Trip to the Big Apple Part 1

We had the most amazing August that I didn't have much time to post about it, and our trip to New York was so wonderful that I knew a short post wouldn't do it justice.  The main purpose of the trip was for our "Padova Reunion," as this summer marked the 10-year anniversary of our study abroad trip.  I think about that trip all the time, partly because of the sites, partly because of my host family, partly because of the food, but mostly because of the incredible friends I made when I was there.  We are all still very close, which is amazing since none of us live in the same state and we only get to see one another once a year, if that.  

We started the trip in the big city and as soon as we got out of the cab, we remembered exactly what it felt like to live there.  It was hot, crowded, noisy, dirty, smelly, and loud.  Oh and I can't forget expensive!  We stayed with Nan in his gorgeous condo, located right across the street from the Stock Exchange, and I was reminded right away of how much money New Yorkers have.  I had several conversations with friends when I was there about what a bubble New Yorkers live in; everything is so expensive and people make (and spend!) so much money that many of them think the rest of the country is like that.  Since Tory and I have had to tighten our belts so much lately, this was probably the biggest culture shock of them all.  Anyway one of the things that we missed the most, and made sure to enjoy the whole time we were there, was the food!  Nan took us out to a great Italian place in his hood and we got some awesome New York pizza.

The next day we experienced what it would be like to have a baby in NYC, and overall it was not fun!  We got all our crap together and tried to consolidate it to only the things we absolutely needed.  It was still a ridiculous amount of stuff and we had one of those "whisper fights" on the subway that all parents have gone through.  It didn't help that it was one of those typically disgusting weather days, where you feel like you've stepped into a sauna as soon as you step outside.  Eventually we made it to midtown to meet up with Nan and Matt at Bryant Park for a picnic.  We had a great plan to run back to Nan's house afterwards by running on the path along the East River that we used to do. Unfortunately, it started pouring like crazy during lunch!  It let up enough that we decided to do the run anyway, and needless to say it was not one of our finer parenting moments.  I ran while Tory walked with the baby, and approximately 30 seconds after I left them it started pouring again!  We decided to stick it out for a while because she was covered with plenty of blankets, and we figured once you're drenched, you can't really get any more wet.  Eventually our shoes were so filled with water and we were so tired that we had to create a Plan B. We found some scaffolding and got under it long enough for Tory to figure out where we were and how to get to the nearest subway station.  The last picture shows us right before we got onto the subway home.  We hammed it up a bit for the picture -- at that point I wasn't really mad anymore, I was just relieved!

We made it back on the subway, dried off and relaxed, and decided to have dinner at home.  Sanjeev and Erin came over and we had a nice little dinner party.  All in all, an adventurous and great day!