October 18, 2025 . Americans in Uruguay . Day Three .
Lat night’s dinner at Quinquela showed us a side of the upscale Uruguay and where wealthy Montevideans (and visiting Argentinians) eat. Quinquela was quite good, although I think we should have ordered a different main course. We started with a shrimp crudo topped with caviar and some sea foam. We then shared a small pappardelle that had roasted shrimp sitting on top with some kind of spicy chestnuts and chopped carmelized nuts. It was great. Then we shared the short rib dish which was good, but not fantastic, although the waitress raved about it and said it was the signature dish. We ended with a simple flan which was quite yummy. The other desserts were just too over the top. The waitress then gave us a tour of the restaurant and some private spaces decorated with Uruguayan art. Apparently the owner is Argentinian and has big plans for not just this restaurant but another one that he is planning to open across the street.
Now…. it’s about 6:15 pm and we are on the coast (a short overnight trip with Peter and Jairo).. Greetings from Bahia Vik in Jose Ignacio on the Atlantic coast of Uruguay (more on that soon). I have about 30 minutes before we meet up with the guys so I thought I’d get a head start on today’s meanderings. Peter and Jairo are staying at another place about 5 minutes from us, but we opted for a bit more luxury.
We left Montevideo at about 9 am with Peter driving in his Citroen. We set out for their cabin which is located in the “hilly” part of Uruguay, about two+ hours from Montevideo. Since the country is very flat, calling the area “hilly’ or “mountainous” is a bit of a stretch. It’s probably about 700′ above sea level. “Lower than the Berkeley hills” Peter said, comparing it to where he grew up. We took a pretty roundabout route so that Peter could show us several small towns and parts of his adopted country that he wanted to share. Eventually we arrived at the cabin which they use for weekends and also rent out from time to time. It’s quite charming and Peter worked really hard to encourage the architect to model it on some of the (vastly larger) ski houses his father designed throughout Tahoe. The house boasts a set of original drawings by Mike, which Peter framed and proudly displays on the bedroom wall! The drawings (simple line drawings) depict a series of changes that occur in a town–starting with a forest and then someone takes down trees and builds a gas station and some other facilities and soon a city emerges and the forest is gone; the little general store remains and in each section the protest signs change.. the city eventually disappears as a result of climate change and finally nature takes over and the growth covers the town. The little general store from the onset remains throughout and the last sign on the building is “Eco Resort!”
From the cabin we went to a sweet simple restaurant for lunch, and then we drove through numerous little towns and villages as we meandered our way to the ocean.
Then we headed to the Atchugarry Museum of Contemporary Art which is the largest museum in the country. It’s located in the resort town of Punta del Este. It’s a huge complex with sprawling outdoor spaces surrounding a giant exhibit building with a permanent collection (donated by the Uruguayan artist , Atchugarry for whom the museum is named). It’s my understanding that Atchugarry also put up the majority of the funds for the entire project. The museum is both a showcase of his work and the work of other Uruguayan artists, but it also has works by artists throughout Latin America and a small collection that includes contemporary art from around the world.
From the museum we headed to the town of Jose Ignacio—a fishing village turned into a resort area that is attracting wealthy visitors and even celebrities to its beaches, surfing, and yoga. After settling into our huge room with huge bathroom, we met Peter and Jairo and headed to Parador Huella for dinner,… after a quick spin to the “round bridge” designed by Rafael Vinoly. At the restaurant, Mike decided that it would be good to order a hot toddy (hot water, scotch, and honey—to help ease his lingering sore throat. He ordered one yesterday at Cafe Brasilero — agua caliente con “scotch” con miel— it was great and cost $5.00. Somehow here they asked what kind of scotch and theyt suggested Johnie Walker “azul” and Mike said “fine.” When we got the bill his simple hot toddy was $100. I guess Johnnie Walker Blue is a pretty special brand. And then we ate and I’m now back at the hotel….totally beat.
One thing I keep forgetting to mention—-all across Uruguay, you hear 1970s and 1980s Americn music… sometimes the 60s. It’s sort of funny, and makes you feel like you’ve been here before!
More tomorrow. Hasta Luega.
October 17 . 2025 . Americans in Montevideo, Uruguay . Day Two .
Greetings from Montevideo / Day Two.
