DAAWGS!!!

We had a great day today out and about in Brooklyn NY.  We are staying in a hotel in Manhattan, so we took the subway downtown & then walked across the Brooklyn Bridge with snow flurries & a dark sky.  It is a fun walk across the famous bridge, high above the traffic lanes & beautiful vistas of the towering buildings as well as the statue of liberty.  We passed an entourage of NY Jet fans marching from Brooklyn into Manhattan… I guess kicking off the NFL postseason.   We walked a little circle in Brooklyn hitting the downtown, Brooklyn Heights, and Dumbo.  They have some great plans for improving the river front area which should be a beautiful space with wonderful views of Manhattan when finished in 5 years or so.  Great fun walking through the neighborhoods, checking out apartments, marveling at the density, and mystified about how snow removal ever happens on the narrow streets.

Then we hoped the Q train to head further into Brooklyn for lunch.  We got off at Ave J & walked a block to Di Fara Pizza… a tiny hole in the wall place, reputed to have the best pizza in NYC.  Well the critics were right, the pizza was excellent… the whole place is a one may show… an old guy in his 70s at least, who does everything (except take your money).  He is also the only guy I’ve seen so far in NYC that isn’t in a hurry.  The place is a dump… dirty, unkempt, small, falling apart… but packed with pizza lovers.  Everything is fresh, the herbs are even growing in the store window fronts, and lovingly handled.  If you are in the area, it is worth the trip (& the wait) for a Di Fara pie.

We closed out the day at the Brooklyn Museum… rock & roll photos/videos and the Egyptian exhibits were very good.  They also had done a great job of putting a modern lobby onto the old existing building… we had to check the leftover pizza box & everyone joked about eating it… luckily all the slices were still there when we left.  Looks like pizza for dinner tonight as well.

Thanks to Aaron’s suggestion, we brought long underwear along on the trip, so we stayed toasty despite walking for long stretches in the windy 20 degree weather.