All worth it for the look

About a month before we left I caught up with a mate for lunch. He was moving to Sydney but had some time off between leaving Brisbane and was going to travel. We compared notes and figured out that we were going to cross over in New York.

He is also a friend of Alison's. We didn't tell her. It was an opportunity for surprise.

The day we could meet up was cold. The minimum was thirteen degrees below zero. The maximum was twelve degrees below zero. It seemed like a good day to go to the Met.

Ali and I got a cab uptown. It was Ali's first New York cab ride, and it was a doozy. Our driver assured us as we got in that he wasn't drinking a beer. It was a malted drink. On the drive to 82nd and 5th he cleaned his ears, played with a hat, spat from the window, all while driving like... well, a New York cab driver.

None of this phased me. New York cab drivers are out there every day; I figure they know what they're doing.

We arrived in one piece ready to see some art.

Byzantine Psalm book

The Met was far better than I had anticipated. In particular, I enjoyed walking straight into the section dedicated to Medieval Europe and seeing it filled with Byzantine artifacts.

Ali was frustrated that I spent so much time fiddling with my phone when we arrived. She couldn't know that I was coordinating. I pretended to be taking photos of the Viking display.

Yeah... pretended...

In a way it was nice to go to a museum with so much variety. My last trip had been all Viking and Byzantine stuff, but history is fascinating no matter what is on display. As long as the stories attached are interesting. For that the Roman items were the best.

To my surprise the area I liked the most was the European art upstairs. So many amazing works of art in one place, but with incredible variety. It was worth the visit just to see them.

David with Goliath's head

We dawdled for a little while taking in displays of ancient art and religion and religious art.

This was amazing

Ali was just about ready to move on when someone walked up behind her and commented on the item she was looking at. She turned around and saw...

...this guy!

We were gratified to see her do a full double-take. She later told us that she was still uncertain it was Reuben until deep into the conversation which followed.

He stayed with us as we explored the rest of the museum and we agreed to meet up that night for dinner.

Reuben's return heralded the chance to do something we had missed on the last trip. The legendary Five Napkin Burger. The burgers were good, five napkins may have been an under-estimate. Afterward we searched for desserts nearby.

What we found was astonishing.

Deep dish cookies.

Deep dish cookies.

Deep. Dish. Cookies.