After a really nice breakfast at our hotel: Alma Historico–a restored 1920s townhouse, located in the old center of the city–we set out on foot to explore Montevideo, starting by exploring our neighborhood. Ciudad Vieja (Old Town) is on a peninsula that separates Río de la Plata from the harbor. The area is set up as a grid like many Spanish cities in the “new world.” Before 1829, the area was walled, but only one of those gates remains. Over the years the area became run down and known as home to “bohemians,” artists, poets, and what I suppose we now know as “the creative class. It’s also home to most of the city’s most famous historic buildings–including many stunning art nouveau buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Directly across from our hotel is the Palacio Taranco, which was constructed on the site of Montevideo’s historic theatre from 1793, when a wealthy family commissioned the construction of their “family home!” It became a museum, focused on decorative arts in 1975 and like most museums here entry is free of charge. Inside it’s a bit like the Frick Museum in NY, giving a glimpse of the lives of the wealthy at that time, and includes many paintings, sculptures, textiles, and European furniture. (Not exactly my taste.)
From there, we strolled to the Palacio Salvo —a pretty eclectic 27-story skyscraper built in the late 1920s–walking thorugh several parks and shopping streets (and stopping at the Teatro Solis, which was closed, although school children were getting tours). Public school kids wear these “tunics” on top of their clothes when they go on field trips. The middle school kids seem to wear white coats that look like lab coats and the little kids wear gingham checked tunics.
Back to Palacio Salvo… in the 1920s, it was the tallest building in Latin America. While we didn’t take the tour (I hate tours) we were able to get access to all of the floors and to a lot of information along the way. I’m not sure we were really supposed to access all the floors, but no stopped us, so we just went. The building was apparently supposed to be a hotel but that never happened so it’s a strange mix of offices and private residences. Apparently the basement, which is now a garage was once a theater and Josephine Baker and others performed there.
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From there, we started to walk to the Mercado Agricolo (the big market), but eventually caved and grabbed a taxi. The market’s interior is an amazingly elegant cast-iron structure from the early 20th century. Lots of Uruguayan produce as well as sauces, jams, and sweets. We grabbed a snack (some kind of spinach fritters that were quite good, and then decided to head to the National Museum of Art which was about an hour’s walk. In the market we ran into a group of school kids (little ones) taking a tour of the market and being told about all the different vegetables.
Again, we started the walk through a pretty industrial and definitely lower-income neighborhood and eventually used our nifty new app to get a taxi in Montevideo — “voyentaxi.” And like a pro, we got the cab to take us to the museum, but not before checking out some of the graffitti and murals in the neighborhood.
The museum is small and home to the country’s largest public collection of painting and sculpture. and provides a good cross section of Uruguay’s artistic history. The museum is quite lovely on the inside, but the exterior could use some rehab. There’s a small sculpture garden, but I was more taken by the incredible trees and roots than I was with the sculpture.
From the museum, we walked to the Rambla where wind was picking up and the temperatures were dropping–prompting the need for another taxi. Once close to the hotel, we stopped into Cafe Brasilerio, the oldest cafe in the city and a haven (in the day) for the artistic crowd. It’s 140 years old and we are told that all sorts of tango masters and singers and authors hung out, performed, and wrote their books right in the small cafe. It was built in 1877 and retains all the details of the day, making it totally charming and a great place for a glass of wine (me) and a hot toddy (Mike). It’s got brass chandeliers and all sorts of Art Nouveau details. Apparently it had been closed for decades and then restored and opened in 2010 and declared a structure and location of “cultural interest” in the city of Montevideo.
Built in 1877, the Brazilian-themed cafe still retains much of its architectural history. The building has preserved its chairs, brass chandeliers and window frames outlining its Art Nouveau-style facade from that earlier era. The walls are also covered with photos, newspaper clippings, and paintings from the cafe’s past.
After a brief stop at the hotel to get warmer clothes we headed out to dinner at Quinquela, a very upscale gourmet restaurant about 5 minutes from our hotel. More on that tomorrow. It’s about 1:00 am and I still need to pack an overnight bag, as we are heading (with Peter and Jairo) to the Jose Ignacio area of Uruguay. Will give the scoop on Quinquela and also the drive and what we are up to on this overnight. We will be back in Montevideo on Sunday night.
October 16, 2025 . Americans in Uruguay . Day One .
Greetings from Montevideo.
