff Cafeteria at the Met for old times’ sake. You might think I’m crazy but, apart from the nostalgia element which is important to me (I spent years eating lunch there on Sundays in-between the Highlights Tours I gave), it really has one of the tastiest Salad Bars I know and I always looked forward to assembling a salad there and douzing it with their incredible Caesar Salad Dressing. I included stuffed dolmades (vine leaves with rice, herbs and pine nuts), artichoke hearts and tons of blue cheese plus cubes of grilled chicken—you can just imagine how scrumptious (and how large) my salad was! My two friends also chose salads and armed with these meals, we made our way to the fountain courtyard to eat.

Great food aside, the best part of these meals with long-time friends is the ability to catch up on everything that has gone on in our lives since the last time we met. And yes, we had tons to talk about—and we did. Plus, there was the bonus of meeting yet another docent friend, Carmen, who had also graduated with our batch of docent trainees in 2000! It was terrific having a reunion with her. So, in every way, it was a grand lunch and I enjoyed every second of it.

A Really Special Fashion Exhibition at the Met:

My friends advised me to make certain I took in the stunning exhibition in the Costume Institute entitled, ‘Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion’ which featured designs from everyone you can think of beginning with the 1950’s House of Worth & Schiaparelli to contemporary designers like Issac Mizrahi, the House of Dior, Alexander McQueen, Michael Kors, etc. What was amazing was that the designs were inspired by various elements from the natural world—flowers, fruit, vegetables, even insects. As with all Costume Institute exhibitions, the outfits were beautifully curated. Each one was a work of art in its conception, design and execution: what one needs to admire and note is the structure of each garment. I found it all breathtaking and spent far more time than I had expected.

Appointments with our Ophthalmologist off Park Avenue:

Still, towards the end I had to run as I had a 3.00 pm appointment with our ophthalmologist, Dr. Daniel Rosberger, who has been treating me for just a year (I had my last check-up with him exactly a year ago) and Llew for at least 15 years. Llew joined me there to get our annual check-ups. The testing, scanning, dilation, injection of veins with dye to ensure there was no bleeding in the eye, was all so detailed, but at the end, it was done. As always, I am impressed by the thoroughness of the procedures and the attention to explanation. The patient is never kept guessing about what is going on. Overall? News is not bad, at least not for the moment. Next check-up recommended for next year.

Stroll Down Lexington Avenue to Meet a Friend:

With our eyes well and truly dilated, we walked down Lexington Avenue. Llew told me he’d had a very nice lunch with Anna and had caught up on a lot of office news since his departure. We were headed to our friend Ruchi’s apartment on Lexington Avenue and spent a good hour gabbing with her, her husband and college-going son. It was wonderful to be in Manhattan again—to take in its energy, its verve, and its sense of being unchanging. We spent a lovely hour with Ruchi and I finally handed my DVDs over to her. I also met her older son (I know her younger one well) and her husband and after about an hour, with a promise that we would meet again in Bombay, we left.

Dinner with Close Friends at ‘Il Tinello’:

Having walked about twenty blocks downtown to Ruchi’s place, we had both worked up quite an appetite and were well and truly ready for dinner. So, next, we strolled down Lexington Avenue to keep our dinner appointment with two of our closest friends, Amy Tobin & her partner, Rothschild, at ‘Il Tinello’, a very glam Italian restaurant. Llew had last seen them when they had come to Fairfield to bid us goodbye, just before we left together for India. I had met Amy last August—exactly a year ago—when she had helped me so much in closing down my office at NYU and loading my stuff into the train. I will never forget how helpful she had been to me. A true friend in need! The meal was simply superb and the service outstanding. Bruschetta for a starter at ‘Il Tinello’ was followed by 4 different plates of Pasta: Orchiette with Brocolli Rabe & Italian Sausage (me); Rigatoni with Bolognese Sauce & fresh Mozarella (Amy); Ravioli with ground veal & spinach (Llew) and Spaghetti Vongole (with clam sauce—Rothschild). We shared Tiramisu for dessert. Italian is not my favorite cuisine for nothing!!!! There was much drama at the next table as the waiter rustled up a fancy dessert called Zabaglione for the ladies at the next table. It is such spectacles that make eating out in New York so much fun! Dinner done and the bill paid, the four of us walked two blocks ahead to Grand Central Station to take the train (and subway for them) back to Southport! What a terrific day we’d had in New York! We’d done all our errands and met good friends, we’d eaten superb meals and we’d used every minute of our time in The Big Apple.

Until tomorrow, cheerio…

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!

A Day Spent with an Ophthalmologist in New York

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

New York City

A Day Spent with an Ophthalmologist in New York

Today was a most unusual sort of day and one that left me a bit saddened by its outcome.

I awoke, as usual, rather early, and sent out Thank you notes to my Book Club friends (whom I had met last night) for a lovely and lively evening. There was not too much time left after my breakfast (muesli with yogurt and milk and decaff coffee) to do much. Hence, I got dressed and ready for my appointment in the city with a new physician I would be seeing and with whom I had set up an appointment.

Leslie dropped me off at Westport station for my train, I bought my ticket from the machine and off I went. It was a lovely day, thankfully, but because I knew that my pupils would be dilated after my appointment, I did not make plans to meet anyone else after it ended.

