Posts tagged #NYC

In The Rearview Mirror 2020 pt. 1

Snowshoeing in Montana

Flashback Friday

Memories

First-quarter of 2020

    2020 turned out to be one of the best and worst years in history for us. Right before getting on the plane to go to Sweden (to celebrate my dads 70th birthday) Winslow got a phone call and a job offer. We did two trips before Covid19 took its grip of our world. Sweden, and a week or so after I came back from there we went to Colorado to meet up with a bunch of friends. By March Covid19 in NYC was a fact and we started our weekly walk to Central Park. By mid March things started to shut down and I said bye to my lab for a couple of months.

January

    We celebrated Christmas and New Years in Bozeman again. Just like many other NYE celebrations we cheered early and went to bed. The next day we got up at 6am and ventured out in the snow. W and his dad put on back-country skis and I came with them for part of it on my snow shoes. I Couldn’t have started the new year in any better way, I was in heaven. We did another outing around Bozeman before getting back to the big city. Once back in NYC we got some crazy warm weather. We took advantage of it and went to our favorite local bar for a beer. W and I and my brother and his partner surprised my dad in Sweden for his birthday. But before that we had some time to explore my old stomping grounds. We arrived at Operakällarn and boy was my dad surprised. After that followed some cold but beautiful days in Stockholm. We walked around everywhere, as we tend to do now when we visit. Winslow flew back to NYC earlier than me and I had some more time with my dad. I walked by the old fruit/candy store where we always used to go when I was in high school. And many trips to the beautiful Hedvig Eleonora church, where I got baptized, mom and dad got married, and moms funeral was held and where her memorial is. I blinked and then that trip and January was all over.

February

    Spring started to appear already early February. Maybe mother earth knew we needed something bright and light in our lives? We went up to Poughkeepsie and Millbrook to check out the area where we would move if W accepted the job offer. our first trip to Canoe Hill, and the Wassaic Art Project. We even went to the local diner in Millbrook. Back in the city we did our monthly trip to chinatown and the obligatory seafood dinner at home. We went to mermaid in for oysters, and also went to one of our favorite dive bar in the East Village, the Library. Then we flew to Denver, went to the grocery store and bought 6 dozen oysters before we drove to Estes Park where we had rented an AirBnB. We got a beautiful hike in at Rocky Mountain National Park, and before we knew it the trip and February was over.

March

    March 2020, a month that felt like a year, and therefore there are a few more photos to share. We greeted spring in Central Park, and continued to greet it the whole month during our weekly walks. If there was one thing to be excited about it was the blooming of flowers and trees. We knew things were getting bad, we heard silent rumors about a potential shutdown, and on March 16th I went to the lab to shut it down, for the foreseeable future. The rest of the city followed in the coming weeks. It was a spring that came and then got cancelled. I don’t think any of us could have imagined what the next months could possibly bring, and boy were we in for a surprise.

We Took The Bike North - a New York City Bike Excursion

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Biking in the BIG City

We went biking the other day, north this time. There are bike lanes, unprotected and some a bit more protected, that will guide you through the traffic all the way over to the West Harlem Piers. Here there are no cars to fight with, and instead there is a bike path that sometimes is shared with pedestrians. I once got hit by a car while biking in Madison, so I really appreciate the bike path. It is so green here, and relaxing even though you have the cars to the right of you, behind a bunch of trees. If you go south on this bike path you can continue all the way down to Battery Park, maybe not completely on a separated greenway but still.

The Little Red Lighthouse

I had one goal for this bike trip, to see the little red lighthouse. As we came closer to George Washington, or GW bridge which many people refer it to, we saw these stacks of stones that someone made along the shoreline. And before we knew it we were already by Fort Washington Park and standing under the GW Bridge. The same bridge that we traveled over endless number of times to get to Palisades and our jobs. Now it has been more than 2!! months since we crossed that bridge on a bus. And there, right under the bridge is where you will find the little red lighthouse. The first time I saw the GW bridge from the Manhattan side I was so mesmerized, it looks as if its going straight into a deep forest in New Jersey. And if you drive towards Manhattan you can see how much green space Manhattan and NY overall has along the water.

Fort Tryon Park

We continued north, and this time the bike trail took us right next to the highway, which was less pleasant. But at least the traffic isn’t as bad as it used to be. We ended up by the path that would take you towards Inwood Hill Park, but we had other plans. W had found an awesome Venezuelan restaurant that he wanted to check out, for take out of course. But, before that we spent some time trying to figure out the best way to get into Fort Tryon Park, and to get a brief look at the Cloisters. We finally got to the entrance that took us up, up, up and up. Who would have thought that the cloisters were on a mountain. Or so it felt. So we continued. At the top we sat down and watched some boats floating by on the mighty Hudson.

We didn’t really stay long in Fort Tryon Park, and almost got lost trying to find the way out. But there are a ton of trails there too, and stairs. I know because we carried our bikes down numerous steps. But there are several gardens there, and a stone arch…somewhere. We missed all of this because we got hungry and continued towards Cachapas Y Mas. We continued our bike ride, crossed Manhattan again, and slowly continued along the Harlem river. We past yet another park before we finally sat down on some benches overlooking the river, and had our delicious arepas. They were so good that we didn’t even get a chance to take a picture of them. From there it didn’t take long until we were in our old stomping grounds, and home. The bike ride was about 12 miles in total, so not too long. It was definitely refreshing to see something new after being inside for two months. When we have been venturing out it has been to Central Park or Riverside Park. We had never been that far north, but it has always been on our to do list, like so many other things that the pandemic has taken away from us.

In The Rearview Mirror 2019 pt. 4

Flashback Friday

October

    Our friends came and visited us in October, and we ventured out to a wide variety of museums and art galleries. Early October was actually a bit chilly and you could definitely tell that fall was on its way. But as always, temperatures fluctuated a lot this year too. We went through Central Parks many times in October and it’s always great to see the colors change as time passes. We also went to a light show by Columbia University. It was ok, not spectacular in any way though. Morningside Park has raccoons that we see from time to time, and in October we saw one again. One of the streets we take to work is always full of nice Halloween decorations, so it was always fun to stroll through that part and check out all the various decorations for this year.

November

    In November fall colors were still lingering in Central Park, and we still had warmish temperatures. It’s interesting how fall seems to hang on forever in New York, compared to other places we have lived. If you venture out in Central Park on some of the trails it almost feels as if you are in the middle of nowhere even though you are in one of the largest cities in the world. I made some cardamom buns and finally made them perfect! I also managed to make my first macaroons. We went to W’s grandma for Thanksgiving and hung out there for a couple of days. It’s always nice to be able to have those days to recuperate from the big city life.

December

    December came with a thin layer of snow, and that is about everything we got. I went to the ballet and saw the nutcracker and I made some saffron buns, absolutely delicious. W and I explored some old and new bars before we headed out to Montuckey for Christmas. We did a lot of hiking, per usual around Bozeman. Actually more than usual because of the thin layer of snow. We rented an Airbnb in Gardiner after Christmas and spent a couple of days in Yellowstone National Park. We checked out some bars in Gardiner and the next day we finally went skiing in northeast Yellowstone! On New Years Eve we went to bed already at 9.30 but we had big and early plans on January 1st.