Blipping Marvelous

What a super day.  We caught the train from Grand Central Station.  We actually used it as a station not just a photo opportunity.  The train took us to New Haven, Connecticut famous for Yale University founded in 1701.  On reaching the top of the stairs into the station there was Kathy Kd on blip.
Big smiles all round and as you know it seems that blippers just hit it off from the start.  Miles separate us but somehow we find the commonalities.   Kathy took us for coffee and I was delighted to see fresh and healthy choices.  I wonder if Yale Medical school influences what the cafes provide :-)  Unknown to both of us it was graduation day.  We saw students walking in their gowns with proud families trailing behind.  I grabbed this shot through the cafe window.  Leaving the cafe we weren't sure which direction to head and were just walking through the bland campus building when a distinguished man came across the road towards us.  On impulse I said good morning and asked if he could suggest somewhere pretty for us to walk.  He started to give directions then decide it was easier to show us.  We followed him through his building which put us on College St   and a straight walk to the New Haven green marked out by the Puritan Colonists.  Distinguished gentleman turned out to be a professor of cardiology.
We sat on a bench in the shade admiring the mature trees and chatted about politics, earthquakes, the price of an education, books we have read and on and on.  
It was a warm day and a cool drink seemed to be in order.  This lead to our second random encounter with friendly strangers.  Two women were standing on the sidewalk congratulating the students as they went past.  They suggested we go down the alley to Be Natural Cafe.  Boy were they right.  After a refreshing mango smoothie it was time to part.  We came back out to find the women still there giving affirming comments to anyone passing by.   
Thank you  Kathy today has been a highlight.  We got back on the train and used the time to plan what we will do next in the big apple.  On arriving back at Grand Central we went to the lower level food hall and bought our dinner while people watching.  Later I joined the other photographers taking images of the marvelous interior.  I have included these lyrics from a song I have loved written after 9/11.  Now I have been to where she is singing about.  I go to sleep tonight a happy blipper and a happy traveller. 

GRAND CENTRAL STATION by Mary Chapin Carpenter



Got my workclothes on full of sweat and dirt
All this holy dust upon my face and shirt
Heading uptown now just as the shifts are changing
To Grand Central Station
Got my lunchbox, got my hard hat in my hand
I ain't no hero mister, just a working man
And all these voices keep on asking me to take them
To Grand Central Station
Grand Central Station

I want to stand beneath the clock one more time
Want to wait upon the platform for the Hudson Line
I guess you're never really all alone
Or too far from the pull of home
And the stars upon that painted dome still shine

I made my way out on to 42nd street
I lit a cigarette and stared down at my feet
And imagined all the ones that ever stood here waiting
At Grand Central Station, Grand Central Station

Now Hercules is staring down at me
Next to him is Minerva and Mercury
I nod to them and start my crawl, flyers covering every wall
Faces of the missing all I see

Tomorrow I'll be back there working on the pile
Going in and coming out single file
Before my job is done there's one more trip I'm making
To Grand Central Station, Grand Central Station
Grand Central Station, Grand Central Station