blustery day in manhattan

it was coooold today! it was 45 degrees!

another day of adventures today. i once again woke up overwhelmed with the possibilities of how to spend my day in nyc. it's almost stressful. seriously! i decided that i should do more 'outdoors' stuff today that required sunlight, since ill be at the hospital all week, and i can do some of the 'indoor' stuff during my evenings- indoor stuff being window shopping, museums and eating.

oh my god before i forget, today in little italy, this fire engine comes rushing down the crowded street and of course the sirens are blasting....then i hear a dog bark! i thought it was a dog on the street that was freaking out....then i see the fire engine and there's a dog on the fire engine! i dalmation- the fire dog! hilarious.


anyway, so i grabbed coffee and breakfast at my new favorite coffee house down the street. i take the 6 train the the last downtown stop- city hall and brooklyn. today i wanted to walk across the brooklyn bridge then eat pizza in brooklyn at grimaldi's and coffee at henry's. the walk across the bridge is pretty phenomenal. the bridge itself is gorgeous, with wood planks at your feet and of course tons of tourists. there's a walking lane and a biking lane. my goal was to walk across the bridge and resist the temptation to look back at the manhattan skyline until i got to the halfway point. i did it! from the bridge you can see the statue of liberty/ellis island in the distance, the manhattan bridge and of course the manhattan skyline of skysrapers. i make it to brooklyn and am pretty hungry by this time, and on a mission to find grimaldi's. i had the address so i typed it into my google maps and followed the directions. except...of course i got lost. i couldn't find it! i could see it on the map but my path wasn't lining up! i was by far the miniority in the area, with 80% of the people being african american. on my walk i stopped and watched a lacrosse team practice and passed by the nyc technical college. brooklyn itself is not that pretty or remarkable, but i was on a mission to find grimaldi's. after an hour of walking essentially in cirles, i aborted my mission and walked back to manhattan. i think i had put in 4 or 5 miles of walking by this point! as i get back to manhattan over the bridge, i see this couple who had just gotten married. very very cool. the couple was older too- i'll post pictures. the husband was holding up her dress as she walked so it didn't drag. very cute..there were two photograhers snapping away, plus to gorgeous wedding-goers in long black dresses and black coats that almost touched the ground.

i catch the 6 train uptown to canal street and wander through china town a little bit, but still on my mission to eat good italian food....i find little italy, and wander down mulberry street past italian restaurants and cafes, italian people with heavy italian accents, tourists, italian stores and everything is green, red and white, even the fire hydrants and parking meters. i pass st patrick's, the cathedral in the center, and i pass a street vendor selling italian goodies- including bsicotti- by the pound. i choose a couple options for italian food in my books and one of them is closed for lunch and and the other is actually about a mile away, which is too far, so i come back on mulberry street and stop into this pizza joint- i chose it because there were locals there. or at least local looking folks with new york accents. i order yummy pizza and am happy! at some point i'd like an italian pasta dish, but i had to get new york pizza!...i save the rest for dinner. i see shirst that say 'hug me i'm half italian' plus all the touristy 'i heart new york shirts', etc. i almost bought this key chain, it was of a boxing glove, which was black, red and green and had 'italia' written on it. i opt for the postcards instead...as much as i wanted gelato and an italian espresso, it was way too cold and i had way too much coffee already.

i take the train home, stop into gourmet garage, this chain health food store, pick up some breakfast items and snacks, make it home and i'm so happy to be home! and here i am a few hours later at the coffee shop blogging away...