Taranta Restaurant in Boston

My friends and I made reservations at Taranta Restaurant in Boston, MA. to celebrate. We were not disappointed!

We sat on the second floor with a lovely view of outside and the golden sunset.

 Beautiful golden sunset.

I had the Pisco Sour – delish!!!!

Another shot…

 It all looks so lovely.

I loved this light fixture… Beautiful design!

The sun departed… as our starters arrived

An array of antipasto. This was really tasty! Prosciutto – Mmmm

Caprese Salad – great..

This was the winner! Chickpeas, clams and more.. IT WAS SOOOO GOOD! I think its name is Coccio di pesce e legumi. It was really, really good. Now it’s time for dinner! I ordered the lamb shank… It was wayyyy bigger than I would have ever imagined!

This thing was HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!

 HUGE!!! Just the sight of it filled me and I could not eat more than a bite. 😦

 The Petto di pollo – chicken breast stuffed with mozzarella cheese and spinach. It was good.

The salmon and asparagus… also good.

The dinner winner of the night however was the lobster ravioli. Winner!!

The dining area on the second floor

 Dining area on the first floor

A lovely wine cellar

Exterior facade.

 At street level

This restaurant was a memorable experience. The food was great, service was great, I loved the cozy feel, the many things to look at – light fixtures, interior brick walls, trinkets and other artifacts reminding one of Italy and Peru. All in all, great job!

Here’s a link to Taranta’s website – http://www.tarantarist.com/

Thinking Insomniac

 This work by Vernelle Noel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

9/11 Memorial & Museum, New York

Yesterday I went to the 9/11 Memorial and museum in New York. Here are some photos of the memorial and the museum.

I’ve never seen the undressed skeleton of a Calatrava.. oh this looks fantastic! Like a beast of some sort!

Across from the memorial

  A tribute to those who fell on that day

The memorial

I really love the form of this building

This waterfall and pool is REALLY, REALLY fantastic. I was in awe. The sound, it’s vast size, the questions, the scale, it is powerful.

The names of those who perished

     

Entry into the museum was just like that of passing through airport security. On the right are two columns from the original World Trade Center building

Here they tell in summary the events that happened on that day, i.e. the organized hijacking of planes from different locations and illustrate the flight paths of the planes.

The Foundation Wall – a slurry wall built to keep water from the river out of the building’s foundation.

 

Structural columns from where the first plane hit.

 

Projections of the “missing” posters placed by loved ones on the days following 9/11

Survivor’s stair

 

Heading down to the exhibit floor

Part of the communications antennae that was on top of the North Tower.

  The North Tower’s communications antennae

Fire Truck

Entry into the exhibition. Photography was not allowed so I will try to describe it the best I can.

The sequence of the exhibit matches the time sequence of that day starting at 8:46 am when the first plane hit the first tower. Videos, news footage, etc. capture those minutes. The exhibit has pieces of paper from the Towers (partially burned), identification badges of employees there, metro cards used on that day, and the top news stories of that day. On the walls are also quotes by persons on that day. There are areas where audio recordings of that day are played. Small areas with seats and how nice of them, tissues at the entry. I must point out, not every audio is the same. There are several different ones so don’t leave after viewing just one.

Survivors recounting that moment when the first plane hit, what it felt like, the debris, etc. They speak of their struggle to get out, seeing firemen coming up to help, almost knowing that this was bad and they might not get out. The events at the Pentagon and Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania are exhibited. The audio exhibit of the voice messages left by those on Flight 93 tore my heart. One lady called her husband and said (voice message), “Tell my children I love them [..] I hope I see you again.. I love you baby (crying as she speaks).” That one just killed me and makes me tear up as I write this.

The words of the officers guiding people out of the lobby also stuck with me, “Don’t look up! Don’t look back! Just RUN!!!!”

    Another shot of the structural columns from the original WTC

You can see more on the memorial’s official website here – http://www.911memorial.org/

If you can make the trip, I suggest you visit the memorial.

Thinking Insomniac

This work by Vernelle Noel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

On The Move Bike Shop in Brooklyn, NY

I arrived in New York a few days ago and am riding in NY for the first time. I borrowed my nephew’s bike and realized it needed some fixing (brakes, tires and a bell). Today I went in search of a bike shop to have these issues fixed. I went to two bikes shops who gave me a lead time of 7-14 days to get my bike fixed. WTH???!!!! Just to fix (or replace) some brakes?!!!! At this point I missed Cambridge, MA where these things would be fixed in minutes! I wondered, “Is it this difficult in NY?” While I was investigating other possibilities on my map, a guy with a beautiful rottweiler stopped and asked if I was looking for a bike shop. We both commented on the insane thought of 2 weeks to fix some brakes. He told me of another shop on Park Slope. We looked at the map and found the store. I called them and they told me to come by. No need to wait 2 weeks!

On the Move Bike Shop!

Inside On The Move

I entered the shop, told them I just called and wanted to get my brakes fixed, a bell and my chains greased/ oiled. They (Tony) took my bike and rolled it to the back. I was interested in other bikes too, so he brought me a catalog of bikes and showed me the ones they had in the store. There were some great bikes! Wayyyy lighter than the one I had! While checking out the bikes, from what seems like nowhere came this jet black kitty. He came towards me and of course I had to play with him. Spooky is his name! Spooky has size! and is wonderful to pet.

Spooky!

Great with customers… because all he wants is to be wubbed.. 🙂

“Why did you stop?!!”

So while playing with Spooky I saw a GIANT bike, the same type of bike I had in Cambridge.

Tony was so awesome he told me, “Take the bike, go for a spin with it. Let me know what you think.” What the what?!! How cool!! I went for a spin with the bicycle, and oh boy.. It was sooooo good! I came back all smiles and he said, “Feels different huh?!” I agreed. It rode so smoothly. When I came back my bike was finished. I paid for my stuff and then remembered I needed a helmet too so I bought one.

I thanked Tony and Camasero (I am probably wrong, will find out his name and fix) and left.

Tony (left) and C (right)!

Their business card

Tony, after telling me, “I look a mess!”

LOL. No you don’t Tony, you look awesome!

C was modeling for me. He is the bicycle superhero if you ask me.

I loved this shop because the service was great! They were so friendly… I felt like we knew each other for years. They also fix your stuff quickly. The shop had a constant rotation of people coming in and going out.

• Service – Extremely good
• Quality of work done – Very good
• Cost – Reasonable

Keep up the great work guys and I look forward to seeing you and Spooky again!

Here’s a link to their site – http://onthemovenyc.com/

TI

This work by Vernelle Noel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Sketching and much more…

I’ve been searching for something new to blog about, something that excites me! On a recent trip to Malaysia, my friend and I were chatting and I am excited about something new for my blog. Let’s see how it goes. My plan to share with you all things that I enjoy or experiences I had that were great. It might be a restaurant, food, a shop, travel, people, music, architecture… Whatever was awesome, I plan to share. Similar to my previous “Document my Day” posts, but this time with a discerning eye on the experience, design and more.

I will always  be sketching, don’t worry.

Hope you enjoy and stay tuned!

Thinking Insomniac

This work by Vernelle Noel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.