by Betsy Herbert

May 9, 2015

Can a visit to New York City nurse a broken heart? It can. Though I was grieving from the recent loss of my little brother David, I decided to continue my year-long trip around the world, after returning home to the Bay Area for a week to spend with my family.

I flew from San Francisco to New York City on May 7, where I met my dear friend Carmen who lives in Ithaca, New York. Carmen and I shared a great trip to Peru a few years ago. So we planned to meet up again in New York City, where she said she wanted to give me a “proper send-off” as I departed May 10 on the Queen Mary 2. Since her son lives in Brooklyn, Carmen visits New York frequently. Indeed, I was lucky to be accompanied by a great soul who also happens to know the city!

I had booked a very conveniently located (and, of course, expensive) hotel in mid-town Manhattan, called the Wyndam TRYP, as well as tickets to see the immensely popular Broadway musical, “The Book of Mormon.”

Blessed with balmy weather, we set out on Day 1 to walk the High-Line, a 1.45-mile-long New York City linear park built in Manhattan on an elevated section of a disused New York Central Railroad spur called the West Side Line (Wikipedia).

What a gift the High-Line is to the pedestrians of New York City, especially given all the ongoing construction and traffic detours in the city below. No wonder it’s so popular and well-traveled.

Later that day we checked out an Andy Warhol exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, entitled “Campbell’s Soup and Other Works, 1953 -1967.”

We met my ex-husband Sid for Thai food that evening before we all headed over to the “Book of Mormon,”  which did not disappoint! I remain grateful to Sid for helping me get discount tickets for the show beforehand. When we arrived, they were selling the last remaining tickets for $477 at the door, so it’s a good thing we didn’t wait.

The next day Carmen maneuvered me via the subway over to the World Trade Center memorial, which I had wanted to see since its completion. Later that afternoon, after packing up at the hotel, we flagged down a cab to take us to the Brooklyn Cruise terminal, where I was scheduled to board the Queen Mary 2.

I couldn’t manage to sneak Carmen aboard as a stowaway, so we bid a tearful goodbye as I headed toward customs. With my New York interlude complete, I would now embark on the next chapter of my round the world journey. Onwards to Europe!