THE PROMPTS FOR THE MONTH
SATURDAY 1st BEGINS WITH T: No more gas guzzling Yank
Tanks in New York. The famous yellow cabs are mostly hybrids marked with
capital "T"s and even call themselves taxis nowadays
SUNDAY 2nd HAPPENED THIS WEEKEND: We have done several
amazing things this weekend including watch a physical theatre show, attend an
art exhibition and complete the Gilded NYC self-guided walk but for me the best
thing that happened this weekend was attending the Japan Society’s “A Third
Gender: Beautiful Youths in Japanese Prints” Exhibition. This photo is of
a stunning colour wood block print triptych of the world’s first Kabuki
performer, who just happened to be a woman. In 1603, she gathered an all-
female troupe of outcasts including prostitutes for what are considered the
first Kabuki plays
MONDAY 3rd MANY: The many cut-off selvedge edges and
loose threads, which are waste of the silk industry are used in the textile and
accessory creations of Luisa Cevese. Her work was showcased along with the
work of two other artists in the "Scraps: Fashion Textiles and Creative
Reuse" exhibition at Cooper Hewitt Design Smithsonian Design Museum, which
we visited today. Inspirational pieces designed to utilise scraps and waste
TUESDAY 4th FRAME:
This stairway in the Museum of The City of New York fascinated me as much
as the exhibitions. I love the frames inside the window and the way each
photograph and quote is also presented in a frame, which is white on black
instead of the more common black on white. Bold statements in the stairwells.
So glad we took the stairs not the elevator It's billed as "New
York's Most Exciting Stairwell"
WEDNESDAY 5th MAGAZINE: I have subscribed to this
magazine since the 1980's and it has been delivered to me in six different
countries. However I turned my subscription to an online one in February this
year due to rarely having time to read it and our transient lifestyle and now
in NYC in the apartment of the friend who first introduced it to me I find the
hard copy of the latest edition
THURSDAY 6th LETTERBOX: In the Museum of Chinese in
America today, one display was concerned with the letters that were exchanged
between families separated with men living in America and often wives and
children in China. These letterboxes were part of the display
FRIDAY 7th POSTCARD: The iconic Brooklyn Bridge is the
postcard I selected to write a thank you note to Anthony for allowing us to
live like New Yorkers in his apartment on 145th Street. Heading to Toronto
tonight
SATURDAY 8th FORK:
Everything we have eaten today we have eaten with our hands and this Ethiopian
Vegetarian Platter served with "injera" (fermented flat bread) was no
exception but for the sake of PAD I had to ask for a fork and promise the
server I wouldn't use it. In the end as there was too much injera so we did use it
and still there were leftovers
SUNDAY 9th MACRO: I've been stumped with this all day
but finally came up with the red maple leaf label on the can of maple syrup we
bought yesterday. What could be more Canadian than that?
MONDAY 10th FLORA: Spring has still not quite happened
yet but it is definitely in the air and this was the flora that was in most
abundance at Niagara Falls when we went there today. Don't actually know what
they are called even though I am usually good with flower names
TUESDAY 11th STREET: Far from the downtown zone with
an abundance of homeless individuals, gentrified neighbourhoods and retail,
this quiet street in an uptown residential area near Casa Loma epitomises
opulence and wealth
WEDNESDAY 12th FAUNA: The only fauna I have seen today
has been pet dogs on leads. The most frequently observed fauna since we arrived
has been squirrels. But the bird life in High Park was certainly the most
impressive fauna we saw in Toronto. These wood ducks were taken a couple of
days ago in that exact location
THURSDAY 13th STORY: This is the story of us today.
