When in NYC

Hi everyone.  As promised I have a few pictures I would like to share from our weekend trip to NYC.  Thanks to my sister-in-law who took these photos because I was enjoying myself so much I forgot to take pictures.

Like I told you on this post, we spent Sat. afternoon in Manhattan walking around the Village and Soho, the neighborhoods where my friend Yanil works and plays from.  As a fan of Sex and the City, we took pictures at Carrie's brownstone.  Remember Big's late night visits and how they would sit in his car?  This came to mind when I was walking up "her" street. We also came across a small sidewalk sale, more like junk than anything else, but the man attending the sidewalk was a former dancer from Cuba who had emigrated in the 50s, before the revolution, and we naturally stroke up a lengthy conversation about NYC rent, Miami Cubans and life in the 60s.  He was helping his friend get rid of some of junk and told us that this 80 year old friend only pays $250 a month.  Talk about rent control!  I guess that's the beauty and surprise of NYC, that you can pay $3,000 for a one bedroom apt in Greenwich and live next to an old man who pays only $200.

Zen Sushi

Yanil and I at Washington Square (homage to Henry James)

We grabbed lunch at Zen Sushi, a place in the East Village where you order food from the menu and pay only 50% when the bill arrives.  I ordered a Spicy Salmon roll and the Zen roll, and the total was $8.  Only in NYC!

My mother and Anadel

My brother and Anadel

This was one of my favorite gardens.

There's an English garden.

On Sunday, we went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and spent a lovely afternoon relishing the 80 degree weather one last time.  Emilu took a nap in the stroller as we walked from garden to garden looking at poison ivy, a variety of herbs and at turtles in the small pond.  I definitely recommend the Garden.  It's much bigger than the US Botanic Gardens in DC. Plus they have a Japanese garden, complete with koi fish and turtles.

Emilu napping ( i love her when she does this)

At Owls Head Park watching the sunset.

Something caught our attention, I think it was another dog,

Anadel, my sister-in-law, my mother, Emilu and our dogs, Piki and Pia.  The sun is going down.

Next time I would like to visit the Brooklyn museum to soak myself in NY's history and culture. If you would like to enjoy NYC from a local perspective, instead of a tourist, this mini guide is a must.