Back in the Big Apple

After a relatively smooth flight (our first on Continental, and our first time flying in to Newark), we arrived in Manhattan around 3 PM local time on Friday afternoon. Immediately we noticed that some things had changed – you only get $3 bonus when you buy a $20 Metrocard (used to be $4 bonus), and the Au Bon Pain that used to be on 53rd and 3rd is now a Qdoba. However, for the most part, most things were the same – including the escalator at the subway stop on 52nd and 3rd, which is still out of service.

Immediately after hitting the surface, we made tracks for Chipotle. We called up Fabia (who has very graciously given us her beautiful apartment for the weekend) and her new beau, Adam, who came down to have lunch with us. Waiting for them to arrive was the longest 10 minutes of my life – yes, even more so than waiting for Kristy to arrive at our wedding 15 minutes late. Finally, after 8 months, 29 days, and 3 hours, I was reunited with my old love – the Chicken Bol.

It wasn’t long before the rice, black beans, marinated chicken, tomato salsa, hot sauce, cheese, guacamole, and lettuce were speeding towards my stomach – ahh, the euphoric satisfaction! And it was nice to see Fabia again too, plus to meet Adam (who as it turns out, also works for a Hedge Fund!).

The rest of the day sped by – coffee with Fabia and Adam back at Fabia’s apartment (Fabia inherited our coffee machine when we left New York), a bit of shopping at Bloomingdales and its surroundings, and dinner with Karl and Sibylle at Republic. We were pretty exhausted when we finally went to bed around 11 PM (3 AM London Time, and we had been up since 4:50 AM), but now that we’re armed with a full night of sleep, we’re ready for more adventures back in our old home town!