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| Why not finish with a little "Naked Cowboy"? Are people not the most entertaining creatures ever?! |
Monday, May 28, 2012
A Bit of NYC Street Photog
While this isn't technically "part 3" of our New York trip, all the pictures I'm posting are from that weekend. Like I discussed here, I was fascinated by how different each neighborhood felt from the others. And consistent with the eclectic nature of each enclave was the diversity of its people. People watching became equally (if not more) entertaining as exploring the city itself. There was even a little pug-watching in the mix...
Friday, May 25, 2012
City Livin' (Part Deux!)
Welcome to part 2 of our NYC trip!
Our main mission for Sunday was to get tickets to a Broadway show on the cheap. There are 3 TKTS Discount Booths in the city that sell day-of show tickets at a large discount. So we headed for the South Street Seaport booth that morning. On the way down, we strolled through the East Village, Chinatown, and Little Italy (neatest neighborhood ever, but shrinking as a result of the rapidly expanding Chinatown that borders it). I love that each neighborhood has it's own personality. And in the ethnic enclaves it's almost like entering a different country every few blocks!
Once into the Financial District, we skipped over to the Brooklyn Bridge... what kind of tourists would we be if we didn't walk across the Brooklyn Bridge?! Luckily we ventured across in the early hours. When the temperature rises later in the day, it feels like you're walking out through a giant heat duct! Definitely pleasant before noontime though.
Finally we arrived at the TKTS booth and got in line just after they opened at 11 AM. It took maybe 10 minutes to get through the line. We were really hoping to see Chicago, but had a couple of back-ups in mind just in case (you really can't go wrong with Broadway). When we reached the front of the line, voila! Two seats to Chicago for 50% off! Woohoo! See how excited we were?! Well, that's more like Will's "show your excitement in the picture" face...
It was only 11:30 or so after we got our tickets, but we needed a little mid-day boost, so we stopped at the Dubliner to rest in the shade. There was a brunch special that morning that included a complimentary wine/beer/mimosa. Don't mind if I do! I ordered eggs benedict with smoked salmon and a glass of Chardonnay. Will got a veggie omelet and a Guinness. Ahh... And now for my "relaxed" face...
The last afternoon plan was to see the Statue of Liberty. We thought about taking one of the ferries to Liberty Island to see her up close, but we came to the conclusion that we really just wanted a good view of her... not to crane our necks up to the sky at her. Plus that island on a sunny May afternoon is pretty crowded. Instead we decided on taking the Staten Island Ferry- which is free(!!!) and crosses right in front of her. We got to the dock right after the ferry left, so we waited about 25 minutes for the next one to come. This actually ended up being a good thing, because being in the front of the line means you get the first pick of standing space on the ferry. Once the ferry arrives and the gates open to let everyone board, it's sort of like Walmart on Black Friday morning. No one got trampled (or died), but there was a bit of a rush to get the best spots! Lucky for me I married a master competitor, so we sprinted past everyone and got a great spot on the right side of the ferry. While I wouldn't want to deal with the bustle multiple times, the Staten Island Ferry is definitely something every tourist needs to experience once.
After a busy day, we rested up at the apartment a bit and got ready for the evening. Then we took the subway up to the Ambassador Theater to see Chicago on Broadway. We each bought a drink at the bar (yes, overpriced, but what's more awesome than seeing a great show while drinking a glass of wine?) and headed up to the highest balcony to find our seats. When we got to the top and gave the usher our tickets, she informed us that the "E" on the tickets identified the row, not the section, and pointed us toward the orchestra seating downstairs. BAM! 7th row in the orchestra section! We felt like a couple of bargain champions sitting in our awesome 1/2 priced seats :) Needless to say, the show was outstanding. If I were a NYC local, I'd have to live in a box and spend all my money on Broadway shows.
Following the show, we walked through (the chaotic) Times Square to see it at night. Definitely a sight. Definitely only see it once. After a few minutes, we cut off the path and caught a cab up to Central Park. Here we found a horse and carriage on its final tour through the park. I normally hate doing anything touristy that involves animals (I always envision them being worked to exhaustion and living horrible lives), but we ended up taking a ride. Of course I grilled the driver of the carriage about the living conditions of the horse, how many hours he works each day, and when he gets to retire to a lovely green pasture somewhere. Will is always patient with my animal-obsessive ways :) The nice Irish man had a lot of good things to say... which I choose to believe so I can sleep at night. I sort of regret taking the ride now, and I'll probably make a large donation to an animal rescue group for repentance. Anywho, it was a beautiful, romantic ride through the park. And we got to love on the horse afterwards, too.
