Last weekend I spent my time at a lovely neighborhood up in Brooklyn, New York. Brian and I stayed with one of his old high school friend, Andrew, who lived in the Greenpoint area of the city (or as he liked to call it, the "old Polish farts" neighborhood due to the extensive amounts of the older Polish generation living there). We mainly slept at Andrew's place and for the most part walked to Williamsburg for our adventures. Williamsburg is an up-and-coming area of Brooklyn, according to Andrew, because of all the hip and trendy individuals that are starting to migrate to this neighborhood to live. This was one of the first time I have ever visited Brooklyn and it won't be my last.

The first thing you'll note about this part of the city is that it is completely modern. Not that New York City itself is bland, but there really are a lot of colors in Brooklyn. From the festive wall arts, to its' distinctly artistic individuals--this neighborhood does not fail to impress. When I walked around Williamsburg I was utterly in shock at the amount of young people that caroused pass me. I swear, the oldest person I walked by had to be atleast... 35 years old, if anything. With such a shockingly vibrant atmosphere it is no doubt that the dwellers are a bit more "expressive" than what I was used to back in D.C.

Brian and I arrived late Friday night and went for a little "eatery" experience with Andrew. Andrew practically dragged us around Williamsburg at 11 PM at night to atleast 3 different restaurants so we could test out the famous dishes that each of them are known for. Unfortunately I was so tired from the 5 hour drive up to New York that I didn't want to lug my camera around hence no photos were taken. The restaurants we stopped by were: The Meatball Shop, Crif Dogs, and Oasis. It was a hefty night for my tummy to handle, but a delicious one! My favorite definitely had to be The Meatball Shop which I will find myself visiting again next time when I am back up there.

The morning of Saturday we stopped by a local bar called Raizes and not to drink of course, but to grab breakfast. This place seriously had one of the best pancakes I have ever tried.








After breakfast was done, Andrew left Brian and I alone to explore Brooklyn, but made us a promise that he will take us to the Smorgasburg Flea Food Market later that afternoon. We knew that spending time with Andrew only meant getting fatter by the minute so we were sort of ecstatic to give our tummy a break... lol. Andrew does Muay Thai so you can imagine the shape that he is in to be able to down several hefty meals per day. Unfortunately, both Brian and I rarely exercise (well, actually, I rarely exercise, LOL) so we felt rather sluggish after breakfast. We decided that the best way to get our exercise in before going to the flea food market was to walk around Williamsburg and truly see the sights. Not enough can be said about the atmosphere that is Brooklyn. It definitely has that "down-to-earth" vibe that you won't get if you lived in the city.

For lunch we decided to play light and grabbed some juice at Grass Roots. I opted for something healthier--organic green juice filled with celery, romaine,cucumber, parsley, spinach, kale, and a dash of apple to sweeten.










This is the end of the part one of my Brooklyn trip! Part two will be filled with tons of unhealthy delicious snacking at Smorgasburg! :) You've been forewarned!