This event is a first for me. Not only am I not leading the group as a PM, I have also had time to explore the city. This is because we have a big crew here and we have been able to do split shifts on the quieter days.

So today I took advantage of the afternoon off and explored Central Park. It’s actually too big to walk in a couple of hours but the time I spent was delightful.

The park is huge and really does provide a respite from the city. Even though you see all buildings around you, when you are in the park the noisy sirens and horns fade to nothing and it really is quite peaceful. I am sure it’s a lot busier in the spring and summer but there were still many people enjoying the park.

No leaves were on the trees yet but it allowed the odd trunk shapes to show and let me enjoy the warm sunny and blue skies, as well as the birds chirping in the branches..

I don’t think I’ve ever heard so many languages as I heard walking through the park. I am sure some are city residents but there were lots of tourists as well; people are definitely starting to travel.

There were many different musicians and even duelling tap dancers busking for money.

It’s easy to tell that it’s still winter; the lakes are still frozen, although starting to melt. The ducks sometimes had to take a couple tries to get out of the water on the thinning ice edges.

There are lots of walkways meandering around the park. There are some roadways that did not hold any traffic, but lots of different wheeled traffic, from all kinds of bikes to the iconic horse and buggy. I have noticed that you don’t see recreational cyclists on the streets; just delivery dudes on electric bikes. But Central Park is obviously a great place to cycle, since there were many road cyclists, in full spandex gear, taking advantage of the car-free roads.

So while I took a walk in Central Park, Bill was walking one of our favourite trails near Cable Bay. We were separated by almost 4000 km but at least we were both able to enjoy the outdoors today!