Winter weekend

This weekend was a powerhouse of activity. We roused ourselves from the tempting rut of eat/sleep/work/couch-based distractions, and got out into the city.

Saturday we went to the National Museum of the American Indian, which had an exhibition on the tribes from the Pacific North West. This was disappointing because we were expecting there to be a permanent exhibition that would give details about the people who lived in Manahatta, as it was called before the Dutch and English moved in. No permanent exhibits however, but an interesting way to kill an hour.


Then we hopped on the free ferry to Staten Island, which skirts the Statue of Liberty and is a pleasant 30 minute cruise. At Staten Island we were hoping to find a pub or some cosy-looking place for a cheap & cheerful lunch before getting back on the ferry, but there was nothing. I was shocked, because thousands of tourists make this ferry trip every week, and when you get off at the other end there is absolutely no lure to explore the place further. Someone needs to open a fish & chip joint, or a gourmet pizza place, a pub, anything, and the hordes would descend for the chance to dine while looking back at the skyscrapers of downtown Manhattan and Lady Liberty. So we did one lap of the crummy foreshore, dominated by a carpark, and returned to Manhattan. Two more boroughs to go then I've atleast been to all of New York City. Staten Island, tick.


Saturday night we stayed in and witnessed another parade stream past our window. This was a Hannukah parade, with cars with lit menorah on their rooves and camper vans blaring music, to celebrate the Festival of Lights. It was loud and short and seemed to be mostly teenagers waving and shouting out the wvan windows as their parents drove along. ("Menorah Mobiles" I've since heard them called.)

All the decorations across town have Xmas trees paired with menorah, and like Halloween, no place is undecorated. Even groovy Webster Hall, a nightclub and band venue where we saw Jose Gonzalez play last night, was decorated with wreaths, holly and stars. (Jose was awesome, BTW. He did a cover of Massive Attack's Teardrops, and Kylie's Put Your Hand on Your Heart, among all his hits. There seemed to be lots of Australians at the gig. Must have been that TV ad. Beautiful stage lighting with just him on a stool.)

Anyway, yesterday we went ice skating in Central Park. I hadn't skated for atleast 15 years and I was feeling quite hesitant about it all. But Jus pressured me onto the ice, and within a few clumsy rounds I felt quite confident that I wasn't going to slice off a finger or crack my coccyx, and all those weekends with dad & Jamie at Mirrabooka ice rink paid off. Its a divine thing to do on a cold day and it was so refreshing to be doing some sport out of doors. I think this could become a regular thing.
















The lakes in Central Park have started to freeze over and ice rescue ladders have been put up near each of them.


Apparently this is the time of year when the most tourists come to New York, which I find mind boggling, because in summer it was out of control. We walked the entire length of the park on Sunday (about 50 blocks) and it was full of tourists, and I didn't feel like a dweeb out on the ice because there were plenty of adult tourists giving it a try too.