Overall, a fantastic trip. So fantastic that we actually pondered over apartments on Craigslist available on the lower east side once we got home... Kirb and Jackie could be city pugs, right?
Our main mission for Sunday was to get tickets to a Broadway show on the cheap. There are 3 TKTS Discount Booths in the city that sell day-of show tickets at a large discount. So we headed for the South Street Seaport booth that morning. On the way down, we strolled through the East Village, Chinatown, and Little Italy (neatest neighborhood ever, but shrinking as a result of the rapidly expanding Chinatown that borders it). I love that each neighborhood has it's own personality. And in the ethnic enclaves it's almost like entering a different country every few blocks!
Once into the Financial District, we skipped over to the Brooklyn Bridge... what kind of tourists would we be if we didn't walk across the Brooklyn Bridge?! Luckily we ventured across in the early hours. When the temperature rises later in the day, it feels like you're walking out through a giant heat duct! Definitely pleasant before noontime though.
Finally we arrived at the TKTS booth and got in line just after they opened at 11 AM. It took maybe 10 minutes to get through the line. We were really hoping to see Chicago, but had a couple of back-ups in mind just in case (you really can't go wrong with Broadway). When we reached the front of the line, voila! Two seats to Chicago for 50% off! Woohoo! See how excited we were?! Well, that's more like Will's "show your excitement in the picture" face...
It was only 11:30 or so after we got our tickets, but we needed a little mid-day boost, so we stopped at the Dubliner to rest in the shade. There was a brunch special that morning that included a complimentary wine/beer/mimosa. Don't mind if I do! I ordered eggs benedict with smoked salmon and a glass of Chardonnay. Will got a veggie omelet and a Guinness. Ahh... And now for my "relaxed" face...
The last afternoon plan was to see the Statue of Liberty. We thought about taking one of the ferries to Liberty Island to see her up close, but we came to the conclusion that we really just wanted a good view of her... not to crane our necks up to the sky at her. Plus that island on a sunny May afternoon is pretty crowded. Instead we decided on taking the Staten Island Ferry- which is free(!!!) and crosses right in front of her. We got to the dock right after the ferry left, so we waited about 25 minutes for the next one to come. This actually ended up being a good thing, because being in the front of the line means you get the first pick of standing space on the ferry. Once the ferry arrives and the gates open to let everyone board, it's sort of like Walmart on Black Friday morning. No one got trampled (or died), but there was a bit of a rush to get the best spots! Lucky for me I married a master competitor, so we sprinted past everyone and got a great spot on the right side of the ferry. While I wouldn't want to deal with the bustle multiple times, the Staten Island Ferry is definitely something every tourist needs to experience once.
After a busy day, we rested up at the apartment a bit and got ready for the evening. Then we took the subway up to the Ambassador Theater to see Chicago on Broadway. We each bought a drink at the bar (yes, overpriced, but what's more awesome than seeing a great show while drinking a glass of wine?) and headed up to the highest balcony to find our seats. When we got to the top and gave the usher our tickets, she informed us that the "E" on the tickets identified the row, not the section, and pointed us toward the orchestra seating downstairs. BAM! 7th row in the orchestra section! We felt like a couple of bargain champions sitting in our awesome 1/2 priced seats :) Needless to say, the show was outstanding. If I were a NYC local, I'd have to live in a box and spend all my money on Broadway shows.
Following the show, we walked through (the chaotic) Times Square to see it at night. Definitely a sight. Definitely only see it once. After a few minutes, we cut off the path and caught a cab up to Central Park. Here we found a horse and carriage on its final tour through the park. I normally hate doing anything touristy that involves animals (I always envision them being worked to exhaustion and living horrible lives), but we ended up taking a ride. Of course I grilled the driver of the carriage about the living conditions of the horse, how many hours he works each day, and when he gets to retire to a lovely green pasture somewhere. Will is always patient with my animal-obsessive ways :) The nice Irish man had a lot of good things to say... which I choose to believe so I can sleep at night. I sort of regret taking the ride now, and I'll probably make a large donation to an animal rescue group for repentance. Anywho, it was a beautiful, romantic ride through the park. And we got to love on the horse afterwards, too.
Overall, a fantastic trip. So fantastic that we actually pondered over apartments on Craigslist available on the lower east side once we got home... Kirb and Jackie could be city pugs, right?
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
City Livin' (Part 1)
As I mentioned in my last post, Will and I spent a long weekend in NYC... and as promised, I've got lots of pictures to share (in fact, fair warning... this is a very picture-heavy post!). The 4 day trip was sooo much fun, and a great relief from stress at work.
