New York City - Day 6

Interesting fact about NYC, on Friday night the noise seems to go on forever but finally dies down around 4 am.  In contrast, while the city awakens early on the weekdays, it is peacefully quiet on Saturday morning.  We sleep with the windows open so I have become aware of the patterns of the city, when it sleeps and it when it is awake.

Like the rest of the city, we slept in.  It was almost noon when we ventured out for a bite to eat.  The soccer game was in full swing so people were cheering, clapping, and back to their normal noisy way of life.  Most of the eateries surrounding Raven's apartment are open spaces that spill onto the sidewalks, and of course they all have the World Cup playing and patrons drinking and having a great time.  We walked around the corner to The Crooked Tree, a creperie cafe and restaurant.  Julie ordered one of the savory crepe specials with lamb sausage, tomatoes and goat cheese.  Raven ordered the special with zucchini, pesto, and mozzarella cheese.  Rainy had the spinach with goat cheese crepe.  The food was delicious!

After breakfast, we made a quick stop at Raven's apartment to regroup and change clothes....it is going to be a hot one today!  We took the bus to the subway and then the subway to Brooklyn.  Our destination was the Brooklyn Flea Market.  The market was outside, open-air style.  The vendors all had shade over their wares, yet the sun was penetrating and getting more intense as the day progressed.  I wished I had worn a hat as I could feel my scalp burning.  Julie did buy a few special items, beginning with a pair of older brown jelly shoes.  They fit both Rainy and Julie........I think that Julie will have to borrow them occasionally.  Julie bought an owl necklace to add to her collection and a ring for Rainy.  We had to pause in our shopping for cold drinks and hot dogs to be eaten in the shade of the one large tree hanging over the flea market.  It was hard to find a place to sit as many shoppers were seeking out a bit of shade by this time.  Rainy found the perfect dark green 1970's hobo-style leather purse that we bought just as we were leaving the market.  >As hot as it was, we wanted to seek out a place that served beverages and was air conditioned!  Just a block from the flea market, along the cobble-stone street, was a tiny brick building, the home of Olea, a Mediterranian rustic restaurant.  It was hear that Julie realized she had lost her glasses!  She had changed from her regular glasses to her sunglasses when exiting the subway, but her glasses were not in her purse.  This is really a bad thing because Julie needs her glasses to see!  With Raven's suggestion, Julie went back to the flea market, to the vendor where she had tried on the jelly shoes, and YES, the vendor had found her glasses whic h had evidently slipped out of her purse and onto the ground.  With much relief, back at the restaurant, Julie ordered a cold beer, Rainy had a glass of champagne with a splash of pear liqueur, and Raven had a refreshing glass of white wine.

We took the subway to Boerum Hill, another borough in Brooklyn with interesting shops, restaurants, and architectural features. We stopped into an interestingly eclectic store crammed with clothing, rugs, and many very unusual items.  Rainy purchased a handmade wallet, sewn from a 60's style bright orange flowered fabric.  We admired a calendar on a block-printed background.  The store owner said that the year was half over, and gave us each a calendar.  They are really very cool!  We walked down the street to a small eatery called Jake Walk.  It wasn't air conditioned, but their was a nice breeze blowing by this time so we sat at the opened doorway.  We ordered a small bowl of rustic olives to accompany a cheese and meat board.  Foe the 2 meats we selected wild boar hard salami and coppa.  For the cheeses we shared Humbolt fog (past goat milk from CA), Abrigo (past goat milk from Catalonia, Spain), and Pantaleo (past goat milk from Sardinia).  Rainy drank a tequila-based cocktail appropraitely titled The Jake Walk, Raven had a flight of white wines, and Julie mistakenly ordered a wheat beer which she immediately sent back and got a Nectar IPA beer instead.  Our next stop was Bar Great Harry, a bar just across the street from Jake Walk that had a large selection of beers on tap.  Yes we all had a beer!

We walked to Carroll Gardens, another cute borough in Brooklyn.  Our first stop was a small wine bar that featured victorian lamps and plush chairs and sofas.  We made ourselves comfortable as Raven ordered a refreshing bottle of white wine.    The 2008 wine was from the vineyard Cantine del Taburno and featured the Falanghini grape.  To accompany the wine we ordered an eggplant dish, Capoata Bruscheta.

 We relaxed, laughed, and took silly pictures of each other.  Our next stop would be for dinner at the Buttermilk Channel, just a few blocks away.  We had a30 minute wait, so we went into the bar next door where there was seating.  It was a small Mexican bar so we ordered chips and salsa.  Rainy had a margarita, Raven drank a Dos Equis and Julie had a Negro Modela.  The 30 minutes quickly passed and we were seated in the restaurant at a large wooden communal table in the center of the restaurant.  Raven ordered a bottle of white wine and dinner for us.

Our final plan was to attend the midnight showing "Wild at Heart".  We took the subway to West Village were the movie was playing.  It was a little after midnight, the movie had just started, and it was hard to find a seat in the theater.  Honestly, Julie struggled to stay awake and missed parts of the movie (she will have to watch it now on Netflix!)  When the movie was over, we hailed a taxi and went back to the apartment for a good night's sleep.