As everyone, everywhere, knows covid19 has put a stop to all travel.

We must all be careful to stay safe by ‘Staying at Home’. In Australia we’ve been very good at staying at home and helping to ‘flatten the curve’ or as some are now saying ‘fatten the curve!’

Today we should be flying out of Brisbane bound for New York. Off to see our precious new grandson, Leo. He was born in the midst of a pandemic that has devastated NY and many other places around the world. But out of the chaos came Leo. Born on April 11 – Easter Saturday in NYU Hospital. He’s beautiful.

We planned to spend 2 weeks in NY getting to know Leo. We’d booked an Airbnb in West Village, an area we were getting to know as we have spent the last two April’s visiting our son & his wife in NY.

I’m imagining the spring flowers coming out as they do after the cold of winter.

What does their life look like now ? They have spent the past two years doing everything they could possible fit in, to really enjoy their life in this busy city. Restaurants, concerts, exercise, galleries, riding bikes, swimming, walking. Enjoying their jobs and getting out of the city on weekends & holidays to visit places like Boston, Charleston, Portland, Pittsburg, Austin, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Miami, California, Mexico. ….now they are lucky to visit the nearby park. Photos of Leo on his daily walk show very happy new parents, not letting the Coronavirus stop them.

Going to the park on a Sunday is a must. Families out enjoying the open spaces – essential in big cities. Walking, listening to the buskers, or watching the tennis players or those rowing on the lake.

What would we be doing if we’d gone across to NY today? Walking with the pram along the village type streets of West Village and visiting the parks. Washington Square Park is nearby and so lovely. Of course Central Park is something I do on every visit.

Visiting the art galleries is another must do. Each visit I try to visit different galleries. This time it was to be back to the Met. And the Museum of Modern Art – MOMA which I haven’t been to in quite a few years.

We would be catching up with our swim trek friends from our Galapagos trip. Lynn and Lois live in New York, others were flying in to meet us. Betty from California, Lexie from Mexico, Barry from Canada and Bill from London. Our plan for a catch up ……gone. We had a great reunion in 2018. Maybe next year.

A concert at Carnegie Hall and we were to see La Boheme at the Metropolitan Opera. We had great seats and on returning them recently, actually made money as the value of our dollar has dropped – as we’d paid in US $!

We also got a full refund on our Airbnb which was great.

This time last year we were there visiting and playing with our friends Peter & Elizabeth McGregor. We had a lots of fun and the photos bring back so many happy memories.

Instead of preparing for our trip we have been in isolation at our beach place. Right on the beach we have been able to swim each day and go for long walks. Lots of reading. Some tv series, cooking, collecting shells, sketching,yoga. So not all bad!

Look back at my posts from last year in NY and see the things we did then. In my mind I’m travelling there again. That’s all we do at the moment.

Stay safe everyone. Especially as things start to reopen. Don’t forget the simple things like washing those hands well and social distance always. This virus hasn’t gone yet.

What have you been doing in isolation? Wherever you are in the world, let me know ( in comments) how you are and what you’ve been doing.