Well, the highlight of the New York trip was meeting up with Yuka and Chige. It’s been years since we last saw Yuka, and 2 lovely daughters and a husband later, there was a lot to catch up on. Hopefully we’ll see them in France in years to come.
One big disappointment for Lou has been that so far no one has asked her for ID when buying a drink. She doesn’t understand why not! After all, you have to be 21 or over!
New York does seem to be young, vibrant and exciting, and the Refinery Hotel did remind us of the French hotels of Mama Shelter. Great.
Over the last couple of years, in Paris, we’ve become convinced that Indians are taking over the world. All the chefs in Parisian restaurants seem to be Indian, and in Rome last month it seemed to be the same. And now in NY, the taxi drivers, cooks etc all seem to be Indians (not native Americans!)
We weren’t really expecting to get straight into the music theme of the holiday in NY, but the trip to Greenwich Village was the start for me. The home of the “folk” movement in the 60’s, with Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs and of course Tom Paxton, brought home to me on Bleeker Street, Greenwich Village, memories of my introduction to the protest/anti-Vietnam movement when at university in Manchester. And to think that Bob Dylan is playing Albi next month!! Can’t wait.
When we went to Ground Zero in NY, it does make you reflect on the day itself, and on how unbelievably horrific it must have been. And the sheer numbers of low flying commercial aircraft over Manhattan every day is unnerving. It just doesn’t look right. And therefore it’s bizarre to fly in the USA today, with what seems to be a very casual approach to security. In Europe, every new security measure is explained away by saying that the USA has demanded it’s introduction. And today, flying out of the city that suffered 9/11, to fly to Chicago, we did not have to remove our laptops/ tablets, liquids from our hand luggage, take off our belts, there were no big plastic boxes in which to put everything, and for me, with my artificial knee, no need to take off my shoes. These things are absolutely obligatory in Europe, but not in the USA. It doesn’t make sense.
Chicago feels very different from NY. Less manic, and whilst the traffic in from the airport was very busy, the cars are not as big. It just has a different feel to it completely. Looking forward to tomorrow and to meeting up with very distant relatives. Despite the cold. The concierge suggested that it might snow tomorrow, and to be honest, it feels like it could, which is crazy after NY and the heat. But because everything is imperial here, distances, height, weight, time, and temperatures, we might be getting confused. It’s surprising how soon you forget imperial measures. Anyway, off to bed now.