Strolling in Manhattan:

My appointment was on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (perhaps the ritziest part of the city) and as I strolled along from the Hunter College stop on the 6 line from Lexington Avenue toward Park and Madison (my clinic is on 72nd Street), I did a spot of window shopping. I also realized that I was feeling peckish and since my appointment was at 1.45 and would probably go until at least 2.45, I decided to try to find some lunch before I saw the doctor.

Sadly, there are not too many casual places in which one can find a bite in this snazzy part of town. When I spotted Eli Zabar’s Bakery, about two blocks away from the clinic. I went in for quick snack. I ended up buying an almond croissant ($5, if you can believe it!) and enjoyed it outside in the little street-side chairs and tables that he has set up (as there is no place to sit inside). Then, I hurried forth to my appointment.

Seeing the Ophthalmologist:

Llew has been seeing Dr. Rosberger for at least 20 years now at his clinic on Park Avenue called Maculacare. He is recognized as one of the finest retina-specialists in the USA and Llew was keen that I should see him for a second opinion. It turns out that, about two months ago, I had begun to notice a peculiarity in my right eye that causes distortion of the image particularly when I am reading (not so much while watching TV, unless I cover my left eye). I had seen one of the leading ophthalmologists in Bombay, Dr. Borse, who had been treating my Dad for decades, and he had diagnosed my condition as age-related pulling away of the retina from the eye wall which had resulted in a gap or hole. This hole was causing the distortion, he said. He further opined that it would possibly get better with time until I would not notice the condition at all. He even gave me some medication (powder to be dissolved in water) which, he said, might hasten the automatic repair of the condition.

After my eyes were examined by someone called Sonam (Dr. Rosberger’s assistant) and my eyesight found to be 20/20 (or so he said) with my current glasses, I was sat in another room after my pupils were dilated. Along came Dr. Rosberger who remembered Llew well and told me to give him regards. He then began his careful examination of my eyes using the scanners, bright lights, etc. I was then sent into another room for more scans. It was not long before Dr. Rosberger pronounced his verdict and gave me the dreaded diagnosis. Yes, he said, my macula has degenerated just a little bit. I have caught it at the earliest stages and it is restricted, right now, only to one eye. This condition, he said, is age-related and myopia-related (I have been short-sighted or near-sighted and have worn glasses since the age of 13 and contact lenses since the age of 18). There is also an epiretinal membrane that has formed on my retina (which, as the doctor described it, has a crumbled appearance instead of lying down flat on the retina). This crumbling is causing the distortion of vision.

Furthermore, the doctor said, that there is little possibility that this could get better on its own. Could it get worse? Yes, it could. Is there any treatment for it? Apart from surgery, no. And in the case of surgery (particularly at this early stage), risks outweigh benefits and are, therefore, not recommended. He told me that from my now, my eyes will need to be monitored carefully every six months. He set up an appointment for me, six months from now—in the heart of a frigid New York winter (frankly, wild horses will not bring me back to North America in this season!). So I shall see Dr Borse in Bombay. Of course, he cautioned me seriously, if there is any change of any kind, I would need to see him immediately, he said.

Wow! You can just imagine how hard I was hit by this news! I now join the line of folks I know who are living with this condition: my Dad, of course, who is now legally blind, has had it since his 60s; Llew who has battled all sorts of serious eye conditions including two detached retinas (due to acute myopia) 45 years ago, has severe macular degeneration; my friend Jane Dean (whom I shall be seeing next week for breakfast), who is almost 90 and who tells me that she has great difficulty reading my monthly newsletters which she loves; my friend Liz Virkar in Bombay who is currently undergoing some kind of eye treatment that involves periodic shots in her eye for the same condition. Of course, there are severity of stages in this condition and each person’s eyes react differently. But, overall, it is not a diagnosis one would like to receive. Fortunately, I have profoundly inspiring men in my life (my Dad, my husband) who live with this condition daily and have never let it affect their quality of life or their enjoyment of it. So, I propose to soldier on bravely, resorting as always to prayer and leaving myself and my eyesight in the hands of the Lord and His Blessed Mother. May it be done according to their will.

Dr. Rosberger also wanted to take some photographs of my eye—as he explained, it was not an MRI or an X-ray—just pictures. But he also wanted to test the condition of my optic nerve and to find out if there was any bleeding or inflammation in my eye (he rather doubted this, but he wanted to be certain). Hence, I was sent to another room where an assistant named Thairides (yes, that’s her name!) gave me a shot in a vein on my right hand. This put an orange dye into my veins. This dye would spread, through my heart, all over my body and would enter my eyes and the veins in my eye. Pictures were then taken of my right eye and on studying them, Dr. Rosberger confirmed that there was no bleeding or inflammation—all of which are positive signs. All this done, he made his notes and told me to make an appointment to see him after six months (which I did).As he did not tell me to alter my normal lifestyle in any way, I guess I can continue in this vein for as long as possible. Naturally, because I love reading and watching TV so much, I hope this will not affect my enjoyment of these activities (especially now that I am retired and have so much more time to indulge in them).

Journey Home to Westport:

Whew! That done, I left the clinic (which is on the lower level) and emerged out on to the street between Madison and Park Avenues and found my eyesight deeply affected by the pupil dilation. All I could do was think of getting on a bus and riding uptown to 125th Street so that I could take the first train going out to Westport. And that was exactly what I intended to do.

