New York, Day One
After finally arriving at the hotel at 1am to be greeted by an exhausted (jet-lagged) Jo and Ally who had tried desperately (and succeeded!) to stay awake to at least say hello when I arrived, we fell asleep mid-conversation and got a late start on Wednesday morning.
Wednesday morning being day one in New York.
Our first order of business was breakfast. I don't remember where we ate, it was a random diner we came across...on Madison, I think. It looked like it hadn't changed since the 1940's, I almost expected our waitress to dole out rationed portions of sugar, etc. Instead, of course, we got huge portions (I think Ally was a little overwhelmed by her blueberry pancakes!) and were close to waddling when we left. Which turned out to be a good thing, as we didn't eat again for a long time.
The subway was easier to navigate than we expected "we need the green line, going...down!" and we soon found ourselves by the Brooklyn Bridge. It took us about 20 minutes longer than it should have to figure out how to get onto the bridge, but once we did, it was fabulous. We weren't too embarrassed to ask a fellow tourist to take our picture...we decided that since the man was carrying a fancy looking camera and a tri-pod, he wasn't likely to run off with my camera. Though I would have expected him to take a slightly better photograph.
Our next activity was to take the Staten Island Ferry. Because Carrie did it on SATC (the firefighter episode, if you need a reminder). Yes, we're losers. I recommend it, not only is it free but it also gives you amazing views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Which turned out to be perfect, because we ended up not doing to Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island thing due to not wanting to stand in a three hour line.
Despite the unflattering shadows, this may be the best self photo I have ever taken. I fit three people AND Manhattan into it! Genius.
A quick break for lemonade in what I think was part of Battery Park refreshed us enough to go check out the Charging Bull, Wall Street, Ground Zero, Century 21 (I warned Jo that it would be an unsatisfactory shopping experience, and indeed it was), Grand Central Station and my new favorite spot in New York, the "top of the rock" made up for all of the disappointment the Rockefeller skating rink gave me in 2005.
See? Amazing!
During all of the above activities, I had been texting back and forth with my friend Elle about plans for dinner. She informed us that she would make a reservation at Sushi Samba. This created somewhat of a stir as Jo remembered that the restaurant had been mentioned (and even featured, it's the place where Samantha meets up with cheating scumbag Richard, and throws a drink in his face) in SATC. We rushed back to the hotel, prettyfied ourselves and headed out to meet Elle and her friend Danielle there for dinner. GO THERE if you are ever in New York, the food is phenomenal. I recommend the sea bass entree. Highly recommend it. Amazing. The prices really aren't bad either, for a good dinner.
After dinner we headed (minus Danielle, who had to go pack for a trip or something) to Underbar, which gets a horrible review in that link, but which we really liked. Elle's boyfriend Matt came out to meet us, it was great to finally meet him! We took pictures, of course...although none of Matt (he was our excellent photographer).
Yes, Elle is a model. I need to work on that whole "know your angles" concept...or just learn to not take pictures with models.
Matt and Elle left at around 11.30, and we didn't last much longer. By 1am we were in bed recounting our fabulous day, and discussing our plans to find Jo a rich New Yorker to marry so that she can move there.
Wednesday morning being day one in New York.
Our first order of business was breakfast. I don't remember where we ate, it was a random diner we came across...on Madison, I think. It looked like it hadn't changed since the 1940's, I almost expected our waitress to dole out rationed portions of sugar, etc. Instead, of course, we got huge portions (I think Ally was a little overwhelmed by her blueberry pancakes!) and were close to waddling when we left. Which turned out to be a good thing, as we didn't eat again for a long time.
The subway was easier to navigate than we expected "we need the green line, going...down!" and we soon found ourselves by the Brooklyn Bridge. It took us about 20 minutes longer than it should have to figure out how to get onto the bridge, but once we did, it was fabulous. We weren't too embarrassed to ask a fellow tourist to take our picture...we decided that since the man was carrying a fancy looking camera and a tri-pod, he wasn't likely to run off with my camera. Though I would have expected him to take a slightly better photograph.
Our next activity was to take the Staten Island Ferry. Because Carrie did it on SATC (the firefighter episode, if you need a reminder). Yes, we're losers. I recommend it, not only is it free but it also gives you amazing views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Which turned out to be perfect, because we ended up not doing to Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island thing due to not wanting to stand in a three hour line.
Despite the unflattering shadows, this may be the best self photo I have ever taken. I fit three people AND Manhattan into it! Genius.
A quick break for lemonade in what I think was part of Battery Park refreshed us enough to go check out the Charging Bull, Wall Street, Ground Zero, Century 21 (I warned Jo that it would be an unsatisfactory shopping experience, and indeed it was), Grand Central Station and my new favorite spot in New York, the "top of the rock" made up for all of the disappointment the Rockefeller skating rink gave me in 2005.
See? Amazing!
During all of the above activities, I had been texting back and forth with my friend Elle about plans for dinner. She informed us that she would make a reservation at Sushi Samba. This created somewhat of a stir as Jo remembered that the restaurant had been mentioned (and even featured, it's the place where Samantha meets up with cheating scumbag Richard, and throws a drink in his face) in SATC. We rushed back to the hotel, prettyfied ourselves and headed out to meet Elle and her friend Danielle there for dinner. GO THERE if you are ever in New York, the food is phenomenal. I recommend the sea bass entree. Highly recommend it. Amazing. The prices really aren't bad either, for a good dinner.
After dinner we headed (minus Danielle, who had to go pack for a trip or something) to Underbar, which gets a horrible review in that link, but which we really liked. Elle's boyfriend Matt came out to meet us, it was great to finally meet him! We took pictures, of course...although none of Matt (he was our excellent photographer).
Yes, Elle is a model. I need to work on that whole "know your angles" concept...or just learn to not take pictures with models.
Matt and Elle left at around 11.30, and we didn't last much longer. By 1am we were in bed recounting our fabulous day, and discussing our plans to find Jo a rich New Yorker to marry so that she can move there.