NYC, part II

After a delicious morning spent sleeping in, Jeremy and I hit the town again, looking at the beautiful NYC buildings and perusing the street market. Jeremy refrained from endulging in the varous South American treats for sale, like Arepas and Alfajor--we were dangerously full from our free breakfast buffet at the hotel.



We hit Central Park again to do some more thorough exploring. It was another hot, hot day. We couldn't believe the lawns. It was like the NY beach with people laying out everywhere. And it only got more crowded as the day progressed. We felt sorry for this lot that they didn't have a body of water nearby in which to cool off after baking in the sun.


Jeremy and I caught sight of this adorable matching couple, who we named the "Dreamsicles."

We decided to follow suit and declare our love in the form of matching accoutrement.

Though lacking in ocean, this "beach" is a beautiful one. We really enjoyed our walk about.
We thought our friend Steve would appreciate this "real" rose:





As it neared lunch time we exited the park via the East side, and went to Zabar's, perhaps the loveliest grocery store/ deli in U.S. We got our usual Zabar's load--olives, 2 cheese varieties, spicy salami and tomatoes. We then went a couple doors down and grabbed a couple H&H bagels, for comparison to E'ssa. We got some fruit at a nearby stand and then made our way back to the crowded park. Jeremy was ravenous and beyond photo-friendliness. After the third try, he did stop chewing so I could get this shot of our little picnic.

H&H bagels are definitely inferior to Ess'a, by the way. But they are without question better than anything we can get out here.
We enjoyed watching the kids playing, and playing a bit ourselves.

Soon it was time to meet Jeremy's cousin Jamie! We continued exploring the town with her that afternoon, ate a cool gelato treat and had an early dinner at Cafe Habana (Cuban food). So yummy. It was fun to catch up with Jamie and hear the family news. Turns out she has a super cool job and gets to see all sorts of NY shows for free!



We remained in the neighborhood after Jamie was off to see a show. We eventually walked our way back to Washington Square Park. En route I saw this sign and visions of an old woman slapping someones back with massive fish filet entered my mind. Then I read the letters more closely.

By the time we got to the park our feet were throbbing mightily. Dusk at the park was magical and Jeremy soaked his feet in the fountain as we enjoyed the scene.





Of course we couldn't let the day go by without pizza. So we grabbed a hot slice at Joe's, and followed it up with that tantalizing gelato we had seen our first full day in NYC. Molto Buono!