Yes, faithful reader, another Billy Joel reference. Well, he is a native New Yorker. The reference will become apparent as you read through the events of our Staurday.
So, you know how we have loads of feminine hygiene ads on TV in Australia? Yeah? Well, laxative ads seem to replace them here in the US And just like the 'blue liquid' is prominent in the tampon ads, over here we get a graphic of a 'passage containing a purple mass' that moves when the laxative arrives. Spare me. I must be ill, I don't poo purple. Mind you, I've never met a girl with blue blood either ... although I'm not sure about Princess Di - what? still too soon?
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| Jayne's earrings - said I'd post a picture. |
In a sobering reminder that we are all in this together, as we walked down East 11th Street this morning there were queues of people stretching across two blocks. We didn't realise at the time, but as we were heading out for a food tour of Brooklyn, we were walking past the East Village locals lining up for a soup kitchen/pantry at a local church. It made us reflect on how fortunate we are to have the lives we do.
The subway #7
Yes, it got us again. We had a long trip (comparatively) this morning and just before the train arrived the voice-over person announced that the train would be terminating a long way short of our destination. Brief discussion. We waited for the next train and just before it arrived - the same announcement. Glances exchanged. We got on, Jayne checked the map and we agreed there must be bus connections at the other end. And there were. That would have been good information at the beginning of the journey. I'm not yet psychic so the subway is still part mystery, part enigma, part obvious.
Fort Greene Markets mkII
Despite the weather last week and the subway this week we made the markets, billed as the best in Brooklyn. Well, if that's the best Brooklyn has to offer, someone needs to get out more. ANY market in France is better, Tyabb in Victoria (Australia) is way better, even the touristy markets at The Rocks in Sydney (Australia) are more impressive. We navigated the stalls in about an hour, lots of LPs, second-hand clothes - fur, fur, fur, even a bear skin rug (Bugs Bunny style), some cool furniture, licence plates (why?), antiques (that's an exaggeration because it implies value), food ... nothing particularly interesting. And out and heading for the station and our rendezvous for our walking foodie tour.
Like a Local
As a result of the lack of time spent at the markets we were radically early for the tour. So, we wandered here, we wandered there until we were fit to drop and then at last we spied a coffee shop (with apologies to Banjo Patterson). In we went, determined to have a decent coffee in this country. Two Americanos - double shot and a couple of pastries. Major win. Best coffee since we left home. The pastries were pretty nice too.
An hour or so destroyed we headed back down to the station to meet the tour guide. People milled around and bumped against each other, the crowd dissipated momentarily as the line for the Station Restaurant thinned and then magically our guide appeared and we were away.
Well almost. Garry plus 1 hadn't shown up. We waited. No show. Then we were off - we walked about 50 metres for our first stop and history talk. I am not going to pretend that I remember everything that was said, I can't even remember the guide dude's name, but it was interesting. The first stop at Best Pizza. Cute. Can't argue that we have now had the 'best pizza' (nice trademark work, thanks America). It was pretty good - but best? I'm still voting for Via Della Pace. However, for the purists, the dude here was trained at Roberta's (whatever, do some research people- so, sorry, that was definitley unlike Jane Austen upon whom I model all my writing). |
| On the wall at Best Pizza |
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| Their oven |
On the wall there was a collection of paper plates decorated, one would assume, by those waiting for their pizza. The above photo was one of them - and clearly if they believe that they are doing it wrong.
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| Street art |
Next stop was a Momofuku establishment. This would have to be the trendiest food franchise in the world. In New York they do the ramen noodles and a milk bar version. We hit the milk bar - dessert food. There were lines of people waiting to go into the cooking class, also associated with the restaurant. We had soft serve (that's American for ice cream) flavoured with corn flakes and a cookie. Soft serve - meh, cookie - gooood.
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| Add caption |
Then to a southern chicken place called Pies and Thighs. OK, why the name? I thought it was because after you ate the pie it went straight to your thighs. Wrong. It was because they serve pies and the thighs of the chicken. Anyway ... think KFC - not, it was lovely, no oil, very tasty. There was also some corn biscuit thing and grits. I may need to Google grits, we opted not to eat it but no-one could really explain what it was anyway.
Street graffiti is a big deal in Brooklyn and they actually contract artists to decorate walls. The photos are just an indication of what is there.
More history on our walk to the bagel place. Wow, bagels, I hear you say dear reader. No, no, no. The bagels here are different - I'm not sure the photos will do them justice - they pride themselves on the creation of a cragel, a mutant croissant-bagel. Ahhhh, nuh. Do not mess with perfection and I'm not talking bagel here. The French know stuff. They know how to make bread and pastries, let's not mess with them. A cronut (you can work it out in the southern hemisphere) is just another Frankenstein creation like the cragel. The Bagel Shop is an interesting place to visit. Let's just leave it there.
Some more walking. A quick visit to a coffee place - we didn't partake - called Devocion, looked pretty good, nice space, too much iced coffee action, what is that? Coffee with a straw and ice cubes. Wrong. Then down to the river. A lovely spot. Some awesome views but the sun was in the wrong spot for too many bridge shots. And then ...
Ice cream! But not, at the same time. Odd Fellows - I guess Odd Couple was taken - is a gastronomy place, you know, science meets food. Some really curious flavours - olive oil, pecan pie, foie gras and miso cherry. Mmmmmm. Actually some were really nice, others .....
And then it was over, about an hour over time, but worth the walk. Interesting history, nice views, good food and a whole new perspective of New York. It has given us lots of things to look at next week.
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