Brooklyn

Sunday the sun was out and it was hot and muggy- this is what I figured the weather NY would be.

Heading to the Tasty's again for a quick breakfast and then the Union Station Subway station.  We bought another day pass and we were Brooklyn bound.  First stop was the Dumbo area, but we realized that this was mostly about food and we were not hungry, back on the subway and 2 more stops to the address we had for the Brooklyn Flea Market.  We had to walk about 8 blocks and then arrived at the address we had for the flea market- but there was no flea market.  Asking some locals, no-one knew what we were talking about.  It seems that there was no real market at all- google showed us there was one about 30 minutes away- but we were too hot and bothered to try and find it. Back on the subway and Dumbo bound.  This area is an up and coming area referred to as Dumbo (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).  Walking down to the water, the views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges are very impressive.  We walked along the water to Grimaldi's Pizza- we had heard this was the place to eat.  The line up though was ridiculous.  Around the corner we had seen a place where we could get pizza by the slice and this seemed like a better option. Ignazio's it was- the pizza was good and the wait was great- we walked right up to the bar.  Across the street we spotted the Brooklyn Ice Cream Company and that seemed like fuel we needed to traverse the bridge.  Another line up- that moved pretty fast- and a cone of peaches and cream for me, while Frank had butter pecan.  The ice cream was good- but Rocky Point or Mario's Gelato are hard to beat.

Then we started the long walk over the bridge- once again a lot of people, but a great walk- the views of the city quite stunning.  The bridge is different from others over which I have walked as you are actually walking above the cars and in the middle of the bridge.  We walked and enjoyed the sites- all the while sweating buckets- it was very humid by the afternoon and the 1.6 walk in the sun was particularly hot.  Back on the Manhattan side, we watched some street performers, then decided we were too tired to do any more.  Frank had lost his metro pass- so we caught a cab back to the hotel.  Another great day exploring this city.

Sunday night was a little less of crazy- we had looked at going to a Broadway Play but we couldn't get tickets at a reasonable price and so decided to head down to Eataly for dinner.  We walked down the few blocks to the Flatiron building and Eataly. Cruising through the little stores at this Italian wonderland was fascinating- so much cheese, Nutella, Coffee- all things really delicious.  After a little bit of browsing we headed up to the rooftop restaurant that is Birreria.  We had no wait for a table for two- the little joys of Sunday night in NY.  The table was great- a lot more spacious than some place we had been to.  The menu was varied and lots of beers to chose from.  We had some beer and cider and started off with a meat and cheese platter- very tasty.  For dinner we had the pork shoulder and chicken sausages plates- so good.  During dinner Frank felt a drop of water- looking up we realized the heavens were about to open.  Wait staff jumped to attention and had the rooftop closed off in seconds flat- just in time as it came down like there was no stopping it.  I knew it was humid today!  Thank goodness for retractable roofs. We finished off and waited the storm out, with Italian cappuccino at its best.  A great dinning experience, highly recommended.  We ambled back along the streets- now a little cooler- not much.  Our last night in the Big Apple.