Exploring New York - Brighton Beach & Coney Island

Yesterday we decided to make a day trip to Brighton Beach. We (or I mostly) knew very little about the area, mostly that it had a "beach" (like the name implied) and that it had a high population of Russian's. So we got on the Q train and took it all the way to Brighton Beach, about 30-40 minutes. Once you walk out on Brighton Beach Ave it feels like you've landed in "little Russia". Everyone speaks Russian, many of the stores have Russian names and signs, and on every corner there's a pharmacy. For some reason we Russian's love our pharmacies (lol).  Since both my boyfriend and I were born in Russia we loved this little neighborhood. It brought up lots of childhood memories and certain food smells that we remember. What I didn't realize is that Coney Island was right next to Brighton Beach. So we walked down the boardwalk for 10 minutes and got to Coney Island. There you have the famous amusement park (surprisingly big) and lots of food vendors. Feels a little bit like Venice almost (minus all the weed shops).  We walked around, got on one of the rollercoasters (so much fun!) and finally took our shoes off for a stroll by the water.  On the boardwalk in Brighton Beach. Just look at the restaurant behind me named "Tatiana", how Russian 😅 The entrance to Luna Park, the amusement park in Coney Island. Walked out to end of the pier. ❤️ View of Luna Park from the pier. Touching the Atlantic Ocean for the first time since moving to New York. Walks on the beach with this guy ❤️ We finished our day back in Brighton Beach at that restaurant called "Tatiana" haha. We had to try it!  If there's pelmeni on the menu, I will order pelmeni.