Mermaid Parade - Part One

Let me simply say this this was a fun day and a lot was done. Will take at least a couple of posts to cover it all. Don't expect too many pictures of mermaids, though. This was the 25th annual Mermaid Parade and to say there was a crowd would be like saying there was a little sand on the beach. It was packed. I read where last year the crowd was estimated at 850,000 and I bet there were more this year.

It has been about three years since I went to my last Mermaid Parade, and man, I was not prepared for this. There was a crowd the last time I went, but nowhere near as large. You could even mingle with the paraders to take pictures. This year the route was barricaded off. But then it would have to be. With this big of a crowd the parade itself would just get lost in it.

It was more fun with the smaller crowd though. I guess what is happening here is what happened to the Halloween Parade in the Village. It just grew and grew and the crowds kept getting bigger and now I just watch it on television. I am still glad I went, though. In fact I think I am going back to Coney Island with friends next Saturday as well.

As always, the trip to Coney Island begins with a subway. I can pick it up just a few blocks away though, and getting there is half the fun.

The Coney Island Line


And Here Comes The Train


Appropriately enough, the Coney Island exit includes Mermaid Avenue.

How Appropriate


There are plans underway to transform Coney Island into some kind of an upscale tourist attraction complete with shopping malls and hotels. In my opinion, that would be tragic. It would probably end up like the once praised South Street Seaport in Manhattan. A place that is going broke because nobody goes there.

Nothing could ever replace the first glimpses when you get off the subway. A bit garish and tacky but with that seaside amusement park ambiance that is the essence of why you come here.

First Appearances Are So Important




The parade didn't start until 2:00 PM and we got there before noon so we had some time to kill. The crowds hadn't really begun to arrive in mass yet either. As we headed toward the boardwalk we decided to pop into Beer Island for a beer and a bite to eat.

Beer Island


The last time I was here this was a minature golf course and a cheesy waterslide. This is a much better use of the land. It is new this year and is owned by John Ciarcia who also owns the nearby Cha Cha's, a pretty funky place in its own right. John is also known for playing Albie Cianflone during the last two seasons of The Sopranos.

The Bar


The bar, mostly a serving bar, is small but they have a better than average selection of beers. You get it in a plastic cup though, which I don't particularly like. Given the beach-like atmosphere it seemed appropriate, though.

Having A Yuengling


The people here were very nice. Quite chatty and obviously proud of the place. They offered to take a picture of the Mysterious Chinese Woman and me out front.

Say Cheese


We went and had a seat on one of the beach tables. It was lunchtime and we were getting a bit hungry. Luckily there was more to Beer Island than just beer.

Is It A Mirage


There menu was limited but it had what I wanted, a brisket sandwich. The Mysterious Chinese Woman ordered a pulled pork sandwich. And when it arrived it looked great.

Beautiful Brisket


It smelled delightful as well and the only thing left to do was to...

Eat It


Hey, it was really great. Smooked just right and nicely crisped on the outside. Served on a whitebread bun with a decent side of barbecue sauce, it was well done indeed. If I got this in one of the Manhattan barbecue places that have sprung up I might expect a larger portion, but no better taste.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman liked her ribs too. I thought they were good, and they probably only suffered in comparison to the outstanding brisket.

The coleslaw was pretty lame though.

On the other hand, the staff was almost overly attentive and kind of stepping all over each other. It was pretty interesting and there wasn't much of a crowd. Wonder what it will be like when the parade is over and the crowds disperse. Oh yeah, I know already, I stopped by after the parade.

No expense had been spared to replicate an authentic tropical resort beach.

An A For Effort


It looked like some kind of a film crew was sitting at a nearby table. Probably for some cable TV show.

A Classic In The Making


I stuck with the Yuengling but, I have to admit, this ad on the wall by the porta-potties made me thing about switching.

Hmm, Not Sure If I Want To Try It Or Not


Okay, that is it for today. I am about to head out to a nearby street fair and you will hear about that too.

Oh, I did get some pictures of mermaids, so here is a teaser:

Lovin' The Louvre

Well, I don't think you can go to Paris without stopping by the Louvre. Certainly you can't if you are with the Mysterious Chinese Woman and here Equally Mysterious Sister. And so, stop by we did. Not that we didn't have a bit of trouble finding it. My memory from the last time I was here, in 1998, was just of the glass pyramid. I guess I forgot it was inside a courtyard and pretty much hidden from sight from outside.