It’s been a really long (and tiring) day (40+ hours!). We left Oakland on Wednesday at about 7 am. Had a messy travel day (taxi dropped us at the United international terminal at SFO (G gates)–as usual–and after looking at the board, we noticed that our flight to Panama City was leaving out of the A terminal, which was strange; turns out because of construction at SFO, United is using both G and A terminals, which they failed to mention at check in and on our boarding pass… we had to walk nearly 3 miles inside the airport, going through terminals G, F, E, D, C, and B in order to get to A…there is no connection from G to A going in the other direction…all the while walking with our carry on luggage..meaning ALL of our luggage.) Then we flew to Panama City (7 hours) and had a two hour layover before boarding a very nice COPA (7-hour) flight from there to Montevideo.
The taxi ride from the airport to our hotel (about 40 minutes, costing I believe about $40) was pleasant as the driver took the route along the waterfront (the Rambla) nearly the entire way. Unlike arrivals into many US airports (especially all the NYC airports), the roads were very well paved, traffic moved smoothly, and the city appears to have many parks that dot the various neighborhoods, including a really large park that we passed on the route. Since this is just our first day, this will mostly be first impressions.
We checked into the hotel at about 9 am, had a quick hotel breakfast and headed to our room to take a much needed nap. We are staying at the Alma Historico Hotel in the “ciudad vieja” (old city). So while we saw mostly 20th and 21st century buildings all along the route, we are in the very old section of the city with more winding streets and a lot of cobblestone and colonial-era architecture, lots of landmarks, museums, palaces, and more.
Although we had lay-flat seats, it was still hard to get any meaningful rest on either flight. Somehow, it’s easier to sleep on one of those really long flights (like from SFO to Australia) than it is to catch any ZZZs when you know you have to get up and deplane and then trek through another airport… or so I think. Instead, I did a little work, played some games, watched a movie and listened to music.
We got up, showered and met our friend Peter (who has been living in Montevideo for several years and is now a “very proud” Uruguayan citizen) at 3:00. We’ve known Peter for decades, going back to his high school years in Berkeley. He’s lived in Latin America for many, many years, and we visited him in Mexico City several times when he lived there. Full disclosure—Peter’s dad was Mike’s boss when he worked at a downtown SF architecture firm in the late 1970s. Peter wanted to take us on an “overview driving tour” of the city so that we’d have the big picture of the layout and different neighborhoods before we head out on our own tomorrow.
Since we were in the car most of the time, I don’t have a lot of images to share… but that will come in the upcoming days. We ended our “tour” at Peter’s and Jairo’s co-op apartment where we could see the sunset over the Rambla and the sea. Basically the Rambla is a coastal avenue or boulevard that hugs the coast for about 15 miles–stretching the whole length of the city. It’s pretty wide in most places and people are walking, biking, jogging, fishing, and relaxing. It was a beautiful day so you could see lots of activities.
Peter’s co-op apartment is small and functional, with two bedrooms and a small deck. We ran into several neighbors (fellow-co-op members) who were incredibly friendly and immediately did the one cheek kiss! We had some Uruguayan wine (quite good), got caught up on family, travel, and of course politics—Peter’s favorite topic. And we learned a lot about Uruguay from both Peter and Jairo. More on that in the coming posts. Their building is close to all amenities, so they walk to nearly evrything and it is only a block or so from the Rambla–an amazing amenity. The co-op seems to be a tight knit group and they’ve had a lot of group activities, including the creation of a greenhouse adjacent to the building.
Then we headed to a wonderful “tapas” dinner at a local (upscale restaurant)—more talking.
So my first impressions: the city seems to be well run; people are out and about and hanging out at cafes and bars; we didn’t see any trash on the streets; there’s a very interesting mix of architectural styles; there’s a big effort to preserve historic buildings; there’s a good deal of construction going on; and from what we heard, the country’s public program–such as healthcare– are working well. And whatever party is in power, the social democratic principles related to social programs are “givens” and are supported — so Uruguay is different from other countries with more divisive rhetoric around terms like neoliberalism or socialism. Thus, topics like gay and trans rights are not even debated; they are givens. There were a lot of banners and graffitti supporting Palestine and it’s evident here that the Communist Party is about to celebrate its 105th anniversary (lots of signs).
Much more to come as we navigate the city. There’s a lot to take in.
