Day #5 Monday

Independence Day started out with a delicious brunch at Cafe Cosmopolitan:
Chocolate croissant


Mushroom and chicken crepe


Scrambled egg and turkey croissant





Afterwards it was on to exploring the city on foot:
TriBeCa


Mark Forgione (the newest Iron Chef) restaurant:


Random city shot:


World Trade Center site. This is the new Freedom Building that is still under construction:





Completed future look (on left):



Next, shopping at Century 21..aka the 9th level of Hell. But, the prices are good enough that it's worth a couple hours of crowded torture.




Chaos!!!!





After the Century 21 beat down, we needed a little break. We went to this Dutch restaurant called Vandaag. We each had a fancy cocktail


And also a fabulous snack of Bitterballen, which is an oxtail croquette:






Yum o!
Afterwards, we went to the Cupboard to change for the nights activities.
We had dinner at Keste, which is a pizza place in the village. We got the Margherita pizza:



Action shots:







Mmm!
Next we walked over to view the firework show, which is the largest one in the nation!

After the show we decided to go have a glass of wine. We went to a wine bar in the village called Entwine. We met a very nice married couple there (also insurance brokers, coincidentally!) and had a nice time visiting and making new friends.
After wine, we went to Cielo, which is a place we've been to that plays electronic music. We stayed there for about an hour, then decided we were hungry again. We went to Cafeteria, our favorite late, late night spot. Scott had short rib tacos, and I had chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes. We left there full and happy and went straight to bed!