another trip to the city

The Northeast had its first heat wave come through last week. I thought I was melting. My house does not have air conditioning, and opening windows only helped slightly. I also took a few days to go to New York City, where it was just as hot. My friend's apartment did not have air conditioning either, but since I had a car, we drove the measly mile to Home Depot to purchase a window unit. It seems everyone in New York buys these, sells these, or carries them on to their next apartment. Home Depot had pallets upon pallets of them all stacked up at the front! If you're car-less in NYC though, it can't be too easy to get one home from the store.

It seems there's never enough time to see everything on my NYC list, but I am getting to know the area from simply walking.

 Despite the clouds, it was very hot and humid, and I wanted nothing more than to jump in that water!

The clouds eventually starting clearing, and we made a beeline for Bryant Park for its abundance of shade trees, but not before being asked for help by a woman trying to figure out how to get a bicycle from the new Citi Bike stations. I really like this idea of the bike sharing-rental system; it is clearly already popular and easy to use, especially for visitors. I decided to tough it out and keep walking, though.

The park was close to our next destination: The Great Gatsby movie. I loved it! I've always loved the book, and I had been waiting since last year to finally see the movie. I didn't realize the theater I chose was in Times Square, and so $18.50 a ticket. Oops. The showtime we originally planned for what sold out so while we waited for the next showing, we posed for photos (like everyone else) with the mounted police officer, who was just as indifferent as the horse, although the horse appreciated a face rub!

It was all such fun! I am hoping for many more trips to this city!