Bluebell

Bluebell ♥s New York, so she recently decided to visit her aunt, who has a lovely, albeit penguin free, flat in the Lower East Side. Bluebell took the Bolt Bus (her very first time) - it wasn't a particularly glamorous way to travel, but the price and schedule can’t be beat. Because New York offers diverse culinary delights on every corner, indulging in as many treats as possible was high on Bluebell’s agenda. The first night she feasted on a mushroom and cheese crepe from Creperie NYC, and pizza margherita from San Marzano (she thinks it’s hard to beat food based on carbs and cheese). And of course no meal is complete without something sweet, so Bluebell stopped by 16 Handles to try a variety of its self serve frozen yogurt flavors (she recommends the pistachio and peanut butter, but thinks you should pass on the too sweet banana).


A somewhat vain penguin with a sweet tooth, Bluebell knows the importance of daily exercise, so the following day she waddled all the way up to the Americas Society, located in the Upper East Side, to check out the Dias & Riedweg exhibition …and it becomes something else. She decided to complement culture with some shopping and fun; after the exhibition, which she thoroughly enjoyed, she went to FAO Schwartz to make a new friend or two.


All the waddling, culture and shopping made her hungry, so she stopped by one of her favorite New York City treat spots, Tasti D-Lite, to refuel (she recommends all of the peanut butter based flavors as well as Snickers).


That evening she met up with friends at the wine bar Terroir. Bluebell is a lover of German wines, so she was pleased to see a long list of diverse and tasty Rieslings. (She is tired of all the anti-Riesling snobs who have only tried the overly sweet ones and probably just drink Chardonnay anyway.) She loved and recommends the Schumann Nagler 2007 bubbly, and also enjoyed the Trocken Spreitzer 2007, both from the Rheingau region. After drinking on an empty stomach (she’ll never learn), she decided to be healthy and stopped by Angelica Kitchen for some yummy vegetarian food. The restaurant has no liquor license, which in this instance was not a bad thing, and she fully enjoyed her dinner, a tempeh Reuben sandwich and some cornbread (one can never have too many carbs).


Sadly the visit went by much too quickly, but Bluebell made the most of her time, and was able to fit in some quick pre-departure socializing. She first caught up with a friend at Cocoa Bar; despite the numerous chocolate treats available she stuck to the iced coffee, not only because she needed the caffeine but because she had one more Tasti D-Lite date before heading back to DC. Only for Tasti D-Lite would Bluebell brave the throng of tourists making their way into the Empire State Building, the location of the franchise closest to her bus stop.