#120 Westminster Cathedral

(May 27 2007, written Jun 2011) Very close to where I used to live, a few steps down Victoria Street. A cathedral surrounded by homeless men and cardboard boxes maybe because there's a McDonalds there to beg from but more likely because the overhang of the glass buildings leaves dry patches of Square to sleep on. I must have walked past the Cathedral hundreds if not thousands of times before Charlie's son's christening was the occasion to go inside. Like my friend Mark, he went on to become an MP too (Charlie that is, not his son!)

#121 Parliament Hill

Sketched in January 2007. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consec tetur adipiscing elit. Integer interdum porta vulputate. Quisque a auctor lectus. Morbi feugiat neque sed urna pellentesque quis auctor metus commodo. Nam ultricies aliquet cursus. Vestibulum a eros mi. Mauris vestibulum lacinia purus, vel dignissim elit ullamcorper ac. Nulla facilisi. Ut dapibus placerat purus, sed ultrices mauris fermentum non. Nam dui tellus, egestas sed semper et, tristique et dolor. Vestibulum tristique tincidunt magna at convallis. Phasellus non libero eget tortor ullamcorper euismod a vitae erat. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae;

#115 The Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate park blah blah blah. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consec tetur adipiscing elit. Integer interdum porta vulputate. Quisque a auctor lectus. Morbi feugiat neque sed urna pellentesque quis auctor metus commodo. Nam ultricies aliquet cursus. Vestibulum a eros mi. Mauris vestibulum lacinia purus, vel dignissim elit ullamcorper ac. Nulla facilisi. Ut dapibus placerat purus, sed ultrices mauris fermentum non. Nam dui tellus, egestas sed semper et, tristique et dolor. Vestibulum tristique tincidunt magna at convallis. Phasellus non libero eget tortor ullamcorper euismod a vitae erat. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae;

#114 Wedding in Napa Valley

Gary and Cory got married out in Napa Valley. Money was tight and I didn't know if I could go at first. In the end I did and it was wonderful. I had never been to Napa before and a wedding is a good reason to be there for the first time. I stayed at a run-down motel just outside of Yountville but hiked and ran and drank and ate well. There was a fantastic dinner in the candlelit caves of Pine Ridge and the wedding at Auberge de Soleil was sumptuous.

#118 Belvedere Castle, Central Park

Sketched in January 2007. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consec tetur adipiscing elit. Integer interdum porta vulputate. Quisque a auctor lectus. Morbi feugiat neque sed urna pellentesque quis auctor metus commodo. Nam ultricies aliquet cursus. Vestibulum a eros mi. Mauris vestibulum lacinia purus, vel dignissim elit ullamcorper ac. Nulla facilisi. Ut dapibus placerat purus, sed ultrices mauris fermentum non. Nam dui tellus, egestas sed semper et, tristique et dolor. Vestibulum tristique tincidunt magna at convallis. Phasellus non libero eget tortor ullamcorper euismod a vitae erat. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae;

#123 Down By The Hudson River

October 3rd, 2007.  Down by the Hudson River near the Boat Basin.

June 2011: Julie and I had just met. Before then I was rarely in this spot. It is a little north of the 72nd Street Pier which was the end of my morning run when I lived on 48th Street. Now, I push baby Zoe in her stroller past this spot at the weekends. We walk past the Boat Basin and out to the end of the very same pier. It is often windy out there. Sometimes I stop and sit on the benches with Zoe and watch
the walkers, runners and cyclists whizz past.

April 2025: This place means a lot to me today.  I don't run as often now (I was 43 then, 60 now) and when I do, it is often north from here along the river to where the car is parked at 125th.  Once in a while I do my "old" run, down to the end of the pier at 72nd Street and then under the Henry Hudson at 83rd past the playground that the kids once went to and back home again.  Just a couple of mile.

There are a couple of scenes from You've Got Mail shot down here by the Boat Basin where Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) and his Dad have the boats moored.  I mention the movie because there are so many scenes shot near our apartment.  The Starbucks in that movie is actually in our building.  I live above it.