Polaroid Of The Week: Al fresco opera with the Manhattan skyline

Last Updated on February 21, 2021

I must admit that I’ve been feeling pretty overwhelmed with my workload lately – which resulted in the much dreaded writers block. I am still struggling to balance work, the soccer world cup, my social life and all the other temptations of New York City (there is seriously something going on every single day here in the summer!), and so I decided on a whim to take a few days off last week to enjoy the city without feeling guilty and to get my creative juices flowing again. (Side note: In the end I was able to get my mind off work so much that I even forgot to put up the Polaroid of the week in time!).

It turned out that I chose the right week to do that with several visitors in town who I showed around my favorite neighborhoods, museums and eateries, several soccer games that I enjoyed in beer gardens around town, a rooftop Barbeque, travel meet-ups and of course Pride Week, which culminated in the massive New York Pride Parade yesterday. I am still recovering from 12 hours of celebrations, and after celebrating the Mermaid Parade the weekend before and 4th July next weekend, I am not sure how many more weekends like that I’ll be able to live through.

One of the more relaxing days last week was Wednesday, when the Metropolitan Opera stopped in Brooklyn for their annual Summer Recitals, a series of outdoor opera performances in all five boroughs. The location in Brooklyn Bridge Park was perfect – the Lower Manhattan skyline formed a beautiful backdrop for the goose bump-evoking vocal performances. The park was packed with people who enjoyed picnic dinners and wine (luckily the park rangers looked the other way), listening to classic opera recitals while the sun set and the skyscrapers started to light up. If you happen to be in New York between now and 10 July, I highly recommend catching one of the free performances.