Pitch Perfect

Yes, the title of this post could be another reference to baseball, but I swore I was not going to bore people with my Mets obsession any more, and I intend to keep my word. Instead, this post is about the tour that I took this morning of the Steinway piano factory. I may be tone deaf, but I do know any awesome tour when I take one.

I knew it was going to be good when I was handed goggles upon my arrival. The tour goes right through the working shop floor, and it was incredibly cool to see how grand pianos get put together. The guides were funny and passionate about the history of the factory and also the neighborhood in general. Plus, as a part of the tour, I got to take home souvenirs - a piece of veneer and a rejected hammer from the key mechanism. Throw in the goggles, and this rocks the house.

After the two hour tour of the factory, I wandered around Astoria and Long Island City for awhile. I "investigated" several bakeries (Tsoureki - Greek Easter bread, also known as epiphany bread - is way yummy; crappy cheap tartufo is not) and munched a souvlaki on a stick on my way to the special graffiti warehouse. During my meanderings, I remembered why I currently have the best job in the world. (Maybe that was my special bread epiphany?) Yay!