Returning to New York City from a five-day break in Toronto. I wonder what
stories these Greyhound buses could tell, if the walls could speak. Everyone on
board no doubt has their own story to tell
FRIDAY 14th LIGHTS: The lights of the traffic on 145th
Street at 10:30pm, looking uptown towards the Bronx, from our bedroom window. I
love the fact that the signals all go green or red in unison and that keeps the
traffic moving
SATURDAY 15th COMFORT: We have enjoyed the comfort of
this gorgeous apartment immensely. With one final day to spend in NYC we are
extremely grateful to Anthony for giving us the opportunity to live like New
Yorkers for a month
SUNDAY 16th EGG: Our last day in New York and we
couldn't leave without a meal in a diner. In my big breakfast the egg was
served in an Athenian omelette with spinach, tomatoes and feta, home fries and
a sesame bagel on the side. Good ole American comfort food and both breakfast
and lunch are now taken care of. Time to enjoy the spring weather before the
pack up and clean up routine
MONDAY 17th EYE SPY: From the United Airlines plane
which I spent most of today on I spied a fabulous orange sunset over the wing
but now that we have arrived I spy a new hot pink visa for Peru in my passport
TUESDAY 18th WATER: This is a detail of the
spectacular fountain in Palaza de Armas in the central historic district of Lima.
In the background is an ornate renovated canary yellow building with its well-
preserved Moorish (Spanish Architecture) suspended balconies designed to
conceal people watchers
WEDNESDAY 19th RETRO: The traffic police directing the
flow from the middle of a busy intersection on Ave de Julio, in peak hour,
wearing a pith helmet looked pretty retro to me, as we scurried across the
road. Even with signals and hand directed traffic the numbers of cars and
pedestrians who pay no heed to either makes crossing these busy 4 lanes each
way intersections an act of bravery
THURSDAY 20th I SAT HERE: Today I sat here in the
Domus Restaurant and enjoyed a three-course vegetarian Peruvian set lunch.
Thanks to Ian who sat opposite with an identical lunch, for taking the photo
FRIDAY 21st ROUGH: I love a market and today we found
this cheese (queso paria arequipa) in the one in Lima. The seemingly rough
texture contrasts sharply with the fact that is actually smooth and creamy. I
guessing that it is set in a roughly woven wicker or cane basket and that is
what gives it the rough textural appearance
SATURDAY 22nd OPPOSITES: We arrived in Cuzco this afternoon and when we set off wandering the historic central town area I noticed this plaque on the wall. Even without a word of Spanish I can understand that devils and angels are opposites and the words are also opposite with one a mirror image of the other
SUNDAY 23rd GOOD TOGETHER: At the Chinchero Sunday
Market today travellers and locals all mixed amicably and this picture just
encapsulated good together for me. Even though few people are buying their
wares these women are enjoying life, happy and good together
MONDAY 24th FENCE: This prompt made me realise that
Peru is not a country of fences. There are plenty of adobe and stone-walls as
boundaries but fences are few and far between. I saw this one on the
"Balcon de Qosqo” over looking the magnificent Plaza de Armas and it is
really a safety rail to prevent people falling
TUESDAY 25th BLACK AND WHITE: This black and while
replica of a cave painting representing a hunter was on the wall of the Inka
Museum. The original is in the region of Cusco and is found in a pre-ceramic
archaeological site dating back to 5000 BCE
WEDNESDAY 26th RECTANGLE: The traditional architecture
of Peru has these rectangle wooden windows with shutters. They vary from ornate
and big enough to house a balcony with a small table and chairs to these tiny
glassless windows in the oldest of the adobe buildings
THURSDAY 27th SMOOTH: This was the smooth looking old
style rail car of Inka Rail which we took from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes today. It is the jumping off point
for Machu Picchu, which we are very excited about seeing tomorrow. The ride on
the narrow gauge, however was anything but smooth
FRIDAY 28th GET IN THE PHOTO: It wasn't difficult for
us to get in the photo but it took a bit more effort to get the near empty
Machu Picchu ruins in the photo too at 6:35am
SATURDAY 29th TRANSPORTATION: In Peru, llamas have
been bred as pack animals (and for meat) for 5,000 years. I haven’t seen them
used as transportation yet but I hope to as I read that they are trying to
revive this practice in the trekking industry. Whatever their purpose they are
naturally curious animals and I simply loved being up close and personal with
them yesterday. They were as interested in us as we were in them. PS they smell
nice too
SUNDAY 30th THIS MAKES ME HAPPY: A market full of
colouful locals selling fruit, vegetables, textiles, flowers, hats, ceramics
and all manner of other wares while wearing their traditional clothes always
makes me happy. Today’s Sunday Market at Pisac was no exception
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