Park Slope...

On Sunday morning Steve, Karen, Abi and I went down the road from our apartment to Pillow. It's a lovely little cafe that Tom and I went to when we were house-sitting for Malvina last summer, they do delicious breakfasts. Abi and Karen had very tasty waffles and Steve and I had scrumptious breakfast burritos - and the best thing is that they weren't covered in fat or deep fried, it tasted quite healthy...

After we were full we got on the train and headed to Park Slope to visit the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Store. Abi and I haven't really been to Park Slope that much, but it's very nice - it's known for being very popular with the lesbian community as well as young families, so it has a very safe and friendly feel to it. There are lots of little cafes and shops, and some of the houses are incredible. Some of the streets felt quite a lot like Washington with the town houses with porches.

This blue mansion is now used for music lessons! I think it would be incredible to have a guitar lesson in the conservatory on the roof - although it looks a little bit like the Addam's Family house, I bet it's spooky at night.

There's such a mix of shops around Park Slope too, a lot of them look like they've been there for ages, some of them look brand new but they've all got character.

I loved this Record & Tape Center, lots of people were browsing through the vinyls, people were hanging out with each other outside listening to the music, it looked and felt like something out of a film.

This was a very odd looking shop front - I don't think there'll be many takers on the rent, I think even Kevin MacLeod would struggle to make this look nice...

I spotted this BEAUTIFUL pick-up truck in the rain - it was in perfect condition and obviously had had a lot of TLC over the years.

After visiting the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Store we took shelter from the rain in a little cafe called Perch - the signage on the outside looked rather familiar...

Park Slope seems like a really interesting area and we'll definitely be heading back there, hopefully when it's not so wet - there was a fish and chip shop that I'm keen to try, I'm craving fish and chips and sausage rolls again...

We waited in Perch with some drinks, but the rain didn't show much sign of stopping so we decided to brave the outside world and head to the subway station, get back to the apartment and change before heading to Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg.

Hotdogs and Cocktail Sausages...

After the football we all walked up to St. Mark's Place for some more healthy fried food. We all headed to Crif Dogs stopping off at a very nice bar called Bua on the way (mainly to use their loos). Crif Dogs was really busy, and as we walked in a group of Americans walked out dressed up as George Washington singing 'Oh when the Saints'... it was quite bizarre.

After we'd had out fill of deep fried bacon wrapped sausages we all went our seperate ways, but as we were saying our farewells we heard a commotion making it's way up 1st Avenue and then all of a sudden a mass of naked cyclists started passing by!

It was the Annual NYC Naked Bicycle Ride and quite a sight to behold. Some people had gone to whole hog and were completely starkers, some were wearing shorts (saving them from saddle sore I suppose), some were wearing body paint, and I think some were just cyclists who happened to get caught up in the fun.

It's strange, I thought it was a scorcher of a day but it looked like some of the cyclists were a little chilly!

Football at Phebe's...

On Saturday morning(ish) we met up with everyone in the East Village to watch the football. There was quite a crowd of us Brits as Steve and Karen are here on holiday and Ben's here for a week working in the NY office and Will and Ting joined Amelia, Abi and I - Andrew (the new guy who started last week) was the only American in our group but it was us Brits who were outnumbered... completely outnumbered.

We'd originally planned to go to a bar called Dempsey's, but it was absolutely jam packed, we later felt a massive sense of relief that we didn't go there as there were TV cameras inside Dempsey's and as we watched the game on EPSN we saw images of the inside of Dempsey's - people we so squished in at the bar. We were far far happier with our table by the window, with waitress service at Phebe's Bar - the bar area was still absolutely packed and there was a queue outside to get in, but we had the best seats in the house.

We were all a little worse for wear from the night before (a 'couple' of beers had turned into a lot of Jack Daniels to welcome Ben and Steve to New York), so we all ordered a big breakfast - I managed to exchange my pancakes for extra sausages so it was a proper English Breakfast... yum!

It was a great atmosphere during the game, the Americans were unsurprisingly incredibly loud, but we did our best to make a load of noise - especially when the first goal went in. It was a little embarrassing when they equalized, but everyone was in such good spirits and all the banter was very friendly and fun.

It was a fantastic experience and I think we were all really surprised at how into it the Americans were, for a country that aren't massive football fans they certainly came out in force. It's just a shame they haven't quite grasped the nature of the game yet...

1 Year Today...

It's Pigeon Post's 1st Birthday today.

344 posts in 365 days - almost enough for one a day.

Water Tower...

