A day on Arthur Avenue

When the kids were young we used to go to the Bronx Zoo when the weather just started to get warm.  We also frequented the Botanical Gardens. Afterward we would go over to Arthur Avenue.  I have not been back in years so it was a real treat going back for a NY outing.

We started at Wave Hill.  What a magical place.  28 acres located in Riverdale sitting on the Hudson.  What is truly amazing is that without traffic you could be in midtown in 15 minutes.  The views are breathtaking.  The grounds are so clean that if you wanted to you could walk around barefoot.

This tree took me in.  As a kid I just loved climbing up as far as I could possibly go.

The flowers were in bloom everywhere. 

Great Performances has been the food vendor there for 20 years.  It would be fun to have Liz ( who is talking to the women in the truck ) to create a time line of all the different food served there over 20 years from lunch to weddings.  Had a killer lemonade to quench the thirst from the truck.

Our next stop was Arthur Avenue.  We began in the Arthur Avenue Retail Market.  Everyone appears to know each other there.  Peter's Meat Market is impressive.  Huge rolls of freshly made sausages.  Even across the way there was a huge vat of capers and sun dried tomatoes.

We strolled by Mikes Deli and although they had quite a list of sandwiches and an eggplant parm that looked pretty delicious we continued to walk over to Cafe Al Mercato for a slice of Sicilian pizza.  Roasted vegetable pizza.

The gourmet stores carry an endless supply of Italian products.  I picked up a few bags of dried pastas from companies that I have never seen or heard of before.  All of the shops carry a variety of treats too.  This was quite good and a perfect appetizer. 

We sat at the bar that sits in the middle of the market place and had a Bronx cider.  I am not sure I have really had a cider before.  Crispy bubbly alcoholic apple juice.

We wandered down the street to Cosenza's Fish Market.  Outside they have a stand for oysters and a stand for clams.  I had one oyster that was a serious treat.  Big briny and fresh.

Teitels is another market that carries fresh sausages, cheese and a variety of products.  This is the stand outside their shop.

Each place we went into carries salted anchovies.  Teitels had the biggest pile we saw.

Casa Della Mozzarella makes fresh mozzarella every day.  I also picked up this treat.

Continuing down the street to Tonys and Tinas pizza shop.  We wanted to get a burek at Giovannis but they only made them on the weekends.  Luckily Tony and Tinas had one.  The dough is more like a fillo dough stuffed with different things.  We had one with spinach.

Our last stop was on 187th street which is the other street with purveyors.  We had a lemon ice at Caffe Egidio that has been around since the 40's. 

I admit we got a little mixed up getting out of the Bronx but spent a fair amount of time driving down the Grand Concourse.  The streets are wide and some of the buildings are beautiful.  The Bronx has gone through many changes and you can not help but wonder what it was like there in the 40's. 

We had a really great day.  Getting out and exploring the different neighborhoods in and around NYC is a treat and a helluva lot easier than getting on a plane.