The Louvre


However, once you get up to the archway to the courtyard the pyramid does loom into view.

Ahh, There It Is


The glass pyramid is the entrance to the museum and it is surrounded by fountains and four smaller glass pyramids. A bit surrealistic given that it is also surrounded by centuries old stonework, but quite pleasant.

Strange, But Nice






I also found the views from just inside looking up, after taking the escalator down, to be quite interesting as well.

A Worm's Eye View




I won't bore you with a lot of pictures of the exhibits, you can find them all over if you are interested. Here are a few though of the most famous of the exhibits, though.

The Venus de Milo


Winged Victory


Mona Lisa


Most people, when seeing the Mona Lisa for the first time, are surprised by how small it is. It only is 21 inches wide and 30 inches long and still, arguably, the most famous painting in the world. What few people know is that Leonardo da Vinci painted this picture relatively late in his life and carried it around with him until he died. Supposedly, he never thought it was really finished and continued to work on it right up until the end. At least this is what I have heard, probably on the History Channel.

As an aside, isn't it interesting that they let you take pictures in the Louvre, but not in Balthazar?

For those of you revisiting this post, you may notice that I have removed the pictures of me having a beer after visiting the museum. That is because that bar was nowhere near the Louvre and I went there on a different day. My bad. You will see the pictures again in a future post, however.

Home Again

Well, I am back. Got back on the 17th but it took me until today to pretty much recover from the long plane ride. Also, the Mysterious Chinese Woman's Equally Mysterious Sister stayed until last night. Another Somewhat Mysterious Sister came over to pick her up and before they left we went to Queen, a very nice Italian restaurant in my neighborhood. Just can't get enough of that Italian food. I will put off writing about that restaurant until another time though because I know you can hardly wait to hear about my trip. Hey, at least you can just close this page so it won't be as painful as having to sit through a slide show.

We flew out of JFK in New York on Iberia Airline. The departure terminal had a very classy cocktail bar, Sapphire.

Just Like Downtown


When I popped in it was still empty so I wasn't sure if it was open, even though it was late on a Saturday afternoon. That was probably because it is not an easy place to find. The terminal isn't that large, but the bar is tucked all the way at one end and you can't even see it as you are walking towards it. You have to kind of turn a bit of a corner before it pops into view. Also, there weren't any signs indicating that it was there. Apparently, whoever it is that decides this things wouldn't allow the bar to put up any signs. Quite unusual, if you ask me. Those without a well developed nose for bars might never even find the place. A real shame too because it is one of the nicest airport bars that I have ever visited.

They had the usual limited selection of beers and hard liquor but they did have Samuel Adams on tap and for only $3 more you could accompany that with a nice sized shot of whatever they had to pour. Knob Creek, a Kentucky bourbon that has been aged 9 years, in my case.

Bar Man Starting His Flight Early


Our departure time was 7:00 PM so I figured I would knock back a couple of beers and shots and then, hopefully, sleep for most of the flight to Madrid where we would change planes for Paris. That kind of worked, but it was more like a series of catnaps than an actual sleep. The free Cava, a Spanish bubbly, that they served on the flight helped things along though.

In Paris we stayed at the Mercure Tour Eiffel Suffren, a nice enough hotel that was in a perfect location.

The Mercure Tour Eiffel Suffren




As you might imagine from the name, it was very close to the Eiffel Tower.

Just A Stone's Throw Away


I think you might once have been able to actually see the Eiffel Tower from some of the hotel's rooms, but there is what looks to be a new Hilton Hotel next door now that appears to effectively block the view. At best I would guess that only a few of the upper rooms at one end of the hotel might have a view.

The hotel had an elevator system unlike anything I have ever seen before.

A Bit Confusing


What is confusing is that this is on the outside of the elevator bank, not inside the elevator. You push the button for the floor you wish to go to and then a screen indicates which of the three elevators to take. There are no buttons inside the elevator so if you change your mind about where you want to go you have to get out and try again.

Also, the screen that indicates which elevator to take doesn't stay lit all that long so if you don't watch carefully and more than one elevator shows up at the same time you may find yourself on the wrong one. There is a little panel on the side of the elevator door that indicates the floors it will stop at, but it takes awhile before you notice it. I am not sure what the purpose of this design is, but I guess there must be one. It seemed to confuse everyone the first few times they used the elevator though.

