On Saturday, we left home around 8:15, took the 8:36 train to the city, walked ten blocks to the Times Square Exhibitions, and entered the Pompeii the Exhibit around 9:40 on 44th between 7th and 8th Avenues. Along the way, I took several pictures--something I had been planning to do forever but never did.
Having been to Pompeii in October 2010 and climbed Mt. Vesuvius, seeing the exhibit was like being in Pompeii all over again but even more educational and palpable because of the videos that recreated the actual eruption hour by hour on that fateful August day in 70 A.D. Until that day, the Italians did not have a word for volcano. Then it was named after the Vulcan, the Roman fire god. Learned all about lararium, a Roman shrine at homes for their gods. Around 11:40, we left 44th Street and moseyed over to 46 and Madison where according to the New York Times the Brazilian Parade scheduled for Sunday had its pre-parade preparations under way. It was a lively experience with east-west traffic suspended and the north-south traffic was stop even at the green light and then go. Took some shots of the participants.
Then we moved to the 52nd Street Fair between Lexington and 7th. We moved westward from Madison and took in the sights and sounds of the fair. It was all very festive and food and wares from various parts of the world were being hawked. We went to a vegetarian stall and had falafel at $8 apiece. B got himself (I was surprised) and consumed zero calorie coke for the first time and didn’t mind it at all. This was a small victory for me because sometimes when I share his coke, it was always the sugary one. Now it can be my kind.
I did some shopping. A waterproof tote bag that folds into a three-inch by six-inch zip-able purse-like bundle from a Chinese. I also bought a made-in-India Magic Skirt from a Tibetan, which I have had my eye on for a while, but not being a religious shopper but only accidental, until now I didn’t "run" into one. In the next couple of minutes I saw the same thing (?) being sold for $5 less. I felt bad that I paid moreL The skirt can be worn in a myriad ways and comes with a full-page instruction sheet.
From 52nd we walked all the way on Broadway via Columbus Circle to watch the 3:20 p.m. screening of the French movie, "I am glad my mother is alive" at the Lincoln Center’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center on 65th between Broadway and Amsterdam. After making sure the movie had English subtitles, we bought the tickets, walked around the area for a few minutes and then went into the theater. It was a nice theater but only a handful of patrons. It was a film based on true story. I learned about the movie only that morning while flipping through the Times on the train. In the city, one can find so many things to do spontaneously. The movie had been reviewed well and I made a mental note that when it came to Malverne Theater near home that shows foreign films, I’d catch it. Never thought that I ‘d see it the same day. I am a planner but I also like nice surprises.
After a cuppa Joe (Hazel Nut for me) and a good size pumpkin cake topped with sunflower seeds--a first of its kind for me--from a deli run by very friendly Afghans on 7th Ave. and at a table in the promenade, we walked back to Penn Station. On the way we returned to the Time Warner-CNN Building across from Columbus Circle, I changed back into my pants from my Magic Skirt, which I had changed into on way to the movie. After enjoying the US Open on a big screen at the Samsung showroom, we caught the 6:45 back home. We had walked a total of more than 90 blocks that day. On the train I wrote a pretty long e-mail reply to a friend and at the end of it, I was completely exhausted. At home had a nice dinner and called it a day.
It was a full and rich day of simple pleasures that set me back about $150 for the two of us--every transaction coincidentally a $26 or $26 and change chunk--but well worth every penny.
Vive la New York City!
Ciao.
P.S. Will try to post the photos later.
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