NEW YORK CITY 2026: CHINATOWN AND THE LOWER EAST SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD

 May 29, 2026

Bob had planned a weekend birding trip to southern Arizona, and it dawned on me that I could ALSO plan a trip by myself. Where did I want to go? No problem there! New York City to visit our youngest son!

With not a lot of advance planning, I could not find a reasonable non-stop flight, so I caught a red-eye flight that went through Seattle and landed me in NYC around 6:00 AM.  I had boxed up and checked a family heirloom for our son, a carved wooden silverware box, that I had to check, and luckily for me, I have two free checked bags with Delta, so that made taking this along FAR preferable to shipping it some other way.

Also luckily for me, I got upgraded on both flights to Comfort Plus, which made the flights almost pleasant. I got a kick out of this life-sized stuffy that the man across the aisle from me was taking home. The flight attendant did make him put it in the overhead compartment. 😊

I arrived at the JFK airport, retrieved suitcase and my well-packed heirloom box (whew, it made it), which I attached it to the small wheeled cart I brought with me, and called an Uber. It cost me around $100 to get dropped off at my hotel, but the ease and convenience was worth it this time. I had a great view of Midtown Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge.

I stayed at the  Hotel Mimosa, a small boutique hotel in Chinatown a few blocks from my son's apartment.

RUSSIA: KALININGRAD CITY TOUR

June 29, 2019

We began our day with a city tour led by our guide, Irina. She had a list she wanted to get through and didn't adjust very well to our interests.

Our hotel was located in an area of the city known as the "Fisherman's Village." We probably did spend too much time getting acquainted with this rakish sailor and his clever monkey . . . 

. . . but they were so friendly.

We could tell that luck-seeking passersby had rubbed their noses a lot.

Further along the walk we saw but didn't speak to this lady of the night. Her nose has been rubbed a lot too.

We rushed right by this fellow, who had set up shop on one end of a bridge.  I had to use Google Translate to learn that his sign says "Sale of finds from excavations in Konigsberg."

Looking at the photo now, I wish we had been able to stop and take a closer look!

POLAND, KRAKOW: JEWISH QUARTER

June 23 2019

Our next stop was the Jewish Quarter of Krakow, known locally as Kazimierz because it was founded in the 14th century by King Kasimir as a gathering place for Jews. By 1939, the Jewish population of Krakow was 70,000, about 25% of the population.  In less than 18 months, the Jewish population was about 15,000, and in March 1941, the Krakow Ghetto was established to house what was left of the Jews. More about that later. By the end of the war, the Jewish population of Krakow had been essentially decimated.

After the war, this neighborhood was largely neglected in rebuilding efforts. It was a poor area with a high crime rate. In 1988 a Jewish Cultural Festival was started, and the neighborhood began to turn around. Then the movie Schindler's List was filmed here in 1993, and the place became a tourist attraction.

Today, the Jewish Quarter is the second-largest tourist attraction in Krakow after Old Town. It's a busy, famous part of the city, but the Jewish population remains quite small.

When we were there, a flea market was drawing a lot of people to the square around what was once the kosher slaughterhouse:

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA: JEWISH SYNAGOGUE AND MUSEUM

The oldest Jewish congregation in South Africa, founded in 1841, is Gardens Shul (formerly Cape Town Hebrew Congregation). It is considered the "Mother Synagogue" of South Africa. It includes two buildings, an 1863 synagogue and a 1905 synagogue. (The originally 1849 building is gone.)

A guide told us that this orthodox synagogue seats 1,100.  Since there are only 800 Orthodox Jews in Cape Town, it's probably never hard to find a seat.

I loved the stained glass windows, not something I usually associate with Judaism:

Close-up of two of the panes: