NYC

I want to say, by the time I moved from NYC three years ago, I was so tired of it that I would have been happy never to see it again. Now that I don't have to live there anymore and deal with the expense, overcrowding and stress, I learned that I can enjoy it again, maybe more than ever. On this last visit, I stayed on Staten Island for two nights in my old neighborhood and saw people whose company I found really stimulating. I love that area, too, with the harbor and the Verrazzano Bridge. It's really homey and comfortable. I stood on the street behind my old building for a long time, looking up at what had been my bedroom window, and remembered sitting on the fire escape watching boats go back and forth. I also recalled an amazing storm over Presidents' Day weekend one year when the wind blew so hard that it forced snow in through the cracks around the old, unsealed windows. It literally snowed in my apartment. I spent the last night of my trip at my friend's apartment in the Bronx, and we walked around the neighborhood looking at the beautiful old homes and ate dinner at Montezuma, a great restaurant there. The next morning, I commuted in with him on Metronorth. His train stop is at Marble Hill, which really is a huge marble hill. The station is right on the Harlem River and the ride into Manhattan was gorgeous. I got off at 125th Street to catch the bus to LaGuardia, and that went really well. The ride is pretty short, and I got there with plenty of time to spare. Yaay for planning well. I also spent a little time in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, and overall, it was one of the better trips I've ever made.