nw3 to nyc

Observations on moving my family across the Atlantic

Tag Archives: Central Park


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Mind the red snails!

I was running in Central Park yesterday and came across a large circle of red snails. After checking my lenses were in and that I wasn’t hallucinating, I could see that they were about 6 feet tall and about the same in width. What on earth are they doing there?

So J and I went and had a closer look earlier today. It’s another bonkers art installation in New York. This time it’s a red snail invasion from Florida. You’d think in the winter they’d want to stay in warmer climes, but no, they hanging out in Central Park, around 72nd Street on the east side, if you fancy a visit.  They are here courtesy of the Villa Firenze Foundation and here until 5th December when they decamp to Columbus Circle for Christmas.

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Bare foot running by choice?

So I read about bare foot running in the New Yorker not that long ago and I have never seen anyone doing it in Central Park. It’s nuts and given the amount of dogs in this city, it can’t be hygienic. But today I saw one and he was not only bare foot running but bare chested. He was wearing just a very brief pair of shorts and let’s just say I wasn’t staring because he had a great tan and great abs. He was huffing and puffing his way along the east side part of the loop road. I did wonder if he had been mugged. Blimey.


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And there were over 5,000 ladies

That’s a lot of ladies running 10k in Central Park at 8am this morning. And today it included me. It’s hard for New Yorkers to run 10k as they have the imperial system here, so you have to think in miles until the final mile when they suddenly introduce metres! I was doing quite well until the final mile, but then realised that 10k is more than 6 miles and with the addition of metre signs, I got confused and I blame this for my pace slowing…

It’s great being in a race with over 5,000 other women and running along roads that are normally packed with traffic. Running past the Natural History Museum and other sights on Central Park West before entering the park felt pretty good, stopping traffic for us! I thought the park was pretty flat but apparently not. Someone seemed to introduce small hills at the top end of the park, the bit I don’t normally go to. And then there was a huge outdoor swimming pool that I’d never seen before, empty but worth noting for yet more hot summer days. What a great way to discover bits of the park. I finished in 56 minutes, so pretty good for me given how humid it was, but I’m in no hurry to do another. I looked aghast at the lady who tried to foist a leaflet for a half marathon in my hand – could she not see the colour of my face? 10k or 6 and a bit miles is more than enough for me.


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Someone left the heating on

That’s exactly how it feels in New York right now. You are in a nice, cool air conditioned building and then you walk outside and hot air hits you. It’s quite disconcerting to go from the cold inside to the hot outside. And disorientating when you are walking along the hot pavements and you get hit by cool blasts from air conditioning vents. What’s worse is that it doesn’t cool down. It’s late at night and still warm enough just to wear a t shirt.

I was in the Central Park on Friday. Our first experience of sprinklers. When I was a kid, a sprinkler was the small device your dad used to water the lawn on the odd day it seemed a bit warm. I can remember running in and out of the spray of water as it moved from one side to the other. Here sprinklers appear in the playgrounds for the kids to run in and out of and keep cool. J loves his first experience, running into the water and then squealing with slight shock and real delight when the blast of cold water hits his face. He is resplendent in his water gear and enjoys every moment. It will be a theme for the summer.

By lunchtime on Friday I was gratified to see that few people were crazy enough to be running in 30+ degree heat. At 730 on Saturday morning I go for a run in Central Park because I think it will be cooler and I am very wrong. It is hot. The temperature has not dipped below 23 degrees. Too hot for running and I have to keep stopping to prevent myself from over heating. It brings out a lot of early runners and a lot of barely clad people. Men in skimpy shorts and no tops; women in shorts and even shorter tank tops showing rippling bellies and many bosoms that need more control.

By 8am people, mostly men, are playing baseball in regulation coloured t shirts tucked into cream coloured trousers and looking deadly serious in baseball caps. The little leaguers are still asleep but will emerge soon to look like cute versions of these committed sportsmen. The park looks fabulous, lush and green with its canopies of trees giving grateful shelter to mediocre runners like me. Too early for tourists but early enough for random groups of people to be hanging around. Some are getting ready to marshal a race in the park but with others I have no idea what connects them together so early in the park. Maybe it’s just the heat forcing them outside: air conditioning is a luxury in NYC.


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Central Park sojourn

It is absolutely beautiful in New York today. It is cold and crisp and apart from a slight haze in the far distance, it is clear and bright. I walked across Central Park from west to east at lunchtime and whilst there’s no leaves on the trees and much of the park is cordoned off with signs saying ‘closed for the season’ to let the grass rest and grow back for the Spring, it’s a real pleasure to be walking through it. Despite the size of Central Park, you always know you’re in a city because wherever you look you see the border of buildings running down the East and West side and when you look north and south you see the buildings cluttered and close together. As usual there are dogs everywhere, every shape and size. Women with buggies, older couples and one man basking in the sunshine. And for the first time in my life I see a man taking a bird for a walk in a cage. Is that normal here?


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Heath to Park

Late November on Hampstead Heath. What a beautiful, unique space. Going for my last run (everything is the last at the moment) the colours are amazing: trees the colour of red hot pokers; carpets of leaves cover the grass. One huge, now bare, tree looks like a giant came along and gave it an almighty shake. There are the ubiquitous dog walkers but my favourite sadly absent: the polar opposites of the lolloping Bassett hound with his long legged, horse-like great Dane friend always make me smile. I remember the many British Military Fitness sessions, running in the rain, the snow and the mud. Oh, the mud. I will so miss BMF and lament my failure to persuade anyone of the merits of getting a wet bum on the Heath first thing on a Saturday. Hope there’s something similar in Central Park. Hampstead Heath is 800 acres and Central Park only a little larger. The Heath has its own flasher who we are all warned about; pockets of undergrowth where sadly people end their lives and its toilets have a certain reputation. Regardless of this – I expect Central Park has similar – I will miss the place where I trained pre and post natal in the early morning mists and ran for miles to blow away the cobwebs. I will look to learn to love Central Park in the same way.