Greetings from Brooklyn- Happy October (although the latest news from DC is foreboding and scary)
And then there were two; Adrienne headed back to Chicago to be sure to make it in time for Yom Kippur. Carol and I decided to have breakfast at the hotel and I had a very interesting conversation with the waiter who was from Albania. Clearly over-educated for his job and very interested in both Albanian politics and the state of American politics. Having visited Albania about 7 years ago, we chatted about the places I had been and the timing of my trip and what’s changed since my visit. Maybe it’s time for a return trip to Albania!.
Carol and I strolled the neighborhood (Boerum Hill) a bit, and then headed to Hertz to return the car. From there we took the subway to Manhattan for lunch at Franchia–a unique Korean vegan restaurant that I’ve eaten at before (even thought I’m no where near a vegan!). It’s a multi-level small space located on Park Avenue near 34th Street–traditional Korean decor with a mural ceiling. It’s got some great dishes and everything is presented beautifully, including the drinks (we had mocktails: raspberry lychee with some kind of fizzy water).
We strolled for a while, passing a crew of young people in beekeeper outfits near Times Square. Turns out they were promoting and giving samples of some kind of bacon and honey dish. I declined.
And then we walked (13,200 steps so far today; 5.1 miles) to the Music Box Theater to see “ART” with James Corden, Bobby Cannavale, and Neil Patrick Harris. I had seen this Yasmina Reza play on Broadway in the late 1990s when Alan Alda played one of the roles. This was a revival. The story revolves around three male friends (a dermatologist, an engineer, and a paper salesman)—one of them (the dermatologist) purchases an expensive, all-white painting which leads to debates with the friends about the painting’s value and then the nature of art itself. It’s lively, well written, funny, but also a commentary on friendship, as well as art, possessions, and the “value” of things.
After the play, we strolled to the St Regis to have cocktails at the King Cole Bar. The “King Cole” is home to the famous mural by Maxfield Parish. The mural was originally at the Knickerbocker Hotel bar and had been comnmissioned by John Jacob Astor. It shows a jovial King Cole on his throne, with humorous, subtle details of him passing gas. The bar is–supposedly–the place where the “Bloody Mary” was invented. Thus, the bar had a list of about a dozen different types of Bloody Marys. The mural was moved to the St. Regis Hotel in 1932.
Tonight we ate at Misi in Williamsburg. Food was quite good (Italian-ish) and the space was modern and loud! It was also larger than any of the other restaurants we’ve been in during this trip, so that was interesting. We ordered two appetizers: a slow-roasted tomato salad with “hot” honey; a roasted eggplant salad—followed by a pasta dish—bucatini with tomatoes. .. followed by great gelato (we shared pistachio).
Taxied back to the ACE… I leave tomorrow. Back to Oakland. Carol will move to Manhattan and stay another two days (at the Manhattan ACE). And as they say in Brooklyn — “Later” or “Be seein ya” or “Peace out.”
Take care. La Shana Tova.
Day 5 Brooklyn: September 30, 2025
Greetings from Brooklyn—where the deep-fried Twinkie originated, along with tootsie rolls, Sweet ‘n’ Low, the first bank credit card, the roller coaster, and teddy bears. And over the course of these travel blogs about Brooklyn, I failed to mention that:
- If Brooklyn was a city, it would be the fourth largest city in the US (with a population of more than 2.5 million); it is the most populous borough of the city (Manahttan population is just 1.6 million)
- Celebrities born in Brooklyn include Larry David, Woody Allen, Barbara Streisland, Judge Judy, Eddie Murphy, Spike Lee, Al Capone, Adam Sandler, Lena Horne, Marisa Tomei, Anne Hathaway, Mel Brooks, Mickey Rooney, and Rosie Perez… among many others.
- Brooklyn’s density is about 38,000 per square mile (Manhattan density is about 72,000 per square mile)
- Brooklyn is significantly larger than Manhattan, covering about 70 square miles compared to about 23 square miles)
We started our day in Williamsburg at a little breakfast place I knew called Sunday in Brooklyn (but they are oipen every day!) Driving from the hotel to Williamsburg—a mere 2 miles–took about 25 mihutes with traffic and double parked cars, emergency vehicles whizzing by with sirens, and one way streets. But it gave me a chance to show Carol and Adrienne some different neighborhoods and streets and the Hasidic part of Williamsburg merging with the totally gentrified section of Williamsburg. Quite a contrast, but they all seem to make it work. And it’s sort of funny to see Hasidic women shopping in Muji!
