wordsworth

I’m going to post about just this one day of our trip…all in all the trip was great! I woke up with the sun on Saturday, July 4…which in Hoboken meant around 5:30 am…went back to sleep til around 7:30 am, then got up, made a small pot of coffee and sat quietly for awhile. A little later I showered, stirred Ellen and went downstairs to have coffee with Michael. I found an Al-Anon meeting on line the day before close to Michael’s and decided to go. It was the first 12-step meeting I went to out of town and it was just fine. The opening and closing are the same which was a neat…it was a speaker meeting then open discussion…lasted an hour and a half. Speakers had 3 minutes to share and were timed with a stop watch…funny but it worked and no one seemed to mind. The folks were welcoming…troubles and joy know no boundaries.

On with the day…I met up with Michael, Oscar and Ellen at the bus stop and we headed into the city. Once off the bus we found ourselves at the entrance to a flea market…we spent some time looking around. I found a pretty necklace for $10; Ellen found some incense…Oscar has a good eye for things I would look over, but when brought to my attention, find interesting. After we meandered for a while we headed to the subway to make our way out the the Hungarian Pastry Shop! We grabbed a small, quick bite to eat in the subway station, then headed to the platform. Michael found a pretty silver bracelet on the way that he gave to Ellen. Then we were on our way. It was a good feeling to be taking Ellen to the Hungarian Pastry Shop…the place you found all those years before…the place that I told Michael about…the place he takes friends and family.

We arrived at our stop and surfaced to the fresh air…a beautiful day…a short walk and there it was…my heart was light and full…happy to lay eyes on the statue in the Children’s garden again and to share some of our history with Elle.

Ellen really liked the sculpture garden and took a long while to videotape every little sculpture around the perimeter (sounds like someone else I know).

Michael and Oscar we happy to be there, too.

Before we headed to the Hungarian Pastry Shop, we went into the cathedral…there was a choir practicing which was a treat and reminded me of our time in Rome…the cathedral was phenomenal…so much attention to detail and may small chapels within. We lit candles for Dad.

By now we were ready for dessert…time for the:

Surprisingly, it hadn’t changed much…same tables…lights…bathroom full of messages and…pastries! All delicious looking…I didn’t take a second to decide…it was poppyseed for me and a cup of Hungarian coffee!

Michael got a cream-filled dessert…Oscar, cherry and Elle, while she wasn’t too crazy about the Poppy seed…enjoyed a piece of New York style cheesecake. 

After a fun time visiting and enjoying these luscious treats and after I had a chance to let the fact of being back at the Hungarian Pastry Shop sink in, it was time to talk a walk…a long walk…all the way through Central Park…but not before one last snap…

…until next time.

We headed down the street and into the quiet beauty of Central Park. The weather was perfect and our stroll leisurely. Mike took us by one of his favorite fountains. We saw funky street performers, break dancers giving a nod to Michael Jackson and roller skaters.

Along the way we stopped to rest and enjoy the day. Ellen wanted to find the “glacier rocks” that Mattie told her about…rocks with grooves bored into them by the water run off. We rested on them in the shade before heading on to the edges of the park and the  land of “dirty water dogs.”

I wasn’t hungry…but I remembered what Mike had said and didn’t want to be a party poop’r…”when one gets a dirty water dog…all get a dirty water dog” and I must admit…it was actually pretty good.

Once we were on the other end of the park we headed back to Hoboken and an evening of a light dinner, fireworks from the river and Ellen’s upside down cherry cake…which was a fitting end to our perfect Saturday in the Park 4th of July day!