No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn

Brooklyn Bridge

 
Or in Sophie's case, I should say, "Sleep in 'Til Brooklyn." Yesterday morning I let Sophie sleep in while I worked. I didn't go for my run jog because I was sore from all the walking, carrying heavy suitcases up 4 flights of slanted staircases, and my jog (I'll call it what it is) the day before. One thing that we've notice about NYC is that most everyone is in good shape. You rarely see an overweight person except for tourists. We noticed the same thing in London. The reason finally dawned on us. It's because they walk -- everywhere. They have to. They go to the grocery store and carry their bags home. They walk to the subway or the bus.  Even if it's just a few blocks it makes a difference. When they get to the subway station they have to go up and down stairs and negotiate the crowds. I thought of my lifestyle in Lake Oswego and it goes like this: walk from my house to my car in the driveway (about 10 steps), drive Sophie to school, walk from my car in my driveway to my house, go to my office and sit and work. Go out for an occasional tennis lesson or a walk or jog. Drive to the grocery store, walk around the store pushing a cart. That's about it. Not much exercise. New Yorkers are getting more exercise each day without even trying -- just living their lifestyle of walking everywhere. Something to think about.

We took the Hop-On Hop-Off bus to Brooklyn. To get to our bus stop we took the subway to Chambers Street -- way down at the bottom of  "the island" near the 9/11 memorial. From there we had to go to 250 Broadway, so we entered the address in our phone and let Siri guide us to our bus stop. She told us to walk up three blocks turn right, go another block, turn right again, then walk three blocks down to our destination. Okay, do you see what's happening here? She made us walk six extra blocks in a circle when we could have one block to our destination. We both agreed that we must have done something at some point to piss Siri off -- like ignored her directions at one point, or asked her to many dumb questions to see how she'd answer. So this was her way of getting back at us -- her way of saying, "Eff you. Don't mess with me because I could make your life miserable." Yikes.

We boarded our bus (We had VIP passes, which meant we get on first -- ha!) and went over to Brooklyn and hopped off on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn Heights. When we got there, we felt like Dorothy going somewhere over the rainbow and landing in the Land of Oz. No there weren't munchkins or flying monkeys -- so don't get all excited. It just felt like a place we always dreamed about: beautiful brownstones with tree-lined streets, people sitting with their neighbors on their front steps talking and laughing, kids riding their bikes, mothers pushing napping babies in strollers, quaint shops and restaurants. Yes, an urban paradise. We loved it. And what's really super cool is this is the neighborhood where Sophie will nanny starting in July. Lucky duck gets to come here four days a week while I sit in the apartment in UWS (upper west side) with droopy floors, slanted stairs and a mysterious landlord. Story of my life.

Oh, and by the way, back to my Siri story. While I was riding on the bus to Brooklyn, it dawned on me that Siri wasn't messing with us after all. I had the app set to 'driving' so she was giving us directions as if we were driving to our destination. How many times have I done this? Countless. You think I would learn.

Sophie at Chez Moi

We had lunch at Chez Moi -- a cute and casual French restaurant that my friend Susan, who lives in Brooklyn Heights, highly recommended. We sat in the front window and got to watch the Brooklynites go by and secretly wish we were one of them. Sophie had the most gorgeous hamburger -- yes, a hamburger can be gorgeous, we just witnessed it -- and I had the risotto with charred asparagus and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Delightful.

MetroCard = Key to the City

We headed back to our bus stop to catch the bus and finish our tour to find out that their were no more buses. Tour over. But that's okay -- we had our 30-day, Unlimited Ride MetroCards, which give us the power to go anywhere at anytime. We walked a few blocks to the subway station and caught the R train to Jay Street, got off, crossed the platform to catch the C train to take all the way back to our place. Super cool. Super easy. I love public transportation. What was also super cool about this subway ride is that it'll be the same commute that Sophie will take to her nanny job in Brooklyn, So it gave us some practice and allowed us to get familiar with the surroundings.

It's only day three and we feel like we are starting our transformation into New Yorkers. A matter of fact, we must look so confident on the streets and subway that people ask *us* for directions. But you know what our typical answer is? "I'm sorry, I don't know." But once that answers changes to, "Go three blocks down to 84th and take a right, you'll see a coffee shop on the corner, go three more shops down and you'll be there," we'll know that we know we've been fully transformed.