New York ... My city of Dreams!
Christmas ... The mere word makes me smile, I am one of those, some may say obsessive fans of all things festive! One year, when Harry and Millie were just 2 and 3 years old and overslept on Christmas morning, Mr. B had to physically restrain me from storming into their bedrooms and waking them up so they could open their presents! since childhood, my Christmas wish has been to visit NYC in December and in 2019 I found myself, quite literally ‘Living The Dream’.
On arrival at at JFK we were met by a driver who held up a sign at arrivals, saying 'Bowers'. not for the last time on the trip did it feel as if we were living one of the scenes out of an American movie! We were driven by Peter to Westport, Connecticut where our hosts for the first two days were Mark and Joan, parents of Harry’s friend Max. Harry is very close to them and their family and has visited twice before, when they heard we were flying to New York, they generously invited us all to stay. After spending time with Mark and Joan, I can see why Harry is so fond of them. They are warm and hospitable, putting us at ease instantly in their beautiful home. Mark is a superb cook and on our first evening, he made us short ribs with a sticky barbecue glaze, twice baked potatos and cornbread to give us a taste of traditional American fare and it was delicious!
Mark & Joan‘s stunning Connecticut home and Marks culinary masterpiece on our second evening; Beef Wellington.
There were two other house guests staying at the same time; Jay and Ming-Yee Lin who are super friendly, well travelled and informed about the election we had just left behind in The UK and the parallels with current American Politics. dinner was lively despite our weariness!
With Mark and Joan as our guides, we had the opportunity to experience small town America; Pristine white clapperboard houses with their individual little red postboxes at the end of every drive, beautiful tall trees, their branches bare and snow tipped when we arrived, which made the experience even more magical. We visited their local supermarket which, provincial to them still dwarfs even our biggest superstores here in The UK. It’s definitely true what they say about everything being bigger in America, the scale of houses, shops, malls and just about everything else is larger than life!
Everything’s bigger in America!
... and the cocktails are fabulous!
We were sad to leave Mark and Joan but have promised to return the hospitality with a home made traditional Afternoon Tea when they visit Europe. Determined to make the most of our time in NYC, we set off Saturday morning on the commuter train to The Big Apple ...
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