Walking

How fast (or slow) are you?
I'm somewhere in the middle, neither the tortoise nor the hare.If I'm in the city I have no patience for people who are oh-so-casually strolling along in front of me. It's called a sideWALK, not a sideCRAWL.  If you're not going to walk, move to the side and let me through!
Stairs, on the other hand, are the bane of my existence.  Climbing stairs leaves me exhausted and gasping for breath. When I was pregnant with Becca (20 years ago!) we lived in Briarwood, Queens, just a block or so from the Van Wyck Blvd. Station.  If I remember correctly there are about 5 flights of stairs between the street and the train platform.  I never had a problem going down. . .coming up was another matter.  Got to the point where I'd get off the train at Union Turnpike and walk a mile along Queens Blvd to avoid those stairs!

Drew, on the other hand, walks very quickly.  I often have to ask him to slow it down.

And his sister - who joined us last night for theater and dinner - despite back and leg problems, despite walking with a cane, she can easily match Drew's pace.
So last night . . .The theater is on 42nd, west of 9th Ave.  To get to Chinatown you have to take the subway, the N or R train.The station is at Broadway and 42nd St., just less than half a mile from the theater. You can walk on the sidewalk, or you can enter the subway at the 8th Ave. Station, use the connecting tunnel and cover the two blocks underground.  You won't have to contend with street traffic.. . But on a hot, sticky summer night you don't want to be underground.  Plus, there is a huge stairway that connects the tunnel to the N train station and, yes, we had to climb up.

So we get to Canal and Broadway, about half a mile from the restaurant on Mott Street (I love Google maps!).  And we climb out of the subway and start walking.

And Drew walks fast.  And his sister walks fast.  And I struggle to keep up.  And the walk starts to feel like a death march. And I'm hearing the theme from Bridge on the River Kwai in my head.  . .

No wonder I am achy today.  . .