FOOD DAY

As we got ready to leave home this morning I realized that I had left  my visor somewhere last night & by a process of elimination it  was Gandhi's. So after breakfast we headed to the village to get it. I  know it's dorky, but it really makes the day more comfortable. It was there. We walked around Greenwich village for awhile looking at all 
the super expensive shops and then decided to go to the world trade center site. As we were walking from the subway to the WTC area we went by this place in lower Manhattan.  A giant Amish market. I thought it might have the cool Amish stuff we've seen in the stores in Lancaster PA and thereabouts, but it turned out to be just a sort of Amish version of Zabar's.  So the picture is all there is.

We went on to the Trade Center area and found that they have a preview there of what the memorial is going to be but it wasn't open & the memorial itself won't open until September 
11.  The construction on the new World Financial Center is moving 
right along. The building in this picture is now about half as high as 
it's going to be. There is a hood deal of construction going on, 
because other buildings were damaged as well.
With no museum or memorial to visit, we were forced to go to Century  21 which is a HUGE discount department store. There is really cheap  stuff, like things that are damaged, and deeply discounted designer stuff. But it's actually overwhelming for someone whose comfort level  is a medium-sized thrift store.




Flatiron building

 Once we left there we had lunch and then took the subway to 23d St in  the flatiron districy to go to Eataly, a new eatery and food emporium.  Think Harrod's food hall where everything is Italian. 
We had a ciacollata and a gelato, no surprise there, looked at all the 
food-- again, the place was overwhelming. Lots of stuff that looked 
good but could I bring it home?  Probably not. So we came home with 
our purchases in our bellies.

John had a backache, so we came home after Eataly go and had dinner here!  This is only the second time we've eaten in the apartment since we got here.  The first time it was leftovers from Saigon, this time is was takeout. 
After dinner I went to Thalia, which is also known as Symphony Space.  It's a small theater just two blocks away, and they have been hosting part of a summer singing program where you can pay to go sing with professional singers and members of, at least tonight, the Riverside Chorale.  We sang the Bach B Minor Mass, which clearly wasn't written for a giant chorus, and not for amateurs, but it was fun anyway.  I didn't embarrass myself, but I really couldn't get the Latin words all that well.  I was okay with the notes, and there was no complex counting involved in the alto part.  But I'm not a singer by a long shot.  The soloists were mostly good -- I thought the tenor had a bit of trouble with the high notes, and the amateur singers were remarkably good.  But then, this is New York.