Falling in love...

So, despite everything, yesterday was the day I fell in love with NYC. I mean, I thought it was lovely before, and fun and interesting sure, but yesterday, swathed in rainbow colours, I fell in love. And we weren’t even mean to still be here - I should be cross that NYC wouldn’t let us go, I should be waking up in Nashville right now, packing the car to start our drive to Memphis, but instead I have the dejavu feeling of waking up in New York, hearing the traffic sounds, the dizzying sensation of being too high up in a building and the slight dread of going back to an airport to try and catch a flight out.. Our planned 2 day stay was lovely, although I did sit at Newark airport with a little regret that we hadn’t done more, seen more, and I guess NYC wasn’t quite done with us yet either. We spent our first day wandering the streets of Brooklyn, dipping into bars and achingly cool shops and obviously visiting Champs to get our fill of vegan diner food and it was, lovely, all lovely. A visit to a very gorgeous old friend from teenage years, Emma, sitting on her roof terrace over looking the impossibly beautiful Manhattan skyline was heartwarming and fun, so wonderful to know that a friend has changed and grown and is still a brilliant human that had the ability to make me giggle and wish I lived in Brooklyn. We ran Central Park, which was hillier than expected, we walked the streets of 5th Avenue and Madison, we decided to visit Coney Island - walking on the beach, drinking craft beers and even taking a dip in the Ocean. It was fun, different to our last trip, good fun....staying in Midtown Manhattan, felt a little like staying just off Leicester Square (with the prices to match) but that’s ok... The bagels were good and we even paid our respects to Studio 54 (which has no plaque, just a large glitter ball to mark its importance) And then we got to Pride....50 years since the Stonewall riots erupted and FORCED not only NYC, but the world to start thinking about equal rights. I always knew we were going to be in town for the rally on the Friday, which was held in Christopher Street. It felt important to go, to remember and to give thanks in some way for those that have come before us. The rally was HUGE, the speakers including the Mayor of NYC, inspirational, passionate and brilliant and both Sam and I left feeling moved, greatly moved. And then we tried to leave....and NYC wasn’t having any of it. Our flights were cancelled after a day at Newark airport and after 3 hours in a queue to rebook we realised Nashville just wasn’t going to happen for us and we would need to go back to NYC and then on to Memphis on Monday. It was....challenging. We had to book another hotel, try and rebook our car hire, cancel Nashville accommodation....it was challenging. BUT..... OH MY DAYS!!!! Returning to NYC to a hotel in a great area a little further downtown, we were immediately upgraded to a HUGE room with the biggest bed. We rushed out for ‘the best pizza in NYC’ because we’d not eaten all day and then....after sleeping the BEST sleep....we woke up to a whole new New York.... 7am we were out, running through the now empty streets, all the stop lights were green for us and we reached Central Park faster than I have ever run before. It felt good, so so good. We laughed most of the way, taking endless pictures and congratulating ourselves on now being actual ‘runners’ (hahahahahaha) We showered, changed and found THE place for breakfast, complete with mimosas and pancakes so fluffy they were like duvets. And then we started walking...the WHOLE CITY was filled with rainbows, everyone walking, smiling, waving flags, just wanting to BE HERE NOW. Many streets were closed off, but that was fine, we just got to walk more, see more and when we finally caught some of the parade it was a sea of so many colours and ticker tape filling every available space it was just BEAUTIFUL. Overcome we decided to wander to streets of The Village, just to BE HERE NOW in this moment, a moment that by rights we shouldn’t really have had, but just to be there, in it to be part of the 50 year commemorations, just astonishing. We found a bar, with a table outside, on the corner of Bleaker and just sat, watching all of life wandering by, everyone smiling, laughing, PROCLAIMING equality, just BEING alive right now right HERE. It was beautiful. We dragged ourselves away to wander back towards the hotel and STILL the city was not done with us. We heard sounds coming from 5th as we ambled back across a packed Washington Square and always wanted to follow good music we found, to our amazement, that the parade was STILL going on HOURS later! The streets were not as packed but equally as enthusiastic - and we cheered and whooped and were rewarded with.... QUEER EYE!!! All of them, dancing on a bus JUST FOR US! We screamed ourselves hoarse! We sang, we chanted, we waved at everyone, we had a tiny cry and eventually, after walking 30k fell into bed exhausted. Oh New York....thank you for not letting us go, thank you for holding us so tightly because there was more to see, more to experience, to FORCE us to be thankful for living in the moment.... I have fallen in love....