Here we are, the Explore NYC class, on the boardwalk at Brighton Beach, a neighborhood on the southern edge of Brooklyn at the end of the B train. We took the Q, however--it's supposed to be a little faster than the B--and got there in less than 50 minutes. As soon as we arrived, we strolled down Brighton Beach Avenue and quickly noticed that most signs were in Cyrillic and many people were speaking Russian. This Russian enclave is also known as Little Odessa as most of the locals who populated this area in the 1970s came from the Ukrainian town of the same name on the Black Sea. The elevated subway ran above us and the noise was deafening; we felt sorry for the woman selling cakes and pastries in front of a cafe and had to endure the intermittent rumbling of the trains above.
After browsing inside Saint Petersburg bookstore and being amused by some of the items on display, we made a turn toward the beach. The weather was perfect for a stroll on the boardwalk with the ocean on one side of us. We all walked down the blue plastic carpet toward the water but stopped short while Gwen and Renata went all the way to dip their feet in. After a little more walking, everyone decided to sit at a cafe for some beer and appetizers.
Come back and check out what we'll be posting about this experience!
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