The FUNtastic 4 in NYC

We had Brooklyn. A full day in Brooklyn. Andy Warhol in the Brooklyn Museum. And we had good steak at Peter Luger's. We walked around Brooklyn Heights. And we did the Promenade, great views to the Hudson river and Manhattan. We had a heat wave for 2 weeks non-stop. We tried the Sunday gospel but gave up when we realized there was a waiting line of more than 300 people. We walked Harlem. We visited the campus of the Ivy League Columbia University. We had 2 days in beautiful Boston. We had shopping and dining and thousands of photos. We had a lot of laughing, every day! for 2 weeks! We had 3 fantastic days in Washington DC. We had nice family meals at home. We had pizzas at Fiorello. We had burgers and meatloaf. We also had very urban-american breakfasts at Starbucks, bagels with cream cheese. We met with other friends from Portugal, who were also touristing NY. We had drinks at the rooftop with one of the best views of the Manhattan skyline. Expensive views! We went to the Terra Blues club for some blues. It's the real thing in the West Village. The band playing that night was amazing. Day and night, their 2 weeks were always on the go! They walked Manhattan up and down, east and west. While I was in the office, they were visiting the USS Intrepid, they were doing the Staten Island Ferry, they were visiting Ground Zero, they were 'doing business' in Chinatown, they were shopping and photographing all over Manhattan. They went to the new Citifield Stadium to see The Mets play against the St Louis Cardinals. They explored Central Park. They went to the Empire State Building. They re-discovered Lincoln Center. They spent a full day inside Bloomingdale's! They walked and walked and walked. Walking, subway, yellow cabs, all over Manhattan. They had fun and were always up to everything! And we had fun together. We also had cosmopolitans, Sex and The City oblige. And watermelon martinis at Robert @ MAD, with live jazzy-bossanova. And amazing views to Columbus Circle. They took care of me, they cooked for me, they bought me presents here and there, they visited me in Wall Street, they hung my artwork on the wall. Always laughing and smiling. We had our 15 seconds of fame in the giant billboard screens in Times Square, courtesy of the American Eagle store. And Justin Timberlake was also in Times Square! Filming a scene for his latest film, Friends with Benefits. Could our late-night incursion to Times Square have gotten any better? I guess it would have been tourist-perfect if we could have spotted The Naked Cowboy.

They left Friday, after 2 beautiful beautiful weeks. They left with the promise to come back together. They'll reconnect with NY and then I'll take them to Vegas.

My cousin and her friends arrived Friday evening, for the weekend. I'm so glad they're here! Otherwise, how would I endure the empty space they left?

Come back, please! :)