A BEAUTIFUL DAY

Sunday, January 31st

On Sunday Skye and I walked to Central Park. I wanted to show her the southern part of Central Park and later in the day we would meet up with Jimmy and explore a little bit of the central area. It was a beautiful day, not too cold and the sky was a vibrant blue. Being the weekend there was not the usual hustle and bustle of the city traffic. It was more families in strollers, people jogging and of course the usual little dogs out for a walk with their special outfits on. When we got inside the park there were lots of people running, walking and riding bikes. It was invigorating. We were glad to be there. A lot of the snow had melted since Jimmy and I were there last but you could still see some of it. In fact one area of rocks where Skye and I went to take pictures was very slippery. We were walking like old ladies being careful not to slip.

We walked past the Central Park Zoo. Zoo's make me sad. Unless they are truly a safe haven for injured animals or rehabilitating animals to eventually return to the wild I feel they are cruel and unjust. You can see the see lion area without having to pay to enter the "zoo". Two sea lions swimming around in a very small area for the rest of their lives. Yes it brings joy to children and adults alike but it's not joyful for the sea lions.

We walked past Wollman Ice Rink. Back in the mid-70's the ice rink with its large bleachers was home to music festivals which included such artists as Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers, Tammy Wynette and Pete Seeger. The rink was also featured in the movies Love Story and Serendipity. Walking a little further we passed the Carousel. It was closed for the season but I hope to go back if we are still in New York. The Carousel is Central Park's most popular attraction. It is one of the country's largest merry-go-rounds with over 250,000 riders a year.

We made our way to Strawberry Fields and Imagine Mosaic dedicated to the memory of John Lennon. This is a very popular spot for people to sit or take pictures of the mosaic. There usually is a musician singing Lennon's songs.

Eventually we met up with Jimmy and took Skye to the Alice In Wonderland Statue. The bronze statue of Alice stands eleven feet tall. Atypical of most sculptures, children are invited to climb, touch and crawl over Alice and friends. Over the decades the hands and feet of thousands of children have literally polished parts of the statue's surface smooth.

On out way home I took Skye to Candle Cafe, a vegan restaurant that also has a nice selection on gluten free fares. Jimmy passed on lunch and went on to his favorite bakery to buy some bread.
Skye and I both had different salads for lunch and then split an incredible peanut butter chocolate pie with chocolate hazelnut ice cream. All vegan, gluten free and delicious. We were in heaven.

After returning to the apartment we were full from lunch and in need of a walk. We decided to walk down the street to an overlook which had a view of the East River and Roosevelt Island. Skye and I had  plans to go to the broadway show Beautiful so we didn't stay out too long.