Introduction to a New Parfumerie:

But, before I got there, I found that I passed what was the former showroom of Jo Malone (opposite the Met-Brauer Museum—which is now permanently closed but which houses the collection of the Frick Museum temporarily). I found that Jo Malone closed their showroom too (it is now an optician) but I did pass by a parfumerie called Fueguia 1833 (an Argentinian parfumerie that was founded in 1833 in Patagonia and is based on the concept of botanical extracts). I really loved the showroom which was set up around the concept of dozens of beautiful crystal flacons each of which had a glass globe over it. To experience the scent, the assistant sprayed the inside of the glass globe to allow you to sniff it—what a novel concept. Of course, this offers no indication of how the perfume will react with the warmth of your skin…but you get the idea. I love the fragrance of fig and I was naturally drawn to it. The assistant was kind enough to make me a small sample sized bottle of it and I left the store feeling delighted that I had the essence of Fig in my purse. Jo Malone used to make a Fig fragrance which I used to love but which they discontinued (much to my annoyance). I hate it when cosmetics companies discontinue their products. Anyway, I was delighted with my little treasure.

Reaching Home:

A few steps ahead, I found the bus stop and in a few minutes, along came the M1. I hopped into it all the way up Madison Avenue till 125th Street which I reached with just five minutes to spare before my train arrived. I was grateful for my sunglasses which kept the unpleasantness of the sun out of my dilated eyes as I walked really fast for my train.

Five minutes later, I was in my train and headed to Westport. I got off at Southport station and waited for a few minutes until, right after 6pm, Leslie picked me up (at the conclusion of her work). We reached home and I reached for a cuppa and some cookies as I was really ravenous (having eaten only my croissant for lunch).

I then had an uneventful evening as my eyes were quite badly dilated. Sunil, who was nursing a cold, was upstairs, fast asleep. This left Leslie and me to rustle up some dinner. She chose to make an Israeli couscous dish with chicken stock and spinach and some roasted brocolli, but I had my leftovers from our dinner at Sakura (noodles, vegetables and steak) and since I had eaten a light lunch, I took a healthy helping—but still left some for tomorrow (there was so much!).

Basically, that was my day! Apart from seeing the eye doctor, I did not do too much.

Until tomorrow..cheerio!

Another Glorious Day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and a Book Club Meeting with Fairfield Friends:

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

New York City and Fairfield, Connecticut

Another Glorious Day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and a Book Club Meeting with Fairfield Friends:

Life here in Westport, Connecticut, has entered a routine phase. I awake by 4.30 am and spend most of my time still in bed as I read or blog or communicate with friends via texting. But by 6.30 am, I start teaching online in India and today, I taught Arjun and Veer. In-between, I helped myself to a cup of coffee to keep me going. After I finished teaching my two sessions, back to back, I made myself some breakfast (muesli with honey yoghurt and milk) and soon got myself ready for my day in the city. I had made plans to meet my docent batch-mate and friend Liz Kaplan for lunch and I would need to time my train to make it on time.

Just as I was getting ready to call an Uber to get to Westport station, Sunil told me that he could run me to the station. Accordingly, we left in exactly five minutes and in less than ten minutes I was at Westport getting my ticket from the machine on the platform. I had a little while to use the restroom at the station before my train (9.40am) came along and I made myself comfortable inside. I used my time on the train to talk to Llew, to my friend Ashley (who has relocated back to Bandra recently) and to wish my friend Delyse a very Happy Birthday.

At 125th and Harlem, I got off the train and decided to do what Leslie had suggested: instead of taking the subway down to the Met, I walked two blocks to Fifth Avenue. From there, I jumped into the M1 bus (that was actually waiting there) and, hey presto, in about twenty minutes, I was being dropped right outside the Met! I simply could not believe that after literally decades of going by subway and then crosstown bus to the Met from 125th, there was a simpler way to do it! Gosh! Live and Learn!!!

Lunch with Liz and George at the Met:

From the get-go at the Met, I was stunned at the number of people that had invaded the museum. Yes, it was a somewhat damp day (although it was not raining) and I am aware that the Met is on the To-Do List of every visitor to NYC, but to see it simply crawling with humanity…well, I have to say that I do not recall ever seeing it so crowded. Tourism, post-pandemic, is certainly back with a bag and the number of global visitors has to be seen to be believed.

I walked in through the staff entrance on the ground floor, had a chance to quickly browse through the Clearance items in the gift-store and then took the elevator upstairs to get to the staff dining hall where I was supposed to meet my friends Liz and George. And indeed within a minutef entering the space, I spotted Liz and had a fond reunion with her. In very little time after that, I made my way to the Salad Bar at the cafeteria and helped myself to the most wonderfully fresh ingredients and two dolmades (Greek stuffed vine-leaves—one of my favorite things to eat). Indeed, I absolutely love the salads at the Met and ate them in-between my tours for 27 years…they were always something to which I looked forward. And now too, whenever I return to the Met, it is to the Salad Bar that I make a beeline to mix my own.

Liz, George and I settled down for a lovely chat over lunch (they too picked salads) and did a lot of catching up. Liz is almost 90 and her daughter is planning a grand family trip to Japan for them in the winter to celebrate her milestone birthday—so she has a lot to anticipate. She moved from giving Highlights tours for which we were all trained together to giving specialty Musical Instruments tours, And since I had never taken one of those with her, I had made a date that I would take her 1.00 pm tour. Accordingly, after lunch, I browsed a bit in the gift shop and then made my way to Velez Blanco Patio for the start of Liz’s tour.

