I'm taking an excursion up the Hudson valley to explore two historical homes in this scenic part of the state. I caught the train which follows the Hudson River, the views are lovely but you cannot see the towns that must dot the Bronx shore. I arrive in Sleepy Hollow and get a cab to lyndhurst castle first, a gorgeous castle like home owned by various owners until it was left in trust to the heritage society. The grounds are beautiful and there is a 100 year ...

Today I am back in the lower east side at the Tenement museum to do the final two tours - Foods of the lower east side and Shop life. As today is going to be about grazing on local food, I thought I would go all out and have a street food brunch. I returned to Washington square where Jane and I did the Greenwich village food tour and bought some falafel and a slice of the white artichoke pizza, and took these and had a picnic in Washington park. So good, but ther...

Today I was up and in the city early, and making my way towards hells kitchen when I got distracted by some shopping ! I've noticed the sales are starting ahead of memorial weekend, so I picked up a couple of summer pieces at 30% off. My punishment was to have to carry the cumbersome bag with me for the rest of the day. My destination is not really anywhere near the subway, so I got to walk through a new area, Hell's Kitchen. This area has gentrified like most ...

I'm returning to the lower east side today, to see some more of the tenement museum and this very interesting neighbourhood. I have been thinking alot about my last visit to the museum thanks to the news story about the horrific building collapse in Bangladesh that killed all those garment workers who were working in very unsafe conditions. The garment industry was what the lower east side was known for, and at the turn of the century a fire broke out in a large ...

Yesterday was a quiet at home day to catch up on domestic chores, but also because a cold weather front came in that dropped the temperatures down to single digits and I did not want to risk the weather while still having the tail end of a cold. Still, it was nice to stay warm inside and curl up with some magazines and music. Today I'm off to MoMA, for more amazing art. It's another cool day so it made sense to stay somewhere warm and protected. I like this ...