Family Time

Clarissa, Hugo, Lisa, Zoe, and Yohannes all came by New York to visit. Sadly, Clarissa had to leave Saturday evening, and Hugo, Lisa, Zoe and Yohannes all left yesterday morning.

On Saturday, we went to see the Kongo exhibit at the Met. There were some fearsome statues of warriors on display, as well as beautiful horns and staffs made of ivory and wood. Then, we went to the Mezzanine to look at some photos made by a Senegalese photographer. They offered an interesting portrayal of 1970's Senegal. One picture showed a photo booth tended by a young woman, where a sign boasted "Vous serez beau, chic, délicat, et facile à reconnaître!"

After the museum, we ate at LPQ, and Yohannes and I headed to Shake Shack for dessert. I introduced him to dipping fries in shake. Yohannes was skeptical at first, but he grew to like it.

Fries & Shake - yum!

That evening, we all went to the park for a beer. We took turns trying out the flying rings, which I had never attempted before. After several embarrassing falls, I got the hang of it by watching others swinging on them. Monkey see, monkey do! Hugo told me I had the grace of an orangutan.

Yohannes doesn't like smiling for photos!

The next day, we went to Chinatown for dim sum. The restaurants were all packed, so we had to wait a while outside the Nom Wah Tea Parlor, where we were hoping to eat. We finally got a table, but over-ordered fried food. When the vegetable dumplings came out, it was a relief to all. Afterwards we headed for a delicious ice cream at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. The "exotic" flavors were chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. The regular flavors were ones that a Westerner might consider exotic - Green Tea, Red Bean, Zen Butter, etc... Zoe had Mango and Strawberry, Yohannes had Coconut Fudge, and I had Almond Cookie and Lychee.

Excellent ice cream.

Afterwards, we took a cab to the High Line. We walked the whole length of it, enjoying the various playful exhibits that were put into place. A park volunteer pointed out the one place on the High Line from which we could see the Statue of Liberty. An exciting art piece was a city of lego built entirely of white bricks that visitors could add to.

The Whitney and the High Line

The Statue of Liberty

A giant brick building

Lego City!

Yesterday, it was sadly time to say good bye. We ate brunch at the local bagel joint, apparently rated as one of the best in Manhattan, before they all went on to D.C.