Taking Liz’s Musical Instruments Tour:

Needless to say, Liz’s tour was simply marvelous. I was visiting that part of the museum after ages and had no idea that it had undergone a major renovation and that many of the items had been rearranged. Lis took us brilliantly through the various sections introducing us to rattles, whistles and bells (early Federal era musical toys that were fashioned out of silver, gold and coral) all the way to contemporary musical instruments. Of course, she showed us the Stradivari violins and the Todini harpsichord but in-between, there was a conch shell we saw as well as a Rondador, an instrument I had never seen in my life—not to mention whistling jars! It was a superbly enlightening one hour and I came away having learned so much about the history of global music. Full marks to my friend Liz who made it humorous and showed off her expert knowledge on the subject.

A Hot Chocolate in the Patron’s Lounge:

As Liz was (understandably) very fatigued after giving the tour, we made our way up to the Patron’s Lounge where we settled down on the plushiest sofas to enjoy a much-needed hot chocolate. It is incredibly peaceful up there, on the fourth floor of the Museum, which is a private space devoted only to members and to us, ID-card holders of the Met. The fact that tea, coffee and hot chocolate are available there, makes it doubly attractive.

I was also really sleepy and tired after the tour and could do with a nap. I bid Liz goodbye and thanks and told her to carry on as I lay right there on the sofa and had my customary 20-minute shut eye. It always does me a world of good and, just a little later, as expected, I got my second wind and was ready to roll again.

Seeing the Special Exhibitions at the Met:

This time, I decided to take a look at the special exhibitions at the Met. I chose to see the newest one that has just been installed. It is by the Abstract Expressionist Cecily Brown, a British artist who was influenced early by Maggie Hambling and then moved to the USA. Her canvasses are a riot of color in the Pollock vein although she names Edvard Munch as an influence. Once I read the curatorial notes, I began to get a better idea of her work (in the beginning, I found it hard to respond to) and warmed to her ideas and perspectives.

Then, on a different note, I decided to go and see some of my favorite canvasses in the Met and the museum made it easy as they had a special exhibition entitled ‘Dutch Masters at the Met’ down in the Lehman Wing. There I feasted my eyes on canvasses by Rembrandt, Pieter de Hooch and Vermeer and, of course, I had the best time. Truly, if I could have spent my retirement living in New York City, this is exactly what I would do—haunt the best museums in the world with a vengeance.

Back Home on the Train:

It was almost 5.00 pm and the museum was closing by the time I finished with it. I went straight to the 86 bus stop and then took the Uptown 5 train to 125th Street in Harlem from where I jumped into the Metro-North train and came back home. Leslie told me to get off at Southport station as she was just about to finish library duty and could pick me up. She was already there when my train arrived and we drove back to her place well in time for me to get ready for my Book Club Meeting that was at 8 pm.

Off to my Book Club Meeting:

As decided, I had just finished my shower and was ready to leave when my friend Bonnie rolled up to take me for our Book Club Meeting to Cathy’s house in Fairfield. I am exceedingly grateful to my friends who are giving me rides in this way and making my life fun and easy. In fact, I told her to give me five minutes while I finished reading the last 10 pages of the novel “The Covenant of Water” which is really exceedingly lengthy and which I have taken over a month to read—all 750 pages of it. But it was truly a worthwhile red and at the end of it, when I finished the book, all I could say was “Wow”. Indeed, we’d have much to discuss when we were all together.

We arrived at Cathy’s and realized that Bonnie, Cathy and I were all wearing red and white! Of course, we had to take pictures together. Mary-Lauren and Mary-Jo joined us subsequently. I was really sorry that Amy was not present as she had a family crisis and had temporarily moved away from Fairfield to be close to her parents. We discussed so many things happening in our families and it seemed to me I had never left. How great it felt to be back in the bosom of some of my dearest friends in Fairfield. Of course, we then got down to the serious business of eating as food and wine are essential parts of our Book Club evenings. Cathy had dips for appetizers and an Asian-style grilled salmon with rice studded with golden raisins and scented with cumin as well as a hugely colorful and very delicious salad. For dessert, we had chocolate cups (from The Pantry), a mixed berry salad and macarons. All simply wonderful!

While eating at the table, we found that the book left us a world of ideas to discuss. Everyone had their favorite character, their opinion on the plot and personal aspects of the lives that resonated with the book. Overall, a truly satisfying book to dissect and a really great contemporary novel. We have hopes that it will win the Pulitzer Prize this year.

At the end of the meeting (I can’t believe I did this for 27 years of my life), we all said our goodbyes and Bonnie dropped me back home. It was a really fabulous day and I give thanks that I am able to have a life that is filled with so many varying interests and so many fabulous and fond friends.

Until tomorrow…cheerio!

Operation NYU Exit Continues, Brunch with Amy, Arrival in Westport, Connecticut

Sunday, August 6, 2023

New York City

Operation NYU Exit Continues, Brunch with Amy, Arrival in Westport, Connecticut

I awoke on Sunday at 4.30 am in my Manhattan apartment. I still cannot get over my good fortune in having such a beautiful apartment at my disposal. It is a darling space: a large living room-cum-kitchen that is sparsely but adequately furnished and stocked, gives way to a bedroom and bathroom within. What is most stunning about this venue are the views, of course, and they change at different times of the day depending on the level of natural light (or lack of it). When the sun goes down, the lights in the city come on and the place is illuminated like a Christmas card. It is thoroughly bewitching.

