Making Friends

This morning H and I got going with our Joe's coffee. She headed to the ASL and I had my own things to do. Below is today's photo of the completed painting.

There is an elderly man who sits next to H who has become her friend. He lives in Connecticut but is from Sicily. H has enjoyed getting to know him. He served in the military and during the Vietnam War when he was stationed in France, he became friends with a soldier from Louisiana. During their free time, this Louisiana soldier would go out and typically have too much to drink. He said this friend, while he was out, would always buy a baguette; then he would come back to the barracks tipsy and hit everyone with his baguette!

H has met some truly nice people here AND she has met some very rude people. She told her elderly friend that "she's from the South" and has been surprised at how rude some people are. He assured her that there are rude people here but there are also very nice people. She said she agreed, that she had met him!

While H was at school, I went to the Guggenheim. There were two exhibits I wanted to see, a Kandinsky exhibit and a photography exhibit about memory and time called "Haunted." The museum itself it quite a work of art. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Brownstones along East 89th Street

The Petrossian on 7th Avenue

Somewhere I had read about a chocolate/candy shop called Myzel's chocolates. It's on our street, 55th between 6th and 7th. I wanted to go inside just to check it out. It is an old candy store unlike any that you see today. Stepping into the store was like stepping back in time. They have over 80 different kinds of licorice.

H and I had to get some candy just to justify our being in the store! Of course!

Today the new Matisse exhibit opened at MoMA. H and I went to see it. It was really wonderful. Above is the sculpture garden with the buildings around the museum.

A statue by Rodin stands in front of the windows of MoMA overlooking the sculpture garden.

After the Matisse exhibit, we got on the train and headed down to 14th Street and 6th Avenue. We wanted to check out Strand Books on 12th and Broadway. Along the way, we saw Baked by Melissa, the cupcake shop we saw in SoHo. We stopped in to see the cupcakes and had to get a few. We tried cookie dough, chocolate mint, and peanut butter cup. Unbelievable!

We passed Union Square where the green market was still open. We walked around and bought some blackberries and some zinnias. Everything looked so fresh!

Here's a shot of Union Square with the Empire State Building in the background.

We continued our walk and finally arrived at Strand Books. They advertise 18 miles of books, both used and new. H and I stayed in the bookstore for probably one and a half hours. They have almost an entire floor of art books. They set up little stands along the park and sell used best sellers and other kinds of books. The store itself was really impressive, and the staff really knew their stuff.

We came home on the train, dumped our stuff at the apartment and then went to Rue 57 and split the Kobe mini burgers. It was just right.