Saturday afternoon hubby and I made our first proper visit to Brooklyn, just across the water from Manhattan. Despite having visited NYC approximately 12 times each we have never made it that far. When we first emerged from the subway station I must admit I was a little worried that hubby had brought me to a place where I wouldn't be very happy. But a left turn here and a right turn there and we were in a much more salubrious area with shops and all sorts of things that were pleasing to the eye, with ne'ry a hobo in sight. After finding a fab deli where we had lunch and a very sweet cake shop where we shared a cupcake we came to the conclusion that we could live in Brooklyn - see how easily pleased we are? Some of the houses in Brooklyn are absolutely stunning so when we have a spare $3-4million we might buy one and move there. After admiring said houses we walked along Riverside Promenade and then down towards the Brooklyn Bridge under which can currently be found the Telectroscope. You may have heard of this marvellous feat of engineering whereby a huge two-way telescope has been buried under the Atlantic Ocean with one end at the Brooklyn Bridge and the other end at Tower Bridge in London. It allows people in NY and London to see each other simultaneously. And if you don't believe me, have a look at the website:
www.tiscali.co.uk/telectroscope/home.php
See! So, hubby and I duly queued up to have a look at London and its strange people.
Having recovered from the shock, we then got the water taxi around the bottom of Manhattan and up the other side to the Greenwich Village stop. It wasn't until we'd actually got on the boat that I remembered our last boat journey and began to regret the decision to "live life on the edge" by choosing to travel by water rather in the confines of the subway, safely ensconced under thousands of tons of earth and concrete. I announced to hubby that once we have finished this globetrotting adventure I'm never travelling anywhere by sea or air ever again. It's just not natural.
Our second trip to Brooklyn occurred the following day when we paid a visit to The River Cafe for a sumptuous and wallet-thumping brunch (remember I told you a few postings ago that we've given up backpacking for the more expensive past-time of "flashpacking"?) But you really can't beat the service, the views or the food (although hubby was a little disappointed and confused by his parsnip soup.)
And today, Memorial Day in the USA (a combination of Remembrance Sunday and a Bank Holiday in the UK), we spent a large chunk of the afternoon in Central Park with pretty much the entire population of NYC. Unlike the weather in the UK, this weekend has been a scorcher here in the city. As hubby said, "You know how the Brits go to Benidorm to get some sun? Well, this is clearly where New Yorkers come." As always in this wonderful country, there were plenty of people-watching and people-listening opportunities for those of us with eyes hidden behind sunglasses, and flappy ears twisting and turning at ten-to-the-dozen. Much fun,
But, but, but! Even better than all of the above. We found the other Magnolia Bakery shop near Central Park and THERE WAS NO QUEUE! Excuse capitals, but I have to show you how excited I am. I bought 4 cupcakes. Remarkably restrained I'm sure you'll agree. If hubby hadn't been there I'd probably have bought a lot more. But he reminded me that I already had a choc chip muffin and a peanut butter brownie in my bag so 4 cupcakes was probably more than enough. Humph. Spoilsport.
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