Day1

New York is hotter than hell..and soooo great. I now have become abnormally attached to room 705 at the Carlyle. All is good there. Love is not the word I have for this town.
We went to the Empire state building..lines were not so bad really. At one point a guard made an announcement that anyone who cared to walk the 6 flights from floor 80 to 86 and then catch the elevator to the top were welcome. The crowd was filled with German tourists and I think he was taken aback when he was effectively overrun by Protestants checking their pulses and making a competitive run for it. Of course my own family was in the lead....what after all could be more fun than that!?
Then natural history museum...planetarium, dinner with Heather and Willem after a visit with the divine Wilhelmina and frederick doing wind sprints on the new york street to pass the time before dinner came. Back and forth 50 times while we timed him...you cannot believe how hot it was for this activity...then romantic walk down hot sticky wonderful park avenue at night checking out how many doormen each had, F climbing the sides of the buildings rubbing all New York soot into his mouth.
Saw cockroaches too...more than one- upper east siders so they looked kinda dashing and well groomed.
then on to the boat where I am writing to you all, faithful bloggers....
I tell ya the second time is so much fun...it takes you back to when you were small and flew so rarely..and you got dressed up and everyone was excited and friendly and smart and not dumb and bored with a doses of terror from the xanaxed crowd. You want to hug everyone...Hellloooow!! you help struggling French tourists who dont speak English...introduce yourself to children.... salute the crew who welcomed us..(well not me, but someone else) ....laugh patiently at bad jokes from the elderly (is this the way to the Queen Elizabeth???!!! HAH HAH HAH)
then on to our room which is huge and the deck is huge and the closet is huge and there is another one for Thomas...and the statue of liberty is there and we have a butler named ...God I forgot already. He came to say hello..give us the drill....blah blah all really good.
the room, to be more specific is smaller than my room at home....but not much. for a ship it is big...
It is a sea of children..many of them in blue blazers..F was too hot to wear his..but he has one at the ready. He is presently playing paddle tennis in the heat with thomas and some kid named Wesley who has taken this 4 times....thomas has taken off his shirt in a really bad white trash move...he just doesn't get the pageantry of the scene. Of course neither do the lounge suiters..but i love them all each and every one.
Safety drill is at 4, we leave around 5 or 6 I think.
Frederick who always likes to peruse the safety sheet on planes in a way I do not...has been watching the progression of the rescue boat below our cabin which seems to be needing repairs. "Below our cabin" is code for OUR rescue boat......
Me, i like to ignore things like that, but he and Thomas love this shit....oh look! they are rebuilding the engine! Then F says..kids wear the same safety numbers as their parents...that is so if the boat crashes..blah blah..all very matter of fact like the most boring thing in the world.
But fear is no where on this boat.....just like last year One feels sort of noble and purposeful. I will write more after a does of champagne and the leave taking

Noly! My butler is named Noly!



Ok leave taking was totally different this year..no band...just a historian (no joke) in the background talking about the sites..which I would have loved loved, but you could not hear him..it was all....mumble mumble statue of liberty mumble mumble not very festive. leaving New York though was as exciting as ever, and going under the Verazzano Naroows bridge incredible..you think you wont make it...all ooohs and ahhs..then the historian said that in fact this ship was built specifically for this bridge and you mellow out.
OK two pieces of big news: the Turkish man is now the head of all restaurants!!! He is here and in our dining room!
and there was thunder and lightening. Too much.
Will reveal all including the dramatic re union with the turk tomorrow.
Stay tuned!!!