NYC

Recently I visited NYC with my grandmother. It was my second time coming here, and while I generally do not like large cities, it was full of memories I will cherish with her forever. I hope to visit again perhaps next year with someone else. There are many things to do. Despite the grime, there is a lot of beauty and magic to be discovered.

On Ellis island I discovered my ancestor who came there from Ireland, and I have taken his name for my pen name. As I feel that my novel was given to me by my ancestors and is largely about connection to the ancestors/spirits of place (which I feel are linked) this feels significant to me.

My grandmother and I went to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. When I was very little she used to let me listen to her audiobooks on cassette on her walkman, so seeing this with her was wonderful, and Tom Felton was playing Draco! An absolute pleasure to watch him play his character in person after growing up watching it on screen.

Both times I've been to NYC I visited Laduree, I'm a bit obsessed with it ever since I first saw their pastries in Marie Antoinette as a kid. This is a different one than I visited before, and I collect various boxes from all the ones I visit.

I also went to the Starbucks reserve in the Empire state building, aside from a cocktail I had this matcha/peaflower cake, it was marvelous.

This was my first time taking an overnight train as well. It is not my preferred method of travel for long distances, although I do like trains in general. It was fun, and I'm happy to be traveling again.