At first Hera was thinking of not bringing her camera, but I convinced her otherwise. She decided to shoot today in black and white, although I tried to convince her otherwise to no avail.
Walking North in the East village we came across the oldest church in New York City, St. Mark's-in-the-Bowery Church, dating back to 1799. The church stands on the same site as the original 1660 chapel that the Dutch Govenor Peter Stuyvesant on his large bouwerie, which is Dutch for farm. Two aged statues depicting native Amerindians, one named "Aspiration," and the other named "Inspiration" stand outside the church.
The adjoining cemetary holds the tombs of Governor Stuyvesant, along with seven generations of his family, as well as several other notable people.
We walked down this diagonal street that I had earlier wrote is one of the few true East-West Streets, that the wealthy of the time saved from the Grid structure that was being imposed on Manhatten. As the wealth moved further North, these mansions were taken over as brothels. Organized crime moved in, the parties caused such a racket on the streets, which is where we now get the term "racketeering" to described such criminal activities.
Walking West, we crossed The Bowery Street. North of here it is 4th Avenue, while South of here, into the East Village, Little Italy and China Town the street is called The Bowery. Govenor Peter Stuyvesant larger bouwerie (farm) played a role that I am sure he never envisioned.
Heading towards Greenwich Village we came across delightful small cobble-stoned street called Washington Mews which once housed the stables for the wealthy homes around Washington Square. Grass sprouting between the cobble stones, lovely flowers on windowsill flower boxes, and ivy climbing the walls of these low houses.
Unlike the week before, when mobs of people walked streets closed to traffic, Greenwich Village was back to normal. Locals and tourists alike roamed the streets. The various angled streets are wonderful places to stroll. Each street seems to be an enclave of its own. Picturesque buildings of various sorts, a wide variety of shops and boutiques, and of course, restaurants of all types.
You do not have to spend much money to eat excellent food in New York. That is not to say, that spending some money on a fine restaurant does not give you value for your money. We found a wonderful restaurant called Sant Anbroeus (www.santambroeus.com). We sat outside and we each ordered a glass of their Savuto'Odoardi 2005 for $11 a glass. It had a wonderful multi-layered nose. So often we have tasted some wines with a phenomenal aroma only to be disappointed by its taste, but that was not the case with this wine. Its flavor was a complex of dark fruits, good structure, with a long smokey aftertaste.
Hera ordered their mildy spicy "Fusillone All'Arrabbiata," while I had their home made ravioli with ricotta and baby spinach. Each plate was delicious. Just perfect on such a wonderful day. We even had the company of a little bird that kept visiting us throughout our meal.
To end it off, we each had a double expresso and a wonderfully light Tiramisu.
Rested and without the humidity we had endured the week before, we headed deeper into Greenwich Village. Walking into various shops and boutiques, as we meandered about the multitude of small streets.
While here for just a week, our neighborhood felt like home. While it is our last day, it will not be the last time we visit New York.
Notes from Hera (the photographer) : During the entire trip I have used a Panasonic Lumix G1 camera, with a 14mm-45mm Lumix lens ONLY. Most of my shots were shot on Manual mode f stop set at f/8... Every black and white image was shot in the camera. I did slight editing to all my images. Almost all the images were shot hand held, except Infared shots and night shots at the Brooklyn Bridge.
Dring our travels I beleive in traveling light in camera gear. My Lumix G1 is a wonderful camera that creates good quality images to my liking. Some of my photography from Lumix G1 have been enlarged as large as 20"x30" wall art prints...
Heavy duty camera gear doesn't make you a good photographer. The camera is just a tool of the craft...
I have several audio visual shows planned from my trips. So therefor what I have shared with you at this Blog are just tiny teasers.
Cheers,
Anthony & Hera
