Hi everyone!! Just got back from my amazing trip to NYC three days ago, and decided to start writing out my trip report now, before the enormity of actually writing down 11 days worth of info got the most of me! I barely know how to begin! I guess I will just start from the beginning :) But first of all, a special thanks to everyone who answered all my questions, and really made me feel prepared to take on this amazing city. Also, NYCgirl, thank you again so much for SUCH a great introduction to the city, I think that the BAG program is really a wonderful service. Ok, here goes......
DAY 1 - Saturday 20th.
After two very nice days in Connecticut with my family, Kate (my friend) and I took a 12.00 train from CT to GCS. Very easy, and even though the train was bustling, we got seats, managed to stow our two HUGE suitcases (and this was BEFORE we even started shopping) and had a very enjoyable ride into the city.
Had no problems getting out of GCS, and to our B%26amp;B in Murray Hill. I actually found this place on TA! The agency is CityLights, and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to feel like they are ';living'; in Manhatten rather than visiting at a hotel. Our hostess was just the sweetest person ever, and so accomodating!
After we got there and unpacked, we decided to just wander around, and see what was nearby. We were staying btw. 3rd Av and Lex, so we walked down to 3rd Av and had lunch at Patsy%26#39;s Pizza. Not sure if it was the Patsy%26#39;s that has been recommended by this site, but it was ok, not great. Fun to just sit outside, share a pie, have a beer and people watch for a couple hours.
Went back to B%26amp;B and had a nice chat with our hostess, who actually invited us to join her at the Lincoln Center ';Out-of-Doors'; performance for that evening! We of course were delighted, especially because we had no idea of what to do on a Saturday night by ourselves, and this seemed like a really wonderful thing to do. So off we went, jumped on the crosstown bus on 42. and Lex, and went all the way up to the Lincoln Center (UWS). The performance for that evening was the Paul Taylor Dance Company, and it was just fabulous. The seats totally filled up within an hour, and we think that Maya Angelou was sitting just three rows down from us! That was our only celebrity sighting, sadly enough...But what an amazing sighting, if it was her! :) It was so much fun being there, and doing something like that. Just being at the Lincoln Center, seeing Avery Fisher Hall, etc, it was amazing. We headed home after the performance, easy as pie on the bus. Went to bed after a long, but perfect and laid-back first day in the city, looking forward to our Big Apple Greeter the following day!!!
DAY 2 - Sunday 21st.
Wow, this day was crazy (in a good way!! :) We met our greeter, NYCgirl, at 11, at our place. This day was SO hot and humid, but we didn%26#39;t let that get the best of us, and headed right over to GCS. Even though we had already been there, we only zipped through the first time, this time we spent some time there, and NYCgirl pointed out things we never would have noticed, like the little black spot on the ceiling that was the original ceiling! Very interesting. Saw the food court too, everything looked so yummy!
Then we jumped on the subway and headed down to Canal St. Kate and I were very excited to be there, and were dying to shop, but refrained from it as we wanted to take full advantage of our BAG while we had her :) We headed towards Soho from there. Loved Soho so much, it was so pretty and cozy and wonderful! We walked all over Soho, and eventually headed towards Greenwich Village. Walked all over the Village too, and took a break by the Arch in the Village. Really lovely area, loved the playground and the fountain in that spot.
From there we just kept wandering all over, we walked along Gay Street, which I found so hilarious, as I recognized it from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. If you ever watch the show, in the opening song, or whatever its called, they film that street sign, so funny. After that we actually ended up in the park where Miranda and Steve get married in S*x and the City! That was so fun, we got a really nice pic there too. We also saw Perry Street, which is where Carrie ';lives.'; There was a line to take pics outside her house, and to be honest, it was fun to see, but I could have taken a pic outside of any of those townhouses and not have known the difference! So, needless to say, we didn%26#39;t wait in line :) We saw so much of these areas that I couldn%26#39;t really tell you exactly where else we walked, but seriously, we covered so much ground!
