No sailing over the Pentecost vacations this year due to the on-going boat project which is progressing slower than originally anticipated. Basically, I have one month left to finish the project (which should be 'do-able') before sailing T-Fish to its new home base close to Alghero on the beautiful island of Sardinia.
After almost 2 years on T-Fish I will move back to Brussels for a new job assignment. Thus, my life as a 'live-aboard' is coming to an end, at least temporarily until retirement. The new home base will offer much more attractive sailing grounds in close vicinity and is well connected to Brussels allowing short visits over long week-ends.
We spent Pentecost vacation in NYC and took a 'big bite' from the 'Big Apple'. Indeed, very exciting but also very exhaustive. We walked Manhattan North to South and East to West, averaging at least 15 km a day, exchanging sightseeing and shopping which one cannot avoid having girls.
We did the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Lower Manhattan and Wall Street, Ground Zero, walked the Brooklyn Bridge, had a typical American pancake breakfast in East village, strolled through Little Italy, China Town and spend one evening in the 'Village' (Greenwich Village), enjoyed a Broadway show (Kinky Boots which was very good), walked the Central Park, spend one afternoon each in the MoMA and in the Guggenheim museum (very impressive), enjoyed one day on the hop-on-hop-off bus tour (which was disappointing), went on the top of the Rockefeller center during daytime and on the top of the Empire State Building during night, and visited the Radio City Music Hall (a tour which I can highly recommend) where we could watch the rehearsal of the Tony Awards just two days prior to the actual awards ceremony.Of course my girls also insisted to have a took at the Trump tower. Further, we walked up and down the Broadway, Time Square, 4th, 5th and 6th Ave. and entered all shops of the grand fashion brands - you name it.....I was wrecked after that week!
When I was in NYC the last time, many years back as a student, I was keen living in this exciting city. Today it would be too hectic, too fast, too noisy, too crowded, too dirty, too expensive, and many others 'too's', too, for me. Certainly a matter of age, I guess.
What stroked me is the amount of plastic garbage we produced as a family in just one week. Unbelievable! Hey, chaps - today we can do better! Here and there there are some signs of a change but only marginally. Likely this remains marginally as long as the right policies are lacking. Certainly, it is also a responsibility of each citizen but, as we experienced very difficult to follow living in such a throwaway society.
By the way, the ship anchoring in front of the NY skyline, is 'Le Grand Bleu', one of the largest private yachts once owned by the Russian oligarch Abramovich. She once anchored next to us on Capri island and now we saw her again in NYC. She has a rigged sailing yacht (I guess at least some 45 ft) on the port side and a equally large motor yacht on the starboard side which can be 'watered' by massive crane in the center within relative short time. An additional toy is a helicopter, normally fixed on the plateau astern. Apparently, it was just in use by the owners for a round of golf in a nearby golf resort and for a lunch in one of the fancy roof top restaurants downtown Manhattan.