“Hoy va ser un día de suerte,” Yuban told me as we got ready to head to Brooklyn, it was 5:30 a.m. I smiled, and he added, “Es 11/11 hoy, y a las 11:11 tenemos que pedir un deseo.”

As we stepped out of the hotel, the cold air hit me so hard I almost turned around to go wrap myself in blankets. The streets were pretty empty, and all we hoped for was not to run into any rats. Down in the subway it felt warm again, and we stayed mostly quiet for the ride, just observing the commuters. 

When we climbed back up to the street, the cold hit us again but this time there was wind. It was quiet and for a second I wondered if we’d gotten off at the wrong stop. I pulled out Google Maps just to make sure we were headed the right way. All good. A few minutes later, the DUMBO bridge appeared and had the street view completely to ourselves.

11/11

We walked into the park; it was freezing yet it felt peaceful. As the light started coming in, a few runners appeared. We roamed around for a bit, and soon the sun started rising, but we didn’t want to stick around anymore, our bodies had endured enough, so we made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge. The air felt even colder up in the bridge which in turn made us walk faster.

When we finally made it to the other side, all I could think was: I need a hot coffee. There was a place I’d been wanting to try, a spot people on IG swore had some of the best coffee. So we searched for directions to Café Paradiso.

When we arrived, it was still closed, but a man had just stepped out and asked if we were there for coffee. He told us they'd be opening soon. We said we’d walk around a bit and come back. When we returned, people were already sipping coffee.

As we ordered, the man spoke to us in Spanish:
“¿Ya regresaron?”
“Sí, ella realmente quiere probar el café. ¿Solo tienen bebidas frías?”
“Hay una caliente, pero la mayoría es con hielo. Si gustas, te preparamos algo caliente.” As he explained the menu.. 

They looked at me to decide. I thought about it, but I’d heard the Salted Brown Butter Latte was to die for, so I said, “No, está bien, voy a agarrar el frío.”

We paid and waited until they called our drinks. On our first sip, we both realized how good the coffee was. Our eyes opened wide and we just smiled.

“No mames, este café está buenísimo, prueba, verás.”
I tried his and told him, “Está bien rico el tuyo, pero prueba el mío, verás.”
He tried mine: “No mames, está buenísima… ¿no, pero cómo?”

We were practically buzzing with excitement when the barista came over to ask if we liked the drinks. We told him they were amazing. We talked for a few minutes; he was part owner and told us he came from Puebla and gave us a small background on his coffee experience. We said we’d order another one, and he told the barista to prepare a drink “on the house, no se preocupen.” 

We thanked him and left shortly after.
“¿Ves? ¡Es un día de suerte! 11/11.”
I laughed and we kept talking about how freaking good the coffee was.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped for a bagel. Once there, we got our luggage ready. Checkout was at noon, so we took a power nap until then. After checking out, we asked the hotel to hold our bags for a few hours.

We went to the Morgan Library, walked around the city a bit more, and eventually headed back for our luggage. At Madison Square he asked, “Do you want airport food or tacos?”
“Tacos,” I answered instantly.

We ate some tacos and then headed to the airport.

A few minutes after takeoff, I went to the bathroom. As I washed my hands, the pilot started making an announcement:

“I hope you’re having a great flight. I have something to share. I’ve been a pilot for a long time and it’s very rare that I get to experience what I’m about to tell you. If you look out the windows on the right side of the aircraft…” —our side— “you’ll be able to see the Northern Lights.”

I ran out of there as fast as I could and back to my seat.
“What’s going on?”
“The Northern Lights!”

We looked out the window and stared in amazement.
“We’ll be dimming the lights so you can get a better look,” the pilot said.

“¡¿Ves?! 11/11.”

What a day!