Visiting the City

Last week a childhood friend of mine from Kansas City visited the city, and thanks to a generous playgroup friend, he was able to stay at a housesit in Sunnyside.  Having him close by but not subject to our girls' early wake times was the best of both worlds, and we found ourselves traipsing into Manhattan with him a few times for a little sightseeing of our own. My biggest fear when we have a friend visit is that they won't get to see all the parts of the city that I really love--places like the quiet brownstone-lined streets of Brooklyn Heights with its promenade, the grit and character of the Lower East Side or East Village, and of course our own humble hamlet of Sunnyside. Usually, it's hard to pace yourself in New York and you want to rush downtown and then uptown and see everything in between.  But the reality is you wear yourself out fast, and what you see, you don't always enjoy.  Doing that over a long weekend is killer, but with a few extra days, the mad dash becomes a bit more tolerable. So it was my plan to take Adam to a few areas of the city Nacho and I love, slowing down just enough to savor them. And since I was stuck with the girls (yes, dragging kids around in major summer heat is not exactly my idea of a good time), we made plenty of pit stops for food and parks. This is how we do summer in the city... 

We've been seeing a lot of this face from Carolina, plus a lot of screaming. This kid knows what she wants and she will cut you to get it.

Ahhhh, there. So much better sipping down mama's iced coffee without anyone touching it.

The highlights of this slow crawl through the Lower East Side were definitely the culinary pursuits: late breakfast at Doughnut Plant followed by lunch at Caracas Arepa Bar. It had been years since I'd had one of their donuts (I know, I know, how could that be), but they didn't disappoint. The tres leches and the creme brûlée were both amazing. Elisa snarfed down her vanilla bean glazed one so fast, I didn't even get a bite. And the arepas were piping hot and oozing with flavor. Anyone venturing there would do well to order the pabellon and skip reading the menu. It's that good. But by the time I was licking my fingers and tucking away my napkin, I knew we were on a fast track to heading home. A little guac and fresh plantain chips helped curb the crazy for a few minutes, but it was well past nap time and we had two buses to catch on the way home--not the best plan when you're running low on toddler reserves. But somehow we made it just fine. The girls were very patient with our slow transport home, and I managed to lose my Metrocard after the first bus which meant I not only lost a transfer (damn it!), but I had just charged it with $20, of course.  Luckily, there was a silver lining in that a nice elderly woman generously sold me a swipe from hers, saving me from having to jump off the bus and  go buy a new one. Another day in the city made better by the good company we had.