Well, well, well, so it was. Our long awaited journey to New York without the kids! our kind of second honey moon trip! sentimental trip to places we once lived. There was lots of excitement and some stress before the trip, cause of course I. Was worrying how the kids will get along with the grandparents (my parents were in charge). And how they will get along with their wild grandchildren and finally how my heart will survive. It ended up very well and everyone was happy although some were quite exhausted and happy to go back to their old routines. But anyway, New York. It's funny how the perspective has changed. Maybe it is living in Helsinki maybe it is also my age and my own attitude but I wouldn't like to live there. It's not a place for me. I remember how I was always amazed by the city. Now I only saw how huge, crowded, dirty, noisy and rusty it was. Inhuman. At least not for a human being like myself. The subway old and dirty, rusty and not suitable for taking a stroller ( no elevators, very often even no escalators only narrow staircase). Of course no cell phone coverage underground. Crowded. Not on time, oh, and no schedule whatsoever. Sudden stops and interruptions. No chance to be on time. Crazy. We decided to go shopping in Soho. We thought it would be quiet, but it was again miles of walking, big crowd and actually not much more to chose and buy than in Helsinki. So, those three days in Big Apple made my feet and my back cry from pain. There was not much time left for just strolling around and sipping your coffee. No, New York style is rush around, buy fast, drink fast on your way, hurry to the subway, sleek in a crowd to get on time, forget fancy shoes, wear your sneakers and run. Actually no wonder that so many New Yorkers run marathons. They do this every day on their way to work. It is running and hurrying what makes this city. Ok, we did have fun. Of course. New Years Eve was perfect. First a jazz concert in this famous Birdland jazz club and after because we still were in 2013 we took a subway and went to the Village. And there we finally had this little time to enjoy walking slowly along those narrow streets with brownstones and trees, chatting and feeling this Woody Allen movie spirit. We stopped by
one nice and cosy bar, we took two glasses of champagne and together with all the other guests and staff we counted down to ... 2014, yeah! We could have stay there and in other bars for the whole night, but suffering from a terrible jetlag I was happy to go home. One day we took a local train to New Brunswick, NJ, town we once lived. We went to Highland Park to see our old house, took a walk to a park where I spent almost every day while our daughter was little. And when I saw that playground I couldn't resist and I felt my eyes wet. The weather was bad, very cold and icy wind so there were no one but us. I walked around, touched every swing and slide and missed our Wanda. Yes, sentimental trip indeed.
one nice and cosy bar, we took two glasses of champagne and together with all the other guests and staff we counted down to ... 2014, yeah! We could have stay there and in other bars for the whole night, but suffering from a terrible jetlag I was happy to go home. One day we took a local train to New Brunswick, NJ, town we once lived. We went to Highland Park to see our old house, took a walk to a park where I spent almost every day while our daughter was little. And when I saw that playground I couldn't resist and I felt my eyes wet. The weather was bad, very cold and icy wind so there were no one but us. I walked around, touched every swing and slide and missed our Wanda. Yes, sentimental trip indeed.
