One Time, in NYC ...

Yep, yesterday was the big day. The first trip into NYC with E. Of course, Megan had to be up and at the beach for a 7:30 practice, which had us scrambling to get to a 10:50 bus in time to pay for our tickets and parking. But we did manage it, and the bus had exactly enough seats for all the riders, which unfortunately meant that a small woman sat next to one of the girls in our party, in the back row of the bus, and fell asleep with her head on the girl's shoulder. ick.

(NOTE: This bus was not at 11:50 as originally reported, although that would have been helpful if it had been)


Once in the city, we meandered up towards our Off-Broadway show, and had lunch in a little touristy place with mediocre food but a good view of the sights outside, which at that location pretty much meant billboards, tour buses, and street vendors. On to the show, which was good, and featured a guy who was once in 'So You Think You Can Dance', to the delight of all the girls except for E, who said she didn't know who he was (neither did I). Afterwards, the actors all come out and sign programs and pose for pictures with their fans, so we waited around for that before heading down to Little Italy for the San Gennaro feast (more on that in a few paragraphs).

So it's been many years since I rode a subway in NY, and I have never used Metrocard machines, nor do I know how much it costs or what the specifics are. Fortunately, a few of NY's finest were loitering by the machines, and one told me exactly what to do, and I did it. So that worked out, at least. We managed to get the train down to Canal Street, which was just teeming with people, bringing to mind images I have seen of the streets in cities in China, where there are just so many people at these street markets that you can barely walk.

But if I thought that was bad, it was because we had not yet reached Mulberry Street, where the Feast actually takes place. I was trying to remember if I had ever been before, and as soon as we got there, I knew that I had, and I knew why I had blocked it out of my memory. This street was filled with crowds that could barely move. I suppose the point of the festival is to sample the wares of each of the little touristy restaurants down in Little Italy, but it seemed to me like a street fair gone horribly awry. People were smoking in the midst of the throngs, it seemed as if there was no end in sight to the non-movement of the masses, and if you tried to stop to check out one of the vendors, you would just make everything worse.

Finally, we decided to just duck into one of the restaurants, because, despite the mobs, every restaurant had available seating. So we ate in one called Casa Bella, which didn't really impress me because the waiter was gruff, which I suppose is typical for an Italian restuarant particularly on a day like this, but they seemed to make up some of the rules on the fly. The menu listed half orders, and said that after 7 you could only get these with an order of another dinner. But when we tried to order them, we were told that was only for lunch.

The menu said a tip would be added, and it was not. Finally, when the waiter served one of the dishes, he poured olive oil all over my bag. A very nice and apologetic man came out and said he would take care of it, and he vanished briefly with it, and came back to return it smelling just as badly as it had when he took it. I don't think I'd bother to take the trip back to this place. My friend ordered their specialty, the veal, and said it was very good, but the rest of us had pasta and it was just OK. Good enough, but I like the dishes at Carrabas better, and they cost less even if you don't count the price of a trip to Manhattan - a trip that also makes us "bridge and tunnel people", which is most likely what incites the gruffness of the server.

Following our feast experience, we made our way back through the hawkers on Canal Street to the E train back up to Port Authority. Always an adventure. I was exhausted by the end of the day. Remind me never to try to go to that feast again. A funny thing, though, twice we were asked for directions, and both directed their queries to E! I guess she looked the most cosmopolitan of us all. Anyway, the first guy was a large curly-haired middle eastern man, asking at 50th Street how he could get to the "buildings that blew up and fell down." I showed him the E Train and he said thank you, but he would go to McDonald's first because he was "veddy veddy hungry."

And that was our day. In other news, Brian and Kevin stayed behind to go to Brian's baseball game, which was alas another loss for the team. Today we have to go to our first meeting with the new church class that Brian will be in, and this is where I'll hear the exchange of ideas regarding the 'pilgrimage.' And we look towards the week, more anxiety over whether or not I'll hear about the MRI results, or if I work up the nerve to call and get it over with. Otherwise, I work Tuesday and Thursday, so far.