New Jersey & New York!

The last weekend in May, the Memorial Day long weekend in the States, we spent in both New Jersey and New York.

Along with many other family members, Mindy and Ligeia arrived in New Jersey on Friday to celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of Michael, one of Mindy’s cousins. This was the first time Ligeia experienced a Sabbath ceremony in a synagogue, let alone a Bar Mitzvah celebration. A highlight for us, as well as for Michael and family we’re sure, was when the whole congregation sang “Mazel Tov!” It was such a wonderfully moving song, full of clapping and tears of joy.

Here is Mindy and Ligeia at the party afterwards:

Of course, to accompany each aspect of the Bar Mitzvah party was food, food and more food. Not once were we allowed to go hungry! We were even given doggie bags to keep us fed after we crossed the Hudson River and entered New York City.

The next two nights we spent right in the middle of Manhattan, steps from Broadway to the south and Central Park to the north.

On Memorial Day Monday, we walked all the way south to Battery Park (about 3.5 miles!) and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and views of the Statue of Liberty.


On our way, we stopped for some New York style pizza…

…enjoyed the simple activity of people-watching and walked around the soon-to-be-completed 9/11 memorial. Apparently, the memorial will consist of two square reflecting pools where the World Trade Center towers once stood.

That evening, we considered going to see a musical, on or off Broadway, but opted instead for a low-key dinner (at Iguana, a Mexican restaurant we discovered) as we were absolutely exhausted.

Our final day in NYC involved a scavenger hunt for some good New York style bagels. We found them near the Rockefeller Center, also known as 30 Rock, home of the NBC studios. It was neat to see Matt Lauer, one of the hosts of the Today Show talking to some of the people standing in the crowd.

Once we finished our bagels, we got all packed up and, using public transit, found our way to JFK airport. Our next adventure awaited us: a trip to Turkey. We’ll write soon about that!

Ligeia and Mindy 🙂