We then headed towards the Meatpacking district, which was so interesting, because it was just so different to the Village. You can be walking down this really developed, smart looking street, and all of a sudden be in a really gross, desolated street. Very interesting. We also walked to the piers there, which was amazing, and gave us a nice breeze.
By that time, we were all pretty tired, so we jumped on a bus and headed to the East Village. This was also a really cool area, and it made me wish I was a student in NYC. There were so many people our age just chilling at sidewalk cafe%26#39;s and great little kooky shops. By the time we had exhausted that area, I was pooped, so we headed towards a subway, and pizza place to have slice and cool down.
After that, we jumped on the Uptown subway, and went to 5th Av. This turned out to be one of our most visited Avenues of the trip ;) SOOO much fun walking down 5th Av, we took our time, looked at all the amazing displays in the windows, etc. We of course had to go into St. Patricks, what a beautiful cathedral, really. I mean, I have been to many other cathedrals around the world, the Duomo in Milan to mention one, but what really got me about this one was the location. To see something like that surrounded by skyscrapers and hundreds of shops and people was almost surreal. Very cool.
We continued up 5th Av to Rockefeller Center. I have been there at X-mas, but never in the summer, and it was soo pretty! We went into the building to look around, and use a restroom, and then bought ourselves a coffee from Starbucks and sat in the shade peoplewatching and chatting about everything. By this time it was 6pm, and the end of our day with NYCgirl. As exhausting as it was, it was just such a great experience, and a truly wonderful introduction to the city! We really felt that got to know our way around, and understood the grid system, etc. And NYCgirl, it was so much fun to get to know you! But I%26#39;m still annoyed you wouldn%26#39;t even let us buy you a coffee!!! :)
After NYCgirl left us, Kate and I got a second wind, perhaps from being in such close proximity to all those amazing shops along 5th Av!! We walked back up 5th Av to the Louis Vitton store, where I made my most extravagant purchase of my life :) That was so cool, I gotta admit. Its crazy how easy it was though...I mean, you just hand the salesman your Visa, and boom, money spent, bag in hand, out the door...But I looooove my bag, used it every single day after that!
Then we headed to UWS to see my godmother (GM) for dinner. We walked through the park from 5th Av by the Plaza, and exited over by the Time Warner Building. Sat in the park for a few minutes to catch our breath and relax, by that time the sun was setting, and it was sooo beautiful in the park. We walked over that bridge that you always see in movies, and saw the carousel, and just took it all in...
We got to my GMs place about 7pm, right near the Dakota building. Wonderful apartment, but the best part was the view from the roof, it was amazing! We took a couple of good shots, and hung out there for maybe 20mins looking at all the buildings and having her point everything out for us...Really great to see. Then we went for a lovely dinner, and headed home about 10. This was just an amazing day, we really enjoyed every minute of it...
Don%26#39;t know if I should keep going now, as this is getting to be quite long, and I%26#39;ve only written about two days!! Ok, I will do Day 3, and then wrap up this part. Hope people are actually still reading this and didn%26#39;t give up 10 paragraphs ago!
DAY 3 - Monday 22nd
Today we did our first ';real'; shopping day. Can%26#39;t remember every minute of the day, but we headed over to the big Bloomingdales on...I can%26#39;t remember, 69th and something...Spent a couple hours there, trying stuff on, and had great fun in the sunglasses department! The guy helping us was really patient and helpful, even though we probably tried on every pair of Gucci and Dior sunglasses in the display! Eventually found a pair I loved, which I wore every day after :)
By that time we were tired and getting whiny (we are both 5 years old at heart) and went to a cute little restaurant across the street and two blocks up, where we sat outside and had a glass of wine and lunch. Chilled out there for awhile, me admiring myself in my new sunglasses in my handmirror, and Kate discretely reading her guidebook. After lunch, we had to find Kate a great pair of sunglasses, so went to the Sunglasses Hut on the corner, where she also found an amazing pair of glasses! So we both achieved our goals for that day :) Then we just popped into a couple of the other stores along that street, but didn%26#39;t buy anything, just walked around and felt cool in our new glasses ;)
Headed home for some rest before dinner with my cousin and his boyfriend at 7.30. We went to this great place called Josie%26#39;s, on 3rd Av, and I want to say 38th street. Great food, great drinks, great service, and most importantly, great conversation. This was the first time I had ever hung out with my cousin, who is actually my mothers first cousin, and my second cousin. So he and his BF are like 20 years older than us, but we just had SO much fun together! We closed the place down :) Really just got on brilliantly, and ended up spending almost every other night of the rest of the vacation together. The other nights we spent with my god mother :) So, ended a great day with a fantastic evening, and went to bed happy, and looking forward to a great next day, of shopping at Canal St. and Soho!!!