Of course, given the hotel's location, the first thing we had to do was to take pictures of what is probably the most recognizable monument in the entire world.

The Eiffel Tower, But Of Course


Well, I bet it is certainly the most recognizable monument that a kindergartner can sketch with just a few simple lines.

Actually, I Drew This


Not to bore you with too many facts, but the Eiffel Tower was not very well received when it was first erected, and erected is the operable word. All of the pieces were manufactured outside of Paris and then it was assembled like a giant Erector Set. It was considered grotesque and out of place and people were only placated a bit with the assurance that it would be torn down after twenty years. It was built for the 1899 World's Fair and was the tallest building in the world when it went up. It remained the tallest building until 1930 when the Chrysler Building in New York City passed it by.

Another piece of trivia. It used to be painted once every seven years but with increasing pollution and the affect of the resultant acidic rain it now has to be painted every five years. It takes fifty tons of paint to cover it.

There always seems to be a carnival-like atmosphere underneath the tower with people queuing up for an elevator ride, buying ice-cream and cotton candy and souvenir key chains and just generally having a good old time.

There's A Party Going On


The Eiffel Tower, although it can't be seen from everywhere, can be seen from just about everywhere. It is right by the Seine and one of the several bridges that crosses the river.

Mysterious Chinese Woman, The River And The Tower


Another nice thing about where our hotel was located was that it was close to two subway stops. The subway system in Paris is really quite nice and takes you pretty much everywhere in the city. It is really clean too, not a bit of litter on the tracks even.

But then the whole city is very clean. Unlike in New York City, people actually seem to use the trash receptacles. You also don't see people eating on the streets or in the subways like you do here. Instead they sit at the little cafes that are everywhere and sip their coffee or drink their wine or beer and have a little bite to eat. Quite civilized.

Also, although almost everything in Europe is quite expensive, especially so with the collapse of the dollar against almost all other major currencies, the subway is cheaper than in New York City. A book of ten tickets costs 11.10 Euros and at the current exchange rate that works out to about $1.70 a ride. You can also transfer between the subway and buses, just like you can do here.

A Nearby Subway Station And Train


Also, unlike in New York City they, actually have signs that tell you when the next train will arrive, and they work. They tried to install such a system here, but they pulled the plug on it after spending who knows how much money because they could never get it to work right. But then in New York City the subway cars don't even always run on the same lines they are programmed for so the maps and announcements often don't match up to the stops either. On the other hand, they do run all night whereas the trains in Paris stop around midnight.

After walking around a bit and doing some exploring I was grateful when everyone was ready to stop for a bite to eat and I could get a beer.

My First Cafe Stop, Chez Francis


As you can see, it was quite crowded outside but we got a little table inside that was almost outside and I had my first beer in Paris, a Heineken.

Ah, It Tastes Better In Paris


I also had a bit of pate which you can still eat in Paris without feeling guilty.

Pate And Pickles


In the small world department, our waitress asked where we were from and when I said New York City she said she had just been there working in a restaurant in the SoHo area. I forgot which one though. I would have chatted with her more but she was quite busy breaking in a new waitress.

As you can imagine, I have oodles more to post about my trip but I will stretch it out over several days so you don't get too overwhelmed. One thing I will say though, if people say that the French don't like Americans and are rude to them, don't believe it. I found the people to be, except for one either rude or inept waiter who was reprimanded by his boss, extremely pleasant and very helpful if you had a question. I suspect that those who experience rude behavior somehow bring it on themselves by acting like boors and then blame it on anti-Americanism. My French is limited to Bon Jour and Merci, but you would be surprised how far that will get you.

Ah, Roma

Just a quick post, rates for internet service are still high, although not as high as in Paris. I did see an internet cafe here though, but I am doing this from the hotel. It is a nice hotel, but do not order room service. The Equally Mysterious Sister-In-Law felt a bit under the weather last night. She blamed it on the mushroom pizza she had for lunch, although both the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I shared it and felt fine. She stayed home and ordered a bowl of soup from room service and it cost her 18 Euros or a bit over $25.

So far I have not had a real good meal here in Rome. The first night we went out with the tour group and had a pretty good meal but way over priced at about $75 a person. But that did include a guitar player who sang at our tables in a somewhat entertaining way and waiters who pretended to drop the plates and glasses when they served you. Plenty of food though and free wine. Like I said, good, but over-priced.

