Today we parted company. I went shopping and Ken went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He hit the Subway and I hit the street, walking along 42nd to 7th Avenue. As it was a Sunday, the shops didn't all open at 10am so I popped between the opens that were trading as I made my way along. I turned onto West 34th and found lots of places that I wanted to check out. On instructions from Talia to go to Sephora I spent a bit of time, and money. I signed up for their loyalty card and because it's my birthday week I got a present! I admired the funky shoes in Steve Madden before going into Macy's, where I lost a couple of hours. They were having a big shoe sale, I had to buy some. I stopped for a coffee and salad and decided to call it a day. I couldn't carry my shopping much further. I had hoped to go Uptown to Bloomingdales, but I over-estimated my capabilities. Walked along Broadway in the direction of 42nd, stopping into more shops along the way. Urban Outfitters and Loft managed to snare my money.

The pedestrians in New York follow the traffic lights, but will cross on a red if it is safe. Cars can turn accross the crosswalk if it is safe, so you do need to be aware. The cars travel quite fast around the city. There are sirens blasting all the time, no one even looks to see what it is. Today a fire truck, with siren sounding, pullled to a stop in the street. The pedestrians ignored it and the fire fighters, with their axes in hand, had to give way to the people on the street before running inside! It obviously wasn't too bad they were back out and off again soon enough.

I detoured to West 53rd Street to find The Little Pie Company, apparently some of the best in the city. I bought a little Sour Cream Walnut Apple Pie, their signature dish.

On arriving at home my key caught in the lock and would budge, in or out. I phoned "my friend", Bruna, who came right over and agreed it was stuck. She called the concierge, who also agreed it was stuck,  and we pretended we had been shopping together. She popped to the gym and I waited for maintenance, texting Bruna when he arrived so she could deal with it. I think they've fixed it. They must think we are good friends, all 3 of us staying in a studio.

Ken got home. He had a great day at the gallery. It is a very big gallery and he spent all day seeing a greater part of it. At times he had whole galleries to himself, such as in the Rembrandt room and at other times, it was crowded.

We celebrated Father's Day (here anyway) with pie and wine and cooled off. It is very muggy in the city today.

For dinner we went back to Gotham West Market on 11th Street. On reading an article about the foods you have to try in New York, Ivan Ramen NYC Slurp Shop came up and it is in this food market. It is an upmarket food hall, with about 8 food businesses running delicious looking restaurants. We fronted up to Ivan Ramen's and ordered our meals. We sat at the bar overlooking the busy, efficient kitchen. Our food was passed over to us and it was fantastic. Bowls of tasty broth and pork bao buns washed down with beers. A very satisfying and filling meal.

We walked around a few blocks, enjoying the noise and banter of the people on the streets until we admitted defeat and headed back to the apartment to rest up before another day in NYC.