Naked Cowboy...

On Sunday afternoon Abi and I were walking around Times Square when we spotted this chap causing a stir...

One woman asked him if she could put a tip in his pants, to which he replied 'I'm sorry, my underwear's full at the moment'...! I'm not entirely sure what he meant by that.

Kings of Convenience...

On Saturday evening while Abi was out watching Sex & The City 2 again with Amelia, I went to see Kings of Convenience play at Webster Hall. The gig was supposed to be way back in February (on Valentine's Day) but it was postponed due to the illness - but it was well worth the wait, they were fantastic.

Webster Hall isn't too far away from work, it's on 11th St. between 3rd and 4th Avenue and is neatly tucked away. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the inside was really nice, with small balconies and fancy schmancy toilets, disco balls above the bars and decorative details around the stage.

The support act were really good - Franklin For Short, it was the first time they'd ever played in New York and it was the biggest crowd they'd ever played for (1400 people), so they were very excited. It thought it was nice that one of the Kings of Convenience came on first to introduce the support band - not many people do that anymore!

Then Kings of Convenience came on, they were absolutely beautiful. It was just the two of them with their acoustic guitars and they sounded amazing - just like their albums, actually a bit better than the albums, it sounded more soulful.

Towards the end of the gig they invited Franklin For Short back on to join them for the last few songs. It gave the songs a completely different feel, they were really lively and more dancy, everyone was dancing around (including the band), it was great fun. It was an absolutely brilliant gig - I can't wait our next live music event now...

Mooching on Manhattan Avenue...

After I'd had my fill of crafty things, I had a mooch around Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint (just by McCarren Park), there are lots of great bits and pieces around that area. Lots of old buildings that have been converted into restaurants or bars, lots of interesting graffiti, old distressed adverts painted on the sides of buildings, a great mix of tatty old shops and some newer, more design conscious ones.

It was really nice just having a look around and taking some photos.

Decorated Mommy...

Renegade Craft Fair...

Late Saturday afternoon, after I'd recovered from the heat a bit (and changed my tshirt), I went over to McCarren park to have a look round the Renegade Craft Fair. The craft fair happens all over the country every year, they have one in Boston, LA, Seattle - lots of places, and of course Brooklyn.

There were over 300 stalls, all selling lots of wonderfully unique crafty things. There were lots of tshirt stalls, screen printed gig posters, plush toys, jewellery, books, knitted things, bags, all sorts. Lots of the people selling stuff were based in New York, but some had travelled down especially. The man I bought a tshirt from had driven down from Boston for the weekend.

As well as people selling stuff, there were stalls where you could make things - there was some sponge stencilling going on and a letter writing service. It was great.

I recognised some of the stalls from the Brooklyn Flea Market that Abi and I went to the other weekend, and I'd seen some of the posters and tshirts on design blogs recently, so it was great meeting the people who made them and seeing the products in the flesh.

There were some real characters about too, both selling and buying the crafty stuff.

It was a fantastic fair and all the things on sale were really inspiring, I just wanted to go back to the apartment and make stuff (well, I just wanted to go back to the apartment and climb into the fridge to cool down). Hopefully we'll have time to get a bit more craft soon.

Wilting in Williamsburg...

On Saturday Abi and I went to Williamsburg for brunch, although after leaving the cool air conditioned bubble that was our apartment we realised that walking around might not have been the best idea.

Despite the humidity we went back to a place called Fada, a French café on Driggs (near Bedford Avenue). We'd spotted a couple of weeks ago that they have a lovely little garden area quite a lot like Acqua Santa. So we went back for a bit of fruit salad and omlette.

It was mighty tasty but sitting outside was a little uncomfortable after all. I think if it was lovely and sunny it wouldn't have been so bad, but it was that funny white sky - thick with cloud but really bright and incredibly thick.

The garden was lovely though - the bright colours and the little paper lanterns looked great. It made us wish we had a bit of garden space at our apartment.

Lovely Lampost...

I walking back from the post office this morning when I spotted this rather friendly looking lampost...

It was outside a wool shop - it's brilliant. It's so cheerful and friendly looking. The wool shop had a fantastic window display too, it was a woolen version of Coney Island! I wish I'd taken a photo, I might pop back later.

I think all lamposts should have little jumpers.

Memorial Day Madness...

Monday was Memorial Day here, so we all got the day off! It was a gloriously sunny and boiling hot day again, so we thought we'd go and spend the afternoon at the beach. For some reason we didn't stop to think that the beach might be a wee bit busy, but to say it was a bit busy would be a massive understatement...

