Nearly Time...

This was outside one of the grocery shops in Brooklyn Heights... I'm looking forward to carving a pumpkin to put in my window...

Little Snap...

Brooklyn Heights Wall Art...

There were some fantastic bits of commissioned graffiti in Brooklyn Heights - I think these two were done by the same artist (well, bits of the top on were done by the same artist that did Pedro's)... it makes such an impact against some of the more grey buildings. Pedro's looked like a fun little Mexican Shacky Restaurant...

Brooklyn Bridge...

Happily Ever After...

Under the Brooklyn Bridge seems to be a popular place to have wedding photos taken... I was there for an hour or so and I saw 3 or 4 different parties...


I was trying to work out what was going on here, the newly weds and the two girls looks grandly and smartly and appropriately dressed for a wedding, then the little boy at the front's wearing combats and the couple to the right look like they're just in the photo for fun! Maybe they just like being in photos...?

These group of people have an army of photographers and camera people, it's just a shame that in the background of all their photos is going to be a big yellow water taxi boat... they could have waited a few minutes... Nevermind.

Chevi...

Another fantastic car that was in a car park near the bridge...

Va Va Voom...

There were two of these stunning black Cadillacs driving around, they pulled up right under the bridge (I think for someone's wedding)... They were sooooooooooooo lovely!

Under The Bridge...

The area underneath the Brooklyn Bridge is called Brooklyn Heights - another really lovely area with lots going on. There are lots of tasty looking restaurants - including a pizzeria that has a constant queue outside it, I overheard someone saying they queued for 90 minutes to get a take-away pizza - it MUST be good!

The architecture in the area is great - there are some odd old buildings, there's some nautical looking buildings (the white wooden building in the first picture is the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory) and some really big old warehouse buildings that have been converted...

Directly underneath the bridge is a really beautiful looking restaurant called the River Café - it looked really cosy, a little bit like the Green Island restaurant - it has a garden area in the entrance which had all sorts of amazingly colourful flowers and pumkins in, very seasonal.

I think it's a bit of a special occasion place, but it'd be great to see what it's like inside... the views at night must be spectacular...

I went to Starbucks, got myself a cup of tea and sat on the boardwalk under the bridge and watched all the people coming and going from the Water Taxis (I think if the weather's nice next weekend I might get the taxi)... it was such a beautiful afternoon, the weather was perfect.

Brooklyn Flea Market...

After a little bit of lunch in Dumbo, I carried on walking through the cobbled streets and past the renovated warehouses (they've all been turned into arty farty bookshops and studios and interior design shops - bloody brilliant!) and walked towards the Brooklyn Bridge.

In between the two bridges is a really lovely small park with Willow Trees and a playground and benches looking out over the river, it's beautiful.


A little bit further on there was a Farmer's Market, a small one, but it looked like it had some delicious things for sale, and then a bit further on still was The Brooklyn Flea Market...

It's a flea market with a pretty impressive view!


There were all sorts of things for sale, lots of handmade bits and pieces, screen printed t-shirts, bags, pickles, old LPs, antiques, junk, lobster rolls, soup, bikes, hats, boots...

There was a stall called Good Olde Things that was selling very similar things to The Upper Rust from the other weekend, they had some fantastic big enamel letters for sale, they had some fantastic furniture too...

I am now the proud owner of a very nice, white and slightly rusty capital R.

Mooching to Manhattan Bridge...

The weather on Sunday was BEAUTIFUL - it was so sunny and crisp outside, it wasn't nippy but it was really fresh and clear... a perfect day for some exploring, so that's what I did.

Since I've been in Bedstuy I've got a taxi back to the flat at night a couple of times and the journey back takes you over the Manhattan Bridge - at night the views from the Manhattan Bridge are amazing. You can see the Brooklyn Bridge all lit up and you can see the Financial District and Pier 17 and all the lights twinkling in the reflection on the river (it's the view that they used on Friends sometimes)... So I thought if I could get back to Manhattan Bridge I'd be able to take some nice photos.

I walked from my apartment to the bridge, which is about 3 miles - as I started crossing the bridge and noticed lots of lovely looking streets just under the bridge and the surrounding area... so I took a couple of photos and then turned back to try and find these streets. The area under the bridge is called DUMBO (District Underneath Manhattan Bridge Overpass), I'd heard it was a bit of a groovy place but I'd never been... it's a really fantastic area.

This is the view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Manhattan Bridge.

Tick Tock & Toy Story...

On Saturday afternoon I popped into town for a bit of shopping... I was on the phone to Abi and said I was popping into town, then it struck me - that popping into 'town' is popping into Manhattan! Pretty cool.

Anyway, I had a spot of tea at the Tick Tock Diner on 34th Street - I'd seen it a couple of times when I've been around that area and thought it'd be good to see what it's like inside. I had myself a very tasty $10 burger with a cup of tea before heading to the pictures for a Toy Story Double Feature...

It was great seeing both films back to back, and on the big screen again - AND IN 3D! I'm really looking forward to the new one next year. They had a 10 minute interval in between the two films, and had some fun little clips and trivia questions to keep everyone entertained while they waited.

