New York Day 1
Today I woke up around 10, in part because I got a phone call from Fani!! Which is wonderful and will hopefully lead to conversations and other fun hangy-outy whatnots.
Then after loafing about, I got dressed all cute (and warm) and plotted my day,
Stop 1: In keeping with the bagel tour plan, I chose Leo's Bagels (as the downtownest) for my starting point based on some Yelp recommendation. I successfully found the Franklin St. Subway, and (thanks MTA!) navigated my way to The Wall Street Station. What followed was about twenty minutes of walking around fail during which I ran into roving hordes of tourists and via maps (thank you tourists!) (and never ever giving in and asking for directions) finally landed me at Leo's.
There I was warmly greeted and had my first new york bagel. I went the cinnamon raisin route, and being cheap, had plain cream cheese, all toastified and handed to me and fulll of cream cheese. Delicious. I have yet to have enough NY bagels to form a great opinion of this From there, my ability to follow my directions had improved significantly and I navigated to Vosges (thank you Michael for that rec!).
Stop 2: Vosges. I have had Vosges chocolate (bought some for Emi a few Xmasses ago) and did not know they had a store. However, they do and not only is it purple and pretty (I will post a storefront picture somewhere at some point) it has samples. So I strolled in, sampled spicy dark chocolate, spicy chocolate-dipped tortilla chip and mediocre milk chocolate, bought myself a basalmico truffle (dark chocolate and basalmic and holy delicious) and then had a free champagne truffle on the way out. Truly a store with a good aesthetic and fine dark (though less fine milk) chocolate.
Stop 3: Joe's Dairy, tucked away on Spring Street, I randomly stumbled across this place during my obsessive internet coming (my first night in the city). I was intrigued by the claim of fresh amazing mozarella. I walked in to the tiniest store, with cases of cheese and marinating olives, artichokes and etc, and stood there, because everything smelled like mozarella being made. I was helped by the daughter and the mother (I think anyway) and after watching a few people ordered a small (not so actually small) ball of fresh lightly salted mozarella which I took with me on the rest of my day. It was amazing, the people were nice and it was only $4 for a hella hunk of the freshest, best mozarella I have ever tasted. For real.
Also, I found Bleeker Street à la the Simon and Garfunkel song, so whooo!
Stop 4: Strand Bookstore. I stopped in because I ran into it and I am powerless in face of a giant bookstore. A few employees burst into a rowdy rendition of Feliz Navidad, and I found Moregasm, the Babes in Toyland sex guide at half off (they have a whole GIANT section of review books, which may have typos but are half off retail and that's amazing!). Full of seriously sexy old books, I got yelled at for trying to take a picture of said books and therefore : p.
Stop 5: My planned last stop, The Union Square Holiday Market. Highlights included running into the Waffles & Dinges cart (they just won a vendy) for a delicious tiny belgium waffle on a stick sandwiched between fresh banana and strawberry ($3). It was genuinely heavenly. Also, a man who takes orchids and puts them in glass, making beautiful one of a kind jewelry. I oggled, but did not buy (god cookies are expensive in this city!) some of the most original sounding cookie flavors ever (and took a picture of their menu so I could try to make them at some future point). All in all it was about what one would expect, but fun.
Some extremely delicious sample of "real French style" truffle, which the sign forbade me to chew, which was a good plan. Other highlights include Freudian Slippers!
Stop 6: The Market was basically cash only, something which i hate to carry so I went to Whole Foods where there were so many people it was genuinely absurd. I just wanted to note that it was INSANE CRAZY with five express lanes and who knows how many regular lanes and a whole system (again, see pictures). No wonder people eat out so much, you would have to pay me so much money to go real shopping there (side note: Ari says that at Trader Joes you literally get in line as you walk in and grab things as you go through the line - madness!)
Stop 7: Successfully returned to Ari's workplace, met up with Ari, subwayed down to The Radio City Music Hall, eschewed waiting in lines for tickets and oggled storefronts up and down 5th ave instead, including a brief foray into one of the Trump Towers (because there are multiple ones but they're all just called Trump Tower). Pretty. Sort of staggeringly opulent in ways, but pretty. Idly wished I was made of money.
Stop 8: Maryanne's. Met up with one of Ari's closer NY friends for two or three hours of drinking margaritas (ungodly strong ones) and the biggest, deliciousest vat of guacamole freshly made and fulll of avocados and magic. Delicious, and pricy, to me... Then Dunkin donuts (yuck) for way too long with awful, I mean gawdawful christmas music playing, then home.
Numbers:
Walking Total: 3.2 miles planned between places + all the getting lost + all the unplanned walking, so not a bad first day total...
Time Total: Left the house around 11:20, came back around 10:00, might be going out again for 2 am Macy's Madness.
Eaten: 3.25 chocolates, a large quantity of lightly salted mozarella, waffle-on-stick, horrible Dunkin' Boston Creme, vat like quantities of guacamole salsa and chips.
Spent: 47.39
Acquired: hair holders, a fancy chocolate bar, a sweet book, a lot of pictures.
