By Layla
We had a quick Chipotle dinner on Saturday evening before heading back to the cinema, this time to see the new Woody Allen film Irrational Man, which was surprisingly good. We finished the evening with wine and sticky toffee pudding at fancy restaurant The Kitchen. Delicious.
For our final day in Boulder we'd planned a day trip to a nearby town called Nederland but I got cold feet about the logistics so we ended up doing a small hike from a nearby trailhead instead. It is astounding how many trails there are in a 5-mile radius from our little home in Boulder! I had given Roz my cold and she was feeling less than sprightly so after our walk, we esconsced ourselves in a series of lovely cafes to read our books, eat lunch, indulge in specialty chocolates, sip coffee, and gorge on zucchini bread. I made a side-trip to beautiful Boulder Library to print our tickets for the Queen Mary 2. And we retired to our 'shed' to pack and primp. An excellent way to spend the afternoon.
That evening we had a reservation at the famed vegetarian restaurant Leaf. En route we passed the finish line of the Iron Man contest that had dominated the thoughts and plans of Boulder since our arrival. The clock read 12 and a half hours and we watched contestants run/limp/stumble across the finish line to the sound of the announcer: "Bob, you are now an IronMan!" Roz and I mused on how we'd like someone to say that about us, but on reflection it was never going to happen. We retired to Leaf and had a delicious meal with some excellent cocktails... Then we ditched the vegan, gluten-free desserts for an enormous Eton Mess back at The Kitchen. I'm ashamed to say I ate so much I felt sick!
We were up unpleasantly early the next day for, oh miracle, an on-time flight (which ironically we nearly missed due to appalling security lines at Denver). And then, oh delight, New York City. We are staying in the Park Slope/Gowanus area of Brooklyn for three reasons: value, proximity to Queen Mary 2, and proximity to The Moth story slam. After years of fruitlessly putting my name in the hat and never, ever being chosen in New York, I was convinced that on my last night in America, the fates would smile upon me. After all, this month's theme was 'destiny'.
But first to Wholefoods to buy water, prosecco and snacks for our Queen Mary cabin, a trick we'd read about online to circumnavigate the costly drinks onboard. Then a beautiful stroll around Park Slope with gelato. Then Jenga and Connect 4, food and wine at a cool little restaurant. And finally, a stroll over to the Bell House for the grand moment of truth: The Moth. 400 people were crammed in for the sold-out show. I put my name in the bag to tell a story. And then Roz and I sat in a whirl of nervous anticipation as each name was chosen in turn. The show was fantastic with some outstanding stories... But was I going to be called? Nope. Our disappointment was hard to suppress. At the end of the show they always have the unselected people get in stage and say the first line of their story. I got up and said 'When I moved to America four years ago I thought it was my destiny to perform at a New York Moth story slam, but every time I came to a show I put my name in the hat and never, ever got chosen - so on my last night in America tonight, I must conclude it wasn't my destiny after all." At which point the whole audience collectively went 'awwww', and shouted as one that I MUST be allowed to perform. And so I was. I wasn't in the official competition, but it was still a fab and fitting end to our time in America. We celebrated afterwards with prosecco and bruschetta at a nearby bar, but our delight was muted by the fact that this was our very last night as people who live in the US. It feels like home here now. We have a strange and exciting year ahead of us, living in London, then Tokyo, but it's hard to say goodbye to our life here.
At Roz's speech at her work's goodbye reception a few weeks ago, she quoted from 'The Book of Unknown Americans' (great novel) where, upon leaving the US, a character says 'I will tell them of the ways I have loved this country.' As we prepare for our final New York morning, I will borrow from the other quote Roz used, from Great Expectations (which in fact I'm reading right now) to summarize my experience of living here: 'what larks.'
This morning we headed into Manhattan to say farewell to some of our most beloved NYC haunts. First a stroll the full length of the Highline Park, including a delightful stop to join in the construction of a white Lego city. Roz got so absorbed with constructing an elaborate gate that I had to drag her away. We stopped at Blue Bottle Coffee, then walked along Hudson and Bleeker Street to the Cornelia Street Cafe, where we have spent numerous happy times with wine flights and moroccan hummus and watching storytelling. We had a delicious lunch that mirrored our first visit there, on our honeymoon many years ago when we first got the idea to move to America. And now it's time to say goodbye in slow, dramatic style as we prepare to sail past the Statue of Liberty to begin our 7-day Queen Mary 2 voyage from New York to Southampton, and the next chapter.
