Monday, March 24 (NYC Day 5)

Yesterday's gorgeous weather turned into rain for the entirety of today, which is unfortunate since today was the day I'd promised the kids some shopping in Soho. After breakfast at Bourke Street Bakery, we braved the rain and took the subway downtown. The kids both found some cute spring clothes as we shopped along, and Greta got some perfume. Dad bought a t-shirt at Uniqlo and Mom bought a trench coat at Muji. Andrew bought some notebooks at the MoMA Design Store. I bought a small dish with rabbits on it from Pearl River. 

We had lunch at Joe's Shanghai, which has moved locations. This was a shock, even though they moved in 2019; I hadn't realized how long it had been since I was there. It could have been 2018. Fortunately Andrew had looked up the address on his phone as we walked, and discovered it was no longer on Pell St. Regardless of the weirdness of the new location, the soup dumplings were delicious. Dad also had some amazing crispy beef. And our hot tea was refilled several times. It was a welcome break from the rain.

Our final stop of the afternoon was the International Center of Photography. Andrew didn't go in with us because he was meeting another former co-worker friend for a drink. But the rest of us enjoyed two great exhibitions called Weegee: Society of the Spectacle and American Job 1940-2011. Our favorite was a photo from 1951, showing a Cornell classroom full of women learning how to use and care for irons. Each woman around the large table had an iron in front of her. 

We subway'd back to the hotel for a break. Once Andrew returned, we headed to the Upper West Side for dinner at Cafe Luxembourg. It is just a wonderful restaurant all around, food and atmosphere. We had:

Mom - eggplant parmesan and a Caesar salad shared with Dad

Dad - croque monsieur and fries

Margo - flank frites and a Casear salad shared with Andrew

Andrew - oysters and then moules frites

Lucia - macaroni with butter (this was actually a menu item)

Greta - flank frites (she also tried and liked an oyster and a mussel)

Desserts included butter pecan ice cream (Andrew, Mom, me), profiteroles (Dad), creme brulee (Lucia and Greta shared), and cinnamon sugar donuts (Lucia and Greta shared). 

It was a big day for food. And a great conclusion to our final full day of trip. I am not ready to leave tomorrow. This has been a true reprieve from reality.