Apple Slice

We had a good time on our trip to New York. Getting there and getting home was much less traumatic than last year, when we were stuck in traffic so bad that we opted to exit the highway and work our way to Manhattan via surface streets in the Bronx. But last year we were trying to get into the city on a Friday evening, and this time we did it early on Saturday afternoon, which made a big difference. We still hit a bit of a slowdown in the same area of the Bronx as last year, but things opened up again pretty quickly and we made excellent time overall.

As much as we enjoy visiting New York, we also enjoy coming home. I don't really want to stoke the old rivalry, but everything about New York is just so... to the nth degree, I guess. On the sidewalks and streets, there is no such thing as personal space. No one will move out of your way, for any reason. Tables in restaurants are about six inches apart. I'm not complaining, it just takes some getting used to. I'm sure that if I had ended up living there, I would have gotten along fine. I'm even starting to feel like I have a decent grasp of the subway system, after only a decade or so of regular visits.

We stayed way downtown again, right around the corner from Wall Street. I like it downtown, especially on weekends. It's quiet. I think I feel this way about lower Manhattan because it reminds me of downtown Boston. The streets go in all directions; no one had yet bothered laying them out on a grid. You can walk around with a bit more room, without having to elbow people off you. The streets are easier to cross because they're very narrow, and many of them were blocked off to vehicles.

We never went above 14th Street on this visit, preferring to stick to the Village and Soho and downtown, the older parts of the city. And for us, a visit to New York would not be complete without a stop at Junior's in Brooklyn for breakfast, and cheesecake to bring home. It's the kind of place that makes you feel like a local, even if you're just stopping by on your way home.