Twelve hours in hipster central

Oh, weekends, how I cherish thee.

I've been in New York for little more than a month now. Besides two trips to the beach and one to Ikea, I have not left Manhattan. Well, I hardly left Midtown/UES, to be completely honest. Blasphemy, shame, shame, blasphemy, shame, I know!

So, to make up for it, I have made arrangements to meet with some lovely people in Williamsburg later Sunday afternoon. And, since I was leaving this god forsaken island otherwise known as Manhattan, I decided to put the trip to good use and spend the day there.

Scenes from Williamsburg, I

I took the L train and I don't know what it is about the tunnel ride under the East river, but as soon as we left the last Manhattan stop, the number of hipster-like-clad passengers increased dramatically. That was the first sign, I guess. Williamsburg is supposed to be the world capital of too-cool-for-you hipsters, indie rock, street art and vegan food.

Scenes from Williamsburg, II

My adventure started with a walk around Bedford Avenue and some browsing around vintage stores. I seriously debated having lunch in one of the small restaurants in the area, but eventually decided on having a picnic in McCarren park, followed by a long walk and thorough enjoyment of street art.

To me, the area looked like a giant construction site with glitzy, modern looking apartment complexes popping up everywhere, and with the occasional stubborn ex-industrial building thrown in the mix. But don't take it wrong. All in all, I liked the feel of the area.

A friend pointed out yesterday that to her, Williamsburg gives off a very Berlin-like vibe. I COULDN'T AGREE MORE!

Scenes from Williamburg, III

Since I was roaming the streets around the famous Brooklyn Brewery and since they offer tours on weekends, it was only natural for me to join. It was definitely not my first brewery tour, and although they like to see themselves as the coolest place ever (and they claim to be the biggest craft brewery in the US), I admit the tour was the most pointless and disappointing one in my collection. It consisted of a cool hipster guy taking a group of people into a big hall where he took the microphone and talked for 25 minutes. And that's it. He made some good jokes and gave a brief lecture in botany explaining that hops are related to marijuana, but other than that, the experience was pretty underwhelming.

"Tour" was a bit boring, but the brewery itself is kind of fun.
Please note the lovely  "official" clock.

But two of the beers I sampled were very very good, so that kind of made it up for the crappy tour, whereas the other two were pretty mediocre.

Love the packaging & the logo & some of the brews.

I left the brewery slightly tipsy and with about half an hour to spare until meeting T and W for a drink. I spent said half an hour browsing Beacon's Closet.

Meeting T and W was the highlight of the day and it transformed our 5 o'clock drink plans into a 6-hour talk-laugh-drink-explore-eat affair that ended with me finally leaving their lovely home just before midnight. 

Saying goodbye to a marvellous Sunday in Williamsburg
AKA view of Midtown from T and W's deck. Gorgeous!

It was nice to meet you, Hipsterland. See you soon.
Jules