Snowtropolis

Winter has tested even the most hardened New Yorker this year.  Yet few can deny the beauty of the early moments when the snow has settled and still maintains its white splendor.  I was just one of many this morning with a smile on my face and a camera in hand.

Piano Men

Music is especially powerful when it is encountered in an unexpected place.  Or in an unexpected form.

A recent visit to the Museum of Modern Art with E brought a wondrous spectacle and delightful sound:

Yes, that is a hole in the piano.... the artist arrived on the scene, sneaked in under the piano, and thread his body halfway out.  He bent over the keys and started the performance.  Ode to Joy, of sorts.  Beethoven.  Several minutes in, the artist started walking with the piano, the crowd first parting to allow him to pass, and then following him around the atrium.  Grins broke out throughout the crowd.

The performances even made the New York Times smile: I just popped out to play Beethoven

This weekend a longtime friend was in town, and we walked through Washington Square Park on a frigid Saturday.  The cold did not deter this pianist, and the notes of the theme song from the film The Piano floated out to meet us.   A mystery as to how the piano got there, and the pianist's fingers managed to stay flexible in the freezing temperature.  His presence and his playing simply made us happy (and him a little richer!).

The Welcoming Committee

W and I ventured out in the cold evening to find a hole-in-the-wall Mexican deli (Tehuitzingo ).  As we surfaced from the L train, we started giggling.  Subway art strikes again, this time from artist Tom Otterness, called Life Underground.

Tehuitzingo, taco heaven.

I was introduced to Tehuitzingo by my friend E, who knows more about restaurants in NY than anyone else I know.  It is a place I would never have looked at twice.  Virtually every block in NY has a deli, and it wouldn't ever occur to me to go in and order a meal.  Until now.  Authentic tacos for $2.50 each, and beverages straight from Mexico-- even bottled Coca-Cola.  There are no tables, just a narrow room with counters and bar stools. Tehuitzingo Deli & Grocery can be found at 695 10th Avenue, near 47th.

As embassies occupy ground that is technically owned by their country, and not the US, so is Tehuitzingo a wee bit of Mexico.  It is a transporting experience.

Chicken & rice taco + pumpkin blossom quesadilla:

Taco menu:

Festive decor: