Strange Travels Part 5, Brunch to Excess

My adventures in NY, continued: Saturday "Morning"
(more accurately, afternoon, but it feels like a morning)

I wake up after too few hours of sleep, and find that a group is on their way to breakfast. Following the promise of coffee, I decide to tag along. Getting ready to go, I get the chance to talk with Sheril Kirschenbaum, who recently began blogging with Chris Mooney at The Intersection. It turns out we have many common interests, including complex adaptive systems. There are less than a baker’s dozen who joined up for breakfast, making a nice light crowd. Both the coffee and conversations I have there hit the spot.

But we aren’t quite done with the morning. Soon, we’re on our way to a delicious private brunch at the European Union restaurant, while Seed films some of the bloggers for stock footage. Still feeling slightly hungover, I decide to join the non-filmed side of the room, where I chat with Chris R and Kevin Beck. Mimosas, coffee, croissants and bruschetta make the greatest brunch food--perhaps making us a little too merry. Soon our laughs are interrupting the film crew. So, the non-filmed half of the room begins to walk around the East Village, until we spot a building on fire. It’s a distressing sight... we watch for a moment, but the wind blows the smoke in our direction. I’m bothered by the sudden harsh air-quality (for the first time) but far more bothered that someone’s home was on fire and (for the first time) I’m not hearing sirens. I hope no one was injured.

After we return, brunch is letting up. Soon, a number of we sciblings, PZ among us, walk back to the hotel near Union Square, and pause to eat a few more baked goods. You’d think we’d had enough between breakfast and brunch, but these are special. It is probably the only time over the weekend that any of us eat anything homemade. Besides, we’ve been doing so much walking, no one needed to worry about extra calories. Eventually, we decide to split up. Some bloggers will head to the museum, while the rest of us hit the streets of New York. (Apparently, they knew one of us was coming.) Before parting, however, we all stand around blinking at the sunlight outside of the brunch restaurant, as Mo captures an excellent group photo:

Those of us exploring the town visit a few parks and bars, and hit the edge of SoHo. ("Nice area," I think, "might have to come back here.")