But, I digress — before we drove to Williamsburg we walked to see the “mosaic house,” an amazing 1860 townhouse owned by the artist Susan Gardner who has transformed the exterior of the house (maybe the inside as well, but I’ve never been inside!) into a work of art. The facade is encrusted with little pieces of ceramic and old CDs and buttons and crockery, and glass that create images of people and angels and landscape and spirits. Because I think Gardner actually has art training, the parts actually flow well together and create a total image that pull together the many parts. And beyond the visual, the fence surrounding the little “garden area” is covered with anti-Trump signs and slogans, feminist statements, and strong anti-racism posters–which all add to complement the artwork.
We strolled around Williamsburg for several houses; checked out some vintage shops and some cool boutiques, stopped for really good ice cream and finally headed to Fort Greene/Clinton Hill (home of my alma mater). We circled the campus as I tried to explain the neighborhood and then strolled through the sculpture garden, stopped in the wonderful library (opened in 1896) with glass block floors at the stacks, and then headed to meet up with the President (Frances Bronet) who is a friend. She gave us a marvelous tour of the campus (bringing back a lot of memories), and then took us to the President’s house (The Caroline Ladd Pratt House)–all 22,000 sq feet with 9 bathrooms. The house is a sort of Georgian style/Renaissance Revival with a wonderful side yard such that the house does not cit in the center of the lot.
After a really nice visit, we headed to the hotel and then we were off for dinner at a tiny place called Fradei, on South Portland Street (actually sort of close to Pratt)–which means “brothers” in Italian (Venetian dialect). I’d say the food (which is fantastic) has a bit of a French flair, and they use only locally-sourced products. We started with two small salads: a creamy dill cucmber and an heirloom tomato with herbs and a dreamy olive oil, sitting on a bed of what I think was labneh, but maybe some kind of goat cheese. We paired that with a great scallop crudo and then we shared a delicate pasta dish and also a main course: halibut that melted in your mouth. Ended it all with a sponge cake with creme fraiche and raspberry drizzle. And we had a nice French Orange wine.
That’s it for today… More tomorrow.
Day 4 Brooklyn: September 29, 2025
Monday, September 29, 2025. nearly 16,000 steps.
Go Mamdani! Voting has begun in NY. Keeping fingers crossed.
Began the day with a room change here at the ACE Hotel and I am now on the very top floor with a corner room! But I’m not in the room much althoughit is wonderful to see the sun rise over Manhattan and the East River. Anyway, after a nice, quick, and later-than-usual breakfast at the Ace, we headed to the wonderful, iconic, elevated Brooklyn Heights Promenade, driving through the wonderfully tree-lined streets of the Heights and marveling (swooning over) the 19th Century. brownstones and row houses. The walk on the promenade was–as always–delightful, exposing the best views of the Manhattan skyline. We walked to the end and dipped down into Brooklyn Bridge Park–getting close to and under the Brooklyn Bridge.
We p[arked the car right at Cadman Plaza Park which forced us to take a wonderful walk through Brooklyn Heights as we meandered to the Promenade.
Along the way, we decided we needed a little bathroom break, but Brooklyn Heights doesn’t have a lot of commercial streets, so we decided to go into the NY Supreme Court building on Adams Street and see if we could use a rest room. There were about 7 guards, including two who looked like theyr were in full gear including bulletproof vests. But they couldn’t have been more friendly and quickly gave us access to the facilities!
After enjoying a scoop of ice cream at some place that falsely said its product was “world famous,” we got on the ferry to get back to the Cadman Plaza Park area where we had left the car. And then we drove to the Jay Street MetroCenter to head to Roosevelt Island to see the Ai Weiwei installation in honor of the 80th anniversary of the UN.
It was a long subway ride on the F Local. Growing up in Brooklyn, I recall the development of Roosevelt Island (which had been called Welfare Island until 1973). There had been a long abandoned smallpox hospital on the island and historically there had been a penetentiary (which had been built by prisoners), a mental asylum where conditions were horrific and exposed by the press, and perhaps some other buildings and activities. Then in the 70s a residential community was established and the major route for getting to the island was on the aerial “tramway”which you picked up on 59th St and it ran alongside the Queensboro Bridge. Today, you can take the subway to Roosevelt Island, where about 12,000 people live. It’s also the location of a very super-modern tech campus for Cornell University and the Tata Innovation Center. And you can still see the abandoned smallpox hospital and the remains of some other structures including the “lunatic asylum.”
