New York City

I’ve spent many years going into NYC from Boston or New Haven and now fly in for winter holidays when the rest of the family can make it. So I think of NYC as always a bit cold and dark and with fond memories of crisp, sunny Fall afternoons, but then inevitably followed by weeks of gray clouds and drizzle. Not months, like the SF summer! But still. There is a coziness to a small hipster Brooklyn restaurant like Walter’s in Fort Greene (get the fried chicken) or the narrow, old pubs that offer a respite from the epic slush with a hot toddy or a Guinness. The Danish call it “hygge” and it is difficult to experience when it is sunny all the time. Almost worth the trip just to wear a thick wool sweater again.

We love the AirBnB’s in the brownstones around Fort Greene, Brooklyn as they are a quick walk to the subway into Manhattan. And as long as it is not Shabbat, I always make the pilgrimage to B & H Photo.