Out of curiosity, I checked the weather in Chelse. It was 34 degrees. What the ??? It's suppose to be spring!! Pat had mentioned that when we arrive into Tashkent, the forecast says it will be in the 30's and the next day will only be in the low 40's. I had packed for spring- assuming temps in the 50's and 60's. I reluctantly came to the conclusion that I wasn't well prepared to handle the cold and therefore, needed to buy something warmer. Well before leaving for NYC, I had debated whether or not to buy a lightweight down jacket from UNIQLO but had resisted as it seemed unnecessary to bring along a down jacket. after all, it's spring in the *stans* and generally speaking, the spring time temps there are at least 5 to 10 degrees warmer than where I live. But today I gave in - it's going to be cold there. I think global warming has affected their climate as much as it has affected ours - unexpected fluctuations in temperatures.
In the morning, we went to the UNIQLO store on 34th street and I got a jacket. I bundled up before I left Pat's apartment and we enjoyed the walk. For Pat, it's a regular event. For me it's such a great. Every time I'm in New York, I realize how much I love this city - there's always something going on....the place is alive. We chatted with each stride. As we walked along, the occasional snowflake hit my face. Yes, we're a week into spring and it's snowing!
By the time we had arrived at the store, I was toasty warm. For a few seconds, I had an internal debate whether or not to get the jacket but decided it would be cruel to Pat to drag her all this way and not get the thing. So I pulled the door ope. The store was already stocked up on summer clothing so the winter stuff was on sale. I managed to find a jacket in a color that I liked and a size that fit me. No regrets getting the jacket. I feel better now that I won't be miserable if it gets coldin any place we go in Central Asia.
On the way back to Pat's place, we walked into Macy's. Pat mentioned there was a flower show inside. I didn't know what to expect. Somehow, I thought there would be a display are sort.
We entered the store and there were lovely floral displays everywhere! We were by the cosmetics counters and all around us, were blooming flowers and the scent of blooms. Turns out this was the flower show and what a beautiful show it is. There were flowers and plants everywhere and even a few trees - in the aisles, above the cosmetics counters, framing the escalators. There were even a couple of animated projections including on on a life sized statue of David. And....one that had lights that changed colors.
After Macy's we headed to a coffeeshop, around the corner from Pat's place and had lunch. We both settled on salads - I fear that greens will be far and few between in our Central Asian meals so this might are last good chance for a healthy, veggie meal. I'm not a vegetarian by a long shot but I do need to eat my greens and I don't think we'll have much chance of doing that on our trip.
I ate too much at lunch - the salad was huge but too delicious to leave a morsel behind. After lunch, we headed back to Pat's place for a short while. At 2:30p, we were standing outside a small theatre located on the 4th floor of a building at 300 43rd St. We were at the Roy Arias.....waiting to enter the theatre for a performance called Bad Dancing. Pat bought the tickets just yesterday from Student Rush for $5 each. The last time we went to a Student Rush event, we really enjoyed so I was certain this would be good as well. Pat had already been so she had an idea of what was all about.
We arrived early so we had to wait before going in. The building we were in is home to several small theaters. I think there were at least two, if not three, performance venues on the 4th floor. It was an unusual venue.
When it was time to go in, we stepped inside a hallway and up a few steps to enter the performance hall itself. From there, we had to go down a few steps to reach where the seats were. It was a small performance space - rectangular in shape. At one end was the bar where you could purchase drinks. At the other end was a small, throne like settee. Book cases surrounded the performance floor. There were chairs in front of them. Pat noticed how the books were all color coordinated - obviously done deliberately. We took a couple of chairs in the middle of one row. One by one the seats filled up. Before the show started one of the performers decided to do a dance just for me :-)
The performance was a mix of staged and interactive participation by the audience. I am not and never will be a dancer so I sat out on all the participation stuff as did Pat. It was all very fun to watch!
When we got back to Pat's place, we got ourselves checked in for tomorrow's flight - at least the first leg to Moscow. Pat also (smartly, I might say) checked on the status of the NYC subway tomorrow. As not unexpected, there's some work being done on her line so we'll have to take a bit of a long way around to get to the AirTran station from where we can catch the train to JFK.
We ended the day with dinner at her a neighborhood Japanese restaurant. Tomorrow will be the start of a very long travel day so I am going to hit the sack a bit early tonight to make sure I'm well rested.
Goodnight from NYC!
