Part 1 is here. Part 3 (the highlight) to come
Water and Israel were the theme in Central Park on this day (June 1st). Israel supporters swarmed the park after the annual Israeli Day Parade to commemorate Israel’s independence. Coincidentally, water is the theme in the Israeli holiday Shavuot which followed this day. Wrong day to be a tourist in Israel where kids flock the streets with water guns and water balloons. Perhaps the spritzer above us at Rosi’s was just practicing? (read part 1)
We started at the usual magical spot, where we sang Strawberry Fields Forever. Well, I sang, while the kids sang “stop”. One of the parks gems for sure. We then moved to the always striking Bethesda Fountain, until we settled at the Boathouse to stand on line for a boat. Playing tourists in our own town. It took about 40 minutes, which turned agonizing to the couple in front of us who realized they didnt have the $35 cash to rent a boat ($20 of that refundable)
The boats were fun, although most likely built during biblical times. I developed a child labor technique called OOM-PAH (patent pending). Shouting “OOM-PAH” meant they both row to the drum-like beat, “OOM” means just the right child, “PAH” means left. The faster the chant, the faster the row. It worked for us in that we got back in time (1 hour) and no baby turtles were hurt in the process. One mother turtle got almost killed, but she was at the wrong place, at the wrong time.
After that we looked for a table at the boathouse for a drink but no luck. So we trekked a little further to the other boat rental spot where you rent a remote control to navigate your assigned sailboat. Had some fun with that, climbed Alice in Wonderland (I think I may have killed something else – another turtle), Belvedere Castle, and headed toward dinner.
Eating With Ziggy 