Tired feet

This morning I got up uncharacteristically early and hauled myself down to Lincoln Center by 6:30 a.m. to stand on line with around 1,000 other buffs for free tickets to this Friday's Metropolitan Opera Open House. I was number 93 in line. It's a perfect day in New York City - nothing but blue skies. I made friends with Robert, who doubles as a Broadway enthusiast/opera buff (of course, we hit it off), Natasha from Russia who took the D train from Brooklyn at 5:00 a.m. this morning and Virginia from Costa Rica, who has lived in the Village for many years and sees at least 40 operas a year all in standing room. The mood was nothing less than festive, despite the news that seats assignments would be handed out randomly, whether you arrived at 6:00 a.m. or at 9:55 a.m. I really don't care wear I sit, I'm just happy to have the opportunity to go. So now my feet are tired, but it's worth it. (12:24 update: Sally just reported in that our seats are in Orchestra Row V! Okay, sure I don't care where I sit, but I'm not giving up these seats!)

Bonus: On my way to work, I encountered a lady named Esther visiting from Israel. She was a little lost so I assisted her in her quest to get to MOMA. She is visiting New York for art and opera for ten days. We saw President Clinton in Midtown.