Good Bye Karen, Safe Trip!

Friday morning, Karen got up early and went to have breakfast with Nicoletta. The old lady and I were really sad that Karen was leaving, but the old lady reminded me that we were heading home ourselves in two days and we would get together with Karen really soon to look at pictures together, Karen came back, we said our good-byes and then the old lady and I took off to meet her friend Margaret Holt. On the way, though, we went back to 5^th Avenue to go to a store to buy some shirts for the man with the fuzzy face. I don't get what was so important about 5^th Avenue, but the old lady said it was very prestigious and it was awesome that she could get nice soft shirts for $12.50 each. Nothing for the monkey, though, of course!! Before we went in the store, the old lady took me into a cool dark place with an awesome window. Everyone talked very softly. She said it was a church. I didn't see any statues of the great monkey... She said it was St. Thomas Cathedral.

When we got down in the subway again, to head to Margaret's, we got to see a band playing, right on the subway platform!

We got down to the East Village, but stopped at a Walgreens to get a print made of Dickens and I with the wise one. Jane, the nice girl who let us stay in her apartment, left an empty frame on the wall, so the old lady decided she needed a picture to go in it.

When we got to Margaret's, we made a plan to go to the pier but had to bring umberellas because it was threatening to rain. I wanted to just stay home, but the old lady said that would be stupid to waste a day in New York just because of a little weather. So this is my new friends Margaret and Dick sitting on Pier 66, trying to ignore the occasional raindrop... I must admit it was fun seeing kayaks on the Hudson river. We made it through lunch without getting wet, so we walked along the river for a little bit and came to this huge sports complex where they actually play GOLF! In the city! Since the old lady works for the Golfer's Guide, she was very fascinated. We took refuge in the Golf Shop just in time as it started to pour down rain and thunder and lightening outside. They had a very nice lounge and no one complained that we were sitting there, so we just kind of hung out for an hour while the rain went away. When we came back outside, the rain had stopped and it had gotten much cooler out.

We walked back across town toward Margaret's when Dick suggested we stop for a coffee. Since the old lady knew she had a show to still go to that evening, she thought it was a good idea. The coffee shop made pretty pictures in the top of the coffee cup.(1717) Dick was a very nice man and wouldn't let us pay for anything. The old lady felt a little guilty but I was happy to be spoiled (1718).

After coffee, we headed back up town to shower (there she goes again), change and head back Downtown to try to meet up with some friends of the old lady's from the days when she used to sing on stage all the time. The group was called the Village Light Opera. I think opera sounds like a bunch of screeching cats so I hoped it wasn't going to be really bad. We found Charlie Wolf on the #1 train platform at Houston Street and continued on to Brooklyn where the Begger's Opera was going to be performed. So I guessed we were going to watch begging, screeching cats... The old lady and Charlie kept making comments during the show, but I thought it was much better than I expected After the show, we met up with some of her old friends and had a late dinner. Then we all hired a car and headed back into the city. I was very happy to take the car instead of trying to deal with the trains because in the way to Brooklyn, we had to switch trains many times because of water on the tracks and delays. The old lady was very happy Charlie was with us so we didn't get totally lost and confused. The car dropped off Charlie, Ned and Royal and then us, and it was still not too expensive.

We dropped into bed at 1:30, really, really, tired!