Winding down ...

Zandra and I have been slowly winding down as my time in New York nears its end. I leave for Munich on Monday evening, so will just spend the next few days washing clothes, repacking my stuff, and researching the next leg of my trip.
Friday night (last night) was our big night out in Manhatten. After a late start into the city we headed to Anna's apartment near Greenwich Village. The weather has continued to be humid and uncomfortable. We had dinner at a really nice Thai restaurant near Anna's then to a nearby bar (Kenny's Castaways) to see this band, Hubcap (from up-state New York) perform.
I find it amusing how New Yorkers are really impressed with the myriad of food/restaurant types on offer in the city. To me, it is normal to have a wide culinary choice as Australia is very multicultural, probably more so than NY. They were like: "have you ever had Thai food before?!!" It was very good, but I think I still prefer Madame Wu's in Norwood!
The band were really good. Think mellow Pearl Jam (Rearviewmirror) but with a country twang in the vocals. There wasn't a huge turnout, so out enthusiasm was rewarded by the band with free stickers, drinking with them after and them joining us for brunch the next morning. Due to the late night and beverages consumed; today has been a slow recovery day. We're back in Rye now and just had an outdoor BBQ dinner. Zandra and Aunty Elysse then surprised me with an early rendition of 'Happy Birthday' and pie and Limoncello as a gesture towards my upcoming time in Italy. It was really sweet of them. Z and I are still a bit dazy from lack of sleep, but are heading out soon to the local bar (The High Street Roadhouse) for a quick Saturday night drink.
So not too much to add. We are going to go thru the photos before Z heads back to Boston tomorrow, so there may be some more to add. I'm trying to get as much as possible down before I leave as from now on it will be harder to make as regular and detailed (hurrah! some of you may think!) updates as I'll be finding and using internet cafes etc. At the moment the basic plan is two nights in Munich, two nights in Rome, then a little way south to Latina, a bit further down along the coast to Sorrento, then up to Florence, before returning to Rome, then off to London.
Take care, E x