I was hungry when I awoke and, rummaging through the cabinets, I found crackers that I ate with peanut butter. A little later, I ate a bagel with more peanut butter. I had to eat these items to fill and sustain myself although I knew I would be having brunch with my friend, Amy, later in the morning. Amy was teaching a yoga class till 10.30 am and told me she could meet me at my office at NYU at 11.00 am.

I decided to get cracking myself to take advantage of the hours before her arrival to put the finishing touches to the clearing out of my office. Yes, it is the end of an era for me and I am glad I went about it in a systematic fashion. Are there more things I would have liked to take away from my office to India? Of course! But I have to be practical and ruthless and realize that there is only so much I can cart away and I do not want my apartment in Bombay (large and spacious though it is) to became an accumulation ground for more clutter. So, I am reluctantly getting rid of a lot of stuff. I am carrying two lamps back to Bombay (if you can believe it): a banker’s lamp for my desk and another rather nice one for my verandah where I would like to have softer light than is currently being provided by overhead lighting.

So I showered, cleaned up the apartment, put the towels I used into a bag to bring them back to Connecticut to be laundered, packed up all my items in my sling bag and left the apartment at 10.00 am. Since it was a Sunday, I’d have liked to have gone to Mass—but I had no idea where any church was located, what time the Masses were, how I could possibly manage to get there on my overused knee and with the load I was carrying. So I decided to drop the idea of Mass.

A Visit to the Church of St. Agnes:

So, I was delighted that en route to Grand Central Terminal, while walking along 43rd Street, I actually passed by the Catholic Church of St. Agnes. Of course, I did not get a Mass (as the last one was already done at 8.30 am), but I was able to enter a really beautiful, serene space and make a fervent visit. Above all, I thanked The Lord for the gift of the Manhattan apartment and the generosity of my friends, Mary-Lauren and Brett, who gave me the keys and made my life so easy in the past few days by offering the convenience of their Manhattan setting. I had also graduated from St. Agnes’ High School in Bombay—so this saint is a kind of patron saint for me and I thought it significant that happenstance brought me to this church.

On the Subway to Manhattan:

I was halfway on the subway to Manhattan when Amy texted me to inform me that she was done with the teaching of her class and was heading to NYU to meet me. There was no Security presence on Sunday and I had to use my key fob to enter the premises. There was not a soul in the entire building as I made my way to the sixth floor and entered my office for the very last time. Once inside, I quickly went over the last tasks I had to do by way of tying up all loose ends together as it were, I had a heavy, full-sized suitcase packed with my stuff plus a number of bags containing books. I was really grateful for Amy who told me that she would help me transport my bags and baggage to Grand Central Station after brunch, as I simply would not have been able to manage entirely on my own (particularly since my knee was playing up so badly).

Brunch at Fred and Wife Freda’s:

Amy arrived in about half an hour (by which time I had completed the entire task of clearing out my stuff). What I could not take with me, I left behind with labels saying “Junk”. I told Billy, my colleague, that he could dispose of them as he saw fit. Gosh! What a huge task it was! But then, compared with the clearing of a four level home that I had undertaken in one month in Connecticut last November, it was not really much at all!

Amy googled good places to eat Brunch near NYU and came up with the Grey Dog on University Place. It was a really beautiful morning in New York City and the weather was perfectly conducive for browsing at a street market (which is what we did). However, as I was reluctant to do too much walking, we went in search of the café. We ended up at Fred’s Wife Freda, a really weird name for a café, but it did specialize in brunch.

A quick look at the menu led both of us to choose the Rosewater waffles with Lebanese labneh (yoghurt), fresh berries and honeyed syrup. Amy had a cold-brew press coffee and I chose to wait until we finished to go to Amorino’s to get myself a hot chocolate. This used to be my guilty pleasure when I was teaching in buildings that required me to walk through Fifth Avenue or University Place to get back to my office. The waffles were very tasty and yes, we did ask for more syrup as there wasn’t nearly enough served with our dish; but it was delicious. After we settled the bill, we strolled to Amorino’s where Amy got me a hot chocolate (which was wonderful of her).

Leaving New York for Connecticut:

With brunch accomplished, Amy and I decided to get going back to Connecticut. Amy said she would accompany me in the Uber as far as the station and would put me in the train before leaving. I felt highly indebted to her and wondered what on earth I could ever do without friends!

I called for an Uber on my phone, got one in 5 minutes, after we had brought my stuff downstairs to street level. The Uber arrived and we were off. I had hoped to get the 2.02 pm train but the driver did not even know where he was going and we lost a lot of time. We ended up taking the 2.34 train but it was fine because we had enough time to find our platform, load my items in the train and leave.

By half past three, I was at Westport station in Connecticut, where Leslie was waiting for me. She then helped me get my items into her car and in no time we were at her place. I was deeply relieved that I had finished this major assignment that had been dangling like a sword above my head. Once we arrived at Leslie’s, she settled me back with a cup of lemony tea and some cookies and we sat chatting about all my escapades of the past few days. She also walked me around the house showing me all the controls of things I might need to use. I spent a while unpacking and putting my clothes into the closet and making myself feel at home.

Dinner at Leslie’s:

Dinner that first night at Leslie’s was a salad, spinach tortellini served with a delicious zucchini-tomato sauce that Leslie had made and some roasted broccoli. A very delicious quickly improvised meal indeed! We sat watching TV as Leslie is avidly following Trump’s indictments as covered by MSNBC and also filled me in on some of the salient features of the issues.

