Travelogue: Fini: Stardate 11-26-27-2006
Dream sequence: I am somewhere, I don't know where...it feels like Europe but I can't tell. I am with my mother, only I am as I am now - an adult. We are visiting a shrine/basilica - it feels like a shrine because we seem to be outside - in the open air. The colours of the frescoes that decorate this place are like a Raphaelite painting - bright yet pastel - I feel as if I am in the presence of angels, my mother and I are praying. Suddenly, there is a knock on a door...
I realise as I start out of the dream that it's Linda asking if she can come into her room (where I've been sleeping) to get some clothes. She is trying to get ready to go to church. I am caught in a very surreal moment. Linda tells me to go back to sleep but I realise I need to get up and go to mass, especially if I was jus tin a dream involving my mother and being in 'church'
We go to mass across the street at St. Agnes' - the church is beautiful - but badly in need of repair - you can tell it's a poor parish.
Got back from mass as noticed Erin had called - I spent time talking with him - he said he was in the middle of writing to me (YAY! I adore getting e-mail from Erin). We talk about the church and doctrine and I fall in love with him over the telephone.
Today so far is kind of quiet - Tony did not go to bed until 5AM so he is just now waking up at 3-4PM - like an idiot I did not take a much-needed nap. Dusk is beginning to settle and we discuss going out - I am working off of 5 1/2 hours sleep and I don't much feel like going out - but I have other souvenirs to get so I suppose I should...
Our last night in NYC - it's fitting - we decide to go to Little Italy. First, we stop to pick up some little gifts at the stands that are all over the place in these areas. It's so weird being in Little Italy and being waited on by Asian people. We do head over to China town too - to look around. Nothing is in English, so, considering all the unusual assortment of food stuffs, unless you can read the kanji, you have no clue as to what you are buying and unless you speak the language(s)(Cantonese, Mandarin even Thai/Cambodian), the vendors offer no help...
We head back to Little Italy to La Mela Restaurant - where unless you tell them differently the food is served family style. You will be served more food than you can possibly eat (even with 4 people) - I can hear my mom yelling at me about leaving food on my plate and starving people in India....too much food! WAY too much.
The restaurant's atmosphere is friends and family oriented and of course there is a young Romanesque Adonis serving us (*swoon*). All the food is fresh and made with love. At one point we are listening to the guys in the kitchen and someone is pounding veal - and it is going on for quite a while - so much so that Brett makes a comment - to which my son, unthinkingly begins describing how at the pizzeria where he works in Cleveland he can spend up to 2 1/2 hours 'beating meat'. I thought Linda was going to bring her iced tea and part of her meal through her nose with laughing so hard - soon we are all laughing so hard we are crying...the joke has several more incarnations over the evening.
We wander around Little Italy more, passing Umberto's where rumor has it some mob hits took place...finally, we head home. I take notice of Linda she's managed to beat cancer but seems to be struggling. She still has side affects from her ordeal. We stayed up a bit watching a movie, I wrote for a while, noticed Erin was on line and ended up calling him. I've really missed him and wished he could have been here with me - perhaps another time.
I went to sleep after writing and updating the blog. I was not tired in the least.
*******
Monday (last day here)...
Woke up around 9AM, took a shower, made coffee and woke Tony up. The plan was to head out and explore Linda's neighborhood a bit. We tried to hit a couple of the little boutiques, unfortunately many of them were not open or did not open until noon. The few I was able to get into were so pricey (lowest prices $120-140) that it was not worth the visit. We landed din a book store and I found a card for Erin and a magazine for Tony. I noticed that the book by Margaret Atwood that I've been wanting is out in paperback. Tony mentions wanting some pizza since he has not had any since we arrived in NYC. Linda takes us to a little neighborhood place that offers authentic, thin crust, Brooklyn pizza. I order calamari - all of the food is wonderful - we sit outside and eat (side note: the weather has been glorious while we've been here).
We finish and head back to Linda's to await the car service that will take us back to JFK.
I am a bit sad. I don't like leaving my dear friend. She means so very much to me. I know I will see her in a couple of weeks because she will come out to see her daughter and her recently born baby grand-daughters. There is even talk of her moving back. But I know how hard it is to leave NYC.
I reflect on this trip - on the grandeur and sheer humanity of this city which is not 'sanitized for your protection' nor will it ever be 'tidy' if you will - it will always be a bit raw, a bit raunchy and raucous - that's what it's about *thanks God/dess*.
I will miss New York. I am not sure I'd ever be content living here - perhaps given the right circumstances - but I am no longer a young woman and there's a certain amount of giving up, of relinquishing some things in order to live here..again an adage "It's a nice place to visit..." and it is. But, I am not the consummate artiste. I am not sure I want to live in such a big, impersonal city alone. There are things I'd miss too much from 'home'. New York IS an amazing, glorious place to be - to visit. So much to see and do and every time I come here, I fall in love all over again. Of course the right circumstances can make (or break) any situation - but for now I will say I am glad to be heading home, to the comfort of my own bed as well as back into the arms of the man I love.
