NYC Summer

As I said, we didn't spend all of our time in NYC eating. We also spent time waiting in line, which is also a NY thing to do. After dinner one evening, I suggested a stroll through Central Park, just a few blocks from the lovely apartment where we were staying. I knew there was a performance of Shakespeare in the park that evening, so we thought we might find out if there was even a remote chance of getting one at the last minute. We were directed to the standby line, which was pretty long. We waited patiently for a little over half an hour and were amazed to be given tickets! I had always wanted to go to Shakespeare in Central Park, but imagined that you would sit on a blanket on the lawn and be entertained by a passably good troupe of actors.
How wrong I was! The Delacorte is a beautiful open air theater, and the actors are top notch. This ensemble was made up of several actors who have appeared on TV series, and we were on the edge of our seats the entire time, held spellbound. As we left the park at 11 pm, there were hundreds of people lined up, sleeping outside the park. At first I thought they were homeless, but soon realized that they looked a little too upbeat to be homeless. I finally figured they were already in line for tickets to The Merchant of Venice for the next day! Al Pacino was in that cast, so he was a big draw. I will say that miraculously, I also got a ticket to that play, but when the lightening and thunder and a downpour occurred, I turned tail and left the sea of undaunted New Yorkers sitting huddled under their umbrellas...
This is one shop that I made an effort to find, after several failed attempts. John Derain has long been a favorite artist of mine, making exquisite decopaged plates. Why I did not buy one of these beauties, I don't know. Maybe the heat had gotten to me...
The store was filled with fanciful decorative objects, a lots of lovely vignettes. Just my kid of place! Another find in the East village area.
Finally, I stopped by one of the Sunday flea markets in Hell's Kitchen on East 9th. These enameled pins brought back good memories of childhood for me. It was fun to look, but the prices were too high for me.