Anyway, back to today. We left the Hotel after watching the Abu Dhabi GP then had a late brunch and got on board the PATH train which runs under the Hudson River where the first stop is WTC. The WTC re-development is well under way with some buildings growing well but still a huge amount to do. The main building which will also be an epitaph for those people who died at 9/11 is now just starting after years of discussion how it will look. We also visited the 9/11 remembrance store and watched a couple of videos on the subject. Leaving downtown we headed North till we came to Chinatown and its like being back in Hong Kong again with the bustle and Cantonese speaking people with shops overloaded with fish of all types and vegetable and fruit, One fish shop was also selling large dark green frogs, see photos.
Leaving Chinatown we entered Little Italy and stopped for a coffee and tried a canola, which is a like a brandy snap but larger, and then filled with ricotta cheese and cream, but its is a bit sweet for our taste. Little Italy is of course crowded with Chinese as well as they are spilling over the border but there are a lot of Italian Restaurants as well. Then on to SOHO (which is not what you think) but stands for South Of HOuston Street but is now a conglomeration of up-market shops, Vendi et al. Then leaving Soho and on to Greenwich Village and the mass of restaurants and bars and shops which were all pretty busy. By this time it was reaching about 5pm and as we had walked a fair old way and so we headed back to Little Italy and found a nice restaurant called Angelo’s which seemed to be busy without having to recourse to waiters walking the streets offering menus and tables. This place has its own existing customers as many people who arrived were met by the owner and made to feel welcome. We didn’t meet the owner as we didn’t know him of course.
Frogs with Legs |
We arrived back at the Hotel having walked, we guess, about 8 or 9 miles and were a little tired whilst Jennifer’s cold is not helping.
We had a nice evening catching up with photos and Blog and then to bed, a nice day and its great to be free.