We headed into NYC on Saturday on a crisp, but cool late Saturday morning. Linda wanted to head to the Westside Market which is located on Broadway at 110th Street which is not far from her old Barnard College apartment. This place is sort of a super Zabar’s without the Jewish salamis, cold cuts and Nova Scotia. But it has oodles of everything anyone cold imagine. We parked on Broadway, bought some bread, pickles, NE clam “chowda,” chopped liver, capers and couscous salad.. We then ate a quick lunch and headed down Broadway to meet Jon at his 24 West 64th Street apartment.

We then zoomed south to the Chelsea Market on 9th Avenue and 14th Street. There was practically no traffic. I wanted to re-visit that interesting area and Jon also wanted to take a look at what they offered. The Market Place was crowded with both the neighborhood regulars and the tourists like us. The Market Place goes on forever and there are some remarkable stores that offer everything from butchered meat, to delis, bakeries, sweet shops to wonderful ethnic delicacies at Buon Italia where Linda bought some tortellini and Calamata olives.

After we finished we headed east on 14th Street back to Broadway. We turned right on Broadway and a left on 12th Street where Jocelyn lives. Jon went to meet her and we then walked up to the Union Square Market, which was incredibly crowded with their Christmas Week Holiday bourses and their regular fruits, vegetables and bakery stands. It was a bit chilly, but tolerable, and some cups of hot cider bolstered our constitution. We were searching for Martin’s Hard Pretzels, which is located in Lancaster, Pa., and has been selling their great, salty, dark, handmade, oversized pretzels ever since this market opened over three decades ago. We found them at the north end of the park, got our $5.00 bags and headed around the park to 12th Street.

Our next stop was the Jewish Museum which is located on 5th Avenue and 92nd Street. I parked on Madison Avenue and we walked one block over to Fifth, where the museum, which is free on Saturdays had an exhibition on “The Radical Camera, NY’s Photo League, 1936-1951,” whose photos chronicled life, in and out, of the desperate neighborhoods and mean streets of NYC, from the middle of the Depression, through WWII and into the McCarthy, Red Scare Era. On another floor was a selection of Hanukkah Lamps selected by the artist Maurice Sendak.

After the Museum we headed back to the West Side and Jon’s apartment, to split up all the goodies from the Chelsea Market and light the Hanukkah candles. Once, all of that was done, we again headed out to dinner at Bella Luna’s on Columbus Avenue at 88th Street. Parking was easy. At 6:15 pm the restaurant was quiet, but within an hour almost every seat was taken. I had a great pasta dish of linguini and meatballs with Bolognese sauce for $12.95. Can’t beat that in Manhattan.