We had a quick Chipotle dinner on Saturday evening before heading back to the cinema, this time to see the new Woody Allen film Irrational Man, which was surprisingly good. We finished the evening with wine and sticky toffee pudding at fancy restaurant The Kitchen. Delicious.
For our final day in Boulder we'd planned a day trip to a nearby town called Nederland but I got cold feet about the logistics so we ended up doing a small hike from a nearby trailhead instead. It is astounding how many trails there are in a 5-mile radius from our little home in Boulder! I had given Roz my cold and she was feeling less than sprightly so after our walk, we esconsced ourselves in a series of lovely cafes to read our books, eat lunch, indulge in specialty chocolates, sip coffee, and gorge on zucchini bread. I made a side-trip to beautiful Boulder Library to print our tickets for the Queen Mary 2. And we retired to our 'shed' to pack and primp. An excellent way to spend the afternoon.
That evening we had a reservation at the famed vegetarian restaurant Leaf. En route we passed the finish line of the Iron Man contest that had dominated the thoughts and plans of Boulder since our arrival. The clock read 12 and a half hours and we watched contestants run/limp/stumble across the finish line to the sound of the announcer: "Bob, you are now an IronMan!" Roz and I mused on how we'd like someone to say that about us, but on reflection it was never going to happen. We retired to Leaf and had a delicious meal with some excellent cocktails... Then we ditched the vegan, gluten-free desserts for an enormous Eton Mess back at The Kitchen. I'm ashamed to say I ate so much I felt sick!
We were up unpleasantly early the next day for, oh miracle, an on-time flight (which ironically we nearly missed due to appalling security lines at Denver). And then, oh delight, New York City. We are staying in the Park Slope/Gowanus area of Brooklyn for three reasons: value, proximity to Queen Mary 2, and proximity to The Moth story slam. After years of fruitlessly putting my name in the hat and never, ever being chosen in New York, I was convinced that on my last night in America, the fates would smile upon me. After all, this month's theme was 'destiny'.
But first to Wholefoods to buy water, prosecco and snacks for our Queen Mary cabin, a trick we'd read about online to circumnavigate the costly drinks onboard. Then a beautiful stroll around Park Slope with gelato. Then Jenga and Connect 4, food and wine at a cool little restaurant. And finally, a stroll over to the Bell House for the grand moment of truth: The Moth. 400 people were crammed in for the sold-out show. I put my name in the bag to tell a story. And then Roz and I sat in a whirl of nervous anticipation as each name was chosen in turn. The show was fantastic with some outstanding stories... But was I going to be called? Nope. Our disappointment was hard to suppress. At the end of the show they always have the unselected people get in stage and say the first line of their story. I got up and said 'When I moved to America four years ago I thought it was my destiny to perform at a New York Moth story slam, but every time I came to a show I put my name in the hat and never, ever got chosen - so on my last night in America tonight, I must conclude it wasn't my destiny after all." At which point the whole audience collectively went 'awwww', and shouted as one that I MUST be allowed to perform. And so I was. I wasn't in the official competition, but it was still a fab and fitting end to our time in America. We celebrated afterwards with prosecco and bruschetta at a nearby bar, but our delight was muted by the fact that this was our very last night as people who live in the US. It feels like home here now. We have a strange and exciting year ahead of us, living in London, then Tokyo, but it's hard to say goodbye to our life here.
At Roz's speech at her work's goodbye reception a few weeks ago, she quoted from 'The Book of Unknown Americans' (great novel) where, upon leaving the US, a character says 'I will tell them of the ways I have loved this country.' As we prepare for our final New York morning, I will borrow from the other quote Roz used, from Great Expectations (which in fact I'm reading right now) to summarize my experience of living here: 'what larks.'
This morning we headed into Manhattan to say farewell to some of our most beloved NYC haunts. First a stroll the full length of the Highline Park, including a delightful stop to join in the construction of a white Lego city. Roz got so absorbed with constructing an elaborate gate that I had to drag her away. We stopped at Blue Bottle Coffee, then walked along Hudson and Bleeker Street to the Cornelia Street Cafe, where we have spent numerous happy times with wine flights and moroccan hummus and watching storytelling. We had a delicious lunch that mirrored our first visit there, on our honeymoon many years ago when we first got the idea to move to America. And now it's time to say goodbye in slow, dramatic style as we prepare to sail past the Statue of Liberty to begin our 7-day Queen Mary 2 voyage from New York to Southampton, and the next chapter.
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