A Lady in London

Friday night I arrived late and made my way to her apartment in Brooklyn Heights. We then went to a nearby bar called Floyd on Atlantic Avenue. On arrival my cousin made a passing comment about bocce, and I assumed she was joking. That is, until I had my Brooklyn Lager in hand and turned to see a giant, regulation-size bocce ball court right in the middle of the bar. Awesome.

The next morning we decided to walk around the neighborhood. In all my previous trips to New York I had never been to Brooklyn, so I was excited to see what it had to offer.

Our first stop was the waterfront, which offered a stunning view of Manhattan from across the channel. That’s to say nothing of the view of the Brooklyn Bridge.

We walked around a newly-opened park that is eventually going to be part of a much larger park, then headed towards DUMBO, the amusingly-named “Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass” area. After succumbing to the temptation to have some amazing hot cocoa at Jacques Torres Chocolate, we stopped in a few design shops and vintage clothing boutiques, then made our way to the subway.

Our first stop was the West Village. We walked through Washington Square Park, where there was seemingly some kind of NYU prospective student day, then got delicious feta crepes for lunch.

Nourished, we headed to the Meatpacking District to visit one of New York’s newest and most talked-about parks, the High Line. Situated above ground on a 1930′s railroad overpass, the park is a beautiful blend of green space and asymmetrical concrete walkways. The rusty railroad ties have been left in place to blend old and new, and the park is lined with wooden recliners and benches that were packed with picnickers and sun worshippers.

We walked along the park, which is still being completed, until we got to the end, then headed back to the West Village to catch a movie called Breaking Upwards. Ironically, the movie was filmed right outside the theater. Literally. Every other scene took place on the street we were on. I had to laugh a little at how it epitomized the New York experience.

After the movie we headed back to Brooklyn for dinner at Bread and Butter, a restaurant that serves “Southern Inspired, Brooklyn Style Comfort Food”. We got the mac and cheese. Mine had truffles and all kinds of other goodness, and my cousin’s had bacon and all kinds of other goodness. There was a lot of goodness involved.

We were out late at a house party that evening, then up late the next morning. Our first activity was to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, another classic New York activity that I had never done before.

Once in Manhattan, we took the train up to the Met to see the Drawings of Bronzino exhibition. We didn’t have much time, though, as we had to make it to one final destination before I headed back to London: Shake Shack. Yes, cheeseburgers and milkshakes took precedence over even the best Renaissance art. This was America, after all. Gluttony is our national pastime.

After walking down Park Avenue by Central Park, we hopped back on the train until we reached Madison Square Park. Not surprisingly, the line for delicious burgers and fries was an hour long (again, this is America). We waited patiently until it was our turn, then ordered our cheeseburgers, fries, and chocolate shakes before sitting down to stuff them all into our stomachs. It was a delicious ending to a scrumptious trip to New York and a week-long American family feast.