Autumn in NYC without my Alfie – 4th of 4 blogs: Wave Hill & Halloween

On Tuesday I finally made it to ‘Wave Hill’ – a beautiful house and grounds at the end of the 1 line at 242nd street. A minibus collects you and drives you there. It is in the Bronx.

Although the Bronx has a bad reputation, there are beautiful expensive parts too.

Wave Hill is a 28-acre estate and currently consists of public horticultural gardens and a cultural centre, all situated on the slopes overlooking the Hudson River with expansive vista across to New Jersey. It consists of two houses. The oldest part of the main house dates from 1843 and was once the residence of the British Ambassador. It has beautiful ponds and gardens and I visited on a lovely sunny day. I cannot believe it has taken me so long to visit!

 

The sun was streaming into the Sunroom and Kieren Anavy was putting the finishing touches to her lovely exhibition ‘Garden of Living Images’ where the material will gradually soak up the colours in the baths underneath the hanging scrolls – beautiful!

I then did something else I had been meaning to do – took ‘the tram’ (actually, it is a cable car) to Randolph Island and back – an interesting experience!

 

Debbie and I went to Columbia University journalism school (The Pulitzer building) for a talk on investigative journalism by the head of the faculty, followed by a reception with drinks and food.

 

Afterwards, to the Juilliard for a piano concert.

 

Wednesday 31st October dawned sunny and relatively warm, which augured well for the Halloween Parade.

 

I took Ellie to see Corey again and to have breakfast with Tiffany and wish her well for her forthcoming wedding to David.

Debbie and I went to Liz Lang’s concert ‘Spooks, Spirits and Creepy Crawlies’ at the Interchurch Center just down the road from us. Liz is Debbie’s able PA and a fantastic singer. There was also an interesting exhibition of African Art that had been lent by a man living in Debbie’s building.

Going downtown afterwards was difficult because the 1 line had been shut before 96th street because of a death on the line. It is always a sad event when this happens. A young man mentioned it was Halloween…

I ended up getting on the bus and then a subway on a different line. Arriving at Tibet House, the monks that had created a sand mandala then destroyed it and handed out the sand to us all. Sand mandalas, beautifully created, are always destroyed to represent the impermanence of life. I talked to several people at Tibet House: they were fixing art to the walls for the auction the next evening – when I would be on the plane back to the UK.

 

I then walked down to Spring Street for the build up for the Halloween Parade that started at 7 p.m. It was a warm evening and I was at the start of the parade. The pictures speak for themselves!

 

It was colourful and fun and I should love to participate next year. All you need is a costume and it doesn’t need to be that sophisticated. The floats and participants wait in the side streets off 6th Avenue.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York’s_Village_Halloween_Parade

 

On 1 November I awoke at 4.30 a.m. and left Debbie’s at 5.30 a.m. after taking Ellie out. I felt so sad to leave her and Debbie. Taking the subway to Penn Station I took the train to the airport followed by the air train. The flight was on time, and I watched “The Seagull” “Hyde Park on the Hudson” and “Paddington 2”. I enjoyed all of them.

It was an enjoyable and busy 2 weeks in New York. I am always very sad to leave (New York draws you in and holds you) but I will be back!

It was lovely to be reunited with my dear Alfie who had been well looked after. Hopefully, Alfie and I will be back in NYC together next Spring and he can make some more NYC doggie friends…

 

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