Sum: I can sort of navigate, and at least sort of read maps and there are so many actual hiddden tiny stores to stumble across. yay! Possible second post if I go 2 am shopping!
Then after loafing about, I got dressed all cute (and warm) and plotted my day,
Stop 1: In keeping with the bagel tour plan, I chose Leo's Bagels (as the downtownest) for my starting point based on some Yelp recommendation. I successfully found the Franklin St. Subway, and (thanks MTA!) navigated my way to The Wall Street Station. What followed was about twenty minutes of walking around fail during which I ran into roving hordes of tourists and via maps (thank you tourists!) (and never ever giving in and asking for directions) finally landed me at Leo's.
There I was warmly greeted and had my first new york bagel. I went the cinnamon raisin route, and being cheap, had plain cream cheese, all toastified and handed to me and fulll of cream cheese. Delicious. I have yet to have enough NY bagels to form a great opinion of this From there, my ability to follow my directions had improved significantly and I navigated to Vosges (thank you Michael for that rec!).
Stop 2: Vosges. I have had Vosges chocolate (bought some for Emi a few Xmasses ago) and did not know they had a store. However, they do and not only is it purple and pretty (I will post a storefront picture somewhere at some point) it has samples. So I strolled in, sampled spicy dark chocolate, spicy chocolate-dipped tortilla chip and mediocre milk chocolate, bought myself a basalmico truffle (dark chocolate and basalmic and holy delicious) and then had a free champagne truffle on the way out. Truly a store with a good aesthetic and fine dark (though less fine milk) chocolate.
Stop 3: Joe's Dairy, tucked away on Spring Street, I randomly stumbled across this place during my obsessive internet coming (my first night in the city). I was intrigued by the claim of fresh amazing mozarella. I walked in to the tiniest store, with cases of cheese and marinating olives, artichokes and etc, and stood there, because everything smelled like mozarella being made. I was helped by the daughter and the mother (I think anyway) and after watching a few people ordered a small (not so actually small) ball of fresh lightly salted mozarella which I took with me on the rest of my day. It was amazing, the people were nice and it was only $4 for a hella hunk of the freshest, best mozarella I have ever tasted. For real.
Also, I found Bleeker Street à la the Simon and Garfunkel song, so whooo!
Stop 4: Strand Bookstore. I stopped in because I ran into it and I am powerless in face of a giant bookstore. A few employees burst into a rowdy rendition of Feliz Navidad, and I found Moregasm, the Babes in Toyland sex guide at half off (they have a whole GIANT section of review books, which may have typos but are half off retail and that's amazing!). Full of seriously sexy old books, I got yelled at for trying to take a picture of said books and therefore : p.
Stop 5: My planned last stop, The Union Square Holiday Market. Highlights included running into the Waffles & Dinges cart (they just won a vendy) for a delicious tiny belgium waffle on a stick sandwiched between fresh banana and strawberry ($3). It was genuinely heavenly. Also, a man who takes orchids and puts them in glass, making beautiful one of a kind jewelry. I oggled, but did not buy (god cookies are expensive in this city!) some of the most original sounding cookie flavors ever (and took a picture of their menu so I could try to make them at some future point). All in all it was about what one would expect, but fun.
Some extremely delicious sample of "real French style" truffle, which the sign forbade me to chew, which was a good plan. Other highlights include Freudian Slippers!
Stop 6: The Market was basically cash only, something which i hate to carry so I went to Whole Foods where there were so many people it was genuinely absurd. I just wanted to note that it was INSANE CRAZY with five express lanes and who knows how many regular lanes and a whole system (again, see pictures). No wonder people eat out so much, you would have to pay me so much money to go real shopping there (side note: Ari says that at Trader Joes you literally get in line as you walk in and grab things as you go through the line - madness!)
Stop 7: Successfully returned to Ari's workplace, met up with Ari, subwayed down to The Radio City Music Hall, eschewed waiting in lines for tickets and oggled storefronts up and down 5th ave instead, including a brief foray into one of the Trump Towers (because there are multiple ones but they're all just called Trump Tower). Pretty. Sort of staggeringly opulent in ways, but pretty. Idly wished I was made of money.
Stop 8: Maryanne's. Met up with one of Ari's closer NY friends for two or three hours of drinking margaritas (ungodly strong ones) and the biggest, deliciousest vat of guacamole freshly made and fulll of avocados and magic. Delicious, and pricy, to me... Then Dunkin donuts (yuck) for way too long with awful, I mean gawdawful christmas music playing, then home.
Numbers:
Walking Total: 3.2 miles planned between places + all the getting lost + all the unplanned walking, so not a bad first day total...
Time Total: Left the house around 11:20, came back around 10:00, might be going out again for 2 am Macy's Madness.
Eaten: 3.25 chocolates, a large quantity of lightly salted mozarella, waffle-on-stick, horrible Dunkin' Boston Creme, vat like quantities of guacamole salsa and chips.
Spent: 47.39
Acquired: hair holders, a fancy chocolate bar, a sweet book, a lot of pictures.
Sum: I can sort of navigate, and at least sort of read maps and there are so many actual hiddden tiny stores to stumble across. yay! Possible second post if I go 2 am shopping!