I was, understandably, pretty tired by the end of the day and ready to get to my bed as soon as possible as I craved rest. And that was exactly what I did!

Until tomorrow…cheerio!

Clearing Out my Office at NYU and Meeting a Former Student

Saturday, August 5, 2023

Manhattan, New York City

Clearing Out my Office at NYU and Meeting a Former Student

Breakfast and Beginning my Big Task:

Being jetlagged still, I awoke at 4.30 am while the rest of Manhattan was fast asleep. I could not get over the sight of the Chrysler Building staring me in the face as I got out of bed to use the rest room. There is something totally awesome about being surrounded by buildings from a hundred years ago, each of which is absolutely crammed with character in its upper reaches. Who knew, for instance, that there are a bunch of animal figurines all over the tops of the skyscrapers in Midtown? But when you are looking at the rooftops at eye level, you pick up so much architectural detail as to be charmed out of all expression.

I was a bit hungry (as I am still on London time) and so I ate a bagel (that I had picked up yesterday) with peanut butter that I found in a cabinet. There is a coffee machine in this apartment but no milk or whitener and since I cannot stand black coffee, I passed on it and simply washed my breakfast down with water.

I then went in for a shower, got myself dressed and decided to get out early. My knee was aching really badly and I was very worried about it. I decided to stop at a CVS Pharmacy and pick up Extra Strength Tylenol as well as a knee brace (sleeve) that would provide knee compression. I had also used ice packs at Mary-Lauren’s to cool down any knee inflammation. I suppose I was doing everything sensible to ensure quick recovery.

It was nice to see Manhattan wake up to a new day. There were a few runners and walkers around and when I found out that there were bus stops right on Second Avenue, I decided to give my knees a break and take a bus downtown instead of walking to Lexington Avenue to take the subway. Accordingly, I jumped into a No. 15 bus that was sailing downtown and as it happened to be an Express Bus, I reached Eight Street in less than ten minutes. Traffic was very light as it was a Saturday and the city enjoyed the luxury of a late lie-in.

From Second Avenue, I had to walk across town towards Astor Place. It happened to be the day of some important New York City race (not the marathon which takes place in November) and there were all sorts of freebies by way of drinks being distributed outside Astor Place. I picked up a yoghurt and some canned drinks and made my way to my office.

Continuing the Clearance of my Office:

And so it was that I began clearing up my books and files and boxes of accumulated paper. There was no one on the floor, although the Security Man was downstairs. I felt a sense of deja-vu all over again as I went over all the papers and discarded, directly in the recycling bin, all those items I did not want. Again, I felt as if I were going through my entire teaching career with all the course materials and correspondence in which I have been involved through the decades. Little by little, in the dead silence of the office, with not another soul around, I was able to focus on my work and get going quickly.

Stopping For Lunch:

At about 1.00 pm, I decided to stop for lunch and thought that I would simply get a salad from McDonald’s which is right below my office building. But, of course, to my disappointment, McDonald’s was temporarily closed. The next alternative would have been to go to Wendy’s to buy their chilli (which I love); but Wendy’s was at least five blocks away and I simply did not feel comfortable taxing my knee in that fashion. With little choice, I crossed the street to get to Fresh & Co where I ordered a salad with rocket, green apples, walnuts, cranberries and blue cheese with a balsamic vinaigrette and it was really very good except that I think I was too heavy on the dressing. I carried my salad up to my office and I ate it there together with one of the free drinks I had picked up.

Meeting a Friend From Bombay:

I continued working steadily (disposing off a vast amount of paper) until 3.00 pm when I had made plans to meet my friend Avantika from Bombay who happened to be in New York. We had decided to meet for coffee at Le Pain Quotidien on 13th and Broadway; but as that venue would be a good five blocks from my office, I texted her to ask for a change of venue to enable me avoid using my knees. She did arrive at 3.00pm as she happened to be meeting another professor friend, Tejaswini Ganti, and when she did arrive at the lobby of my building, it was with them.

After greeting them, I took Avantika to my office where we sat down and had a nice chinwag. She is leaving New York in a couple of days to return to Bombay and would gladly have had had a Highlights Tour of the Met with me. But my left knee simply does not permit such an indulgence and I had to beg out of that one. A couple of photographs later, Avantika left. I saw her down to the lobby and said my Goodbyes to her with the promise that we would meet again in Bombay.

Continuing Through the Afternoon Session:

I continued through the afternoon session and soon realized that with my bad knee, I could not climb up chairs and tables to take off the artwork on my walls. As it happened, I had made phone contact with my former student, Aria, who is also the editor of the manuscript of my next book. She would be free after 6.30pm and she told me she would be happy to come to my office and meet me. I was delighted. Not only could I solicit her help in peeling off the posters, etc. from my walls, but I could also ask her if she wanted some of the items in my office such as an antique lamp, a set of novelty candles, a box of upscale tea. She was thrilled to have them all, when she did show up and I was so pleased that some of my long-term goods had found a good new home In fact, Aria took the lamp and dropped it off at her apartment which was just a ten minute walk away; and then she returned to my office to pick me up. She also used her marvelous height to peel off all the decorative items that I had so loved. During her departure, I straightened up a lot of my bits and bobs that were scattered around. I knew, by the end of the day (literally), that I really had very little work to do the next day as most of it had already been done. How thrilled I was, and how grateful to have Aria help me! We could then turn our thoughts to dinner.