Last night the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I took a hotel shuttle to a subway stop and then took the subway to what turned out to be a pretty touristy area. We ate in a neat glass enclosed sidewalk cafe that was very pretty and a great place to watch the passing scene. The service was very friendly as well. Sadly, once again, the food was really quite bad. Well, maybe not bad, but certainly less than one might expect. The only real good part was the pistachio ice cream and the after dinner Irish coffee.

Prices are even higher here in Rome than I imagined. Even the stuff they sell on televison that is the same as what you can buy in the United States is about three times as expensive. However, in both Paris and Rome the subway fares are less than in New York and the subways are much better maintained. No litter on the tracks, the cars are clean as are the stations. And you can see how long it will be before the next train arrives. Quite nice.

I found out why we will probably never have great masters in the arts like they had in the past. Blame it on child labor laws. Many of the great works on display were produced by artists while they were still very young, in their twenties. Michelangelo produced his first, and most famous, marble statue of the Piete while still in his early twenties. But then he began his apprenticeship at the age of thirteen.

We visited the Sistine Chapel and it was quite impressive. I found it amusing that periodically they would announce, in several languages and over loudspeakers, that visitors should respect the sanctity of the chapel to remain quite. Hmm, not only was that a bit incongrouous, but nobody seemed to think charging tourists admission to enter the chapel and then selling overpriced postcards, books, rosaries, calendars, watches all over the place was not the least bit out of place. No bingo games though, or at least none that I saw.

You could take pictures in most of the Vatican, but not in the Sistine Chapel. We were informed that you could do so until recently. The policy was changed, or so we told, when a Japanese firm paid for the complete cleaning and restoration of the Sistine Chapel. In return, apparently, they got the concession rights to the sale of the aforementioned postcards, postcards, calendars, etc. Apparently, by not allowing anyone to take pictures they can sell more of these souveniers. Ah, but keep your voices down.

I have not been able to find out how to use the spell checker so please excuse any spelling errors in the last two posts. I will make corrections when I return home in a couple of days. This will be my last post until then, but after I get back I will be able to add pictures, and I have plenty. Most of them look kind of like cheap postcards though.

Oh, just one final comment. I do believe I could comfortably live in Paris. Easy to get around, just a generally nice place. Rome, on the other hand, is totally different. Not that the people are not friendly, they are. It is just too hectic and the number of tourists in respect to the size of the city is overwhelming. I do hope to find a less touristy area for dinner tonight.

Hello From Paris

Just a quick hello and no pictures. The internet here at the hotel is a pretty hefty 5£ per 15 minutes. That is a bit over 50 cents a minute, as near as I can determine. Ah well, a coffee costs 4£ at many of the cute little sidewalk cafes, so that makes Starbucks a bargain. Paris is, indeed, an expensive city.

There was a "minor" transportation strike yesterday, but I didn't really notice. There was another at the Versailles though that delayed the opening of the palace until 11:00 AM, an hour and a half after the scheduled opening. Of course nobody seemed to know about this in advance so the lines were building up pretty impressively. The delayed opening also seemed to apply to the toilettes. This would never have benn allowed to happen before the revolution. There is something to be said for a monarchy.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman and her equally Mysterious Sister decided they would wait it out. Bar Man abhors all lines, especially long lines made longer because of a strike that can't possibly accomplish anything other than making a lot of tourists upset. But then, maybe that is the point.

The food here is delicious, and we haven't even gone to any fancy restaurants, just little bistros. We did have one lousy meal in a nest of touristy Greek restaurants. I ordered suckling pig and got what would be the leftovers of the same dish at a better place. The Mysterious Chinese Woman ordered a fillet of pork chop that sounded good. Sadly, she ended up with the same platter of leftovers that I got. Yet, she was assured that she did indeed get what she ordered. Even the Retsina, a Greek wine, I ordered tasted watered down. Maybe they figure most people don't know what it is supposed to taste like, but I do. There is a Greek Orthodox church on the block where I live that serves it at their annual week-long festival.

Beware if you find yourself in a narrow street lined with mostly Greek restaurants displaying fantastic looking fish and cuts of meat. On the other hand, gyro stands looked good and we did get delicious gelato at a nearby stand.

The subway system in Paris is pretty slick, although we have managed to get "confused" a couple of times. Still, we pretty much get where we want to go.

My time is running out so au revoire for now and I will post more and will have pictures when I get back.

