The Perfect Saturday.

My Saturday started, as has every other day in N.Y.C., with breakfast at my favorite Café La Palette. This time I sat at an outdoor table so I could enjoy the beautiful warm summer weather:

This photo shows the lovely door detail of my beloved place, as well as the blueness of the sky:

I then took a stroll northward, toward Washington Square Park. On the way I saw this interesting sight:

Yes, that is a gigantic chunk of meat, apparently being used for gyros and such. Several of us stood on the sidewalk gawking at the spectacle, but the guy working with this magnificent roll of meat was completely nonplussed.

I continued on to the park, where I caught up with a friend and then watched the dogs, including this cute spotted one:

When I am out of town, I love visiting dog parks because it helps me deal with missing my own dogs so much! Things really livened up at the park when this brown fluffy dog arrived:

He literally tore around the park at a full gallop, with all of the other dogs tearing after him as if he was the Pied Piper of dogs. They circled around and around, stopping for no one in their path, and having a rollicking good time! His exuberant spirit was contagious . . . I laughed out loud and others in the park did, too. This dog made my day, and it wasn’t even lunch time yet!

I then made my way to the subway, where I would catch a train to the Bronx for the second Cubs/Yankees game. I stopped on the way to watch some basketball:

I loved the energy with which everyone was playing!

The crowd was really into the game, too:

I then caught my now-favorite train to the Bronx, the one that leaves from near Washington Square Park and snakes up the west side of Manhattan. We shared a subway train with this cotton candy vendor:

He was on his way home to the Bronx from a morning of work at Coney Island (THAT is a long train ride), and managed to sell some of his treats on the train. There was something surreal about sitting right next to his cloud of cotton candy.

There was something I liked about this family heading into Yankee Stadium:

Maybe it was that they seemed both excited and color coordinated.

It was another beautiful day for baseball!

I loved my seats for this game, which were high, but between home plate and the pitcher’s mound, with a great view. One of my favorite parts of the pre-game events is when the day’s starting pitcher, catcher and the pitching coach walk in from the bullpen:

I also enjoyed having a good view of the Cubs’ dugout:

Here is a photo of the flag bearers during the National Anthem:

I don’t know why, but I tear up for the National Anthem every single time, without fail. We were also treated to a flyover today:

It was cool to see the military guys balancing at the very tip top of the white metal lace surrounding the Stadium . . . it appeared that they called to tell the planes when it was time to do the flyover.

The “first pitch” ceremony for this game was special, too, with the surviving children of parents who died in 9/11 each throwing out a ball:

You may have noticed that I have not said much about the actual game. Well, that’s because the Cubs lost, 8-1, with the only run they scored coming on a Jason Dubois solo home run. Sad day for the Cubs, but a nice day for baseball fans like me, who enjoy the baseball experience, win or lose.

I made a break for the subway and returned quite easily to Soho. Made a quick dash for my hotel, where I freshened up and then met my friend Jay for my first Ukrainian meal ever, at Veselka’s:

He took responsibility for ordering and did very well, as we soon found ourselves sipping wonderful hot borscht (who would have thought beet soup would be so satisfying on a summer night?) and exploring the wonderful world of a variety of pierogis and stuffed cabbage. MMMMM. Freddy the Mayor of Chelsea (Jay’s French bulldog) liked it too, as he had many admirers who stopped to pet him at his perch next to our outdoor table.

After that fine meal, a walk was in order, so we strolled over to Veniero’s, the maker of Jay’s favorite cannoli in New York:

Veniero's is a very old place, but has adapted to the modern era, even having wireless internet and their very own web site! The place was a madhouse, with all of the outdoor tables filled. We opted to order at the pastry counter, which was so busy late on a Saturday night that one has to take a number! Tiny bite-sized cannolis procured (chocolate for Jay, vanilla for me), we continued on our walk.

It wasn’t easy to find a quality café with an outdoor table open on this lovely night, so we walked and walked and walked. This brought my first lesson about living in New York: one must put comfort before vanity, as my beloved and fashionable heels did not feel as beloved after a long walk through the East Village. We cut through what I believe was Union Square Park. I don’t have a photo of it, as I was too cool to bring my camera out to dinner. But we had a lovely chat with two women we met in the park, both of whom admired Freddy and were walking a cute dog of their very own. I was amazed when we had a fairly lengthy chat with them, as if we had always known them. Jay chalks this up to the solidarity found among dog owners.

We continued on our walk and found a nice place to land, the name of which I cannot remember for the life of me. I want to say it was something green, like “Olive,” but not quite. [UPDATE: It was called "Uovo," and is found at 11th and Avenue B. Thanks go to "Bar Man," who visited the place on August 27th and wrote about it on his web site, 1000 Bars.] We sat on wobbly chairs and ate some nice roasted nuts . . . the wine selection was nice, too. We met the owner; he said he had just opened the place recently. I hope it does well, as it had all the makings of a quality neighborhood place. So ends the tale of my last night in New York!