Feast of San Gennaro, Mimi comes to visit, and Central Park!

So Ryan and I went to the Feast of San Gennaro- or as I have been calling it- Italian Festival. It was really fun with lots of delicious food everywhere! It took place in historic Little Italy which is in lower Manhattan (which served as the first home in America for hundreds of thousands of Italian immigrants who came here seeking to improve their lives beginning in the early part of the 20th century). 

This year was actually the 86th year that this festival had been running, and there was a "famous" person there: multi-platinum Italian recording artist PATRIZIO BUANNE. We had never heard of her, but oh well. We saw her ride by in the parade, and then we got to see her signing autographs later. 

Here is some information that I got off of the festival's website: 

Presented annually since 1996 by Figli di San Gennaro, Inc. (Children of San Gennaro), a not-for-profit community organization dedicated to keeping alive the spirit and faith of the early Italian immigrants, this year’s Feast is expected once again to attract more than one-million people (I believe that because the streets were PACKED) from the four corners of the globe to the streets of Little Italy to participate in the annual Salute to the Patron Saint of Naples.

Although this is an annual celebration of faith, the Feast of San Gennaro is known the world over for its festive atmosphere, an 11-day event featuring religious processions and colorful parades, free musical entertainment every day, a wide variety of ethnic food delicacies, charming restaurants and cafes and even a world-famous cannoli-eating competition! The central focus of the celebration takes place every September 19th, the official Saint Day when a celebratory Mass is held in Most Precious Blood Church, followed immediately by a religious procession in which the Statue of San Gennaro is carried from its permanent home in the church through the streets that comprise Little Italy.

"This Feast of San Gennaro holds a special place in the place of Italian people everywhere,” says Joseph Mattone, President of Figli di San Gennaro, Inc. "It is a festive period of faith and redemption, a time for remembrance and reconciliation, and a time for celebration. The delicious food, the free musical entertainment that reflects Italian-American culture and heritage are all there. The Feast brings the world to Little Italy and Little Italy to the world.”

Here are some pictures (I used Instagram to help make them a little more fancy):

Cannoli heaven

I thought this was a cool picture

Lots of religious things

The Saint

I had to take a picture of this. 

This was pretty cool-It was a giant wall dedicated to the Italian soldiers who fought in the World Wars. This picture doesn't do it justice, but it's pretty cool.

Here is a little clip of the parade going by

Feast of San Gennaro was awesome, and I am so glad that we went! Then, we had a very special person that came to visit us: Ryan's grandmother, Mimi!! She was leaving from New York to go on a cruise, and we got to see her before they departed. We got to even go on the cruise ship, and have dinner with her and her friends. It's nice to have friends in high places! :) Here are some pictures that I took: 

The giant Pier sign on the waterfront

Not sure which battleship this is, but it was next to where Mimi's cruise ship was docked.

After our delicious dinner at the Italian restaurant onboard 

So much fun! 

Dr. Keen and Mimi

Her ship as we left

It was really great to see people from home, and we really enjoyed ourselves. There is just nothing like friends and family. 

I really just wanted to hide somewhere and stay on the ship! What do they do with stowaways nowadays? I don't think they would throw me overboard.. maybe I should have attempted it. Oh well. 

This past weekend we decided to go to Central Park because neither of us had ever been before. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, and we really enjoyed it. Next time though I will wear more comfortable clothes, and I want to rent bicycles so we can see the entire park. Even walking, which is what we did, we covered a good portion of it, and it was so pretty. 

Here are some pictures:

This picture was actually hard to take because of a bum that was standing there. I had to zoom in to cut her out...

Lots of walking

I needed a popsicle after all of that walking. Note the people just lying down everywhere in the background. I guess Central Park is where everyone goes to take naps.. who knew?

Pretty buildings

Lots of horse drawn carriages going by

Lots of runners and bikers also

The infamous ice-skating rink- now just a big cement space.. but I can't wait for it to be cold so we can come back!

Checking it all out

One of the many little ponds and lakes

William Shakespeare statue

Pretty oaks

Can't remember who this is

Pretty oak-lined walkway. This is well-known too- maybe Central Park Driveway??

Some kind of animals made of straw or something.. 

There was a chess tournament going on

I was hoping to see some famous people but no luck

Really pretty fountain on the lake

Green lake

Ryan was being great for all of my picture taking

Strawberry Fields forever

Tribute to John Lennon

Pretty cool

People go everyday and lay down flowers, money, etc. just for this little mosaic. There were tons of people around looking and taking pictures of it. Pretty crazy

It was a great day, and we were pooped.. but we wanted to hear this really great band that was playing in Yonkers. So we went to this awesome Irish restaurant that was celebrating the mid-way point of St. Patrick's Day, and there were about 3 or 4 different Irish bands that played. It was a ton of fun, and one of our friends from AUC, Rob, came to meet us. He actually lives right around the corner and we never knew! 

We have been having a lot of fun getting to know the city more and more, and I am really happy now that it is getting cooler outside. I can't wait for all of the leaves to change colors, so stay tuned for some good Fall pictures! Ciao!