adventures in Brooklyn, vol. 1

I moved to Brooklyn yesterday!

It was a little surreal, arriving at a house I’d only seen in pictures, and unpacking the few belongings I brought with me into closets and onto shelves that don’t feel even remotely like mine.  I was grateful to find a few amenities, tho – clean sheets on the bed, hangers in the closet, wine glasses in the cupboard, and a corkscrew in the (yes, the) kitchen drawer.  It’s a very small furnished apartment, likely the most European apartment any Victorian house could possibly boast, with mis-matched furniture and the weirdest area rug I’ve ever seen.  In retrospect, I am glad I opted to fly in with a couple of suitcases instead of renting a car so I could bring more of my things; not many more of them will fit!

Like every new home, this apartment has idiosyncrasies that will take some getting used to: the IKEA closet asymmetrically framed by Victorian wainscoting (which looks like it ought to be framing a double-wide doorway, but isn’t), the tiny refrigerator that hums almost incessantly (I’m really hoping I will learn to tune it out!), a microwave so ancient that it has a dial, and old wooden floors that squeak when you walk across them.  But it also comes with a big front porch and flowering bushes on a quiet, tree-lined street, and I couldn’t have asked for a nicer neighborhood.  It’s pretty – the kind of neighborhood that almost makes me wish I was a runner, because it would be such a nice place in which to run.

After a very long week of packing and goodbyes, and a long day of travel, I was tempted to just stay home last night, but I ventured out anyway, in search of dinner.  Unfortunately, I ventured in the wrong direction – while there were a number of restaurants open, most of the places I found were hole-in-the-wall Asian or Caribbean, and I just wasn’t feeling that brave.  So I ended up at an over-priced market and came home with salami and cheese and the worst bottle of wine I have ever had in my life.  (The amount of dust on it really should have been a clue…  Ah, well.  Live and learn.)

Today’s adventures have been much more successful.  My first real Brooklyn adventure (because last night does not count!) was a trip to the Prospect Park Zoo in Prospect Park this afternoon.  The closest boundary of the park is just a 5-minute walk from my apartment, and the zoo is located quite far into the park, so I had a nice little hike to get there.  Fortunately, I’d picked up a large cup of coffee from a little coffee shop called Lark on the way, and between that and absolutely beautiful weather, it was a fun outing.  I’m pretty sure I heard at least seven distinct languages, and both the park and the streets were full of people from all walks of life.  Definitely not a boring experience!  Church Avenue (one of the major nearby cross-streets) can be a little overwhelming at times, but I think some of the fruit markets I passed along the way will make it worth at least a few more visits.

This evening I ventured in the other direction and scored way better in the food & wine department.  Cortelyou Road felt a lot more like home; cleaner and quieter than Church Avenue, it’s home to a number of little shops and restaurants, and also (I think) the subway station I will need to get to work.  I had dinner in a charming little restaurant called The Castello Plan, and stopped on the way home at King County Wines to pick up some wine for dinner tomorrow.  I’m tired – I don’t remember the last time I did this much walking in two days! – but taking the time to explore the neighborhood and find a few new “favorite” places to go was totally worth it.  Having a place I love to go – be it a park bench or a favorite café – is part of what makes any town or city “home” for me – so putting forth the effort to find some of those places this weekend (especially after last night’s strike-out!) was a valuable first step towards settling in to a new (and very different!) life.

More to come!

Image Credit: unsplash.com / “So Tall” by Brendan Church