Home for the Holidays

I was fortunate to have my sister, my son and my niece here for Christmas Day. My son lives in Portland, OR, so he only comes home once a year. My sister lives so close to me now and her daughter came from elsewhere in CT to spend the day. It was so nice to be able to entertain her for a change.

Yes, I made Santa Claus martinis again.

The day after Christmas Kurt and I went to the Bronx Zoo. Neither of us had been since he was in third grade and I was a chaperone. It was a cold, damp day and a lot of the animals were missing, but we did get to see some interesting ones in spite of the weather.

Of course the weather didn't bother the polar bear. He was very active, roaming all around his large enclosure and carrying this scrap of paper around. He dropped it a couple of times and then would pick it up and roam some more. Maybe it smelled like fish? Anyway he was quite entertaining.

 We tried to do as much as possible inside the buildings to stay out of the cold. This huge tree made from origami elephants was intriguing.

"nuff" said

After the zoo we went to nearby Arthur Avenue. If you are from anywhere in the NYC area, you know that Arthur Avenue in The Bronx is famous for its many restaurants and shops specializing in Italian food. Who doesn't love Italian? Well, we certainly do. My son is a foodie and likes to cook so after our delicious lunch we perused a few of the stores. We brought home some pastries, and pasta and  other delectables.

Kurt, at the far end of store that specialized in pork. Check out all those dried sausages hanging from the ceiling.

It was a fun couple of days. He goes home tomorrow. It was so good to have him here, however briefly.