Italian Dinner at Patsy’s with Aria:

I told Aria that I would appreciate it if we found a place to have dinner really close to my apartment as I was really afraid of having to walk alone on my bad knee. She was quite cool with that. So we took the Subway to Grand Central Station from Astor Place and as we walked along 43rd Street towards Tudor City, we passed by Patsy’s, an Italian restaurant that appealed to both of us.

Patsy’s was lovely and after we settled ourselves at a corner table, we ordered a white pizza and a salad with arugula and fennel. Throughout the evening, we talked about Aria’s plans—she is taking the LSAT exams to go to Law School—and her living situation in Manhattan where she works as a para-legal in a Law firm. We had a really lovely evening together and I was delighted that I was able to spend so much time with her as most of our interaction has been on email through the long years of Covid when she first began working for me.

At the end of the evening, after we settled the bill, Aria walked with me towards my apartment building. It was a beautifully clear night in New York City and I was quite delighted to live entirely in the moment.

After we took a few pictures together, we said our goodbyes and I entered my apartment building. It was late and I was tired and all I wanted to do was brush and floss my teeth and get straight into bed (which was exactly what I did).

It had been a very productive day but also filled with the joy of meeting a student who is now a friend. What a great way to end my career at NYU.

Until tomorrow…cheerio!

Hello Again USA! It’s (Somewhat) Good to be ‘Home’!

Westport, Connecticut

Friday, August 4, 2023

Hello Again USA! It’s good to be ‘Home’!

As expected, I was jetlagged when I awoke in my friend Leslie’s place in Westport, Connecticut, on my first day back ‘home’ in the USA. Everyone asked me how it felt to be back. And frankly, I had no real feelings. I arrived in the US in the dead of night, faced much anxiety at Kennedy airport with no internet connectivity, wondered how I could possibly find my way to Connecticut from New York and then when I was finally in an Uber, I could barely keep my eyes open. So no, I’m sorry. I simply did not feel the same excitement when entering the US that I do when entering the UK! Yes, this was once home, but it is not home anymore. Now I feel like a visitor, like a tourist, as I have no house here and no car. It is an extremely strange feeling and one that is difficult to describe. I guess it would be clearest to say that when I moved to India, I got the US right out of my system. I know! It really is inexplicable, but that’s exactly how I now feel.

Getting Set for my First Appointment:

Leslie, my friend, is the consummate hostess. It is amazing how she has thought of everything, absolutely everything, to make me comfortable. She has purchased a bunch of groceries that she thinks I will use and like (regular milk, for instance, instead of the almond milk she uses). She opened every kitchen cabinet and pantry so that I could know where things are kept and can help myself to anything. Same with the bathroom. She is just the sweetest person. I told her that I would have some cereal for breakfast with some milk and that would tide me over through my first appointment which was first thing today: My annual physical with my internist, Dr. Nirmala Monteiro was at 9.00 am (I thought), but when Leslie dropped me off there, I discovered it was, in fact, at 10.20 am!

Now my friend Bonnie was supposed to arrive there at 10.00am to hand over the keys to my friend Mary-Lauren’s apartment in Manhattan where I intended to go after my doctor’s appointment. So I simply called Bonnie and asked her to come and pick me up a bit earlier—which she did. She took me to her home and there, over a coffee, we caught up on so many things that we are looking forward towards, including the wedding of her daughter Halle, later this month, which I shall be attending. Then, at 10.10, she dropped me off to my doctor’s clinic once again and I was all set for my appointment. Mind you, I was carrying a large suitcase with me—a suitcase I intended to fill with items from my office at NYU which I would be clearing out in the next three days.

As always, my physical with Nirmala (who is also a family friend) involves a lot of chatter, but the job always gets done. I had an EKG (which was normal), and all the other tests carried out, plus I received referrals to all the other physicians I see annually for routine check-ups. It all went well and, in an hour, I was out. I have another physical scheduled for next September.

Off to Get a New SIM Card:

Bonnie was waiting for me to pick me up so that we could go off to the next place: a visit to my phone provider service at Bridgeport as my US phone SIM card was simply not working. We googled the location of my phone service (Cricket) in Bridgeport and in about ten minutes we were there. I discovered, to my horror, that although we have been paying a monthly phone bill (deducted directly from our bank account), our number was cancelled a long time ago. Apparently, if you do not use a number for more than 60 days, it lapses!

Left with no choice, I had to buy a new plan for a month with a new phone number. So purchasing that plan took almost an hour but eventually, I left the shop with a functional phone and the ability to access the web. It is amazing how dependent we have grown on our phones and how insecure we feel if we do not have a working phone in our pockets.

Bonnie then drove me straight to Fairfield Railway station where I bought my ticket and got straight on the train to the City with one big suitcase and a backpack in tow.

Lunch at Grand Central Terminal:

By the tme the 1.05pm train reached Grand Central Station, it was 2.15 pm and I was starving. Of course, I had to get some lunch before I got on the subway to go downtown to NYU to Astor Place. Getting a burger at Shake Shack was a no-brainer and so down into the basement I went. I ordered my Shack Stack burger and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have to say that it really hit the spot. Fueled by my meal, I took the subway to NYU and found myself in my office in no time at all.

