Out and About in NYC!

Yesterday The Doo and I took a break from our otherwise busy and oft-Serendipity style (as in the 2001 John Cusack romantic comedy) lives to take a lunch date in the city. If you haven't seen that movie—good for you! It was awful! But it was all about two people just barely running into each other. Despite the fact that we live together, The Doo and I have the misfortune of suffering from exactly that.
We barely see each other! It's astounding, truly. Busy, busy bees. He's got his comedy hive and I have my knitting-air cargo-craft blogging hive. Did you know that was my hive? It is. It's a crazy hive.

Don't ask me why we match

As you can see, I wore my Clapotis scarf (which I call my Clapo-me, because I'm lame), which kept me surprisingly warm despite how light and airy it is. God bless that Sea Silk.
We went to Cafe Sabarsky, located inside the Neue Galerie on the Upper East Side. I love small, intimate museums much better than big museums—they're less crowded, more personal, and there are usually no big, loud school groups. I like my art with a side of silence.
We first discovered the cafe and museum upon trying to visit the Guggenheim only to find it closed. We are the King and Queen of Happy Mistaken Discoveries.
The Neue Galerie is focused on German and Austrian art and design, so of course I love it. From Bauhaus to your house, ammaright? It's a matter of course that the Sabarsky serve Viennese food.

The first time we went to the Sabarsky, they were all out of Bavarian pretzels. It was really uncalled for. I was extremely disappointed. I would not be a good (1/4) German if I didn't get a Bavarian pretzel at a Viennese cafe. My Papa done taught me well.

So this time, I got my pretzel and sausage.

If you've never had a real Bavarian pretzel, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry for you. They are unbelievably delicious. That beautiful, crackly, caramel-colored exterior is wafer thin and tastes salty and butter soaked. The inside is a whoooooole other story. The inside, which you might assume to be leaden and thick like most NY pretzels, is actually as light, moist and airy as a croissant.
There is nothing more delicious than a real Bavarian pretzel. Nothing. Don't fight me on this.
And those are pork and milk-fed veal sausages. Also, yum.
The Doo decided on a smoked trout and horseradish with creme fraiche crepe, no less delicious than my lunch (minus the pretzel). (See above for: NothingIsMoreDeliciousThanMyPretzel)

And between the two of us we split a salad...                              (The Doo had a cucumber soda)

...and some apple strudel, mit schlag.

Do yourself a favor. Visit the Sabarsky.

After the Sabarsky, we went for a walk along Lexington Avenue, where we discovered the most glass bottle sodas I have ever seen in my entire life. And I grew up in a house where the entire top shelf of the fridge was stocked with glass bottle sodas. Still is. I kid you not.

I went home to get proof

I don't lie. And that's only been reduced recently, now that there are no kids in the house. It used to be rolling hills of coke, far as the eye could see.

Anyway, this place had way more cokes than my parents have, and the cokes hailed from all over the world.

Chelles, France perhaps?

There were so many kinds of glass bottle cokes. And a lot of them had stickers on them to tell you where they came from.

Did I mention that we are the King and Queen of Happy Mistaken Discoveries?

The coke bottles belong to the Lexington Candy Shop, located on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 83rd street in Manhattan. It's a luncheonette that was established in 1925, and according to the website, "Our display includes Coca Cola toy trains and trucks, as well as unusual bottles and cans.  The bottles are generally from U.S. regional celebrations and sporting events, while the international cans and bottles show the global side of Coca Cola.  Our display is constantly growing through our own acquisitions as well as 'gifts and donations' from our customers and visitors." 
They also have a vintage 1940 Hamilton Beach milkshake mixer, coffee urns from 1948, a soda fountain from 1948, and decor lovingly managed to maintain vintage authenticity.
We loved it. And we never even stepped inside.

 Although you can be damn sure that's where we're going for our next luncheon date. I really should have taken more coke pictures. It was a corner diner, so there were 3 full windows of cokes.
After that, I got a haircut. See that rat's nest of hair? No more!

I apologize for the lack of crafting in this post. But it's a late-in-the-day, borderline weekend post, so that's ok, right?

Happy living!

Flossie