Subways, Central Park and Pastries

The time has come once again to update the hiegh ho bloggio. And I must say, what an adventurous life we do lead! Why, the subway itself provides material for hours of amusing entertainment.

And sometimes terror.

So far, my favorite episodes in the Subway Diaries include the appearance of a three part Mariachi Band (including an accordion) in full authentic costume. They boarded the train and regaled us all with a quick chorus of La Bamba before passing a hat and dashing out at the next stop. Sadly, I did not have any change to drop in the oversized stetson when it came my way.

I also particularly enjoyed a hellfire and damnation sermon given with great vigor by an elderly gentleman the other day. As one who has some experience sharing the Good Word with people who just wish you would go away, I felt he did a fairly decent job. Until he started waffling on confessing all his sins as an illustration of how good and forgiving God is. He needs a good skills training.

We've had some good times riding around on more ferries. Amelia seems to be getting her sea legs sans problems. I may have to start calling her Ishmael. (Moby Dick reference for those of you who can't be bothered reading the classics. And really, in this case you're not missing much.)

Here are some pics to say the thousand words I don't want to write:

"There are no cats in America, and the streets are paved with cheese."



Amelia inspecting the safety equipment aboard our noble vessel; Senator John J. Marchi.



Making friends with the natives.



Central Park also deserves a bit of a shout out, as Pete and I were discussing recently that there probably wouldn't be enough oxygen in this city without it. And it's a pretty good place for pygmies like Amelia to run about making the most of their childhoods.






And finally, we visited the infamous Magnolia Bakery. Infamous that is among bakery loving types and Food Network junkies like my husband and myself. If you are ever in New York and you fancy a quick bite of something sweet, this is not the place to go. I think we waited in line for 15 minutes and that was before the line got really long. It was as if I was at Disney Land or something.

But the mini keylime cheesecake I got was really quite tasty. Credit where it is due. I bet Pete could replicate it though. No prob.

Speaking of Pete the Mighty Baker; for Father's Day Amelia and I got him this:



Actually he ordered it for himself and called it his Father's Day present. It's the textbook used at the most prestigious pastry school in New York. He wanted a textbook for Father's Day--weird.

I'm beginning to think we are in New York for an entirely different reason than landing a fabulous job in marketing with an international cosmetics empire. Sneaky Pete.