Moondriven

I am traveling with my partner, my kid and my partners mum, J.

J is great to travel with. Funny, chatty, adventurous. All the things you need in a travel companion.

However, she pokes travel guides under my nose. The latest offering is a ‘Top Ten to do in New York’ thingo. Which is funky and fine except that i am cruising along with my little 16 month old kid in tow. Busy, expensive places where Z is goggled eyed with wonder but can’t be put down are no fun for her. Besides, I am not a Top Ten kinda guy… and i am taking a zen approach to this trip. Talking to the locals. Wandering. A smells and sounds kind of thing.

Like today. I had Z for the day. We went to the Hudson River and dropped rocks off a pier. Then hung out with dogs in a park in Upper West Side. Then a few hours at the NY Childrens Museum. Sat on some steps (a stoop) for lunch, chatting with locals. Then some reading in a Clarks and Noble bookstore. Then we went into the subway to look at trains… you get the idea. Very make it up ‘as Z goes along’ kinda stuff. Suits me. I just chat to everyone and get a feel for the place while Z has a ball.

A rambling and spontaneous itinerary is best for Z. Maybe with a cool location to aim for… and once there - stay for a good while.

I did try to organise two ‘me’ kind of adventures. A couple of things I sused out back in OZ. A trip uptown to go to a low key rambling concert of nutty classical music (Next to Ground Zero… strange). You know, Yo Yo Ma type stuff. Bang the Can Orchestra stuff. We got there and small Z started dancing and poking at violins that some nice chick let her grab. There was a fountain to splash in and boats to watch… Heaven for me. Heaven for Z.

All good but the rest of the gang came along on this ramble with us, and they were bored out of their nuts…

They lasted oh, about ten minutes. So we left and the excursion melted in a mess of “what should we do nows?” . Gah! Adults!

I also tried to organise a long ramble around the Bronx
by myself. Soak up the sights and take in a block party… everyone came, which is fine.. but we didn’t get there until 4pm… So instead went to the Bronx Botanical Gardens and dinner with some friends who live out that way.

Hmmm.

As it turned out there was a lovely Zen quality about it. The gardens were totally amazing and dinner was a hoot. We laughed and danced and ate and drank a jug of wine and danced some more. They were my sort of people. Z stayed up late and played with two wooden ducks and ran around blissed out, then fell asleep in a taxi on the way back to Manhattan.

No need for a Top Ten list or even any plans at all… just a good sense of the ridiculous.