New York City

It feels like forever ago since I was in New York, but really it was just four days ago. This trip has been wonderful so far, but time has a habit of moving right along.

So here is my New York City recap:

Saturday:
We took the train from Boston to New York. On the way we went through Rhode Island and Connecticut. They both look very lovely. We arrived at Penn Station and found our way to the subway. Penn Station is crazy big and busy. We took the subway to our Inn on the Upper West Side. We got checked in and quickly learned that my laptop wasn't going to be able to connect to the Internet (hence the massive delay in blogs). After checking in we took the subway back to Penn Station and walked up through Times Square, Rockefeller Plaza, and up 5th Avenue. On 5th Avenue we stopped off at the Apple store that is just a big glass box on the sidewalk with the entire store below ground. We played with the iPhone (I want) and looked at iPods. We walked up 5th Avenue, past the Guggenheim and Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), then cut through Central Park to our neighborhood. We were really tired by the time we got back to the Inn. That was a lot of walking. I'm guessing (with the help of mapmyrun.com) that we walked at least 6 miles. That may not sound like much, but when you are constantly processing your surroundings and what not it can be really draining.

Sunday:
My friend Rebecca from the Hash in Madrid used to live in New York. She emailed me some recommendations. Flynn and I decided to head north to the Kitchenette for brunch as per Rebecca's endorsement. It was a bit of a walk, but the weather was great and the food was worth it. Hmm... So yum! After brunch we strolled through Harlem and back to Central Park. We headed south east around the Harlem Meer and heard some live music being played. The acoustics were really good in the area so even though we didn't stop, we could hear them for quite a while. It was really nice. Eventually we made it down to the MOMA. I generally don't have much patience for art museums (something I think I need to work on), so we breezed through it pretty quickly. Afterwards we walked back to the Inn for naps. We found dinner at a delicious place near our Inn and got to enjoy the regulars arguing about Olympic swimming (specifically the depth of the pool).

Monday:
The weather on Saturday and Sunday had been pretty hit and miss. We had gotten rained on some, but nothing too heavy. On Monday, the thunderstorms rolled in. Flynn and I found a French bistro down the road from our Inn and had a nice breakfast. About halfway through the storm hit and hit hard. Everyone who walked by the window was soaked. We decided it would be better to wait until Tuesday to try to see the Statue of Liberty. After breakfast we went back to the Inn to look up rainy day activities on the Internet. While we did that, of course, the rain stopped. We eventually took a cab to Cafe Sabarsky for lunch. But more important than lunch was Stiegl. Several years ago, Flynn went to Austria and had Stiegl. He became a fan. He (or rather, his friend Anthony) found out that Cafe Sabarsky carries Stiegl beer. It was very exciting. After lunch we walked through south Central Park. Have I mentioned how much I love Central Park? I don't think I have. I love Central Park. It is one of my favorite places in the world. I love how you can be in the middle of all of the chaos of the city and feel totally relaxed on a big, quiet, green knoll. Plus everyone flocks to the park when the sun comes out. Central Park is Manhattan's back yard. There are so many people to see and different paths to wander. I love it. After our walk through the park, we walked through the city to Bryant Park.

At Bryant Park Flynn and I met up with Heather and Andrew. They are the friends of Rebecca, my friend from Spain. Every summer HBO hosts movies in the park. We all sat in the park with hundreds of others enjoying a fresh vegetable picnic and wine. We watched “The Candidate” with Robert Redford. It was a gorgeous night out and the movie was good too. After the movie Flynn and I walked through Times Square again then caught took the subway back up to our neighborhood. Once there we found a local bar to have a drink at and watch the Olympics. It was a good day.

Tuesday:

This was our last full day in New York. We made it a very full day. We got up slowly and made our way to the greasy spoon around the corner from our Inn. After breakfast we took the subway to South Ferry and Battery Park. It was beautiful out, but hot. We waited in a pretty long line to buy our tickets for the ferry ride from Battery Park to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. After we bought our tickets we got into a long line and after a minutes wait, gave our ticket to the guy. The guy told us that we needed to go to the end of the other long line. We headed toward the end of the longest line, but we couldn’t even see it. When we finally found it we decided it would be at least a couple hours wait before we could get to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Since it was so hot and we didn’t want to waste our day in a line. We went back to the ticket line and scalped our tickets to a skeptical young man. Then we took the free Staten Island Ferry. It didn’t get very close to the Statue of Liberty, but the views of Manhattan were pretty great. After the ferry ride we took the subway back up to Central Park. We each got a hot dog then found a bench and watched an adult men’s league softball. It was great. We just sat there, watched the game some, talked, people watched, and just chilled out. Afterward we picked up our tickets for Young Frankenstein from the Hilton theater then went across the street to Dave and Buster’s for a drink. Back at the theater we easily found our seats on the top level. The show was great. Roger Bart (from The Producers, among other things) stared as Fredrick Frankenstein. The man who played Igor was hilarious. He stole pretty much every scene he was in. It was a lot of fun. I’m a big fan of Broadway and I haven’t seen a show I didn’t like yet. After the show we went back to a restaurant/bar near the Inn. We had a bite to eat then had to get back to our room to pack.

I love New York, Central Park, and the vibe I get when I’m there. I don’t think I can pick a favorite day. It was a great great visit. I hope I don’t have to wait another four years before I go again. Next time I think I would like to try to see a show taping. That would be neat. Also going in a season other than summer would be cool too. Next up is Philadelphia. Let the good times keep rolling!