In a stroke of unbelievable luck, we got tickets for Shakespeare in the Park over the Fourth of July weekend!

It really has seemed like an impossible feat, a summer tradition that we would just never experience while living here. In case you’re unfamiliar, free tickets are handed out at 1pm on performance days, and people often line up beginning at the crack of dawn! A friend who rides her bike through Central Park before work often mentions the snaking line of crazy people, willing to sit or stand for hours. There is the chance that you can score tickets in an online lottery, but Aron tried it every day one summer and never caught a break.

So we were completely baffled when, passing by on a rainy Sunday after brunch, we heard someone say “tickets for tonight’s performance.” We thought he was asking if anyone had tickets and couldn’t believe our luck when we realized the combination of the rain and the holiday weekend amounted to empty seats! Later that evening, just after the rain finally cleared, we were treated to a performance of All’s Well That Ends Well–in fact it turned out to be a beautifully warm and balmy night!

I’ll be honest: there were times in the first thirty minutes that I feared I wouldn’t be able to make it through the whole (three-hour) show. The seats are small, hard, and very vertical–a particularly challenging combination at this point in my pregnancy. But as the plot drew me in, I found ways to keep readjusting and positioning myself (thank goodness the seat next to me was empty) so as to be comfortable. I can’t imagine–pregnant or not–standing through a play at the Globe theater!

P.S. To those of you in France: Bonne Fête!