Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Mulberry Street?
Made it to the San Gennaro Festival today/Saturday, which was a lot of fun!
Up early, got ready. Wore the same outfit as I’d planned for last weekend, when we were originally supposed to go (things came up & we had to cancel), except with my hair up this time. Managed to get a few things done before meeting Allison at the bus station. (We took the bus 'cuz it costs the same as the train, but you don't have to pay for parking.)
It was a nice ride, & I saw some things/places I hadn't seen before. Even Port Authority (the NYC bus station), I'd never been to, as I've always taken the train, so that was new, as well. Took a couple of different subway lines, too. Learning something new all the time.
Before the Italian festival, however, we decided to grab a light lunch (I love Italian food, but it tends to be somewhat heavy, & my digestive system has been a bit disagreeable of late). Thought we'd try Sushi Mambo, a Japanese restaurant which we'd seen on our previous excursion. Unfortunately, they didn't have the bento lunch special (apparently, that's only on weekdays), but we got something very nice in lieu of that. Allison had the Oyako-don, while I opted for the Nabeyaki Udon. I'd have gone for a donburi dish like hers, but I really wanted to try those naruto kamaboko (steamed fish cakes, spiral-patterned, like in Uzumaki)! It was great, lots of big chunks of veggies...nice, warm broth (the morning was chilly)...they bring it to you in a hot-pot, with the bowl on the side. I just wish I could master the art of eating udon with chopsticks. O.o *someday*
After lunch, walked down to Mulberry St., where the main part of the festival was. Took about 15 minutes (maybe less). We were now in Little Italy, another part of the City I'd never been to. The place was packed! The streets were decorated with banners & such, marking the festival, as well as Italian & US flags. On either side of the street were stands & stalls, almost all of them food-related. There were also games & prizes (like the kind you'd see at the boardwalk as a kid), a few vendors here & there, along with outdoor dining areas for the local Italian eateries. There was just about every kind of Italian food known to man there: lots of pasta, sausage, pizza, calzone, & desserts galore - cakes, cookies, biscotti, cannoli, zeppole, gelato...even deep-fried Oreos!
Walked up & down Mulberry (seemed like a really long street!) & Mott (these were the 2 main streets of the festival), looking at all the goodies, which also included some rides for the kids. There was an 'attraction', like the old freak shows, advertising a 'snake girl' (part human, part serpent), but we didn't go in.
As Little Italy & Chinatown overlap a bit, & I'd always wanted to see Chinatown, too (particularly the oft-spoken of Canal Street), Allison was kind enough to walk me around both sections, watching me be a total tourist as I snapped shots of cool buildings in the area & bits of Chinatown that caught my eye.
Back to Little Italy, where we had some sorbetto (more of a sorbet, whereas gelato is like ice cream). She had something fruity - was it raspberry? - & I had coconut. We walked up to the church where they had the San Gennaro shrine outside, & inside, they house the statue of the saint, which is paraded through the streets on the feast day. It turned out to be much better that we didn't go last week, ‘cuz Saturday (19 Sept.) was the actual saint’s day, & were able to see the procession of the statue, which we wouldn’t have caught otherwise.
Our friend & former co-worker, Glen, had been attending Rosh Hashanah services uptown, but he called Allison to say he had a couple of free hours, so we met him where he'd gotten off the subway & took him down to the festival. I bought a couple of t-shirts denoting the occasion (1 for me, 1 for my mom), while Glen got some pizza & Allison shared her water with me. It was starting to get warm! Even the weather was on our side.
Heading into the afternoon, we watched the procession of the San Gennaro statue (I took video clips, too - there was a band playing, which did an upbeat, semi-jazzy rendition of "When The Saints Go Marching In" with trumpets). Got some zeppole (deep-fried dough with powdered sugar, kind of like donuts, but a little chewier, & hollow) & shared that as we walked back with Glen to the subway station, where we saw him off.
Allison & I then went back to the festival to buy cannoli. They had this one stall with these cute little 'baby' cannoli, in new & interesting flavours. I got an original, a mint chocolate chip, & the Almond Lovejoy (almond & coconut). One of the ones she got was pumpkin pie, I'll have to ask her how that tasted! Afterward, we walked around for a bit, hunting down a particular stall that had a good deal on regular-sized cannoli, which we'd promised a couple of people at work we'd bring back for them (we saved some zeppole, too, since we'd promised those to others). Found it at last, bought the snacks (I made a quick call to my mom at this point), & headed back to catch the subway ourselves.
While walking Glen to the subway, we'd passed a little Chinese shop that had those parasols hanging, the pretty, Asian ones which everybody seems to have but no one seems to sell. Well, on our way back, we stopped there, & they actually sold them! I got a very nice green one at a very reasonable price.
Caught our train, made our way back to the bus station, & just managed to snag the 6:30 bus! Parted ways at the bus station back in Jersey, after which I drove my very tired butt back home. Snarfed my cannoli, called my mom to detail the day, & took a much-needed nap.
