A Beautiful Friday in Darien

Market at Grand Central Station

With Ates and Mine in NY

Kids are in school and we are getting ready to hit the stores, yippee, time to shop and spend.  Actually, we are taking back a couple of things we bought last time we were here in Darien, about five weeks ago.  I took Cody out for a walk after taking Marisa to her school bus and it was crisp, clear and sunny out, perfect weather to be outside walking or working in the yard.

We did go into the city yesterday, to see my Turkish friend Ates, who was staying at the Belaire Apts, part of the Hospital for Special Surgery.  He gave us very detailed description of his hip surgery, the complications, a high fever, then blood clot in his leg, and the ways they took care of him, from intensive care for the fear of pneumonia, to the umbrella or sieve device they inserted to catch the blood clot in case it gets loose.  He looked good though he tires easily and we talked for a couple of hours.  It was great to see him up and feeling better than he has in years, as the pain from his hip basically immobilized him for the past two years.  So, his attitude was good, and he wants to get active and stay healthy now that he is not in pain.  He was in New York with five other women, relatives of his wife and his daughter, so he was well taken care of.  They fly home to Istanbul today and he seems ready to get back, with a clean bill of health.  It's interesting how Turks seem to be every where; the manager of the patient relationships was Turkish, so he really took care of Ates, stopping by, when we were there and he had made sure Ates got good treatment.  Plus a Turkish friend stopped by, who was visiting his son, a doctor in the city and he came by every day, too.  Turks stick together.

We did not get to see much of the city, taking a taxi back and forth from Grand Central to the Belaire.  We did spend some time in Grand Central, snacking and browsing.  Unfortunately, the new Apple store did not open until today, so we missed it by a day though it will no doubt have a line of people to get in it.

We came home, played with the kids, had a shrimp appetizer, then I cooked steaks outside to go with our fingerling potatoes and asparagus, a great meal.  Unfortunately, Rami spent the day in Washington, DC, taking a train their early and did not return until about 10:00 last night.  He was up by 6:00 and off by 7:00 this morning, a tough life I would think.  He's looking forward to the weekend!