Spring Awakening, Brooklyn Style

We spent the lovely Easter weekend in Brooklyn, visiting out daughter.  The weather was spectacular, as my photos will attest.  (I forgot my camera again -- so I had to resort to my trusty iPhone.  Sorry.)

Clara and I headed to the Brooklyn Flea on Saturday morning, while Pete went into Soho to see a show at a gallery.  I was disappointed with the Flea -- I am older than just about everything anybody was selling.  There were lots of Coach bags, back from when they were really well made of heavy leather that lasted forever and didn't have logos stamped all over them, just that discreet little keychain hanging off the strap. I still use the Coach bags I bought in the early 1980s -- when I can wrestle them out of Clara's hands.  Several vendors sold simple, industrial style furniture made from reclaimed wood and steel. Costume jewelry was popular, too.   The really great thing about the Flea -- the food!  Clara and I had delicious little sandwiches from Porchetta -- nothing but a crusty roll and the porchetta.  Yum.  There were lots of other food stalls -- fish tacos, wursts, ice cream, coffee.  It was fun to be in Fort Greene again -- I lived there way back when.

Saturday afternoon found the three of us at Sahadi's -- a fabulous Middle Eastern food importer we've been going to for 30 years.  We buy all our spices there, as well as dried fruits and nuts, cheeses, olives and olive oil. Charlie Sahadi still presides over the shop.  It's a wonderful store -- the smells of the spices make me dream of Morocco.  Next door is the Damascus Bakery, where we loaded up on whole wheat pita bread.  They sell falafel sandwiches, too, as well as baklava and hummus.

We made a stop at the nicest Trader Joe's I've ever seen.  It is in a land-marked bank building with soaring ceilings and huge windows.  We went to Dumbo Hardware so Pete could buy supplies to make a few repairs to light fixtures and smoke alarms in Clara's studio.  

Saturday evening found us at Vinegar Hill House, a sweet little restaurant in a sweet little neighborhood, near the Brooklyn Navy Yards.  Clara and I had duck, Pete had chicken two ways.  We retrieved Cairo from Clara's apartment and strolled through Brooklyn Bridge Park before heading home for the night.

We visited Green-Wood Cemetery on Sunday morning.  It is a designated National Historic Landmark.  A Revolutionary War battle was fought there long before the cemetery opened in 1838.  Several famous people are buried there, including Boss Tweed and Leonard Bernstein.  It's grand Gothic gates were designed by Upjohn and lead to 478 acres of chapels, mausoleums and gorgeous gravestones.  The most remarkable thing, though, is the flock of parrots -- yes, parrots! -- that live in the spires of the gate.  Someone's pets must have escaped years ago, and now a whole community of bright green birds squawk and sing and circle the graveyard.

Before Pete and I headed home we picked up lunch at Mile End, a Montreal-style Jewish delicatessen that makes the best smoked brisket sandwiches in the world.  Yes, we ate too much last weekend, but in New York, its hard not to!

Hope you had a lovely weekend, too.

November Rose

 

I picked this rose on Friday . . .  it almost doesn't look real.   It's nearly December and it has been cold, but obviously not cold enough to kill this beauty.  It makes me happy.  I'm hoping it will last three more days until the first of December.

Pete and Clara and I had Thanksgiving in the City.  We made a stop in Brooklyn at Clara's new apartment in DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass).  It really is under the overpass.  The apartment is a spacious fourth floor walk up which she'll be sharing with one of her roommates from her semester in Florence.  I became very nostalgic driving in on the BQE, always our route home when we lived on St. Marks Place.  I miss the City, although I am glad not to live there full time anymore.

There's a park at the end of the street -- isn't this bench cool?  Something you would expect out in the country . . . .

You can see the Empire Street Building across the East River . . .  and the Brooklyn Bridge Park, built after we moved away, starts just around the corner.  The neighborhood is filled with great stores and bistros.  It's an exciting place to be for a new college graduate.

We had Thanksgiving dinner in Soho, at Pete's cousin's home.  They have a great loft, and after dinner we climbed five flights of stairs (burned off all that stuffing) to look at the roof top gardens.in the neighborhood.  There's a lot of magic in New York City, as well as all the yucky stuff, and I love being able to partake of that sometimes.  I guess that's one of the things I'm thankful for this year . . .