Anniversary!
Well, near the end of August was our anniversary! We had originally planned to spend the day on Governor's Island. This is a historically significant island (and most recently had housed a military academy) just between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Now it is open in the summers for visitors, the buildings being mostly abandoned. A free 5-minute ferry ride gets us to this small island with no traffic and relatively few people!
Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the day predicted a heat index of 100F; translation: hot, hazy and humid. Not exactly the kind to be enjoying picnics outdoors! So, a last minute change of plans was in order. We ended up at one of our favourite places: the Bronx Zoo! We spent lots of time communing with the young tree kangaroo (it's so cute!), the red pandas, and the silly squirrel monkeys! There were bunnies in the with gorillas, and we finally visited the Children's Zoo area. Surprising for us, it wasn't just a petting zoo, but had wallabies and lemurs and otters! So that's where my favourite creatures had been hiding!!! If only we'd known earlier!
Afterwards, we came home for a shower (it was a hot and humid day, after all) and a change of clothes, and headed to Greenwich Village for a lovely dinner! We went to Antica Venica, one of the fanciest places we've been to. There were few tables, lots of professional, tie-wearing waiters, and a lovely decor. We were seated, and served drinks, and once settled, menus presented. The daily special list was longer than the menu itself! We had to get appetizers (the most delicious calamari I've had in a very long time!), and were brought out a plate fresh tomato with hard cheese on toast, and a basket of fried zucchini, "on the house" as they say. Lovely to try! Toby had a lamb shank with risotto, while I had soft shelled crabs. Yummy! Though, the shells weren't quite so "soft" as I had expected; more like shrimp shells really. Other than being overly salty, our dishes were very tasty! We finished off with coffees and chocolate mousse cake. And Toby got to try the in-house infused liquers.
It was wonderful to be able to have a meal out like this! The restaurant had lots of neat presentation things: a wine cart, which they'd use to decant a bottle of red wine into a crystal carafe over a single candle; there was also the liquer cart, which had the liquers in large glass jars, ladles and snifters all at the ready. Each of these carts would get wheeled to each table as needed, then wheeled back out of the way when finished. If you spilled onto your tablecloth during a course, when clearing the plates, two waiters would appear with a fresh table cloth, roll it up, then place it over your old table cloth quickly and unobstrusively. It was fun to watch this happen!
Afterwards, we waddled along the piers of the Hudson for a bit, but i was really too full to do much more than lounge! So we headed home and lounged with our extremely full and extremely satisfied bellies! It was a fun day!
Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the day predicted a heat index of 100F; translation: hot, hazy and humid. Not exactly the kind to be enjoying picnics outdoors! So, a last minute change of plans was in order. We ended up at one of our favourite places: the Bronx Zoo! We spent lots of time communing with the young tree kangaroo (it's so cute!), the red pandas, and the silly squirrel monkeys! There were bunnies in the with gorillas, and we finally visited the Children's Zoo area. Surprising for us, it wasn't just a petting zoo, but had wallabies and lemurs and otters! So that's where my favourite creatures had been hiding!!! If only we'd known earlier!
Afterwards, we came home for a shower (it was a hot and humid day, after all) and a change of clothes, and headed to Greenwich Village for a lovely dinner! We went to Antica Venica, one of the fanciest places we've been to. There were few tables, lots of professional, tie-wearing waiters, and a lovely decor. We were seated, and served drinks, and once settled, menus presented. The daily special list was longer than the menu itself! We had to get appetizers (the most delicious calamari I've had in a very long time!), and were brought out a plate fresh tomato with hard cheese on toast, and a basket of fried zucchini, "on the house" as they say. Lovely to try! Toby had a lamb shank with risotto, while I had soft shelled crabs. Yummy! Though, the shells weren't quite so "soft" as I had expected; more like shrimp shells really.
It was wonderful to be able to have a meal out like this! The restaurant had lots of neat presentation things: a wine cart, which they'd use to decant a bottle of red wine into a crystal carafe over a single candle; there was also the liquer cart, which had the liquers in large glass jars, ladles and snifters all at the ready. Each of these carts would get wheeled to each table as needed, then wheeled back out of the way when finished. If you spilled onto your tablecloth during a course, when clearing the plates, two waiters would appear with a fresh table cloth, roll it up, then place it over your old table cloth quickly and unobstrusively. It was fun to watch this happen!
Afterwards, we waddled along the piers of the Hudson for a bit, but i was really too full to do much more than lounge! So we headed home and lounged with our extremely full and extremely satisfied bellies! It was a fun day!
posted by blumaroo at
10:26 AM
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