Tribeca

M. has this thing about checking out a different New York neighborhood every week. Well, let's just say that we try to check out a new neighborhood each month. So we went to Tribeca last weekend.
I love how Tribeca sounds, don't you? It sounds to me so sophisticated, so artsy. And it was totally different than Midtown or West Village, or any other we've seen so far.
It was quiet on Sunday early afternoon. The restaurants were half empty, you wouldn't have to elbow anyone crossing the street. It was such a quiet neighborhood last weekend. Quite a different impression of Manhattan.
The architecture was lovely-small, old building with fire escapes are everywhere.
We had a nice lunch in a small, charming Italian restaurant-Petrarca. Then we walked around, and had coffee in the Love and smth cafe, which had fun and unique interior design. I really liked the swinging chair, the couches and arms chairs scattered around this midsized coffee shop, close to the river.
We checked out De Niro's Tribeca Grill just from outside, and it looked really interesting with big paintings all over. Definitely want to go back there.
The first thing that caught my attention when we arrived, was this place where you can paint or decorate pottery. It sounded silly at first, you know, paying so you can do some work, but on a second thought, it might be fun, and therapeutic. It had a fun logo underneath the title : " The art of having fun." I don't know if I would necessarily applied it to painting pottery, but the concept itself is quite clever.
So, there you go. I would recommend Tribeca not only for a visit, but for living as well. It is, undoubtedly, an up-and-coming oasis, just a stone's throw from a soothing view of the river.