The Essentials: Eating and drinking in NYC.
It's been a busy week-end, and both my back and hands have had a chance to recover. Most of the time has been spent trekking about on Manhattan. I went shopping for things I packed and sent home Friday - celebrating May 17th being nostalgic about my kids rather than doing anything particularly Norwegian. We did have a great meal at the OliveTree - that place is fun AND cheap, get a pitcher of Sangria after a long day of warm and exhaustive shopping - and then cakes at the local diner in Bay Ridge; Tiffany Diner, a piece of fake-tiffany-lamp infested Americana, with charming ladies of the type that makes you believe they really want to know when they say "how're you doin', sweetie?". They also have this wide, conspiratorial grin when they bring me a Long Island Ice Tea. Trust them when they recommend a cake, they have tested them!

Saturday was tattoo-shopping day. My broker matthew (who patiently endures my visits and lengthy stays in NYC) wants one, but as it should be, he's worried about quality and hygiene - so he's taking his time, looking for the best artist. And what better place to look than at a tattoo convention? After a couple hours spent there we saw Lord of the Rings again, and I have to admit, I hate the scenes in Moria as much now as I did the first time around. I ache with Pippin when he looses the skull in the well, I feel the terror as the drums start sounding, and I just HATE it when Aragorn and Frodo are trapped at the wrong side of the crumbling bridge. But the saddest part is still Boromir's death, in the film as in the book. Afterwards I tried to meet up with an online friend from California, who would come into NYC yesterday.

We didn't find her, but visited The Beauty Bar, a funny little place which used to be a beauty parlour. It was mentioned on one of the first blogs I happened to visit, that of a girl from Brooklyn. I am not certain if it was Brooklyngirl, but it might have been. Tracking it down became a kind of quest. When I was here after September 11th it was closed, but yesterday it was open in all its glittering splendour. Sadly, they don't give pedicures with the cocktails, even if they have kept the hairdriers. And to keep the style of this blogpost: yes, we did eat as well as drink. The little Asian Bistro called Friend House caught my eye on the way back to the subway. Don't go there. I want that place to myself, not share such a pretty place with such tasty food at a very friendly price with anybody but those I bring there personally.