Church #1: Our Lady of Good Counsel

First off, I was ridiculously late because I decided I would take the bus up to 90th instead of the subway. It is the first time I have taken the bus and there was a receipt check which held things up. Then I didn't look at the route, so I didn't get off at 86th and the next stop was 97th.  The bright note was that on the walk back south, there was a homeless woman doing yoga on 2nd avenue.  Her downward dog was to DIE for...seriously, she put a lot of yogis to shame.

So I finally arrive....Our Lady of Good Counsel is between 2 and 3rd avenue and directly across from a sweet little playground. They have a 6 pm mass on Sunday. The church outside is huge and imposing.  Inside...HOLY DETAILS! This church is OR-NATE! There are carvings everywhere -- at first, I had a hard time listening to the priest because I was taking everything in.  I definately need to bring a camera because my phone is not going to cut it (and after Mass, I wanted to take more pictures, but the priest was standing at the back of the church chatting with people and I felt uncomfortable, so I only took one pic). One thing that was interesting was that the ushers were really young, like not a one over 30. Not a problem obviously, it is just that most churches have ushers that are pre-Vatican II.

Mass was nice...a little long. The priest (visiting) had a lot to say. The little kid behind me had a lot to say too. I hope his mother was praying for better parenting skills, because he was killing me. However, he did make me really concentrate on Mass to try and distract myself from the urge to turn around and clock him.

Afterwards, wanted to head to Two Hens Bakery, but they were closed. So we went to Papaya instead (86th and 3rd). It was completely worth not hitting the brat during mass -- the hot dogs were absolutely delicious! The best I have ever had.....hot, juicy and the perfect amount of sauerkraut.  So so good. Then checked out a great shoe store and ended up our adventure buying the world's largest chocolate chip cookie from Hot & Crusty. It was wonderful...and really liked the neighborhood. There were lots of people out and about and lots of interesting people watching (like the guys smoking pot in front of the pay phones while sitting in leather office chairs. Pretty bold..but no one seemed to care).

Took the bus home, with no missteps (the bus is so much nicer than the subway -- at least for this trip).  I think this project is going to be really fun...but I am going to have to cut out the numerous treats afterwards. One treat per mass is going to have to be one of my guidelines.