We had come to Roosevelt Island to see the Ai Weiwei installation “Camouflage” — at the Four Freedoms Park, developed in conjunction with the 80th anniversary of the UN. Supposedly the work deals with truth and freedom and the impact of war. I was underwhelmed to say the least. Not worth all the effort to get there. But the layout of the park (which I had never vistied before) was really beautiful. So that was good.
After a brief stop at the hotel, we headed to Laser Wolf for dinner. The restaurant is on the top of the Hoxton Hotel in Williamsburg with great views that surround the whole restaurant. Laser Wolf is considred a “skewer house”–serving a bunch of different kebabs and skewers surrounded by 10 different items in their “salatim” (things like hummus and babaganoush and pineapples with celery and Israeli pickles and spicy cucumbers and Tunisian potatoes, etc. etc. Food was good but not nearly as good as Sofreh (still my favorite of all the Middle Eastern restaurants).
We taxied back and now I’m beat and calling it a day.
Fern
Brooklyn Day 3: September 28, 2025
Sunday, September 28, 2025. Brooklyn
We began the day by moving from the Even Hotel (which should rightly be called the “Un-Even Hotel”) and moved to the ACE around the corner; that had always been the plan. The rates at the Ace for the first two nights were incredibly high so we decided to stay at the Even and then move to the Ace, where we are now comfortably settled.
Once at the Ace, we began the day-long “tour of Brooklyn” with me as the guide–exposing the geography of my childhood. But first it was brunch in Fort Greene at Ms Ada’s where we shared three wonderful dishes: muhamara with homemade pita; shakshuka; and an Israeli salad… and then some chocolate babka. And then we were off!
After brunch (which took us a little out of our route) we headed to Boro Park (Borough Park, although we always spelled it “boro”) where I spent my childhood until I was about 17 or 18–living first at 1337 40th Street (in a very small one-bedroom apartment–maybe 500 sq ft? with my mother, father, and brother) and then when I was 9 we moved two blocks to 1526 40th Street. My entire 17 years were spent in that two-block strip. My grandfather had a small mens clothing store on 13th Avenue–the commercial hot spot of Boro Park, literally around the corner from th1337 house…and later my aunt and uncle had a small children’s clothing store also on 13th Avenue. At the corner of 40th Street and 13th Avenue there was a very tiny pickle store and the owner of that pickle store owned the 4-plex where our family rented a first floor apartment.
We walked the neighborhood a bit. When I was growing up, Boro Park was pretty much a lower-middle class neighborhood of Jewish and Italian working people–mostly skilled labor or working in retail, and a few white collar workers (including my father). We were a pretty homogeneous group and the only real difference between the Jews and the Italians was that we went to public school and most of the Italians went to Catholic schools. We celebrated their holidays and they celebrated ours. We were secular Jews…culturally very affiliated, but not practicing.
The neighborhood is now 100% Hasidic Jews—complete with fur hats and long coats and women with wigs and young girls in long dresses. The four-plex we lived in is now a duplex because the Hasidic families are very large and need room for all those kids. We walked between the houses and strolled a bit on 13th Avenue to see the commercial area. It was quite busy, but felt very much like many cities I have visited in developing countries—indeed much like Cairo or Tunis. All in all, like a foreign country.
We then took a very meandering route to see my high school–a four-story building with an adjacent game field, looking very much like a prison. We had about 3,500/4,000 students in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. From there we headed out to Bensonhurst and Coney Island. We stopped to see the apartment building where Adrienne’s grandmother lived along the way.
Then after whizzing around Coney Island trying to find parking, we finally made our way to the Boardwalk, and had a snack at Tatiana–a Russian restaurant on the boardwalk near the Brighton Beach part of Coney Island, serving mostly Russian and Ukrainian food. We shared an order of “varenki”–a dumpling stuffed with “pot cheese” (a sweet dry cottage cheese) and served with fresh poached cherries. I had the a glass of “kvass” a non-alcoholic fermented drink that is made from rye bread. It’s sweet and sour and a little fizzy. The restaurant was packed with a very very diverse group of diners including several tables of Muslim women.
