34) Canada Day: A Brooklyn Story

I spend a lot of time eating in New York. And when I am not eating, I am scoping out the never ending array of gourmet grocery stores. I walked 40 blocks to the "Gourmet Garage" this evening - the only place to sell a lemon-artichoke pesto.

This morning, Greg and I ventured into the heart of Brooklyn to eat at the famed "Junior's," a restaurant so popular that Greg's mother in Boulder, Colorado had recommeded the establishment, although she has never been herself.

Perhaps the most memorable aspect of my breakfast - deep fried french toast and turkey sausages - was the cup of OIL that was offered as a side garnish, alongside the apple and raisin jam and syrup.



The previous evening, Soriaya's parents fresh from a two day drive from Indiana, took us to Taka sushi in Greenwich Village - an astoundingly delicious meal of spicy tuna rolls!

























On the advice of some Israeli girls gleaned during subway ride conversation, Nathan and I headed to the Brooklyn Art Gallery for an afternoon "art bash."











A $10 cover fee provided entry onto the grounds of the gallery for an outdoor DJ show. Refreshments were sold in a room illuminated solely in cotton candy pink neon bulbs. The more the crowd drank, the, more the crowd danced.

Of the many colourful people we encountered - the impressario of a shower curtain empire. Our meeting was all thanks to Nathan, who happens to know the son of Britain's plastic shower curtin ring king (not to be confused with the metal shower curtin ring king!)















There was complimentary entrance into the various galleries of modern art - from empty rooms with a single canvas depicting a lone coloured dot on its surface, to multicoloured popsicle stick constructions discussing the fickle nature of human emotions.













We eventually found our way to Prospect Park (the Central Park of Brooklyn) for another Canada Day concert featuring the Stills, Malajube and Sam Roberts. Having coerced my fellow interns into attending, I felt confident that they had glimpsed a fine display of Canadian culture. They spent most of the evening quizzing me on "who is really Canadian" in the pantheon of Hollywood celebrities.