Visitors!

May 20, 2002

We have actually seen some people in our time here in New York. Some passing through, others coming just to see us! Here is a synopsis of some of our true friends.

In early February a classmate of Tiffany’s from the Gunnery, Marcus Scott, and his wife, Casey came for a short vacation to the City. We met them for a very fun brunch (down town). Another schoolmate had recommended the spot and it was a good one. We reminisced and caught up on their lives and their three (!) children. Marcus was one of Tiffany’s best friends in high school and it was a great joy to see him again.

Later in the month a friend of Alex’s parents from Cupertino, Diane, was visiting her daughter, Kate, in Boston. They both came to Manhattan for the day & we met them in Washington Square and headed off to the West Village for lunch. Another unknown place picked out of a restaurant guide, and it was tremendous. Very homey and charming and delicious food to boot! We had already had a huge breakfast of pancakes at home but couldn’t resist the fare. More catching up was done and our tales of life in the city were dispersed. We walked through the Village, went to the Strand Bookstore, and then up to Lincoln Center where they were seeing a show. Weary, but happy, we wondered home.

At the end of April Tiffany’s high-school friend, Ty came to the city with his girlfriend Janine. They came to see our home and brought us some beautiful flowers =) We walked uptown to Carmine’s for some awesome Italian food. It was a great dinner and the company was the best. Very good to see Ty & a pleasure to meet Janine. We walked them to the subway & sent them in the right direction to their hotel.

In March, Alex’s cousin Emma her friend Geoff visited from England. That was tremendous fun. We think they were slightly shocked when they entered our humble abode as they had chosen to stay there instead of a hotel (it really looks bigger on the web!) and we were happy to have them. Tiffany had been planning to take a day or two off from work but there happened to be a huge onslaught of work with five projects going at one time. Most with the same delivery date. Alex was working too but could be a bit more flexible with his time. We sent them off a couple days to see the Statue of Liberty & the Empire State Building etc… and they did very well. They even took the subway once or twice. We all went down to Little Italy and had pizza from the first licensed pizzeria in New York City. Yum! Then we had to get some canolis from the pastry shop. Alex took them to the AMNH planetarium and saw the space show, and they walked around Central Park. They ventured off to Bloomingdales and Alex took them through Times Square, where he and Geoff climbed a moving rock wall… Geoff got a hair further =) We ventured to the East Side and to the best ice cream shop in the City, (perhaps the world) Serendipity3. Much gorging was done… after the obligatory hour wait. We took them to our very favorite haunt, The Dead Poet for a Guinness and the Evelyn Lounge near our home for a very New York late night treat of Martinis. Wow! I’m surprised they fit into their clothes for the trip back across the pond.

In May, Alex’s friend from Los Angeles, Paul visited. He is an avid bird watcher and Central Park is an outstanding place for birds this time of year. He arrived at 8AM and right after we dropped his stuff at home we were off to the park. There we found many other birders and were welcomed happily (one of the last groups of nice people in New York). As Tiffany had just been laid off and Alex’s work was slow we had time to spend with Paul, which was nice. Tiffany did not, however, get up in the wee hours to join the boys with more bird watching. Paul is an expert at spotting the brightly colored Warblers high in the treetops, and was able to point out birds none of us had ever seen before. We went to the Empire State Building at dusk so we could see all five visible planets in one group, that being the highest place to do it. There was a HUGE line and we ended up paying more for a combined ticket for another attraction they have but going to the roof first. We sped out to the viewing deck and the East side of the building, and there they were! Alex saw Mercury just above a cloud, then Tiffany saw it too before it was gone =( But we did it! There was a family there pointing out the stars to their kids but not many other people seemed to notice. And the views were… spectacular! Really quite amazing. We again took our guest to Little Italy for pizza and canolis and there was a street fair through the whole strip. It was certainly alive. We got a call from Tiffany’s mother about her Grandmother passing away so Tiffany went to the Hudson River Pier while Alex & Paul went to the Museum again. After a few jam-packed days Paul took a cab to the airport & I’m sure got some much-needed rest.

Click here for PHOTOS of our visitors

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