On-Demand III - The Surprising Bronx Bicycle Tour - From Annibel Lee to Hanging Sausages!

This is the Bronx?!?

We begin this unique tour by riding on a viaduct that allow us to look doen on central Harlem. Crossing the Harlem River, we pass directly in front of historic Yankee Stadium - a last chance to view it before it is replaced by a 21st century version. As we ride through the south Bronx, we will head toward what looks like a gothic cathedral, but is actually the first public high school to be built in the Bronx. Following in the footsteps of Colin Powell and Jimmy Carter, we will pass through a surprising neighborhood of suburban style homes. Gone is any trace of a landscape that, 25 years ago, was compared to that of bombed-out Berlin at the end of World War II! In this same neighborhood, an amazing art deco middle school building from the 1930Õs still reflects positively on another age gone by.

The Bronx River, one of the only two fresh water rivers still flowing in the city, will surprise you not only because it is so clean, but also because its falls are so peaceful, given the backdrop of the forests in the Bronx Zoo. No wonder a beaver was spotted here this year, for the first time in two centuries. A stop at a live poultry and sheep market caters to the new immigrant population, which still has the mind set of people from rural villages where your next meal may well be in your fields or streets. Our appetite is aroused!

Lunch is at the unique Arthur Avenue indoor market in the Little Italy of the Bronx. Here you wander in an amazing atmosphere of hanging sausages, fresh fruit and vegetables, and even an old world organ meat shop! You won't be surprised, once you try one, to learn that the sandwiches at Mike’s Deli are regularly featured in the media. (Check out ArthurAvenue.com for more culinary delights.) Italian pastries make an excellent desert, if you have room!

After this bountiful lunch, not surprisingly, our pace will slow as we ride to Poe Cottage. Here you will learn the fascinating story of Edgar Allen Poe’s move to this small country cottage 150 years ago. You will hear a dramatic reading of his incredibly powerful poem, Annibel Lee, written upon the death of his wife in this very cottage. You will then not be surprised to learn that Poe himself died as a drunk shortly therefore on the streets of Baltimore.

As we return to our start in busy Manhattan, you will come to better appreciate that our tours are "as unique as the city itself!" You will most likely feel surprised not only at how safe you felt, but also surprised at the succession of amazing sights you’d never have expected to see in, of all places, the Bronx!