On Vacation

The Mysterious Chinese Woman, a Mysterious Chinese Sister, and myself will be heading to Paris tomorrow, and then on to Rome. I don't think I will be bringing my laptop with me so there may not be any new posts until I return. On the bright side, once I return I should have enough material for a bunch of interesting posts.

I might try to put something up from an internet cafe, and maybe I will be able to upload pictures. We shall see.

Because we will be in Paris tomorrow we decided to get an early start had dinner at Bar Tabac, my favorite neighborhood bistro, to get into the mood. We fly to Madrid where we change planes. I don't know what the restaurants in the airport are like. Some airports, including the one in Minneapolis, have dynamite restaurants. I really liked Madrid when I was there so a nice Spanish breakfast while we are waiting for our connecting flight would be good.

Also not sure what clearing customs is like as you travel through Europe these days. I don't really remember from the last time I was there. We shall see.

Anyway, please excuse the hiatus, I will try to post if I can, but for sure I will start posting again as soon as I get back. I would tell you when that would be but then you wouldn't keep checking and my hit count would go down and I will never appear on David Letterman. We can't have that, now can we?

Where Wolves In London?

Before having lunch at the Heights Cafe, the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I took a little walk down by the East River. To get there we pass under the Brooklyn Bridge where much ado has been made about the new signage that will make it easier to find the secret stairway to the pedestrian walkway. I don't know why, but I was underwhelmed.

No Expense Was Spared


Actually, though, this sign may actually be helpful.

Pointing The Way, Kind Of


In a small park across from the entrance to the pedestrian walkway a neat little sculpture has been place.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman Heading West


Our initial destination was to see the telectroscope that has just been completed. Work on this began long ago when a tunnel under the Atlantic Ocean was started and a series of magnifying lenses and mirrors were installed to let people in the United States and Great Britain observe each other.

Quite The Feat






The United States end is right here in Brooklyn by the Brooklyn Bridge and the one in Great Britain is located by the Tower Bridge across the Thames River in London.

Peering Across The Pond


Hey, It Really Works!!!


Well, it was kind of cool, but no werewolves were to be seen. I think they were all at Lee Ho Fook's eating beef chow mein.

One of the cool things about New York and, in my mind, especially Brooklyn is the diversity and the little surprises. A very nice, and expensive restaurant sits right under the Brooklyn Bridge. The River Cafe, while fairly fancy on the inside, looks for all the world like some riverside cafe somewhere in the rural south or maybe Maine.

The River Cafe


And, adding to the illusion, a bit of beach and a couple of ducks paddling around.

They Kwak With A Brooklyn Accent


For some reason this reminded me of some photo shoot on a beach somewhere in Italy.

Hold That Pose


We were thinking about having a pizza at the famous Grimaldi's but it had gotten too famous for my liking. I just don't fancy standing in line for a pizza and the "velvet rope" really put me off.

Are You On The List?


Now don't get me wrong, I have had the pizza here, and it is very good indeed. I know a place in Manhattan that is just as good, but none better. I think it is better to go in the off-season though. Too many tourists this time of year. And yes, Grimaldi's is, indeed, a tourist attraction. I told you it was famous. Actually, if I was a tourist I would rather go to Grimaldi's than the Statue of Liberty. And the line would be shorter too.

Heights Cafe

After our walk to look at people in London (you will have to wait for my next post to see what that is all about) the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I had worked up a bit of a hunger and I had worked up a bit of a thirst. We decided to stop into the Heights Cafe on Montague Street where I figured I could get a decently built drink.

Heights Cafe


It was a nice a nice sunny day so we figured we would sit outside, just like they do in Europe. We are just so cosmopolitan, but not like that overly sweet, overly hyped, pink drink. Ah, but I am too harsh. You can get a good Cosmopolitan if you have a decent bartender. Sadly, Sex And The City has made them so popular that they are not only over-priced, they are now churned out by the bucket-full by people who don't really know what they are doing. I guess that is okay though, most of them are drunk by people who prefer their margaritas made with a mix.

But, I digress. As usual, I like to at least order my drink at the bar where I can watch it being made and enjoy my first few sips in a familiar setting.

Bar Man At The Bar


I opted for a Tanqueray and Tonic and it was nicely made indeed. By that I meant it was strong enough so that I didn't really need more than one. Well, that didn't mean I wouldn't have more than one, though.