By then it was close to 6 and we needed to really hustle to get back to the hotel and out for dinner. We ate at Vinegar Hill House, close to DUMBO–a place I have long wanted to try..and now I finally did. We had a great mussels starter (cooked in a very light tomato broth with spices) and then had a tasty rigatoni with lamb ragu, and then halibut with curried squash, poached apricots, sweet peppers and pistachios. Very yummy, and we just had to finish with a chocolate dessert. I’m going to roll out of Brooklyn!
And then it was back to the Ace to finally check in… and that’s a wrap for Day Three Brooklyn. Not as much walking today, but we did manage to put in about 3-1/2 miles (8,200 steps). Tomorrow is another day.
NYC September 27, 2025
Saturday, September 27, 2025
A really long and exhausting… but good..day — 22,000 steps! 9.3 miles.
We started out the morning with brunch at Rucola, a sweet neighborhood restaurant (Boerum Hill) where we wanted to have dinner. We had heard that if you come by in the morning you can get your name on the list for dinner and when you arrive you get put at the top of the list. Weird, but it works. So we decided to have brunch. Then we walked about 2 miles to pick up the rental car at Hertz near Grand Army Plaza. It was primarily an uphill walk …through parts of Park Slope, which was a bit tough and then the wait at Hertz was a bit more than we had planned, but eventually we got our car. Along the walk, we passed two guys (most likely from the Caribbean) who were sitting outside a shop. we chatted for a few minutes when one of the guys said: Wow– you are all the same height, and short! Then he said “one, two , three” pointing to each of us and repeated that he thought it was great that we were all the same size!
We drove just a few blocks to put the car into the parking lot at the Brooklyn Museum. We really didn’t want to get the car that early but the Hertz place closes at 1:00 on Saturdays, so this was the best plan as we would need the car later in the afternoon.
So we started at the Brooklyn Museum.
Strolled through the museum — no particular exhibit although there were some special nods to recent work in conjunction with the 200th anniversary; and ofcourse it’s always worth a revisit to The Dinner Party. I actually like the Brooklyn Museum–it’s a great scale and a very friendly place to view art. From there we strolled through Prospect Heights to have lunch at Gertrude’s–a neighborhood place that serves “Jew-ish” food. Definitely a step above the stuff I was raised with. We shared a latke plate that came with trout roe, creme fraiche, roasted apples, smoked trout and some other goodies; and what they called Hy’s Melt (smoked whitefish salad and melted swiss with tomato, capers, and dill on a sesame bagel). Food was great and we certainly were hungry.
From there we walked back toward the museum but headed to the Botanical Gardens where strolled a bit and took advantage of a few of the benches along the way.
Then we took the car and drove through Park Slope winding in and out of streets and avenues, including making a pit stop in front of the building where Mike lived in an apartment with his mother and brother for about 21 years… and driving through Webster Plad–a very small street which includes a row of very well preserved Queen Anne homes with column porches and wood frames from the 1860s. Then we parked the car (no easy task to find a spot) so that we could walk —yes more walking to get to those 21,000 steps– into Prospect Park to stroll under and through the renovated Endale Arch. But we waited until sunset to see the newly installed LED lights which looks really cool from pictures I’ve seen. We waited and waited and peole-watched as families strolled through the park and as many people packed up their picnic gear to head home at dusk with tons of gear (badminton paddles, tables, chairs, balls, and of course dogs)… but the sun set and no lights. As we started to leave we asked someone about the lights which are supposed to turn on automatically at sunset (6:44 pm tonight)–and his response was very NY: “Probably broken. It is NY!”
Felt really bad not to see the arch with the lighting.. but will either try to catch it on another day… or else next time. We then headed to dinner at Rucola which was now packed and buzzing. We shared a wonderful meal: branzino crudo, with pickled tomatoes, basil, olive oil; a citrus salad with oranges, meyer lemon, fennel, and pistachios; a pasta dish that had corn crema, shrimp, chili sauce; and Arctic char, cooked to perfection with fennel….and ended with a sour cherry pie — a fitting end to add whatever pounds we had lost with all that walking.
Back to the hotel and now I’m headed to bed. Stay tuned for more tomorrow.
