Sunday, 10.8.07
Finding our way home from Randall's Island late on Saturday night took a toll. So we were slow to rise come Sunday morning. We were slated to meet Cathy's friend Christina, who she's known since high school, and her husband Thomas, at Barney Greengrass' deli on the upper west side.
They were waiting on the sidewalk when we arrived, and it was only a minute before we got our table. Chris is a violinist who plays in a pretty amazing array of Broadway productions and other gigs of note (she was trying out for the Radio City Music Hall Christmas show a couple days after we saw her) and Thomas is owner of the Gitterman Gallery on East 75th. I'd never met either of them before, and to be honest I didn't know what to expect.
Immediately, though, any apprehension or anxiety was laid to rest. Wonderful people they are, of course, and we had a really nice time and an amazing breakfast. I had the everything bagel with sturgeon, which was out of this world, and I got to taste Cathy's salmon and eggs which were also fantastic. We even got to grab a chocolate bobka for Heidi, as it's her favorite.
Finding our way home from Randall's Island late on Saturday night took a toll. So we were slow to rise come Sunday morning. We were slated to meet Cathy's friend Christina, who she's known since high school, and her husband Thomas, at Barney Greengrass' deli on the upper west side.
They were waiting on the sidewalk when we arrived, and it was only a minute before we got our table. Chris is a violinist who plays in a pretty amazing array of Broadway productions and other gigs of note (she was trying out for the Radio City Music Hall Christmas show a couple days after we saw her) and Thomas is owner of the Gitterman Gallery on East 75th. I'd never met either of them before, and to be honest I didn't know what to expect.
Immediately, though, any apprehension or anxiety was laid to rest. Wonderful people they are, of course, and we had a really nice time and an amazing breakfast. I had the everything bagel with sturgeon, which was out of this world, and I got to taste Cathy's salmon and eggs which were also fantastic. We even got to grab a chocolate bobka for Heidi, as it's her favorite.
After breakfast we walked around the neighborhood with C and T, into Central Park for a stroll around the grounds. What a stunning place. You hear about Central Park and what an amazing feat of greenspace preservation it is, but until you leave the noise and motion of the streets and disappear into the inner reaches of the park you just can't really understand what it means to have this park in the middle of this city. The 6-mile bike path, all the winding trails, The Rambles, Strawberry Fields, the contour and trees and rocks and endless little enclaves where you can truly find peace and quiet make up one of the most impressive parks I've seen.
We may not have seen the Statue of Liberty on this trip, but we did see the Dakota Building, an icon in its own right. And though I'm no big Beatles or Lennon fan, it was a pretty powerful thing to see that place and the tribute to the man right across the street in the park.
From the Park we went to pay a visit to Thomas' gallery, which was a lovely space on East 75th St. Besides having two bright and airy rooms for exhibits, as well as open hallways and small adjacent spaces for hanging photos, the building had a beautiful garden-courtyard out back, an asset that in this city I would imagine is pretty valuable.
After we took our leave of C and T, we walked on and did some shopping before stopping for coffee and a crepe at the Follow Me Cafe. Then, more shopping, before heading back toward the park for a rendezvous with Heidi and Michael and Harlan and Kristin at Strawberry Fields. We had a bit of a doughnut picnic, as H and M had paid a visit to the Donut Plant and were thoughtful enough to share their bounty with us.
After the picnic we headed toward the Columbia University area to find some dinner. We followed H&Ms recommendation and went to a small Ethiopian place near campus called Massawa, and the food was outstanding. This was my first restaurant experience with Ethiopian food, and it didn't disappoint. We shared a platter full of different items, all vegetarian, from lentils to sweet potatoes to all manner of other stuff, scooped up with pieces of spongy bread torn from one of the many rolls of it that came with dinner. No utensils. Great meal.
Cathy and I walked back through campus toward the subway, where we caught a train back up to Inwood for the night. On the way back to the apartment from the stop, we noticed a big gathering of guys outside the window of an open shop. Suddenly they erupted into yelling and movement, and what I thought was the start of a fight turned out to be a bunch of guys watching the Yankees try to pull one out against the Indians. No such luck, as we'd later find out, but it was entertaining to see groups of people gathered outside every window with a tv going the whole way home.
When we got back to the apartment, H&M were still up, so they put out a spread of cheese and pickles and salami and chocolate and bread and opened made some cocktails and we talked for a whole longer before retiring for the night. Quite the full and accomplished day.
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