We moved outside and took a peek at the menu. Lot's of good stuff. I had a hard time deciding but I opted for one of their daily specials, a grilled pastrami sandwich. But this wasn't just any old grilled pastrami sandwich. The grilled pastrami was on a nice multi-grain bread with cranberry and tarragon aioli, caramelized onions, grilled tomatoes, arugula, and Swiss cheese. It sounded kind of bizarre, but it intrigued me. I figured I better get it because I might never see it on their menu again.

It was surprisingly good. Everything was well balanced. I guess it was a takeoff on the classic Grilled Reuben. Now that I think about it, I guess this was to a Grilled Reuben like a Cosmopolitan is to a Martini. But a Cosmopolitan made by a really good bartender using fresh ingredients. The sandwich was served with a side of fries that were thin and crispy and quite good.

Bar Man Enjoying His Sandwich


The other item on the menu that intrigued me was a Texas meatloaf sandwich. This featured meatloaf wrapped in bacon which sounds decadently delicious. This is on their regular menu though so I will be making a trip back shortly to try it.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman had a sesame crusted salmon and tuna salad that was served with marinated vegetable sprouts and mesclun greens with a wasabi vinaigrette. It certainly looked good and apparently tasted good too. At least the plate was cleaned.

We also got a nice bread basket with both bread and rolls. They weren't served hot, but the they were tasty nonetheless.

I found the bartender to be pleasant although too busy to talk much. There was just one and he had a lunch crowd to contend with. The service was prompt and courteous and our waitress was very nice. She was the one that suggested I get the grilled pastrami sandwich because, she said, the specials were always good and the Texas Meatloaf was always available.

Now that Amando's is no more I will probably visit here more often than I have in the past. Damn, now I can't get that Texas Meatloaf out of my mind.

Feels Like Home

A good friend of mine who now lives in Florida came back for a visit and, as he almost always does, put together a group to have dinner at Capucine's, my favorite Italian restaurant.

Capucine's




Now I have written about Capucine's before. In fact it was stop number 514 on my journey through 1000 bars. I used to live just a couple of blocks away and probably ate there once a week back then. Even after I moved to Brooklyn and still worked in Manhattan I would pop in at least a couple of times a month. Now, sadly, my visits are less frequent. But that doesn't stop the owners and staff from treating me like family whenever I show up. Maybe I over tip.

This trip I was spotted while I was still outside and taking a picture.

Watching From The Window


And sure enough, once again I was welcomed like family.

A Warm Welcome


I got here a bit before my dinner companions so I decided to have a drink at the small, but adequate, bar while I waited.

Bar Man, Bombay Martini, and Daryl the Bartender


As it turned out, Daryl and the fellow who greeted me at the door now own Capucine's. The previous owner retired but I am glad to see the same people are involved with the restaurant, although Daryl is new. I chatted with her about all sorts of stuff including Paris and Rome where I am headed later this week. She also makes a great martini.

I told Daryl that I had been going to Capucine's since 1982 when I lived in the neighborhood. I just found out that was when it opened. I guess we kind of grew up together.

The service here is always great, warm and friendly as well as efficient. And they make everyone feel at home, not just me. It really is a nice family restaurant a short walk away, corner of 19th Street and 2nd Avenue, from the more expensive and "fashionable" Gramercy Park establishments, many of which are also very good.

Capucine's is fairly small. The bar only seats about four people and the restaurant is divided into two separate rooms. It is pleasantly decorated with pink walls, and pretty flowers. Just a comfortable place to eat.

The food has always been top quality in the southern style. For appetizers we had the clams casino which the Mysterious Chinese Woman always orders so you know they must be good. My friend from Florida had the beef carpaccio and he just loves it. I often get it too and it is great. Someone else had the stuffed artichoke and I had grilled calamari which was outstanding.

I ordered my favorite which they had for a special as they often do. It was veal stuffed with eggplant, prosciutto, and mozzarella cheese. Just delicious and so tender you can cut it with a fork. The Mysterious Chinese Woman had the deep-fried soft-shelled crabs and although she didn't eat the legs she said they were quite good. She never eats the legs, too crunchy I guess.

I don't remember what everyone else had, but from the way they tucked into their meals they must have enjoyed them. I was too busy having a good time to take notes and now, of course, I regret that.

We all shared tiramisu for dessert and I also had an espresso with a Strega for a nightcap.

Let me simply say that I think everyone should try this restaurant, as long as you don't all go when I want to. It really is a throw-back to the old-style Italian restaurants that you don't see too often anymore.