Unfortunately they hadn't cleaned the cinema since the last screening, so there was popcorn everywhere and drinks cups all over the place - it was a bit of a mess, but once the film started I didn't think much of it... However, on my way out of the cinema I was handed a voucher for a free-ticket for my next trip, as an apology for the mess - not bad eh!

So I think I'll pop back this week sometime and see either Whip It or Zombieland...

Paula Scher and a brgr...

Last night I went to a free talk at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology). They hold a number of free talks each year by prolific designers and last night it was Paula Scher talking. She works in New York and is a partner at Pentagram (I really want to work for them!).

She's done some amazing work, but I think some of the really interesting stuff she does are her paintings, she does them in her spare time (although I don't know how she has any spare time!)... they're huge apparently and incredibly intricate.

I noticed that just over the road from FIT was a placed called brgr, so in the name of research I went and had my tea there (research into the best burger in NYC). The burger unfortunately wouldn't have made my Top 5, but the chips would - I had 'The Trio' which was sample of their normal fries, their sweet potato fries and their onion hay! Yum!

I think I might have to pop back, just to make sure I've made the right decision - also I think I need to give them a second chance as they didn't get my order quite right (but I didn't want to question it) - they'd forgotten to top my burger off with a fried egg... Oh well.

Sunny Sunday in Central Park...

It feels like it's been AGES since I last went to Central Park, so this Sunday afternoon (after feeling a bit fed up that I couldn't get the cardigan I wanted) I took the Q train up to 59th Street and went for a little walk to check that all the trees still had all their leaves.

I walked through the Zoo and saw the Sealions playing in their pool and saw the Polar Bear too, I'm glad it's starting to get a bit colder, hopefully the Polar Bear will start to feel a little more at home.

It was a gorgeous late afternoon and it was surprising warm - I think it was the last warm day we're going to have, looking at the forecast the temperature's going to start getting down to around 15ºC by the middle of next week. So I thought I'd make the most of the lovely warm sun and got myself an Ben & Jerry's ice cream... Mmmmmmm.

The Park was amazingly busy, I think everyone else must have been making the most of the sun too. I can't wait to walk around the park with you Mops and Pops, hopefully by then we'll be able to kick through all the leaves!

Restaurants...

I was walking around on Sunday and saw this huge mural on the side wall of a restaurant, it was above the outside seating area... I thought it was a bit of a Bansky rip-off, but it was still realyl striking.

Then just down the road was another restaurant called Gemma's which looked really nice, and it was super busy too so it must be good. They had the best delivery bikes, they were all these shiny red Shwinns with white wall tyres... beautiful!

The Upper Rust...

Just next door to Giant Robot was a really fantastic shop called The Upper Rust. It sold loads of antique furniture, old signage, old shop letters, old shutters, sledges, rocking horses... all sorts. It was a little bit like Avant Garde back in Baslow. They had some fantastic big metal letters in there - I think I might pop back and get one soon (as long as they let me haggle on the price!). It was a beautiful shop, Our Mam you would have loved it, maybe we could go there when you're here in a couple of weeks?!?!

Giant Robot...

Just round the corner from where I sat having my chips is the Giant Robot store. I'd been meaning to go and find it for a while, as the one in San Fransisco was so good and going there sort of started all the toy buying thing...

It was a lot smaller than I'd imagined and extremely quiet - I was the only one in there, but they had some fantastic books. I went to buy a rather nice book of Thomas Campbell's work - but when I got to the till she said that it was $60! So I thought better of it and left it.

Pomme Frites...

Yesterday, whilst on a very unsuccessful shopping trip, I stumbled upon a little place called Pomme Frites. It does 'Authentic Belgian Fries' and they have a choice of loads of different sauces that you can have either drizzled on the chips or on the side.

I had Spicy Peanut Satay on mine - they were yummy! Although next time I think I'll just get the regular size and not the large... the large is a little large.

I took my pomme frites and sat on the stoop outside Jules on St. Mark's Place. It looked like a really lovely little restaurant and they have some incredible live jazz playing. It was probably a bit cheeky to sit outside enjoying the music whilst eating food from somewhere else, but it was so lovely.

I really like St. Mark's Place, it has lots of really quirky shops and restaurants and bars around there (and of course Crif Dogs!), and the roads are tree lined so it feels really green. I still find that amazing about New York, that you can turn a corner and it feels like you're in a completely different city, one second you can see all the sky scrapers, the next you're walking down a lovely green street with residential houses on... I love it.

There's No Place Like...

I miss it... a LOT.

Tuff Stuff...

This Little Piggy...

I cooked myself a rather tasty dish on Saturday night... Pork Kiev!

I got the recipe here.
I can highly recommend it - although I used blue cheese instead of smoked cheese, and I have a sneaky feeling that White Wine Vinegar doesn't exist in America. I spent AGES staring at the vinegar sections in Whole Foods, The Food Emporium AND The Brooklyn Fare and could NOT find White Wine Vinegar anywhere...