out to brooklyn

 greenwich village was looking particularly beautiful today (this is looking south from 14th street and sixth avenue towards jefferson market library). chanda and i were out early this morning for a dental appointment. we both had a cavity to be filled, unfortunately. afterwards, we had a treat at the scandinavia house across the street, and then chanda went to have a student cut her hair at the arrojo hair salon (it's part of a class and can take several hours).

then i met her at the joe coffee shop that is housed in a car dealership on hudson street. 

 it's very open and airy, and feels very modern.

 nice haircut . . perfect for playing the artist vermeer in her saturday night dance concert.

 the bathrooms here are clean and look like they belong in an architecture magazine.

 looking past the cars to the coffee bar . . 

 i ordered a decaf mocha today, made with almond milk. then we took the train out to brooklyn for an orchestra concert two friends were playing in.

 we were early so we had dinner at park cafe . . 

 we've eaten here many times in the past when we used to live in brooklyn.

 greg made it in time for dinner.

 seventh avenue, park slope: part of our old neighborhood (we lived on the other side of flatbush avenue in prospect heights).

 chanda requested a visit to the food coop where we used to shop. she said that she missed it and i said that i would shop there again if she came with me each time . .

 on union street, outside the coop.

 the little things toy store where we used to buy one dollar sticker books . . 

 they're doing so well that they have two shops on the same block!

 it was nice to see that the connecticut muffin company still had their store on the corner with the outdoor benches.

 the local elementary school that has a flea market every weekend. we once bought a dresser from here that korrina still uses.

our friend tony was highlighed in the concert, playing a flute solo from mozart's don giovanni.

 our friend jeanette was in the orchestra playing viola. she's the second woman in white on the right.

warming up . . 

they also played tchaikovsky's symphony number four, which was incredibly beautiful.

beautiful brooklyn heights

 greg and chanda didn't want to drive into brooklyn heights for my friend's orchestra concert so since i still insisted we take the car, i was pleased when we were able to find a parking spot just one block from the church in very little time. in fact, we found a spot in front of one of the prettiest houses . . see the stairs going up to the blue house with the windowboxes? chanda and i found it incredibly pretty. well, all the houses in brooklyn heights are worth exclaiming over. chanda hadn't been in years. she was surprised at the beauty of the neighborhood, in part because it has been protected from unchecked development since 1965, and has been a prominent, affluent area of the city since 1834.

 brooklyn heights has one of the most breathtaking views of manhattan from it's esplanade . . 

 which runs along the waterfront and above the brooklyn queens expressway.

 i used to bring the girls to the pierrepont playground when they were little. it's nice that chanda does still remember this (she was only two and a half years old).

 we walked along the esplanade to the playground and then to montague street to find a place to eat.

 we settled on "pinto," a thai restaurant which chanda was very pleased with.

it was really nice and we sat at the table i had seen from outside . . 

 greg had garlic chicken and vegetables . . 

chanda and i shared curried vegetables and curried chicken . . it was spicier than i thought it would be, but very good.

 my friend's concert was at plymouth church, a congregational church founded in 1847.

 waiting to begin . .  the brooklyn conservatory community orchestra played khachaturian's masquerade suite (1941) which was my favorite. they also played brahms' symphony no. 2 in d major (which was jeanette's favorite) and ravel's tzigane for violin and orchestra (with an amazing emerging violinist named alice ivy pemberton, who is currently in her first year at julliard's four year program).

  jeanette and her husband tony, whose mom was also at the concert. it was nice to meet her after hearing so much about her delicious cooking!

 after the concert, i went upstairs with jeanette to get her coat and viola case. i had never seen the sanctuary before. it was very large and old and dark! and very new england. it felt much like the quaker meeting house on 15th street and third avenue where greg and i used to go in the 90's. of course it might feel very different in the daytime.

henry ward beecher was the church's first minister and spoke openly against slavery (the church was a stop on the underground railroad), also hosting speakers such as sojouner truth and frederick douglass. in 1860, abraham lincoln attended church twice during his campaign to be president. a plaque marks his place on a pew.

the aeolian-skinner organ installed in 1904 and restored in the 1990's.

sunday in the city

morgana and i visited one of our favorite restaurants for breakfast this morning, the place. she had their eggs alaska and i had a three egg omelette.

she also had their raspberry and passionfruit dessert.

our friend's apartment is right above and we needed to check in on minerva as her owner is away . . 

 minerva really loves to play . .

 she's so funny.

 afterwards we went to our friends' string festival at a local elementary school.

 the school is an old building and i thought it was really nice (for a school) . . 

 beautiful windows . . 

 and marble floors and heavy metal railings  . . they don't build like this anymore. everything has to be so cheap.

 our friend is in the second row in the pink dress.

surprise symphony by franz joseph haydn.

 her brother is in the second row in the turquoise shirt (love that color!)

concerto for two violins in d minor by johann sebastian bach (so beautiful . . i loved when chanda played this at third street).

final twinkle playdown with everyone on stage (we always enjoyed these string stravaganzas at third street).

 afterwards they had food and drink upstairs in the "new" edition . . here is a view of some rooftop gardens.

 morgana with our friends who are two very happy parents here (i actually think the parents have more fun than the children).

 we walked home past chelsea market and stopped to buy shrimp for dinner and also half price brownies after 5 pm for morgana to take on her ski trip tomorrow morning.

 the fat witch's brownies are so good!

 the sky was so beautiful when we got back outside . .