OK. So I’ve always known that music comes easily to me, and that if I have to learn a new song I can usually do it quickly, or if there’s a favorite song on the radio, after a few times of listening to it I can sing along. I never seem to forget the lyrics either (sadly I can still sing songs I learned in kindergarten).

But when did I learn the lyrics to the entire ABBA catalogue?

I went to NYC yesterday to see "Mamma Mia" on Broadway, and had an absolutely delightful time. There is barely a plot, it’s more or less an excuse to insert an ABBA song at every opportunity, but I smiled all the way through it. And not just a little polite smile.

A big toothy grin of sheer delight.

I can’t remember the last time I had this kind of just plain fun at a show. It was silly, goofy, and each and every actor played it for all it was worth, with reckless abandonment that gave you the sense that they were having one heck of a time.

And then there were the songs.

I could sing just about every one of them.

And I have never owned a single ABBA recording.

When did I learn them?

When it came time for the finale, I sang loud and clear on "Mamma Mia", "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo", without even knowing I was going to be able to do that. I just found myself dancing in the aisles and wailing, "My my at Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender…." And through the entire song.

It’s weird. But it was fun.

The only thing that I found weak about the show was the girl who played the kid who is getting married. I didn’t think she was up to the rest of the cast vocally, especially in the opening song. It sounded as if she hadn’t warmed up sufficiently, although she got stronger as the show progressed.

I just loved the three middle-aged women who were reliving their youth. It’s sad to admit that I can relate to lots of the jokes that they were sharing!

If Mamma Mia comes to your town, go see it. It will make you forget all your troubles and bring a smile to your soul when you think about it.

The rest of the day was pretty typical.

The bus was full and uncomfortable, but I slept most of the way down. At some point they put on a video of clips from the old "Ed Sullivan Show" that was called the Best of Broadway. It had clips going way back to the 50’s and Celeste Holm singing "I Can’t Say No" from "Oklahoma".

I thought it was fun to watch, but unfortunately the two women sitting behind me were not interested ("Well this certainly isn’t going to riveting" "Get the hook!") and continued to comment throughout. It was too bad that they couldn’t be quiet so those of us who were interested could watch it.

The other problem was that I had a very tall man who was wearing a baseball cap sitting in the seat in front of me. If he shifted position I had to go through all sorts of contortions to see the screen.

We reached the city at about 10:30, and I felt as if the city has let its guard down.

They’ve stopped checking all the trucks, the visibility of police is gone, and there’s a sense that nothing happened that we should still be worried about.

About the only thing that seemed to be still in a secure mode is where they are letting busses park to drop off tourists. We ended up at 43rd and 8th which is much farther from where we’ve been dropped off in the past. I guess they won’t let the busses stop at Radio City. But nothing else felt the way it had when I was there in October .

I went down to the Village and to The Ink Pad, the stamp store. I had a swell time chatting with the women who were working and with a couple of the customers. It’s a very tiny store but it’s packed with good stuff to choose from. Stampers are very willing to share and talk about techniques and all things related to stamping, so it’s fun to go to a place like this.

I bought a bunch of stuff and spent too much money, but then I had planned to do that so I was quite happy!

In the subway station, tucked under one of the stair wells was a little brass sculpture of an alligator coming out of a manhole to chomp on a little street sweeper guy, while other little street sweeper guys continue with their job. It was charming.

In the subway station at 42nd St. there were a couple of walls that were covered with cards and words of encouragement sent by school children. Some of the depictions of the crashing planes were really hard to look at. There were also posters of missing people and mini shrines beneath these pictures.

I felt myself welling up with tears. I wonder if that will ever stop when I see something like that.

I spent some time poking in and out of stores along 8th Ave and on some of the side streets and bought some pretty scarves. I went into the theater stores, but didn’t buy anything there. I did find several books that looked interesting, but I think I might be able to get them for a better price at Amazon.

I had dinner in a little hole in the wall spot on 8th called "Stage Struck" and I had a nice chicken dinner, which was very reasonably priced. The restaurant must be considered to be pretty good by the theater crowd seeing chorus members of different shows were in there – in full makeup.

I was hoping to see the Beacons of Hope at the WTC on the way home, but I could only see a very faint light behind the Empire State Building (which is still lit as red, white and blue). I think the lights of the city combined with the cloud cover killed the visibility.

The bus ride home was miserable. It was airless and I was totally cramped. My foot was aching and I just couldn’t find a comfortable position. They showed the movie "Legally Blonde" which was really cute and funny, so that was some help as a distraction. But I really felt as if the ride would never end. I was so glad to breathe fresh air when I got off the bus.

It was really a good day, though and I was sad to leave the city.