Neither of us were very familiar with the neighborhoods in Manhattan, but we ended up scoring an apartment off Airbnb on the Lower East Side. The neighborhood was exactly what we were looking for, the apartment was way cheaper than a hotel (of which there are few in this particular area), and it was awesome to live and feel like a local for a few days! Below are a couple pictures of the tiny charming flat.
We started the trip off with (what ended up being) a 6 mile walk around Manhattan. Since we didn't know much about all the little neighborhoods, walking was the best way to learn more about them. On the way back, we stopped at a colorful pizza joint to have some amazing thin crust pizza and a bottle of wine.
Once back in the East Village, we stopped by the Bourgeois Pig. A little pricey, but trendy and fun, and definitely good for one drink. And let's be honest, it's almost worth going just for the name :)
The next morning, we visited a coffee shop called Ninth Street Espresso for some caffeine. It's a very simplistic place with only Sugar in the Raw for sweetening (I'm a Splenda girl, myself). Cute enough to upset me that I didn't take pictures of it... but the coffee and oat currant scone were fantastic nonetheless.
Once livened from our beverages, we took the subway up to Central Park to explore the Met. We weren't able to spend gobs of time in there, but we did check out the rooftop cafe. The view was stunning, to say the least.
On our stroll through the park to our next destination, our late night got the best of us. We got completely sucked into the moment and took a quick nap in the grass. The weather was a perfect 72 degrees or so, there was an incredible violinist playing about 30 feet from us, and the air smelled like waffles from the vendors upwind of us. Heaven.
After a (too) quick stop at the Museum of Natural History (hello, crazy dinosaur skeletons!), we went back to the apartment to get ready for the evening.
Two of Will's friends from grad school happen to live near NYC, so we were fortunate enough to have dinner with them at Spice Market. On top of being with great company, the restaurant was to die for. Seriously. Will and I split the Salmon Tartare, Crispy Salt & Pepper Skate, and Cod with Malaysian Chili Sauce. Yum. Oh, and did I mention the drinks? I had to try the Kumquat Mojito, but all the restaurant reviews raved about the Ginger Margarita. What's a girl to do? Naturally, I ordered both. Then to add to the gluttony, we split the Ovaltine Kulfi for dessert. Essentially a bar of decadent chocolate topped with homemade whipped cream, caramelized bananas, and carmel popcorn. Double- yum. Our night was complete after a walk on the High Line through the Meatpacking District and West Chelsea. Ah, what a day! I do realize the majority of this post has been about food... hmmm... I'll aim for less of that in the next post :)
Neither of us were very familiar with the neighborhoods in Manhattan, but we ended up scoring an apartment off Airbnb on the Lower East Side. The neighborhood was exactly what we were looking for, the apartment was way cheaper than a hotel (of which there are few in this particular area), and it was awesome to live and feel like a local for a few days! Below are a couple pictures of the tiny charming flat.
We started the trip off with (what ended up being) a 6 mile walk around Manhattan. Since we didn't know much about all the little neighborhoods, walking was the best way to learn more about them. On the way back, we stopped at a colorful pizza joint to have some amazing thin crust pizza and a bottle of wine.
The next morning, we visited a coffee shop called Ninth Street Espresso for some caffeine. It's a very simplistic place with only Sugar in the Raw for sweetening (I'm a Splenda girl, myself). Cute enough to upset me that I didn't take pictures of it... but the coffee and oat currant scone were fantastic nonetheless.
On our stroll through the park to our next destination, our late night got the best of us. We got completely sucked into the moment and took a quick nap in the grass. The weather was a perfect 72 degrees or so, there was an incredible violinist playing about 30 feet from us, and the air smelled like waffles from the vendors upwind of us. Heaven.
After a (too) quick stop at the Museum of Natural History (hello, crazy dinosaur skeletons!), we went back to the apartment to get ready for the evening.
Two of Will's friends from grad school happen to live near NYC, so we were fortunate enough to have dinner with them at Spice Market. On top of being with great company, the restaurant was to die for. Seriously. Will and I split the Salmon Tartare, Crispy Salt & Pepper Skate, and Cod with Malaysian Chili Sauce. Yum. Oh, and did I mention the drinks? I had to try the Kumquat Mojito, but all the restaurant reviews raved about the Ginger Margarita. What's a girl to do? Naturally, I ordered both. Then to add to the gluttony, we split the Ovaltine Kulfi for dessert. Essentially a bar of decadent chocolate topped with homemade whipped cream, caramelized bananas, and carmel popcorn. Double- yum. Our night was complete after a walk on the High Line through the Meatpacking District and West Chelsea. Ah, what a day! I do realize the majority of this post has been about food... hmmm... I'll aim for less of that in the next post :)
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