Empty Streets of NYC
At the beginning of April it sunk in that this will last a bit longer. Work got more time intensive since a lot of our time was spent in virtual meetings. Apart from that, we tried to keep ourselves fit with long walks in the empty New York City streets. We took some probably once in a lifetime pictures of empty fifth avenue, Times Square and Broadway. Let’s at least hope it’s once in a lifetime!
We also celebrated the second COVID long-distance birthday. This time Eileen, Lukas’s fiancé. Franzi also picked up a new hobby of crafting greeting cards as work from home mandates got extended in the second week of April. At this point coronavirus cases in New York State were higher than in any other country in the world (besides the US overall).
In mid-April, Alex received his new custom-made motorcycle seat by Renazco Racing. He got it made to increase the seat height of his motorcycle even further and more appropriate for his style of riding. After some initial difficulties getting used to the new look (he felt it looked like a gigantic caterpillar), he ended up really loving it. Also it gives an even more unique look to the Triumph Scrambler!
Facemasks becoming the new normal
On April 15th, Governor Cuomo required face masks / face coverings in public places. In the beginning it felt a bit weird but as the city was hit so hard residents were willing to do anything to stop the spread.
On Friday, April 17th, Alex also got a nice surprise by one of his colleagues. As we were grocery shopping, he received a message to schedule a delivery from Drizzly. It ended up being a very generous gift: A bottle of 12 year old Japanese Whiskey to ensure Alex has a quality drink for the many virtual happy hours to come. Shoutout to our colleague and good friend Kushal!
Over the weekend Franzi experimented with some new recipes and made spring rolls and chicken sate with peanut sauce. She also baked a braided brioche as that’s become a favorite in the Bruns-Neumann household. On Sunday, we grabbed a coffee at Jane’s and visited one of our favorite places in the city – Washington Square Park.
During the next week our quarantine mood was majorly lifted. Our neighbor got three foster kittens in addition to her four cats. The little ones were just adorable and somehow managed to let you forget any worry. From that moment on visits to Carlota and the kittens were part of the weekly schedule! On Saturday, we did a small motorcycle tour upstate to take in a bit of nature. Later we enjoyed a beer in sunny Washington square park.
To make sure that we do not spend 24 hours in the apartment we made it a ritual to do at least one walk per day – no matter the weather. Some days were nice, some days were quite depressing. Also, it was sad to see that one of our friend’s restaurants “Spiegel” – you may remember “Two Wheel Tuesday” did not make it through the lockdown. We cross fingers that Shmulik will be able to open after all this is over.
At the end of April, New York State reached almost 300.000 cases and almost 18.000 deaths.
