Last Thursday night I took a red eye to JFK airport, arriving in the wee hours. I took the Airtrain to Jamaica station, the Long Island Rail Road to Penn Station, and a taxi to my hotel which is in Midtown Manhattan (and like, a block and a half from Hell's Kitchen). I was worried I'd have to sit in the lobby and wait for the 3pm check-in time, but luckily there was a room free at 7:30am when I got in, so I was able to take a nap and wash up before Jamie got in on the bus in the afternoon. The hotel's really cute, and quite European. Only four small rooms per floor, but it is cozy and in a convenient location...during the day (more on that later).
After my nap, I took a walk to Times Square and ate a slice of cheese pizza along the way. It is a sign of how touristy I can get that I ordered cheese pizza, because I'm trying to do things that are particularly New Yorky. I just walked through some of the tourist trap shops, and then met up with Jamie. We had a rest as we were both travel-worn, and then took another walk together before coming back to the hotel to dress up for a dinner date. We are smart and did not want to seek out a nice dinner on Valentine's Day! In our coats, boots, and black dresses, we walked to Uncle Jack's Steakhouse which is only a few blocks away, and got some steaks, garlic mashed potatoes, and a mozzarella salad. Also, the bartender made us cocktails that involved Chambord and coconut rum, which were not too sweet, and quite refreshing.
From there, we walked twenty blocks (in heels!) to the Palace Hotel, home of Serena, Lily, and Eric Van Der Woodsen, and of course Chuck Bass. We wanted to have a drink at the hotel bar made famous by Gossip Girl, so we ordered Bailey's on ice. It looked nothing like the bar from the show, but we were having a good time. As the bar was closing, we heard the bartender say that the bar upstairs was still open for a few hours. Of course, we made our way to the 2nd floor, and that's where we found Gilt, the bar we'd been looking for. I did another touristy thing and ordered a Manhattan, which was 50% delicious (I should have gotten a Kir Royale), but their bar snacks were excellent. And their bathroom was behind a secret passageway hidden in the wall! We rode out last call and then had an impromptu photo shoot in the hotel courtyard (often filmed for the show) before taking a taxi home. Walking to the hotel at night and seeing the area surrounding it was strange, because we have a celluloid image of it, when the reality was much grittier. Lots of construction and trash bags everywhere. The Woody Allen effect.
On Saturday we walked (fifty blocks!) to the Met, and spent the rest of the day there. Oh, on the way, we ate some hot chestnuts and then got soup at an UES café called Eat. The Met was fantastic, obviously, and quite busy. Lots of couples, which is nice because I think museums are some of the best dates around. By the time we were done at the museum (even more walking and standing), it was very dark out, so we walked across Central Park to the Upper West and took the subway home. MOST CONFUSING PUBLIC TRANSIT EVER. I have had easier times taking the metro in places where I didn't speak the language or know the names of the neighborhoods. There was literally a sign above a train that said "Uptown & Downtown." That is not a thing. Also, everything about the subway was the worst.
We met up with Jamie's friend Andrew who lives in the East Village (more public transit crapnanigans), and sat at a bar chatting all night. The East Village was pretty cute, and it must be where HIMYM is set. The bar was plenty fun except for the ridiculously loud music, and ladies got cheap drinks for Valentine's. Taxi home, and slept in late. We walked to Hell's Kitchen on Sunday to get a bagel (NY!) and shmear, and I continued the food tourism by getting a slice of cheesecake (Oreo, because I'm still working my tastebuds into liking plain cheesecake), and a black & white cookie for later. After dropping Jamie off at her bus, I walked (only a few blocks) to the Empire State Building. I knew I'd be in line for a long time, but I didn't really have any other plans for the day, so I spent two and a half hours of my afternoon waiting in line, and was able to see the sun set from the observation deck. I didn't get a picture of it, but a NYPD helicopter hovered next to us for a little while, too, which was pretty cool.
This morning I got up earlier than I'd been doing, and walked to the MoMA. Along the way I stopped again at 30 Rock for some more photos, as well as Bryant Park to take a photo of the Fashion Week tents. The MoMA was just fantastic; at the time I was surprised that I liked it more than the Met, but I've always loved the Tate Modern in London, so maybe I'm just way more into modern art than I think. I even sat in the cold sculpture garden and did a little sketch, until my fingers went numb. And I bought gratuitously fluffy earmuffs!
My high school friend Eliza, who lives on the UES, was off of work today, so I took the subway (mildly easier this time) to her 'hood so we could spend the rest of the day together. We walked past some beautiful homes as well as the Guggenheim on our way to Central Park, where we strolled across to the Upper West as the sun was setting. We had a coffee at Columbus Circle and then walked to midtown to get dinner. We wanted Korean BBQ so a google search led us to Bann, which was Korean food for white people (the amount of Japanese items on the menu made me lol). However, the food was very tasty, just the right amount, and not overpriced. And we each had a cocktail called the "Asian Glow," which was made with soju. I followed it with a lychee martini so we could sit and chat some more. Apparently there's a Bann in L.A. too. It was so so good to hang out with Eliza, it's been way too long. Another craptacular subway ride home, and now here we are. Oh, and I sat next to Perry from Bravo's Make Me a Supermodel.
Three and a half more days in NYC, and then off to Philadelphia on Friday. So far, I have a mixed bag of reactions to this city. Some parts are quite lovely, and the weather has been so nice that I am much happier to be here than I would if it were all ice/snow/slush. Jamie put it really well when she said that no matter where we were, we felt as if we were in the crappy part of L.A., but we might be surrounded by $1M townhouses and upscale boutiques. It's really hard to get my bearings, not direction-wise (I'm finding it very easy to find where I'm going, on foot), but in terms of what kind of a neighborhood I'm in, etc. I love living in a city instead of a town, but L.A. and Sydney have something that NYC doesn't – breathing room. I have been having a great time here, and I hope to see more of the cool hangouts before I leave, but I certainly don't think it's the place I want to spend the rest of my life.
ETA: I have 5 more photos from Central Park, but blogger won't let me upload them yet! Stay tuned!
