We’ve all been in New York lots so this was a good opportunity to do some shopping and visiting sights that we already know. We had a long visit to the Natural History Museum which was, as always, entertaining and informative. 
I’ve been telling the kids about Churrascaria Platforma (the place where you can eat a huge amount of meat) for years so we went there for dinner and it was great as always. We had a fabulous brunch with friends on Sunday and then made a run to J&R today to buy the usual gadgets and computer programs.
Monday morning was “travel to Fire Island day”. After an extremely frustrating and annoying exchange with Hertz (more the fault of the grumpy assistant than Hertz) I found myself piloting the gigantic Ford Explorer through the rush hour streets of New York. Everything I said about driving in the US being easy and enjoyable is totally rubbish. It’s like piloting a troop carrier through enemy lands at 8.30 on a Monday morning on Madison Avenue. Unlike the western cities, New York was a city long before freeways so exits, entrances and signs are all cunningly hidden behind subway lines or strange piles of concrete. Thoughts of Bonfire of the Vanities were hard to dispel. However, we only got lost in Queens once and only an hour after leaving the city, we were at the Fire Island Ferry. Fire Island is a thin strip of sand off the coast of Long Island about 50 miles from New York City and it’s our most easterly point in the US. In total, from Los Angeles to here, we’ve travelled 4200 miles in the US but haven’t seen anywhere like this. It’s extraordinary that you can be so close to one of the world’s largest conurbations and find such a beautiful, quiet and serene place. We are staying at Marty’s (Hannah’s godfather’s) beach house on the island and without much hyperbole, it is the most beautiful beach house in an outstanding location.
As you can see, we’re relaxing, getting some sun, cooking our own food (which is a real joy) and preparing for the flight. We walked down the beach today. With the early morning mist and the watery sun it reminded me of the scene in William Gibson’s Neuromancer where Case is trapped in a beach like “construct”. As we walked along the beach, I expected our house to suddenly reappear in the distance out of the fog…
In general, the people staying on Fire Island are urbane, witty, quiet and….well European. This has been the perfect end to the holiday and, BA permitting, we should be back in Cambridge tomorrow. Total trip distance including all flights and driving has been about 29,000 miles….
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