A new trip. A wonderful trip. Truth is of course, they all are.

But this one was special. 

From Tucson to New York City.

From New York City to London (ever so briefly.)

From London to Paris.

From Paris to Reggio Calabria.

From home...to home...to home...to a beautiful city...to home.

If you followed that, you know Monica and I well. If not, no worries, I'll explain.

But first, we start with New York City.

Our original home.

I'll take any excuse to stop over in NYC because I love to visit family, feel the energy in the streets , visit places I've never been, experience the food and see the seeming incongruity of it all lock together, and then move forward in unpredictable ways.

Oh wait. Did I mention food?

Up to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx for a wonderful lunch at Roberto's Restaurant, where the spoken Italian was as thick and chewy as the squid salads. Monica and I enjoyed Alan, Diane, Duyen and Brett's company and the food kept coming. After my first visit there, the verdict is in. I'd love to go back!

After lunch, more food. 

This time mostly to look at. 

 The Arthur Avenue Retail Market.

 Not exactly a super market, but the diversity of its offerings was staggering.

 Did you say you were looking for fruits and vegetables?

 Done!

How about olives?

Black, brown, green?

Stored in nifty retro wooden casks?

Done!

Cigars?

Hand rolled?
In front of you?

Well, if you insist.

Done!

Music. And a full service restaurant.

Why not?

Done!

More food.

You like cheese and Italian sausage.

So who doesn't?

Done!

And what goes perfectly with all of this crazy good Italian food?

Sun dried tomatoes and peperoni.

OK, I'm not exactly sure if that's pepperoni on the right. Monica says it's hot peppers in oil.

But it looks colorful. What else could you ask for?

So then,

Done!

Finally we take a break from food.

Gotcha!

Monica and I visited that mecca of Italian food super stores, Eately.

And we ate more.

Hey, this is my vacation. Tough.

I hope Monica forgives me, because Mario and Lidia are her faves. Truthfully, this wasn't the best meal we had. But it sure looked good.

Oh, did I mention we happened to visit over the Easter holiday.

Do you know what that means?
Food!

AnnMarie and Jim cooked a wonderful Easter feast, as always!

And to top off our NYC visit, we all got to celebrate Brett's birthday. 

And that cake was good.

Done!

Next blog post will take us to the other side.

No, no one died. Jeez!

I mean Europe.

See you soon, virtually.