Spring Break!

I lived in Washington DC for a while (a long time ago, you know, during the previous administration :-() so whenever anyone would come visit, since I was only a 5 hour drive from New York, I would invariably take my guests there. Let's face it, it's an awesome city, with so much to see, so many famous sites to visit, you just can't help it. But the last time I was there, the Twin Towers were still up - yeah, it had been a while.

So for Spring Break, after considering a few options, we took the family to NYC. We did the usual, Times Square, a Broadway play (How to Succeed in Business Without Trying), Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Central Park, a couple of museums, the mandatory visit (or two) to FAO Schwarz (it's mandatory when you a couple of 10 year olds with you), Rockfeller Center, Little Italy (best gnocchi I've had in ages) etc. Which brings me to all the fantastic meals you have to have because, sadly, you can't cook when you're on vacation -- this vacation anyway.

Oh yes, speaking of that, I had to go to 46th Street twice to visit two different Brazilian Restaurants. I saw a sign on the corner that actually said "Little Brazil" so I think it's growing... Pao de queijo (cheese bread), picanha (prime roast) and caipirinha (the Brazilian National drink). It was very great. At the first one, Via Brasil, I told my family that the minute I walked through those doors I would only speak Portuguese, so they were on their own. Everyone thought it was fun, except for my boy, who by the end of the night was somewhat upset. But, I'm hoping they'll remember the value of being able to speak another language and be more motivated to learn it in the future. I have to say it was a somewhat one sided conversation for a while, till my resourceful husband (who was actually doing really well as a translator for the kids) had enough and pulled out his Blackberry, and got into the Babelfish website (a translation site). Still we had fun.

Now, in the "only in NY" category, at an Irish restaurant, while waiting for our dessert, my boy and I were playing goal post with a coin. Every now and then the coin would fly off the table, we'd pick it up and keep going. After a while, it flew off and landed at this lady's feet a couple of tables over. Before my boy had a chance to walk over, she simply picked up the coin, put it in her purse and never once looked over at us or anybody else for that matter. I guess recession must have hit her a little harder than most!

All in all, a great vacation. We'll have to go back!!!