this past Saturday, Linda and I finally made it to the dragon boats races in Queens. In previous years we'd always managed to hear about it only after it was over. So we trekked out on the 7 train to see it this year. And it was ...just OK. Mostly because you can't get very near the boats. It's hard even to find a vantage point where it's possible to see who wins. Still it was a beautiful day for a trip to Flushing Meadows.
This is the Saw Lady. She was playing a musical saw at the Union Square station
I do a chiropractic trade every other week with my friend Michael. His office is close to Union Square. It's pretty much a given that there will be something to take note of. This week I unfortunately missed getting a shot of the tall skinny guy with the Jesus hair and beard, dancing to New Age music, clad only in a green sequined Speedo (reminded me of old Telegraph Ave. days in Berkeley). But I did get a shot of these pigeons made of felt and their intriguing patron.
No idea
After our day of serious Lyonnaise food (which followed a week of serious meals on the boat), we decided to make use of the fact that we're staying in an apartment and do some urban foraging - not at all difficult in this town. First we fortified ourselves with breakfast out in Vieux Lyon where we had the requisite cafe creme and a gallette complete - the latter is a buckwheat crepe with ham and cheese inside and a fried egg tucked in so that the yolk peeks out. Next we hit the farmer's market around the corner from our hotel for some cheese and veg. Then our big outing for the day was to walk across town to Les Halles, the food market which is sponsored by Paul Bocuse, known as the most famous chef in Lyon (or so we're told). There we got some imterestimg extras like tiny Armenian eggplant rollatini, handmade blue potato chips, a really tasty eggplant and pepper tapenade, and some fresh butter and lettuces. A couple of stops on the way home for wine, bread, and a few extras like salad dressing and we had a beautiful lighter dinner than what we've been eating. No suffering here. (Sorry if the poctures aren't in the right order. Still struggling with uploading them.
Yesterday we stuck a little closer to home and had a relaxed day. Went for a walk around the neighborhood making only one "goal-oriented stop" (see next post). We've enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Citadines near the Place Jacobins. It's right in the heart of the City with several plazas with surrounding cafes to sit at, right near the Saone river with easy a cess across a foot bridge to the old town, and lots of restaurants within the surrounding few blocks. There's also a great fruit and vegetable store, a bakery, a farmer's market, a supermarket, and even a healthfood store so I can get gliten-free products - all within 2 blocks. We were initially worried about the proximity to restaurants ans bars from a noise perspective, but the double glazed windows do a great job of keeping the sound out. Beds verycomfortable. And all for 100 euros a night. Pretty darn good.
Linda actually had her 60th birthday on the boat. She had asked that I not request a special cake or singing, but as I was leaving our stateroom, the cleaner asked me which one of us was having the birthday. As I walked over to meet Linda in the dinig room, the Maitre D mentioned a birthday as well. We realized they have our passport information and must track it that way. So in addition to the regular desert, the waitstaff brought a cake for the whole table and sang happy birthday in about 6 accents and possibly as many different keys, but with great earnestness. Made Linda smile in the end.
Linda took many more photos, but here are two to give an idea. One is of two of the office buildings. The guidebooks note that there is a "Cube Jaune" (yellow cube), but we were never sure if this (to us) green cube was it or whether we just didn't find it. The other photo is a shot of the bank of lounging sofas we found in the supermall (how civilized) and in the background you can see some of the apartment buildings. There's also a marina between the mall and the apartments.
Wednesday was the departure date from our boat, but our plan was to stay on in Lyon for a few days so we asked for a 3:00 taxi and strolled around the neighborhood near the boat. The southern end of the peninsula we were docked at is called Le Confluence - where the Rhone and Saone rivers come together. We decided that this area is Lyon's DUMBO. It is an old warehouse area now converted to upscale apartment buildings, art studios, and a very interesting museum. The Musee des Confluence takes the neighborhood's name and expands it to be the confluence of ideas, cultures, and art. Very eclectic and engaging collection with many interactive exhibits that have elements of anthropology, natural history, art, sociology, and politics. Our favorite was a small room with an interactive sceen in a table in the center of the room. You had to drag different inventions together to form the elements of a new invention - e.g. photographs, sound recording, light projection, and film to make cinematography. You are coached by a screen on the wall with a man's head Hmming, ahing and advising as you drag and drop. If you assemble all the correct elements, you get a short talk by the man on how the new invention came together.
Linda loved the atchitecture of the place and spent a happy time photographing from multiple perspectives. We had lunch in the rooftop cafe looking over the two rivers.