New York, Part One, April 7 and 8

 April 7

   We made a leisurely exit at the hotel, the Courtyard Marriott/Convention Center and had a fairly easy drive to Brooklyn, with the exception of the last 20 miles. We found a close parking spot and Mark, somehow, managed to get the car into a very tight space. We took our bags up the 3 long flights of stairs and did a bit of unpacking.

Looking at Jo's from Sunset Park

   Then, we hustled over to Sunset Park to catch the solar eclipse which was 90% complete. We didn't have glasses, but a nice woman gave us a pair and it was pretty spectacular. It was also festive as there were so many people there looking and having fun. (Otis went to Indianapolis where the eclipse was 100%)

Mark looking up, Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Lots of people in the park.

  Next stop - the little grocery store below us for a few things. Then we wandered over to 8th Ave to "Sammich" where we had really good and unusual sandwiches.  They were on brioche bread and impossible to pick up. Mark had a beef one and Barbara had an avocado/tomato one. Both had eggs, too. They were both really delicious.

April 8

    A busy day! We walked close to 4 miles. We took the 9th Ave subway (D) and then switched trains. 

It took us about 1.5 hours and we were just in time to meet Ciaran Byrne for lunch. He treated us at Tea & Sympathy, an English restaurant. Ciaran knows the owners and also the waiter as it's a favorite spot. Mark had fish & chips. Barbara had broccoli soup/salad. We caught up with all of Ciaran's activities as well as those of Ella, Mabel and Kate. Ciaran is in a play at the Irish Repertory Theatre. He had only one week to learn his lines/blocking etc. He was called in when the man who was cast became ill. 

Ciaran at Tea and  Sympathy

   Then we went to a nearby Apple store and Barbara had her iPhone looked at. (It goes in and out of charging) They cleaned the port (clean, though) and sold her a new wire and an adapter.

   Then we took two more subways to visit the Grolier Museum. First, we saw in the sun and had an iced coffee by the park. The weather hit the mid 70s.

View from the Apple store

Central Park

   The Grolier Club is the oldest bibliophile club in N America. They no longer publish, but they do collect books. We saw an exhibit about the history of bookbinding through the ages. It was very interesting and in a gorgeous building. We also saw the private collection of a woman librarian/archivist who has collected works mostly dealing with translation. All very interesting.

These books are in their original paper wrappings. Never been opened.

Book cover by William Morris's daughter

  From there, we walked to Serafina (Italian) for a delicious dinner which finished with 2 scoops of gelato. Mark had pasta and Barbara had salmon.

   Then we walked to 57E59 Theatre, recommended by Joann and were in the front row for King, a one-man performance by Pat Kinevane who also wrote the play. The play is part of the Origins, Irish performances over the 5 boroughs in the next months. The play was about a mentally ill man who is coping with the imminent death of his father. The word "king" had layers of meaning. Kings of England who colonized the world. Martin Luther King for whom the main character, Luther, is named. Parallels of the treatment of African Americans and the Irish were made clear. King because Luther does an impersonation of Elvis when he gets the courage. And King as the acronym for "Keep Ignoring Nasty Ghosts." Luther tells of his traumas as the play unfolds. We liked it.

    Then, we took an Uber back to Brooklyn and found that we don't have to move the car this week due to Eid.