It was crazy! It was my idea of absolute hell, you could hardly move. The pavements were rammed with people, there were looooooong queues for hotdogs, there were teenages with big boomboxes blasting music out, every inch of the beach was covered with bodies, and when we thought we had found a spot someone just sat down practically on top of us...

I don't even remember it being that busy on July 4th last year!
Needless to say, we were on the beach for about 2 minutes before we turned around and went home, we didn't even wait for a hotdog - that's how bad it was...

I hope it's not going to be that busy every weekend - but I think we're going to explore some new beaches, maybe in Long Island or something...

Still, it was an experience I suppose.

Subway Serenade...

On our way down to Coney Island these three gentlemen stepped on to the Q Train and started playing a little ditty. They were great. I love it when groups of musicians get onto the trains, we've seen someone come on with a full-sized upright bass before!

Ladies Night...

On Saturday evening Abi and I went on a little date to see Sex & The City 2. Abi's been looking forward to seeing it for ages and where better to be seeing it, than actually in 'The City'!

We arrived about 45 minutes early because we were expecting there to be a bit of a queue and we wanted to make sure we weren't on the front row. Abi had already bought the tickets, so that meant we didn't have to wait for ages, so we went upstairs to the theatre where we were greeted by a pretty sizeable queue...

It was funny seeing all the groups of 4 girls, dressed up in dresses and high-heels... it was a proper event for them, it made me feel quite special really. I've not been to see a film where people have dressed up for it before, I wish I'd worn my dress now.

As we joined the back of the queue I noticed about 2 other men waiting, one of which I'm pretty sure was as bent as a question mark. As we waited the queue got bigger and bigger and it wasn't long before it was snaking comepletely back on itself.

Luckily, after the stampede to get in to the theatre, we were able to get the best seats in the house - at the very back near the disabled section (lots of leg room).

Everyone in the audience seemed to be loving the film, laughing and clapping and shreeking - it made the whole thing a fun experience, people were far more interactive with the film than usual... I have to admit, I actually enjoyed myself.

After the film Abi took me out for a very tasty meal at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square - we ended up getting there at about 11pmish and it was busier than I've ever seen it! It was crazy, even at midnight there were people queueing for tables. Once you're down in the restaurant there aren't any windows or clocks (like Vegas!) so you can't really tell when time it is, so we didn't feel tired or anything.

It was a fantastic evening, very VERY New Yorky... we loved it.

Another One...

Mr. Sandman was beginning another of his masterpieces the other day in Union Square...

Snoozing in the Sun...

By the Seaside...

After a lazy day in Brooklyn on Monday, we went to the seaside on Tuesday afternoon. It was blummin' BOILING and beautifully sunny, so we got on the N train from Manhattan (we'd been to the Coffee Shop for breakfast and then to Tea & Sympathy to order some food for a work lunch) all the way down to Coney Island.

Coney Island seems to be having a bit of a face lift at the moment, the boardwalk is getting new boards to walk on and the amusement park has had a lick of paint (including the Wonder Wheel) and it looks like there's going to be a new section of park open for the summer (just in time for Tom's arrival and the Hot Dog eating contest!).

I love Coney Island, with all it's characters and run down rides and shops, all the funny food huts along the water front selling hot dogs, clams, beer, corn on the cob and funnel cake. It's so funny to think that it's less than 30 minutes train ride from our apartment, it feels like a completely different country...

After a couple of hot dogs and a couple of beers on the beach we were a little sleepy and I stupidly fell asleep on the beach, so I am now trying incredibly hard not to scratch my incredibly sunburnt tummy as I'm typing this. Luckily Abi's not as sunburnt (she was more sensible with the suncream than I was), and she's letting me use her cocoa butter stuff to sooth the pain (it's working). I have a feeling we'll be going to the beach A LOT this summer, so next time I'm making sure we wear lots and lots of cream.

Here's a big panoramic view of the beach - it was so lovely to be there when it was so hot and to have so few people around... it felt like a perfect end to a perfect little holiday.

At the Capitol Building...

Ollie's Trolley!

On our way back from Thai Tanic the night before Abi spotted a place called Ollie's Trolley, so we made one last stop on the way back to the hotel to take some photos...

Unfortunately we were a wee bit too full to squeeze in an Ollie Burger or any Ollie Fries, but when we go back to Washington (as I'm sure we will) it'll be our first stop...

I want one of these signs for the kitchen... Mmmmmmm