New York will remain etched in my memory until fate/fortune allows me to return to her shores, her sights and sounds, her people, as ever a welcoming oasis in a pretty mundane existence.
I realise as I start out of the dream that it's Linda asking if she can come into her room (where I've been sleeping) to get some clothes. She is trying to get ready to go to church. I am caught in a very surreal moment. Linda tells me to go back to sleep but I realise I need to get up and go to mass, especially if I was jus tin a dream involving my mother and being in 'church'
We go to mass across the street at St. Agnes' - the church is beautiful - but badly in need of repair - you can tell it's a poor parish.
Got back from mass as noticed Erin had called - I spent time talking with him - he said he was in the middle of writing to me (YAY! I adore getting e-mail from Erin). We talk about the church and doctrine and I fall in love with him over the telephone.
Today so far is kind of quiet - Tony did not go to bed until 5AM so he is just now waking up at 3-4PM - like an idiot I did not take a much-needed nap. Dusk is beginning to settle and we discuss going out - I am working off of 5 1/2 hours sleep and I don't much feel like going out - but I have other souvenirs to get so I suppose I should...
Our last night in NYC - it's fitting - we decide to go to Little Italy. First, we stop to pick up some little gifts at the stands that are all over the place in these areas. It's so weird being in Little Italy and being waited on by Asian people. We do head over to China town too - to look around. Nothing is in English, so, considering all the unusual assortment of food stuffs, unless you can read the kanji, you have no clue as to what you are buying and unless you speak the language(s)(Cantonese, Mandarin even Thai/Cambodian), the vendors offer no help...
We head back to Little Italy to La Mela Restaurant - where unless you tell them differently the food is served family style. You will be served more food than you can possibly eat (even with 4 people) - I can hear my mom yelling at me about leaving food on my plate and starving people in India....too much food! WAY too much.
The restaurant's atmosphere is friends and family oriented and of course there is a young Romanesque Adonis serving us (*swoon*). All the food is fresh and made with love. At one point we are listening to the guys in the kitchen and someone is pounding veal - and it is going on for quite a while - so much so that Brett makes a comment - to which my son, unthinkingly begins describing how at the pizzeria where he works in Cleveland he can spend up to 2 1/2 hours 'beating meat'. I thought Linda was going to bring her iced tea and part of her meal through her nose with laughing so hard - soon we are all laughing so hard we are crying...the joke has several more incarnations over the evening.
We wander around Little Italy more, passing Umberto's where rumor has it some mob hits took place...finally, we head home. I take notice of Linda she's managed to beat cancer but seems to be struggling. She still has side affects from her ordeal. We stayed up a bit watching a movie, I wrote for a while, noticed Erin was on line and ended up calling him. I've really missed him and wished he could have been here with me - perhaps another time.
I went to sleep after writing and updating the blog. I was not tired in the least.
*******
Monday (last day here)...
Woke up around 9AM, took a shower, made coffee and woke Tony up. The plan was to head out and explore Linda's neighborhood a bit. We tried to hit a couple of the little boutiques, unfortunately many of them were not open or did not open until noon. The few I was able to get into were so pricey (lowest prices $120-140) that it was not worth the visit. We landed din a book store and I found a card for Erin and a magazine for Tony. I noticed that the book by Margaret Atwood that I've been wanting is out in paperback. Tony mentions wanting some pizza since he has not had any since we arrived in NYC. Linda takes us to a little neighborhood place that offers authentic, thin crust, Brooklyn pizza. I order calamari - all of the food is wonderful - we sit outside and eat (side note: the weather has been glorious while we've been here).
We finish and head back to Linda's to await the car service that will take us back to JFK.
I am a bit sad. I don't like leaving my dear friend. She means so very much to me. I know I will see her in a couple of weeks because she will come out to see her daughter and her recently born baby grand-daughters. There is even talk of her moving back. But I know how hard it is to leave NYC.
I reflect on this trip - on the grandeur and sheer humanity of this city which is not 'sanitized for your protection' nor will it ever be 'tidy' if you will - it will always be a bit raw, a bit raunchy and raucous - that's what it's about *thanks God/dess*.
I will miss New York. I am not sure I'd ever be content living here - perhaps given the right circumstances - but I am no longer a young woman and there's a certain amount of giving up, of relinquishing some things in order to live here..again an adage "It's a nice place to visit..." and it is. But, I am not the consummate artiste. I am not sure I want to live in such a big, impersonal city alone. There are things I'd miss too much from 'home'. New York IS an amazing, glorious place to be - to visit. So much to see and do and every time I come here, I fall in love all over again. Of course the right circumstances can make (or break) any situation - but for now I will say I am glad to be heading home, to the comfort of my own bed as well as back into the arms of the man I love.
New York will remain etched in my memory until fate/fortune allows me to return to her shores, her sights and sounds, her people, as ever a welcoming oasis in a pretty mundane existence.
posted by Colette at 12:09 PM
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