Robin Ellis

…passing through, on our way to a family celebration in Washington.

Cait–who was the seven-year-old bridesmaid at our wedding–(oh my, how time passes!)–will graduate as a doctor on Sunday from Georgetown.

As we’d approached Newark Airport along the Hudson River, the New York skyline was visible from the plane–never fails to impress.

The Empire State lit up red white and blue–for a Brit, I modestly supposed–and looking slight by comparison but oh-so-elegant–the Chrysler Building, tucked in behind it.

Our friends, John and Helen, met us at the airport–a wonderful luxury–and we drove through the Holland Tunnel into lower Manhattan.

New York’s talent for constant renewal was immediately evident.

As we turned a corner to head up the West Side, John pointed out the light on the fast-growing new building at Ground Zero–“a Phoenix rising from the ashes”– One World Trade Centre.

We passed the Frank Gehry building–all frosted glass–on the West Side Highway, and a spectacular walk of parks along the “mighty Hudson”.

A vast aircraft carrier–the Intrepid–is  permanently “parked” near where the old Queens, Mary and Elizabeth, used to dock to disembark well-heeled passengers–a stone’s throw from their grand mid-town hotels.

That’s another thing about New York, or at least Manhattan–everything seems like a “stone’s throw” away.

I just popped out of the building onto Broadway, for some low-fat yogurt–but I could have bought a pair of shoes or gone to the movies–if I’d had a mind to!