Swap-O-Rama

     ...Continued from yesterday:
      On Saturday morning Tom and I walked from our hostel

...back over the 606 walking path (see post from  12/10/2016), 

...to Logan Square to pick up Claire and Miguel,  then we all headed back to The Cozy Corner (see yesterday's post) for breakfast.

      Though the Cozy Corner had been quiet and not too busy the previous morning when Claire and I went there, on Saturday morning the place appeared to be where all of Chicago met for breakfast.      
      But we took our number and found a spot to squeeze in - cozy indeed - among the crowd.
      Still, inspite of all the bodies waiting for a table we didn't wait overly long for ours thanks to maitre de who ran the seating with the efficiency of a military operation and the quick, efficient wait staff who zipped through the crowds with trays of food then to and fro throughout the restaurant like a hive of busy bees. I also imagined an army of cooks toiling away back in the kitchen. 
    We were seated within about fifteen minutes, and the food, which arrived also without much waiting, was as good as it had been the day before,

...including those glorious has browns.

    Miguel ordered one of the restaurant's Mexican specialties,

...and we ordered another house specialty, a plate of Tres Leches French toast topped with raspberry sauce and coconut, to share for dessert.

     After breakfast we walked  back to Claire and Miguel's house - thank goodness for all the walking which hopefully helped mitigate all the eating - from where we drove - that is, Miguel drove us - to our next destination,  the Swap-O-Rama.

     The Swap-O-Rama is a Mexican flea market located on the south side of Chicago,

...where one can find all sorts of interesting things,

...including a snack bar that sold churros - fried dough sticks covered in sugar -

...stuffed with raspberry filling, like a tubular jelly donughnut. Muy delicioso!

     However we had come to the Swap-O-Rama in search of something specific:  Nacimiento figurines.
     A Nacimiento is a traditional Mexican nativity scene which typically includes a variety of human and animal figurines set in a miniature environment that can include plants, structures, and bodies of imaginary or real water. 

     Claire and Miguel's Nacimiento on their window sill, with a "river" made from a blue pillow case.

      Claire and Miguel have been adding to their Nacimiento collection over the years and wanted to pick up a few more figurines at the Swap-O-Rama, which has a number of shops that offer a wide selection of Nacimiento  figurines of all sizes.

     Claire and Miguel picked out  some new figurines,

... and so did I, having decided to start a Nacimiento of my own.
     After we'd made our purchases from the Swap-O-Rama we drove back to Claire and Miguel's place.

 And while Claire unwrapped all the  figurines we'd bought,

....and added her and Miguel's new pieces to their Nacimiento,

...Tom and I got to work peeling the apples for the final pie (see yesterday's post),

...which we all sampled before the day was through,

..along with the cherry almond streusel and pecan pies I'd made the day before.

      They were some memorably good pies. And we all did indeed forget the world's troubles for a while.
       To be continued...