Step 45: NYC last days

NYC--final two days.

In Brooklyn...love this picture!

Saturday morning we woke up at a reasonable time and started getting ready for what would be a very adventurous day. With a recommendation from my friend Yuri to eat at a restaurant called ‘Café Habana’ we discovered when researching the address that today they were hosting a block party at their Brooklyn location. The crazy part was that one of the bands playing Yuri had met at Bonaroo (they were from Sierra Leone) and attested to their talent. From the pics it looked like it was going to be a sweet party so we decided to make a day of it. Along with that we would be joining Lauren’s cousin in Brooklyn for more fun later in the day.

Heading into Cafe Habana (good thing we got there early, later in the day there was a huge line to get in)

Luckily it was a beautiful day. Dressed for the occasion we hoped on the 1 and rode it all the way to Brooklyn (which from Riverdale is a long ride!) Once off we set out to find the place and it didn’t take long before we heard the music. You know when you have expectations of something to be awesome and it turns out to be pretty lame how disappointing it can be? Well, this was not one of those times. The ‘Café Habana’ block party turned out to be unbelievable! To start their was a stage that throughout the afternoon hosted a wide range of talent that blew the diverse and jamming crowd away!
http://cafehabana.com/

The stage, a Cuban group had the whole crowd dancing!

People were dancing and having a blast; highlights were this crazy dance group from Canada, a Bbob group of highschool boys from Brooklyn who were insanely good, and then of course the talent of the group from Sierra Leone—“Bajah + The Dry Eye Crew.” All of it was amazing. http://planetbajah.com/

dance crew from Canada

Local high school kids who were amazing!!

Singing about war in their home country...unbelievable 'Bajah+ The dry eye crew'

But not only was the music good, there was a sort of craft market being held which just made the whole thing even more perfect. Lauren and I had a blast dancing and just people watching. Brooklyn is definitely the place to be to see some amazing people.

Captured in Dance

Lauren and I with our new necklaces from the craft market

At around 6pm we started making our way towards the bridge where we were meeting her cousin for a Geniis book of world records attempt. Her cousin was a restaurant owner/ chef, and this particular attempt was to break the record for biggest Pot Luck Dinner. Ridiculous sounding? Yes I know. But it turned out to be awesome. It was located in this old warehouse underneath the Brooklyn Bridge and was pretty much the most amazing location possible for a Pot Luck.

Lauren's cousin with his dish at the Pot Luck

We found her cousin and his girlfriend and he handed over to us the dishes that we were bringing as our own to the event. First of all we had to sign in and get our photo taken with our dish, then we went in. It was insanely cool. I tried to ward off all fears of food poisoning and decided to just dive in and enjoy myself. The event was paired alongside some photography school in NYC showcasing it’s work which was pretty awesome. We spent the night watching slideshows of people’s amazing work under the stars. We didn’t break the record, but it didn’t matter; it was an unbelievable day.


When I woke up on Sunday I went out for a run in the beautiful neighborhoods around Lauren’s house. When I got back Lauren said she wasn’t feeling very well but agreed to drop me off at the train station.

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge on a beautiful Sunday is insanity!

I started the day by taking the 1 to the last Manhattan stop and walked a ways on the Brooklyn Bridge. After that I headed to Chelsea and Greenwich and enjoyed the markets there, people watching, and window shopping.

The sights of NYC on a beautiful Sunday afternoon

I walked all the way from the Brooklyn Bridge to my friend Lisa and Kyle’s apartment on West 85th street. Despite that only being about 8 miles, it took me the entire day and I arrived at their apartment around 6pm.

My favorites!! Kyle, Sabrina, Lisa and I having some fun.

We had some food and chats and dancing. And I said goodbye to them around 8:30 with hopes of seeing them in LA next spring. I got back to Lauren’s around 9 and went to bed early. Tomorrow I would be flying back to Aspen.