Brooklyn Sunday Afternoon

Took the 'L' train to Bedford Street in Brooklyn

where cool cafes abound.

Walked down to the newly refurbished waterfront and gazed back at Manhattan

 --such a lovely warm afternoon with everyone relaxing on the lawn....

 which was right next to a flea market selling flea market type stuff...

which, unlike lots of people, I find more depressing than thrilling, anyway

 there were lots of stalls selling snacks. Here porchetta rolls -- beautiful roast pork with crackling --

and people selling drinks too.


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This last picture just for fun. Apparently you can buy a book by
Fiona Goble called "Knit Your Own Royal Wedding".
What will they think of next?

Moroccan SnapShots

Before we lived in New York, we lived in Marrakesh for two years.

See here

We are now back there for a short while...

enjoying mysterious doors....

... pastilla....which is flaky pastry with nuts and chicken and powdered sugar.......

 ...not to mention the fruit juice......

 ...the pot pourri

 and the lanterns.

last of all, a cat in the fruit market who is about to produce lots of little cats any minute...

this photo is for Joan Rundo who makes super cat calendars every year!

Round Things

Before hibernating, before indulging in the long winter's nap,

animals need to put on a nice little layer of comfortable fat.

An excellent plan.

Herewith my suggestions........

a lemon tart from Bergamot on 9th Avenue.

A mini pumpkin pie from Once Upon a Tart in Soho

 where I went with Frances to discuss knitting and other things.

In an attempt to be virtuous, I include an asian pear,

 an odd fruit, not as good as a real pear, but interesting.

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Chelsea Market/Fruit and Bread

The Old Nabisco Biscuit factory is now home to lots and lots of food shops. Excellent for food snobs and if you aren't one already you will soon become one. An excellent fruit market where everyone goes from restaurant chefs to just plain people....

...and firemen who, when not fighting fires, seem to do a lot of cooking. A handsome, helpful crew held in high esteem by New Yorkers.

They keep the fruit market very chilly, so the check-out girls wear sweaters even in June.

The front door of the same...

Just across the way are the bakers at Sarabeth's busy making the most delicious  bread, cakes and cookies. The nearest to home-baked you can get round here.

Yum!

They even provide a table to sit at to enjoy it all........

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Wandering Round London

The weather very dreary for May, so an umbrella a useful item to tote about.

 Instead of a brolly, I carry my camera to observe: people walking to work

on Morocco Street near London Bridge......

 ....three business types round the back of St. Martin-in-the-Fields passing

 a woman who looks as if she is camped there for the day.....

....four people in rain jackets emerging out of the Underground at Paddington Station....

(The roof of the station still gives me a sort of sinking feeling

 that reminds me of going back to school from here several million years ago.)

.....Five workmen (one partially obscured) doing important things to the refurbishment

 of the splendid public baths in Kentish Town......  

Such absurdly ornate architecture!

Yesterday evening we followed a woman and her two little dogs as walked to supper. 

And, yes, I did gawp, tourist-like, at Tower Bridge before we ate.

And it was very splendid.

And it was still splendid after I had eaten yummy steak and kidney pie.

Lots and lots more pictures (of course).......

Caffe Roma

I don't think there is anything in New York to compare with the sorts of coffee shops and cafes Merisi  shows us in Vienna but Mulberry Street in Little Italy has Caffe Roma.....

.....where we wandered on Saturday night....

...and looked at all the canoli and biscotti and Napoleans...

This is what I ate.
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Happy Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

The Empire State Building lit up for the occasion.

Desserts and lots of them!

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San Gennaro

Lots of tasty treats at the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy.

My main blog is now here.

The High Line Chronicles Continue

White pants, sensible shoes, a bench to sit down on.

Armani dreams between the meadow flowers and 10th Avenue.

10th Avenue seen from above and summer campers making art.

Looking west, what toxic swirls and sand.

Lunch, of course, the most important part of any outing.

Frances and I sit outside at Cookshop.

She has the duck confit with pecans. YUM!

 

I have beets in cream.

Abstracty Things and Some Food

Heading uptown to MoMa, a rather patriotic train.

More red and stripes on the escalator at 54th Street. We are 

lucky Claudia works for a museum and we can bypass

the horrible long lines with a gazillion, poor, patient people

waiting to get in. I feel a bit guilty but even so.......

 

The building almost always impresses me more than anything else.

Such angles and vistas. We go to the Ensor show which is quirky

 and batty and made me think of the work of David Shrigley which

 I love in its utter insanity. Ensor lived in his parents' attic for 

many, many  years...........hm..............

Anyway, any good museum visit brings on a desire for snacks,

so we went to one of their cafes high up overlooking the garden

where the croissant was perfect: crispy outside and light inside.

Tourist Boom

Walking along 7th Avenue near Penn Station the other day

I was struck by the number of buses disgorging visitors.

New York nowadays is a pretty exciting place to be.

You can go for even more bus tours when you get here

and see all the sights and go shopping in Macy's.

No shortage of street snacks....

or cool people to look at.

At sunset the pink light throws long shadows.

23rd Street and 11th Avenue.