Sunday at the New York Fleas

Sundays are one of the most exciting days for me when I travel because I know there is a flea market happening somewhere.  

When in New York, that usually means the Antiques Garage or the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market.

But this time I wanted to discover others. Unfortunately the Antiques Garage has since closed too.

Two blocks from the Beacon Hotel, where we were staying, was the Green Flea market. This market held in the schoolyard of a school. During the cooler months, they also have vendors inside the school.

The Olde Good Things antique store is well represented here. They seem to have a truck at every flea market around here.

After seeing this tangle of phones, I decided my next purchase before I left NYC was going to be an old rotary phone. The kids would get a kick out of that.

But we can't spend the whole Sunday on just ONE fleamarket, can we?  After casing the joint, it was time to head for the Brooklyn flea market which I had read so much about.

Just outside the Green Flea market, is an organic market that also happens every Sunday. There are booths with not only veggies and fruit, but suppliers of organic meat in coolers, cheese, and maple syrup.

Getting to the Brooklyn fleas from here is easy, specially with the very handy Google maps app.

(this was our route going back)

This was an indispensable app for the whole trip. Equally indispensable is the mifi we got at the start of this trip. With mobile wifi, we could google search anything without having to look for hotspots around the city.

I've never been to Brooklyn except to go to Peter Luger's for dinner so was excited to see this part of town.

Wish we had more time to hang around and have brunch, but no..we were focused on getting to that flea market.  On the way, we passed by the  Artists and Fleas craft market, which we thought was our destination.

It was too small (and too neat and comfortable) to be the flea market of Brooklyn, so we walked more.

We got to first address on Google maps and the parking lot was empty!

Oh no... had this flea market closed too? A quick Google search again showed that the market was a few blocks up the street, and not at 6th street, where we were.

The 6th street address has Smorgasburg, the food market, that takes place only on Saturdays.

We're finally here. Looks like there are a few other events happening here every week too. Too bad we won't be here for more Sundays.

Off to explore...

Interesting things, curios, and decorative items. I liked browsing this flea market, but nothing called my name and asked me to take it home.

This brass wheat table base reminded me of Alicia.

And these bulletin boards of magazine spines reminded me of Joanna and inspiration for Gifts and Graces Foundation.

And of course, who would have a truck here? The Olde Good Things guys. (Yes, they had a truck here too, but I don't remember now if this was their booth below)

After a couple of hours browsing this fleamarket, it was time to head back to our upper west side digs and prepare for dinner.

On Sundays, the UWS is also full of book vendors selling old books for a few dollars each. The girls have fun looking for titles and old CDs they can buy.

And then its off to dinner with old friends.

Wish we had more Sundays to spend here.

Hello? Party line?

July 2015

Hotel Beacon in New York's Upper West Side

One of the things we like to do when we travel as a family is to cook some meals "at home."  Even if there are many hotels with kitchen facilities in many parts of the States, I didn't think I'd find a reasonable (in terms of budget) option for New York.

Friends who are more familiar with New York recommended Hotel Beacon.  I went over to Booking.com, was happy with the ratings, and immediately booked a room for the four of us.

For the price of a regular room in NYC, the one-bedroom King Suite was spacious at 65m2 and had a kitchen. Okay, it was a one-person tiny kitchen,  but it had a full-sized fridge, a stove/oven and coffeemaker with pods--all cleaned and refreshed every day.

We didn't even have to do the dishes--but I always did a few so I wouldn't leave such a big mess.

A pleasant surprise was that the hotel was just a block away from the subway station (the red line), across from a wonderful Fairway grocery and a couple of blocks each from a Trader Joe's and even a Zabar's!

Aside from all the conveniences, I loved the quiet, "small-neighborhood" feel (if that is even possible) of the upper west side. After the madness of Soho, Chelsea and Times Square, it was nice to detox in the tree-lined peacefulness of the area.

Hotel Beacon is also just two long blocks from Central Park and the Museum of Natural History, and an easy 12-minute walk to Lincoln Center.

Every person in the staff that we encountered was friendly and always eager to assist.

There was free wifi in the rooms and lobby, and full laundry facilities in the 5th floor.

Hotel Beacon is a comfortable family hotel rather than a 5-star luxury hotel and it easily felt like home (and the wifi was just as slow as being at home in Manila--this was the only negative the hotel had--but nothing we couldn't survive)

The bathroom was basic but always well-stocked with towels and toiletries.

Most of the people who were staying here were from Europe. 

I loved hanging out by the window every morning, and if we came home before 8 pm, we also had a great sunset view right from our living room

And as a final bonus, the hotel was right around the corner from the Levain Bakery. There are people who make a trip to this part of town just for these exquisite cookies!

Hotel Beacon was quite a find, and I would definitely stay here again. 

Check this out for other options for "hotels with kitchens" in New York.

Hotel Beacon

2130 Broadway at 75th Street

New York, NY 10023

The Flowers at Hotel Arts Barcelona

At 44-storeys high, the Hotel Arts Barcelona is one of the tallest buildings in Barcelona. The hotel is right by the mediterranean shore.

The two tallest buildings in Barcelona: Hotel Arts Barcelona and the MAPFRE building.

The view we had from the room was stunning.

When we first arrived early the morning, our room was not yet ready so the girls spent a good part of the morning enjoying the garden. It also had the spectacular view of Frank Gehry's fish sculpture

The room had enough space for the four of us. 

And as always, I spend the first few minutes taking pictures of all the interior details of the hotel room.

A short taxi ride brought us to the Ramblas and the old town, but we also enjoyed being by the water.

What really caught my attention though, day after day, were the fresh flower arrangements scattered all over the hotel.

We were here only for four nights but the arrangements seemed to be changing often.

Only after we left did I realize that the hotel is quite known for its celebrity florist, the Australian Donna Stain.

Had I been more clued in, I might've had a chat (and a selfie!) with her. I would've also taken pictures of each and every arrangement I saw.

I only took these pictures of the lobby on our last day.

If you happen to stay at the Hotel Arts Barcelona, stop and smell the flowers!