Wednesday: Arrival in NYC, disorientation, tasty falafel/gyros, meet a new friend, meet the other people staying at the same place, deep slumber. Thus far, I like the West Village.
Thursday:
Walk downtown through Tribeca, past the WTC site, church yards, to Battery Park and the Staten Island Ferry (it's free!) My facial orifices run like crazy and my hands freeze into painful claws while attempting photos of the Statue. We have set foot on 3 boroughs in less than 24 hours, though our time on Staten Island was limited to the three minutes between departing the ferry and boarding the ferry back to Manhattan. We walk up through the Southstreet Seaport area to Chinatown and a mediocre lunch but the best egg tarts ever. Canal street; back to W.Vil to rest for a few hours and then dinner (coal-fired oven pizza)/drinks with Laura and Jimi. We end up in Brooklyn after dinner; that is borough #4 by hour 26.
$20 to take the ferry to the statue/Ellis Island or $0 to take the Staten Island Ferry and get good photos. Free wins.
At South Street Seaport
One of the things I love about traveling with Dan is that he remembers things he learns in art classes and explains them to me. This time, I learned of the history and significance of the design of the Brooklyn Bridge.
I heart them.
Friday: Walk uptown through Chelsea, the Garment and Flower districts, giant Macy's. Up to Times Square to find a deli much beloved by our friend Julie; it's nowhere in sight and we finally manage to ask a local. It's 12 blocks farther and about a million times more expensive than we were expecting (and not really a deli; more of a restaurant where the sandwiches are named for famous people and my lousy texas toast and velveeta sandwich, the cheapest thing on the menu, is $12!). We make up for it later by passing by the MOMA and discovering free Fridays, exploring Rockefeller Center, watching the ice skaters, happening upon hot chocolate and cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery that are far more reasonable. The MOMA contains significant awesomeness but by far my favorite thing is the installation of a huge circular couchlike object with squishy carpet inside, surrounded on 3 sides by soothing sound and video. It is trippy, it is womblike, we remove our shoes and vegetate after a long 2 days of walking in the freezing cold. 4 more floors of modern art and I have had my fill.
I imagine the flower district is far more flowery in the spring. In January, there's not a whole lot to see.
Can't sleep. Giant Macy's Bear will eat me!
My very first wooden escalator, somewhere in the upper floors of Macy's.
MOMA had a whole room of stuff that was both interesting and functional. This is a chair.
An installation at MOMA, consisting of linty fibers and mirrors.
Dinner is reasonable sushi back in the West Village; we walk down Christopher street and pass by bars with happy hours full of men all interested in each other. At dinner, I profess a craving for a small amount of fried food and girl beer. Luckily, there is a tavern across the street. Our familiar-looking server turns out to be someone who worked at the late, lamented Walnut Cafe. We all reminisce and she brings us free beers.
PS. Don't forget to check out Dan's trip report and NYC Alphabet!
4 comments:
great recap! I am living vicariously through your photos.
What's girl beer?
Hillary: Thanks! More to come.
Monkey: I call hard cider girl beer, because I don't like beer but I like cider and it's kind of like beer.
Great pictures, it sounds like you had a grand ole time. And I like your use of girl beer, I too like the hard cider and I may have to adopt your name for it :)
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