Once again, we wanted to thank Jim and Steve for hosting last evening’s party at their beautiful apartment. It was so wonderful to meet as many people as we did and for those we didn’t get a chance to talk with we look forward to talking with them once on the ship. It was a very nice way to kick off our upcoming adventure on the Symphony.
We can’t stress enough the vibrancy that we have felt since arriving to New York City. The city is truly an exciting place to visit and gets better each time we return.
The other item we wanted to mention is the warmth and friendliness of the people and this includes both the locals and the tourists. Many times that is not the case in any city, but New York City has always been very unique from most cities. Even as we walked back from the party last evening towards the hotel we were struck by the friendliness of so many people who we have had contact with. This included the firemen that we spoke with as we passed one of the firehouses who were very kind to us, to the police officer whom we spoke with earlier in the day, to the friendliness of the restaurant servers, the folks working at the theaters, to those working the front desk at the hotel and so many other locals that we spoke with during our time here. This is a city that is more successful today than ever before in our humble opinion even at a time that like other cities it too has some economic challenges. In the end we believe it will continue to be successful because of the attitude of the people who live and work here.
After dinner last night we went back to the Hotel to relax. We slept very well and this morning we woke up at the right time. There was no changing the time on the clocks or on any of our watches. We now know not to change the clocks until this coming Sunday.
We enjoyed another fine breakfast in the club lounge of the Hotel. As we were finishing breakfast, our good friends Joan and Mac arrived to the lounge and we sat with them and talked for quite a while. It was so fun to catch up with them. As we mentioned in an earlier post, we first met Joan and Mac on a pre-cruise tour at the Dover Cliffs before boarding the Crystal Symphony in 2004 and have kept up with them ever since. We have seen them a couple of times in San Francisco and also saw them in 2008 when they had lunch with us on board the Crystal Serenity while we were in Honolulu. We last saw them in the summer of 2009 in San Francisco.
We met them later in the morning at the Hotel and we walked together to the Harvard Club for lunch with friends Allan and Helen. We also met Allan and Helen on the 2004 Trans-Atlantic Sailing and we sailed with them on the 2008 World Cruise and also in 2009 from Los Angeles to Hong Kong on board the Crystal Symphony.. We enjoyed a wonderful reunion lunch with wonderful food, a beautiful setting and lots of nice conversation and it was so nice to catch up with everyone. The club is just beautiful and after lunch Allan and Helen gave us a tour of the club. Thanks to Allan and Helen for hosting this lunch for the six of us. It was a lot of fun and we look forward to sailing with Allan and Helen in a few months.
While the temperature was actually warmer on the way back from lunch than it was in the morning, the winds were much stronger so with the wind chill factor it seemed much cooler than in the morning. On our way back to the Hotel we stopped off at Rockefeller Center.
We had a wonderful time in New York City and we also wanted to note that despite all of the concerns we have not seen any of those bed bugs during our stay in the city.
Tomorrow, we will board the Crystal Symphony!
Today’s thought is about New York City.
Today’s Thought For The Day…..
“Over the great bridge, with sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of non-olfactory money. The city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.” F. Scott Fitzgerald
Keith and Anne Marie
Nice to see your pictures and so glad you enjoyed your stay in the Big Apple and that you had great weather. Seeing your pictures take me back to when I was growing up in CT and my Mom would take me into the city to the theatre. Looking forward to your uncoming posts and for now from sunny So. Florida I wish you a wonderful Bon Voyage !!
ReplyDeleteWe also loved our mini-reunion. It was so good to visit together and share our stories, experiences and dreams. We look forward to seeing you in Sydney in February, thank you again!
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