It's my last night in New York; tomorrow at this time, I'll be flying over the land of my youth to the land of my adulthood. I had a lovely last full day, though, and got to catch up with my v. oldest college friends, which helped me to remember that staying in New York this long was a good thing regardless of what my taskmaster-side is feeling about my lack of productivity.
I slept until sometime after nine, and then I showered, etc., and met up with Claudia and Emily at Union Square. Longtime readers will remember that Claudia and I lived together for two years in college and another six months after college (it would have been a year if I had not abandoned her for ye olde India) before she abandoned the west coast to get a PhD at Yale; Emily moved to New York after graduating and has been here ever since. Claude was nice enough to come down to New York for the day, which was awesome; I hadn't seen her since Adit's wedding over a year ago, which is far too long given that she was one of my closest/most constant friends before she went to school. I'd seen Emily slightly more recently than that, but only for lunch, so some major catching up on all sides was in order.
We started out with brunch near Union Square, which was tasty and satisfied the main requirement of finding food and a cold beverage, since it was ninety degrees and v. humid today. Then, we walked across Manhattan to the High Line, which is a garden that has been created on an abandoned elevated railway track. We didn't walk along very much of the High Line because it was burning hot up there with no shade, but it seems like a wonderful place for a stroll on a slightly cooler day. The walk across Manhattan meant I got to see some new neighborhoods, including the meatpacking district, so I appreciated that. Then, we took a subway to Brooklyn, where Claudia and I rebelled and demanded cool drinks to soothe our heat-sensitive Californian ways. So, we went to a chocolatier and had 'not hot chocolate', which was appropriately cold and seemed to revive us all.
After the chocolate, Emily took us to the Brooklyn Promenade, and I finally got a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty - this means that I've finally seen something that is a traditional tourist destination rather than the medieval/fashion exhibits I've been concentrating on. After the Promenade heated us up again, we went back to Emily's apartment to cool off for a bit, and then had dinner at an Italian place near her. Dinner was delicious for me but may have been a fail for Claude and Emily; we went for Italian because I'd talked up the mozzarella burrata that I had the other night, but the place was out of burrata because they couldn't get it in stock on the holiday. Also, Claude can't eat gluten and her entree was covered in bread crumbs that weren't on the menu, but she ended up switching entrees with Emily, so it all worked out. After having a leisurely Italian meal, we walked over to a bakery and continued our conversation over pots of tea. Eventually, though, it was time for me to bid them farewell, and I took a taxi back to Manhattan to spare my ravaged feet.
So, it was great to see both of them, and I wish they would move back to the best coast rather than continuing this farce of living on the Atlantic. I also hope that a) I come out to see them again sooner rather than later, and b) when I come back for the romance conference in four years, neither of them live here anymore (since that would mean that they've found better opportunities in other, preferably Californian, places). But now, I should really sleep. I intend to write tomorrow, I need to put everything back in my suitcases and potentially mail some books to myself to avoid having overweight bags, and I have to be ready to get on the plane. I've had an awesome trip, but it's definitely time to go home - and enjoy a week in my own bed before leaving for Germany. Goodnight!
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