Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Irish Pub, Guggenheim Art, and Dutch Food


I woke up this morning dreading to go to work because it was snowing heavily outside. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that today is much warmer than yesterday, despite the snow and cloudy sky. Instead of 17 degrees like yesterday, it is now 28 degrees. I was further delighted by the atmosphere at work this morning because the Academy Award nominations were just released and "The Kids Are All Right" is nominated for four awards, including Best Picture. Focus Features also was nominated for three other awards for their foreign film, "Biutiful," and Best Original Screenplay for "Another Year." Read more about it!

http://nbcu.ge.com/portal/site/nbcu/menuitem.01401ef8c122077a7d29e510b70811ca/?content_id=4529659&root_portlet_id=4761

I was warmly greeted by a pot of coffee and an assortment of bagels in the kitchen as a celebratory breakfast. Who has the best internship ever? Me.

Saturday was wonderful because we got to stay in from the cold and relax. That night, I researched the best New York City Irish pubs. I read about 15 different pubs, then decided to go to one in Astoria, rather than in Manhattan. We figured the prices would be better in Astoria. I called the pub to ask whether they served food and a woman with a thick Irish accent answered. She was very friendly and informed me they did not serve food but to feel free to bring my own or order in at the pub. Wonderful. We ate at a more family friendly pub called Cronin and Phelan's, then walked about 12 minutes to the pub that didn't serve food, called "The Quays." Don't be fooled, the pronounciation is not "qways"-- it's "keys."

We got to the pub and found it quite empty, except for about 5 scruffy men at the bar drinking Budweiser. I was with two of my roommates and Anthony. We were the only girls in the bar. We ordered our drinks and backed off from the bar into a table near the back. I told Lauren I felt bad for coming into this manly, neighborhood, Irish pub. She said they were probably happy to have young people in there. I was skeptical. I think Julia was feeling my side as well.

However, we were not there five minutes until an old Irish man came up to our table and asked Julia to dance with him. She said she was not a good dancer and that she was okay. This man seemed quite drunk. But then the bartender (a younger guy) assured us he was harmless and in fact a co-owner of the bar. So Lauren was brave and got up to dance with him.

He was as lively and jolly as you can imagine an old Irishman to be. After he danced with Lauren, he danced with me and then Julia. The music was from a juke box, so we danced to everything from Johnny Cash to Andrea Bocelli to Michael Jackson. He actually reminded me of Ricky, my grandfather, who indeed comes from Irish ancestry. Loved it. From then on, our whole table was welcomed by other people in the pub and we were given free drinks for the rest of the night. By the time we left, more people had come, and definitely more women were in there. Anthony especially loved the place because it truly feels like a neighborhood pub where you can get to know the regulars and learn their stories. We'll be back someday for sure.

On Sunday, I got to meet my wonderful aunt for brunch at a place called Cafeteria in the Chelsea area. It was so great to see her and catch up! The food is fabulous there and I will definitely be taking my roommates back to it. Aunt B knew that I really have no idea how to dress for cold weather, so she helped me find new gloves, boots, and a hat to keep warm in this crazy, icy weather. THANK YOU AUNT B! All of those items help a million times better than what I brought, and I got to wear my new snow boots for the first time today. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

On Monday, I decided to use my day off NOT to sleep and watch TV, but to go out and see some sights. This is a big deal for me people. We keep our little heater on 78 degrees so we can blissfully walk around in t-shirts in our apartment and watch TV like we're back in Texas. But yesterday Lauren and I braved the 17 degree weather to go see some art at the famous Guggenheim museum.

The collection was small due to renovations, but my favorites from the collection were Manet's "Before the Mirror,"








Van Gogh's "Landscape with Snow,"

Monet's "View of The Ducal Palace from San Giorgio,"






and Picasso's "Woman with Yellow Hair."

Can you tell I am a cliched Impressionist fan? That style of painting never ceases to amaze me. I can't wait to see more! Next museum on the list: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, obviously. It's closed on Mondays so I'll have to go on a Saturday or Sunday.



Next we went to the New York Public Library.

What is this famous for you might ask? Not because it's one of the largest, oldest libraries in the US, but because it was in the Sex and the City movie of course! This was the location where Sarah Jessica Parker was to have her famous dream wedding, only to be dumped on the day of. Anyways, Lauren and I wandered around and took pictures of the beautiful architecture.

After we went to the library, we got dinner at a Dutch restuarant in Soho called Vandaag. Lauren ordered some "bitterballin" and I ordered the fish entree. It was really gourmet and tasty. The most interesting part of the meal was my cocktail I'd say. It was a belgian beer with pineapple liquor and fresh lime. I've never tasted anything like it but it was great! We made it back to the apartment around 8 PM, having had a very culture-filled day.

Now I am here in my cubicle, appearing to be very busy. But hey! I already filled out an excel sheet with Hotel information and I am on call for my boss whenever she needs me.

Much love from the snowy New York,

KA

1 comment:

  1. Dude!! I know what you mean about the cold and not being ready for it! I just bought a long coat yesterday since I was freezing and realized I didn't own one. It makes the biggest difference! I love that you saw the impressionsit art, so awesome! :)

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