Beginning the Clearing Out of my Office:

When I first entered my office the thought of clearing it all away seemed really daunting, but I was surprised that once I set my mind to it, it went really fast. I started off by meeting Billy Helton, Associate Dean, who had a lovely reunion with me. He told me that boxes and tape had been left for me in case I wish to take any personal belongings away from my office. I told him that the majority of the stuff in my office were books. He instructed me to place these on a shelf outside so that anyone could help themselves to my library when they returned to teach in September. Much of the stuff needed to be junked. It was basically photocopied material from the many courses I have taught over the years. Some of the paperwork for courses I have taught in the past were sent directly to the recycle bin. I went systematically through one book shelf and one set of bookcases after the other—but after two hours, my back did start to ache and I was happy to stop, having made quite a sizeable dent in my endeavors.

Meeting Amy at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

I had made plans to spend the evening with my friend Amy Tobin whom I was supposed to meet at 5.00 pm. But having begun ‘Operation NYU Exit’ at 3.00 pm, I felt I could go on for at least another hour. Hence, I requested Amy to meet me at 6.00 pm—which was fine with her.

At about 5.30 pm, I left NYU, took the Subway Uptown to 86th street and then the 86 crosstown bus to arrive at the Met just a little after 6.00 pm. Amy was already at the Main Information Desk when I arrived there and we had a really affectionate reunion as she is one of my dearest American friends. We decided to spend the evening taking in the special exhibitions that are currently on instead of going to see our special favorites (I shall do that the next time I am in the Met with my friend Liz).

Accordingly, we began by heading straight to the Roof Top Deck. The Met, by the way, has late evening opening on Fridays and Saturdays—when the doors only close at 9.00 pm. This is a brilliant way to bring young folks into the Met. They make a bee line for the Roof Top Deck, as we discovered, where beer and wine flows, nibbles are munched and dozens of people take their pictures against the changing New York City skyline. I say ‘changing; because the horizon seemed studded with cranes and construction activity is rampant. Straight, tall buildings with (in my opinion) no design or character are reaching out for the skies as the city is growing ever vertical. Of course, Amy and I took pictures too.

We also stopped to admire the installation of Lauren Halsey who has used Greek and Roman classical architecture and juxtaposed it against her own background growing up in Watts in Los Angeles. Hence, African faces topped tall pedestals, four sphinxes flanked four sides, etc. It was all very interesting indeed. Next, we made our way to the ‘Buddhist Sculpture From India’ exhibition which was very unusual. Every item is a fragment from one of the Buddhist stupas in India. And finally (saving the best for last), we went to the see the Big Daddy of them all, ‘Van Gogh’s Cypresses’ which was a treatise on his use of cypress tress throughout his life but mainly towards the end once he went to live in Arles and St. Remy where he finally died. Two major works by Van Gogh were on display there: ‘Wheat Fields with Cypresses’ and ‘Starry Night’. Of course, there were a host of other canvasses, all of which features cypress tress as their main motif and I found it quite riveting indeed.

Pizza Dinner with Amy:

It was almost 9.00 pm when we finished seeing them all and decided to go out and get some dinner. As I would be making my way to my friend Mary-Lauren’s apartment at the end of the evening, we left the Met and walked towards 86th Street. There we found a pizzeria called Pizza Famiilgia and, as we were both hungry, we decided to get a slice of pizza each (Amy had the white pizza with ricotta cheese, I had the one with spinach and mushrooms). I paid $6.00 for a single slice! I rmember when you could get an entire pie for $6! I have to say that I am getting sticker shock at all prices in Manhattan. They seem to have skyrocketed since the last time I was here.

Off to my Lodgings in Tudor City for the Next Few Days:

Dinner done, we stepped out on the street. I saw a bus that was going downtown and decided to take it (instead of the Subway) as my left knee had started to hurt so badly that I was actually limping. Amy was quite alarmed by it and told me she did not think it was good. I had no choice, however, except to rest my knee as much as possible. It was clearly a result of overuse. I had been on my feet for more than a week and my knees are simply not able to endure that kind of use. When I arrived at 42nedStreet, I hopped off the bus and since I had to walk about four blocks East to Tudor City where my friend Mary-Lauren’s apartment is based, I decided to take a cab. I was just not capable of taking another step as the pain was quite intense. It reminded me very much of the hobbling I had done, 14 year ago, in London, when I had contracted plantar fasciitis.

A cab was stopped at the traffic light when I decided to hail it and in another ten minutes, I was at the entrance to my friend’s building at 45 Tudor City Place. It is not an area with which I am at all familiar and it was almost 10.00 pm when I got there. Hence, I felt a bit disoriented, but decided to just get to the apartment and go straight off to bed.

The doorman, Franklin, was expecting my arrival as Mary-Lauren had told him I would be there late-ish. He saw me to the elevator in the lovely Tudor-style lobby—indeed I felt as if I were living in an Elizabethan mansion. Once upstairs on the 15th floor, I gasped at the view from the window. The Chrysler Building was staring right at me, lit up like a Christmas tree! It was just spectacular. All around me, the skyscrapers of New York City, in varied architectural styles, looked me straight in the eye. I had never seen the city from this height before and I was enchanted.

However, I did not spend too much time dilly-dallying as my knee was really painful. I brushed and flossed my teeth and got straight to bed, just pausing to thank God for an incredible day and for the amazing opportunity of having this grand apartment at my disposal for the next three nights. Everybody should be so blessed!

Until tomorrow, cheerio!