Super 8 Motel Darien/I95

... coincidence that cost us, thankfully, only a little embarrassment and a half hour. We still got the show up in 40 minutes, and had 20 minutes to spare. All was well.

This afternoon we had some lunch at Panera as we organized paperwork. There was a mall across the street, so we did some shopping--mostly to kill time so we wouldn't have to spend hours of the evening in our Days Inn. Further down the road was Houlihans, where we enjoyed a great dinner. That's pretty much it!

... Ijango Ijango Ijango Ijango ...

... Ijango Ijango Ijango Ijango ...

So here I am back in NY, uploading some final pictures at incredible speeds and thinking about how strange it is to be back. Nothing here has changed... how long has it been? Was I really gone at all? So 2 things have struck me already. First, Americans want things just the way they want them. The details and complexity associated with consumption here are staggering. It seems the goal is to perfect your environment ...

... 1979 due to the rising popularity of 'movie-houses' visitor numbers were dwindling rapidly so the theatre was subsequently closed down. A demolition order was put on it and it was ready to be turned into office space. However at the nth hour, a fierce protest and support erupted for the historic building to be saved and so the entire place was refurbished, identical to how it would have looked when it first opened in 1932. Thank god. The theatre is absolutely stunning with art ...

... rooms on the top half of the building, but no ( cue emotional violin music) we were actually in a very decent, good size room, fairly modern, clean,2 doubles and 1 put u up AND en suite for the princely sum of $20 pp pn. How good is that? For those of you who don't travel, That is exceptionally good, especially for NY where we were going to be charged a minimum of $300 per room per night, with no breakfast included,to stay in the centre. We still weren't sure how much the subway would cost ...

... was off to dinner at Ben Benson's for dinner with my cousin, Randye. Randye's significant other, Jim is a manager there. My Dad really enjoyed it. What a wonderful evening. Between Jim and Phil taking care of us and providing wonderful conversation and the food and atmosphere...it was just what everyone needed. Left to right: Jim, Phil, Dad, and Randye Got back at midnight to also find that as I ...

... Picasso, Duchamp, Pollock, Lichenstein, Warhol, Rauchenberg, and many more. It was like my art history textbook coming to life. 0_0 I even saw the solid black Ad Reinhardt painting I used for a project long ago (didn't like the project, but I'm oddly fond of the painting). There was also a special exhibit featuring geometric art that reminded me of optical illusions and visual patterning problems on IQ tests. I was sad that the Dali paintings were ...

... minutes for the Continental counter to open at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport, commonly refered to as 'Fiumicino'. No idea why, but that's what it says t the train station when you are looking for your train to the airport. After I checked in, I got my tax refund from the stuff that qualified that I bought in the Czech Republic ... a whole whopping $28! I suppose money is money and it is nice to be given it when you don't really expect it! I had ...

... Which is not a bad thing going by the size of their meals! Central Park eventually came in sight once we got off at the correct stop. We then spent at least 40 minutes walking the side streets trying to find a Deli to buy lunch for the park. After lunch we headed to the Childrens Zoo, which in such a large park was eluding us BIG TIME. A few helpful directions later we finally made it to the Zoo and spent ...