A Day in New York City

The 15.5-hour flight from Delhi to New Jersey was an opportunity to catch up on much of our storytelling and the hours fled quickly, the whole flight in the dark of night.

Yoginathaswami and I had planned for a day of recuperation here, and we were treated to a delightful series of short excursions. Lunch with Asha Tanzi, Kaika & Nilufer Clubwala was filled with reports on our travels and tidbits about New York. Kaika's love of architecture has made him a walking encyclopedia, and he can tell you details about the history of every major building in the city. We learned so much.

Off we went to the Statue of Liberty, taking a ferry across some choppy waters on a cool day. The statue is larger than we thought. Then hopping the subway and busses to reach the Intrepid Museum where the Space Shuttle Endeavor is on display on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

It was a much-appreciated down time for two slightly discombobulated two world wanderers. Just 24 hours, but so needed after 34 days of non-stop outreach.

The day we arrived, Nilufer said: "It has been freezing for the last ten days, and the Sun came out when you arrived." It turned into a tropical day in Manhattan. Then, as we were sitting on the plane the next day, ready for the flight to San Francisco, the weather returned with a vengeance and our flight had to be de-iced before taking off. Seems we had inadvertently packed the Hawaiian weather, taking it to California!

In San Francisco that night we had a truly delightful dinner with four Kulapatis: Deva Rajan, Easan Katir, Easvan Param and Adi Alahan, with hours of fun conversation and some special vegan dishes made by Sundari to feed our vegan traveler. A most perfect final evening of our travels.

Now, off to Kauai!

A long flight is better than several shorter ones.

Our day in New York City

Yoginathaswami is amazed by the logical organization of avenues and streets.

And equally amazed by the incessant flow of people speaking every language on the planet. A few do speak English.

Asha came from Boston to spend some time with us.

Kaika and Nilufer are masterful guides

Our ferry to the island

Great shot of the skyline

three hundred pieces of copper make up the statue, gifted by France. Do nations still give such gifts to one another?

Nilufer muses about the 11-pointed star base.

Two kauai boys

Nilufer holds it all in the palm of her hand

Oh, that\

s how it\'s done!'

Later, in Union Square (or is it Times Square?) Swami meets an old friend

The Intrepid aircraft carrier

We stop at a Starbucks for morning coffee: one decaf with soy milk, one double expresso with full-cream

The barista has an amazing tattoo which I admire and ask to photograph. Says she: \"You are the first person in 15 years who knows what it is.\"

On the streets

Waiting for our ride

Swami\

s first subway experience. \"I\'ve only seen it on movies til today.\"'

The Freedom Tower, we are told, is now officially called by the old name.

Wow! How did he do that?

We visit the Space Shuttle

It\

s massive, bigger than you would think. Still, weighs just 75 tons. '

Nilufer likes the sunset colors of our garb and the buildings behind.

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