Alrighty folks, I will finish off for today, since this is just crazy how much I have written! Please please please let me know if I am including too many details, I just looooved reading other people%26#39;s trip reports, and especially the ones that were crazy long! :) I will post more tomorrow...Wow, I am gonna be posting for the next week if I keep writing this much about every 3 days....:)
Veeery long trip report! Seriously, 11 days!!
Tina...I%26#39;m waiting for the next instalment. No, there isn%26#39;t too much detail, you%26#39;ve made it a great read. You certainly got around a lot, and although you have said you were shattered, had some lovely relaxing moments from what I can gather.
Will you be posting some photographs? I%26#39;d love to see the one%26#39;s from your GM%26#39;s roof.
Keep the reports coming please....
Veeery long trip report! Seriously, 11 days!!
Loving it so far - you can never give enough detail!
Please keep it coming!
Got to agree with Daisiegee and Ange - this is a great read! I do tend to get a bit bored when I read some people%26#39;s trip reports (some people can get a bit self-indulgent) but your%26#39;s is just perfect. Actually, it reminded me a bit of Ange%26#39;s (probably all that enthusiasm which oozes out of every sentence!).
Tina, your location is listed as Norway but you surely can%26#39;t be Norwegian - your English is too good?
Looking forward to the next installment (and the photos).
I figured you would get a second wind, especially after seeing those shops on 5th Avenue. Thanks for contributing to the NYC economy!
Your enthusiam, in person, is contagious, and it does come through in your writing. It was fun meeting you both, too. More, please
Awww. thanks guys! Glad that at least you all enjoyed it! I have to say that I am having alot of fun writing it all down, even rereading it! Kate and I sat down on our last day and made a brief overview of what we did every day, since we were there for so long we couldn%26#39;t remember everything. This brings it all back...:) Nic, I am actually half Norwegian/half American. My first language is English, having lived in London and USA until I was 8, and then moved to Norway where I learned Norwegian. Also, almost only read English books, I hate Norwegian translations :) Second installment will most likely be written tonight!!! :)
i agree, great report so far!!
Tina, your report is very well written and a pleasure to read. Looking forward to the remainder. For visitors reading the report, Bloomingdales is on 59 Street between Lexington and Third Avenues.
Great report Tina. Where did you go to dinner with your GM? ;)
Nice report so far, and no that Patsy%26#39;s was one of the copycats and it doesn%26#39;t have the original coal fired oven that makes Patsy%26#39;s special.
For anyone interested, the only Patsy%26#39;s worth a visit is the one on First Avenue and 116th St. in West Harlem.
Yeah, I was wondering what all the fuss was about Patsy%26#39;s, but now I get it!!! :) We just happened to stumble upon it, and I was like, hey, TA recommends this place! hehe...Whiz, we went for dinner at a great Italian place right across the street from my GMs place, but sadly, I don%26#39;t remember the name...But great food, and a real family run restaurant, the owner%26#39;s little girl brought us our menu%26#39;s! Cute! I would love to write more tonight, but am actually exhausted, so I will try and get down the next three days of the trip tomorrow at some point. Will post photo%26#39;s as soon as I can figure out how! I am trying to use PhotoBucket, but does my personal info show up then?
