I am in a New York state of mind...

...as Billy Joel would say. We spent sunday and monday in the Big Apple, and it was, as it always is, mind-blowing. There are few cities which have what it takes to fascinate all kinds of people across the board. New York is definitely one of them.

We arrived on sunday and decided to take a pleasant stroll up on Broadway, on what turned out to be a beautiful day. The street market was on, which means an eclectic combination of food, gadgets, clothes, posters, photographs, vinyl records and memorabilia, sprinkled with the iPad, Victoria Secret and more... We made a stop at Zabar's, the quintessential definition of a NY deli and grocery store, where we went A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y crazy buying from among hundreds of cheeses, olives in all sizes and colors, the most amazing variety of bread and irresistible dessert. Contradiction has it, however, that we were not able to get wine. We then went to have a picnic in the Riverside Park, sitting on the lawn, under the shade of big trees and a blue sky.

Our little group of six decided that another overload of green was needed, heading towards Central Park. And there, from among all people in the world, we ran into Jim, who we had not seen in at least one year, but whom we had been remembering a couple of hours before. This city is amazing! The cherry on top is that we ran into yet another friend later on, at Washington Square,ending up as a big happy party in the Village. C-R-A-Z-Y! But that is exactly what New York is.

More tomorrow.