summer solstice day

while chanda worked on her card for her ballet teacher, i walked downtown to the burdick store for chcoolates (and treated myself to a burdick mocha coffee to go).

 we met at the christopher street station . . 

to take the train uptown . . 

 we came down the ramp at columbus circle to the sound of classical music drifting through the tunnel . . 

 

 the new underground market which i hadn't seen before . . 

chanda is saying there's no time for photos! 

the carriage horses and their drivers are off to work in beautiful central park . .

trying to keep up . .

i love these old stairs . . but you have to be careful, especially coming down them as the final set has a wider gap in between steps and it can set you off balance.  in some old buildings, the steps are worn and uneven . . and slippery (as chanda well knows!).

 upstairs in the studio lobby . .

waiting for the lesson to begin . . 

working on adagio with her private teacher, charla.

tour jetés . .

charla's corrections are very precise and not always easy to execute

 
 turns . .

this wonderful lady has taught her so much and been such a source of encouragement, along with miss irene, who was once charla's student when she was chanda's age.

afterwards, i hopped on the crosstown bus along 57th street to have lunch with korrina, and to pick up our farm vegetables.

greek salad . . 

 on my way home now . . which will take me seemingly forever as i stop at various places along the way . . 

 the kiamie arcade building on 27th street (beautiful columns!) . . 

the sing for hope crew was celebrating the summer solstice in madison square park. they had an impromptu songfest with the random nyc residents and tourists . . 

i love watching the artists work on their cityscapes in the street!

my mom used to take painting lessons with our local school district when i was growing up. the adult classes were either a small fee, or free. her brushes and oil paints are still in a case in the basement of the house on long island (which is currently rented out for another year).

i treated myself to an affogato at the eataly market . . 

the gelato line . . 

here i'm walking west along 23rd street and passing several people watching the world cup . .

on a tv in a window display . . i think argentina was playing.

water towers . . 

a favorite selfie spot on 25th street . .

this week the linden trees have been in bloom and i've been exclaiming about it to greg and chanda constantly. 

you'll be walking along a smelly nyc sidewalk and then . . pow! . . you get a wiff of sweet linden flowers. i love it.

a magnolia blossom in our apartment complex's courtyard . . 

it's a southern magnolia and some winters we think it won't make it . . but so far it's hanging on.

solstice sunset over abingdon square.

greg and i had black truffle ravioli that i brought back from the eataly market, along with sautéed mushrooms from the veggie box, and then i walked with janet to see a photography exhibit on 20th street that had its opening this evening. one of her costumes was included in the display (the "birdman"). afterwards, greg and i checked in on minerva before heading home.

a walk about town

i had a lesson about nyc transit buses today. there are several m15 buses that run along first avenue that only make limited stops, and in order to board them you pay at a machine on the sidewalk rather than on the bus. everyone is allowed to board at all doors (there are three . . it's a long bus), but i don't see how one proves that one paid. how unlike new york to trust a person to pay for his or her fare. i suppose it's quicker than making everyone slip their card into the machine at the head of the bus  (the bus stops, the doors open and everyone boards--easy peasy) . . in san francisco they have machines that read a bar code at all doors. ah well . . it was certainly interesting.

 my sister and brother-in-law came with me to visit korrina at our vegetable box pick-up site at bellevue hospital.

we had lunch with her at little river cafe, and then when she went into work, we peeked into the restaurant and took in the view of the east river and long island across the way.

 looking north with the united nations building in the center . . 

and south with waterside plaza to the left (a residential and business complex that was once a mitchell-lama affordable housing program, and was constructed on platforms supported by concrete piles sunk into the east river--you can read about it here).

 on the left can be seen the queensborough, 59th street bridge, with the buildings of long island city.

to our right is williamsburg, with long island city on the left.

here's a different angle of the united nations and the bridge.]

 sitting on the artsy benches inside the river park building. 

 i've passed these benches many times but never sat down. they were surprisingly comfortable.

 the ceiling makes me think of being inside the whale with jonah, and also of pinocchio and monstro in the disney film.

 we then walked out to first avenue, down to 23rd street, and west to madison square park . .

 where all the fountain planters have been filled with daffodils and hyacinths.

we stopped in the eataly market, as my brother-in-law had never been before. he found lots of good chocolate to try, including this piece! (caffarel ripieno al cacao, i love fondente - extra dark chocolate with cocoa filling!) i got distracted from viewing all the food and housewares when we left, so i headed us west to sixth avenue and trader joe's, rather than south to fishs eddy, our second important destination of the day. it was just a little extra walking . . 

fishs eddy . . 

 the trees in union square are getting their leaves. the little ones are magnolias, but i'm not sure what the larger ones are. they're different from the london planes in madison square park which are still looking very bare.

in front of the little house on charles street in which margaret wise brown once wrote good night moon.

----

 meanwhile, chanda and greg in florida were visiting with grandma . . 

i just read this book by elizabeth gilbert, and thought it would be good for chanda to read.

 

 

 i think they went to a nice seafood restaurant for dinner.