So it turns out that Space A is not always super reliable... We didn't both make a space a flight last night as planned, so we took the train to NYC this morning and are flying out of JFK tonight. We got lucky and found a good deal on a direct flight to Heathrow. So, we came back from the airport late last night after our failed attempt and embarked on another, more expensive, travel adventure today. The Amtrak was fast and easy. No problems there.

Once in NYC we decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As we were walking in, someone handed us his pin, so we got in for free, which was really nice. They wouldn't let us in with our backpacks, so Spencer and I took turns. I only spent about an hour in there, but I could've easily taken all day. First I looked at the armor and weapons. I can't believe how ornate and beautiful some of those swords and rifles were! Many of the sets of armor looked so small that they might not have even fit me although they were made for grown men. Amazing. The rest of the time I spent looking at European paintings. Even though my one art history class was a year and a half ago, I still recognized some of the paintings. One of my favorites was "View of Toledo" by El Greco. And if course everything by Monet, Cezanne, and Van Gogh. One of the more interesting ones was a painting of Jerusalem from I think the late 1800s. It took me a second to recognize it since the city looks very different today. I suspect some artistic liberties were taken since it looked like the Temple Mount was in the middle of the desert, when in fact there is some green around it. Lots of olive trees.

After the Met we met up with my old roommate, Lauren, and took the subway to Soho to meet up with Spencer's high school friend for dinner. We went to a great little Italian place. It was thoroughly wonderful to share a bottle of wine and some good Italian food.

I was completely exhausted when we finally took a cab to the airport. We got really lucky with lines and even had time for a beer before we jumped on our red-eye to London. This time I remembered to get some sleeping pills, so hopefully I'll get some rest on this flight! As I write this I'm eagerly awaiting take off. God willing we'll be in London in a few hours!