Worth Ave. was very quiet. We found a parking space easily and walked down Via Mizner to Pizza Al Fresco. In addition to excellent pies, the restaurant has a lovely outdoor courtyard which contains, on one side, the tombstone of Addison Mizner’s pet monkey Johnnie Brown. Our friends arrived, Ohioans originally from Poland, and expressed delight at the weather. I told them the clear blue skies were depriving them of Florida’s shapely clouds.
After eating our lunch, and paying respects at the grave of the monkey, we strolled Worth Ave. Most of the stores, including the rare book shop, were closed, so we headed to the Society of the Four Arts, where we wandered through the botanical garden, admiring trees I didn’t know the names of and sculptures modern and representational. Chris posed for a picture with Roosevelt and Churchill.
From there it was a short drive to The Breakers. The cathedral-like lobby contained two trees and lots of garlands; brunch was still being served in the dining room (the pastries appearing like festive decorations). Down the south loggia we exited the building and stood by the sea wall, the waves of a size rarely seen in South Florida. (They helped make up for the lack of clouds.)
Leaving the hotel, we drove south along the ocean, then down side streets of high-hedged mansions. At one point I heard from the backseat a quiet plea for the possibility of a redistribution of wealth.
Last month in Poland the weather was cold, damp, and overcast – just as I remembered fall. It so successfully transported me back to my years there in the early ’80s that, at 2:30 every afternoon, I felt I should be heading to my classes at the English Language College.
Even Poles remarked on the premature chill – it rarely got into the 60s – though it’s tourists, who are out and about, who are most inconvenienced by bad weather. And it’s not just our personal discomfort but the fact that one of the pleasures of travel – strolling and observing the street life – is greatly reduced when people are bundled up and walking briskly. Of course, the cold made the hot chocolate at Wedel Chocolate Shop taste even better.
Also, wearing a scarf every day, I was able to hide my lymphedema. Yesterday I went to physical therapy for the first time in over a month and my therapist measured my neck in three places, as always, and found slight reductions in size in every one. She explained that cold weather sometimes helps reduce swelling.
After a month away I'm still surprised by certain American tendencies. At lunch the other day, the waitress brought some honey for Hania's tea, for which Hania thanked her.
"My pleasure," she said. "Enjoy."
Three words we never heard in Poland
Two weeks ago, shortly after arriving in D.C., we made our way to Union Station to catch our train to Charlottesville. We were a few hours early so we strolled around the terminal. There were no interesting places for lunch – the offerings being mostly of the fast-food variety – but there were three chocolate shops each representing a different country: Switzerland, Belgium, and England.
When our train arrived, we took the escalator down to the platform. Walking past the large, hulking engine I thought of the picture a friend had recently sent from Madrid of the sleek, low-slung, aerodynamic train he was about to board to Barcelona. Americans used to travel to Europe to see the Old World and now it’s what Europeans find in the U.S.
Lucky for me, no one at Jetblue reads my blog. Yesterday I received an email from the airline apologizing for the inconvenience I was caused on Tuesday ("We're sorry you did not experience the high level of service we aim to provide") and offering me $50 of credit toward my next flight.