Fern
NYC September 26, 2025
Greetings from NHY …
I usually don’t post domestic travel, but hell.. it’s NY and it’s actually a trip to Brooklyn! Our annual “girls trip” — and we decided to head to Brooklyn. I’m sort of the tour leader! Born and raised and educated in Brooklyn gives me a lot of “cred” on this trip.
Carol and I came in last night (Thursday) and stayed at the TWA Hotel at the airport, located in Terminal 5 in the actual Saarinen building from where TWA flights flew. I’ve stayed three times before but it was new for Carol so it was fun to explore the building. It’s the actual “flight center” at JFK. Some of you may renmenber flying in and out of the old Idlewild Airport (the name before it was called JFK) and either using or seeing the TWA terminal which was like no other.
Anyway, the actual terminal opened in 1962 (a year after Saarinen died) and was the headquarters for TWA until TWA went bankrupt in 2001. After more than 15 years of dormancy, the building was restored and reopened as the TWA Hotel in 2019—with the flair of the 1960s permeating the space (music from the 60s everywhere, photo booths, replicas of a 1960 beauty salon, a room to play Twister, and more). We had fun exploring the whole place incluing the infinity pool on the roof where you can swim while planes are buzzing overhead. We had planned to eat at a somewhat mafia restaurant in Queens, but we were exhausted and decided to eat at the hotel and have cocktails at “Connie” located at the hotel—a 1958 Lockheed Constellation airplane turned cocktail lounge parked on the old TWA tarmac. Apparently the plane served as an Alaskan bush plane bringing supplies to Prudhoe Bay and larter was a marijuana dropper after it was no longer with TWA! They have cocktails with names like “Vodka is ny Co-Pilot.”
I have to say, the TWA terminal holds a bit of nostalgia. I don’t think I ever flew into or out of the terminal, but it was definitely a “date destination” when I was in college. You’d just sit in the lounge and watch people coming and going and see them headed to far off places (that I could only dream of at that time!)
This morning (Friday) we met up with Adrienne from Chicago and immediately headed to the subway into Manhattan (the trip is mostly Brooklyn, but there were a few things we wanted to see in Manhattan so this was the day to do that). We headed first to see the Ben Shahn show at the Jewish Museum.
But first it was lunch at LOX located inside the museum. We shared a wonderful chopped herring that was vodka infused! and they served complementary vodka shots with it (they were out of vodka so they substituted gin) and they started with a complementary “Matzo Babka!” And we had a bagel with lox (natch!). Then it was on to the exhibit which was very impressive.
The Ben Shahn show called “On Nonconformity” was very very good and extremely appropriate for these times–dealing with social issues of the 30s, 40s, 50s: unemployment, discrimination, authoritarianism–championing labor and human rights–and Shahn’s philosophy of dissent. The works cover the years between the great depression and the Vietnam War. One of the paintings is of the Supreme Court (when it was a real court). It was done in 1963 and commemorates Brown v Board of Education decision, symbolizing the importance of the court as a space for justice. The justices are very tiny at the bottom of the picture and the columns of the court are towering… it is the court that is important and the spirit of social justice, not the individual justices.
From there we walked down Fifth Avenue to see the renovated Frick Museum–straight out of the Gilded Age. Not exactly my taste, and all I could think was how it was possible for one family to live in such a huge place. Don’t even know how they found their way to their bedrooms.
We stopped into the cafe at the Frick (The Westmoreland) to have some tea and dessert… and then headed back to our hotel in Brooklyn (the Even) to make our 8 pm reservations at Sofreh (my very favorite NY restaurant).
We walked to the restaurant down Flatbush Ave which was bustling and then had a wonderful Persian meal… A butternut squash with strained yogurt, chili roasted pepita seeds, and a spiced butter glaze; .. and a Persian flat bread with feta and herbs, walnuts, and radish; … and a sort of Israeli salad.. .all followed by a lamb shank that just melted in your mouth, cooked with butter beans, dill, and lime… alongside a complex basmati rice dish with carrots and rosewater and different spices (dill, fennel, cilantro I think). For dessert we had a pistachio/rosewater/saffron ice cream with a cardamom rose cake. Totally wonderful.
Given that we had now clocked in at more than 15,000 steps (more than 6 miles) we decided to taxi back to the hotel.
Ah Brooklyn!!
Cambodia . December 2002
TEXT TO COME
Fern's Travel Notes 