Not planning on doing much of anything tomorrow!
Up early, got ready. Wore the same outfit as I’d planned for last weekend, when we were originally supposed to go (things came up & we had to cancel), except with my hair up this time. Managed to get a few things done before meeting Allison at the bus station. (We took the bus 'cuz it costs the same as the train, but you don't have to pay for parking.)
It was a nice ride, & I saw some things/places I hadn't seen before. Even Port Authority (the NYC bus station), I'd never been to, as I've always taken the train, so that was new, as well. Took a couple of different subway lines, too. Learning something new all the time.
Before the Italian festival, however, we decided to grab a light lunch (I love Italian food, but it tends to be somewhat heavy, & my digestive system has been a bit disagreeable of late). Thought we'd try Sushi Mambo, a Japanese restaurant which we'd seen on our previous excursion. Unfortunately, they didn't have the bento lunch special (apparently, that's only on weekdays), but we got something very nice in lieu of that. Allison had the Oyako-don, while I opted for the Nabeyaki Udon. I'd have gone for a donburi dish like hers, but I really wanted to try those naruto kamaboko (steamed fish cakes, spiral-patterned, like in Uzumaki)! It was great, lots of big chunks of veggies...nice, warm broth (the morning was chilly)...they bring it to you in a hot-pot, with the bowl on the side. I just wish I could master the art of eating udon with chopsticks. O.o *someday*
After lunch, walked down to Mulberry St., where the main part of the festival was. Took about 15 minutes (maybe less). We were now in Little Italy, another part of the City I'd never been to. The place was packed! The streets were decorated with banners & such, marking the festival, as well as Italian & US flags. On either side of the street were stands & stalls, almost all of them food-related. There were also games & prizes (like the kind you'd see at the boardwalk as a kid), a few vendors here & there, along with outdoor dining areas for the local Italian eateries. There was just about every kind of Italian food known to man there: lots of pasta, sausage, pizza, calzone, & desserts galore - cakes, cookies, biscotti, cannoli, zeppole, gelato...even deep-fried Oreos!
Walked up & down Mulberry (seemed like a really long street!) & Mott (these were the 2 main streets of the festival), looking at all the goodies, which also included some rides for the kids. There was an 'attraction', like the old freak shows, advertising a 'snake girl' (part human, part serpent), but we didn't go in.
As Little Italy & Chinatown overlap a bit, & I'd always wanted to see Chinatown, too (particularly the oft-spoken of Canal Street), Allison was kind enough to walk me around both sections, watching me be a total tourist as I snapped shots of cool buildings in the area & bits of Chinatown that caught my eye.
Back to Little Italy, where we had some sorbetto (more of a sorbet, whereas gelato is like ice cream). She had something fruity - was it raspberry? - & I had coconut. We walked up to the church where they had the San Gennaro shrine outside, & inside, they house the statue of the saint, which is paraded through the streets on the feast day. It turned out to be much better that we didn't go last week, ‘cuz Saturday (19 Sept.) was the actual saint’s day, & were able to see the procession of the statue, which we wouldn’t have caught otherwise.
Our friend & former co-worker, Glen, had been attending Rosh Hashanah services uptown, but he called Allison to say he had a couple of free hours, so we met him where he'd gotten off the subway & took him down to the festival. I bought a couple of t-shirts denoting the occasion (1 for me, 1 for my mom), while Glen got some pizza & Allison shared her water with me. It was starting to get warm! Even the weather was on our side.
Heading into the afternoon, we watched the procession of the San Gennaro statue (I took video clips, too - there was a band playing, which did an upbeat, semi-jazzy rendition of "When The Saints Go Marching In" with trumpets). Got some zeppole (deep-fried dough with powdered sugar, kind of like donuts, but a little chewier, & hollow) & shared that as we walked back with Glen to the subway station, where we saw him off.
Allison & I then went back to the festival to buy cannoli. They had this one stall with these cute little 'baby' cannoli, in new & interesting flavours. I got an original, a mint chocolate chip, & the Almond Lovejoy (almond & coconut). One of the ones she got was pumpkin pie, I'll have to ask her how that tasted! Afterward, we walked around for a bit, hunting down a particular stall that had a good deal on regular-sized cannoli, which we'd promised a couple of people at work we'd bring back for them (we saved some zeppole, too, since we'd promised those to others). Found it at last, bought the snacks (I made a quick call to my mom at this point), & headed back to catch the subway ourselves.
While walking Glen to the subway, we'd passed a little Chinese shop that had those parasols hanging, the pretty, Asian ones which everybody seems to have but no one seems to sell. Well, on our way back, we stopped there, & they actually sold them! I got a very nice green one at a very reasonable price.
Caught our train, made our way back to the bus station, & just managed to snag the 6:30 bus! Parted ways at the bus station back in Jersey, after which I drove my very tired butt back home. Snarfed my cannoli, called my mom to detail the day, & took a much-needed nap.
Not planning on doing much of anything tomorrow!