continued from here...
We wandered around some awesome museums!
I really loved the Guggenheim & M's favorite was The Met. We both also enjoyed the MoMA (this exhibit was quite interesting), but it was so bloody crowded! We made the mistake of visiting on a Saturday, but by the time we realized it was horrible time to go, it was too late (we had already used our prepaid tickets). We went to the others on Sunday, which was perfect. There were still a lot of people at both, but the crowds weren't overwhelming (and we didn't have to deal with all the pushy a-holes like we did at the MoMA).
We ate! A lot!
Cupcake stop #1: Crumbs Bake Shop
Cupcakes: Elvis & Brownie
Positives: Large selection, clever cupcake names, and multiple sizes
Negatives: They were all out of vanilla (which I love). Also, I didn't like their frosting at all - the actual cake part was yummy (banana), but the frosting (peanut butter) had a slight chemical taste to it. M liked his Brownie cupcake, but it really wasn't anything special.
Verdict: Worth checking out, but avoid the Elvis! Also, I wouldn't make a special trip there (we stopped at the Times Square location when we were already down there).
Cupcake stop #2: Magnolia Bakery
Cupcakes: Vanilla w/vanilla frosting, vanilla w/chocolate frosting & Devil's Food
Positives: Excellent vanilla/vanilla - both the frosting & the cake were yummy
Negatives: Long line to get in (20 minutes), rude people working there, little selection (they couldn't keep up with the demand), chocolate frosting was far too rich
Verdict: Although the vanilla cupcake was delicious, it wasn't anything better than what I've had elsewhere. In fact, Magnolia was a bit of a disappointment - it really didn't live up to the hype!
Cupcake stop #3: Eleni's
Cupcake: Vanilla-Vanilla
Positives: Very cute shop, friendly workers, wandering employees with free samples! :)
Negatives: Cupcakes didn't stand out, way too many screaming children running around
Verdict: Good cupcake, but nothing exciting.
We had pizza three times...
Pizza place #1 (right): Super-greasy, crappy crust (soggy & flimsy)
#2 (left): Less greasy than #1, but nothing special
#3: Definitely the best we had all week - unfortunately, we didn't find it until the last night. They had my favorite combination (artichokes, black olives & fresh tomatoes), which was a definite plus. However, it wasn't anything better than what I've had in Chicago.
Verdict: Eh. I wasn't impressed with the pizza at all. It had nothing to do with the Chicago-style vs. NY-style debate (I'm not a fan of Chicago-style pizza - I prefer the thin Roman-style) - it just wasn't good pizza!
Fish & chips on Liberty Island and street food (M had dirty water hot dogs & I tried a smoked pretzel)
Brunch at Colicchio & Sons: M had the Tap Room Burger and I had the Brioche Pain Perdu with Smoked Maple Syrup & Bourbon Butter. Everything was delicious, the people were all very friendly & attentive, and I loved the layout of the restaurant... excellent experience! [However, I still think Rick Bayless' food is better! :)]
Oliva's for M's birthday dinner: delicious tapas & even better live music. It was insanely crowded (it's a tiny place) and there was an issue with our reservation (we had to wait almost 40 minutes past our time), but the owner made up for it by giving us free wine, a huge pitcher of sangria, and dessert (oh, and he was smokin' hot!!). We were completely wasted by the time we left, but luckily, it was an easy trip back to the hotel. :) We even ended up on the same train with another couple who had been at the restaurant & had an interesting conversation (well, as much of it as I can remember) about Brooklyn and various salsa clubs - one of the guys resembled Dan Lauria & the other was a dead ringer for a young Fidel Castro. :)
We took pictures of garbage!
The garbage fills the streets & is whisked away by morning. I've never before been in a city that doesn't use bins to contain the garbage! Then again, I don't know where they would put all the bins because there aren't many alleys (Chicago is all about alleys - garbage bins, parking spots, giant opossums, and sometimes even restaurant entrances are in the alleys). Although the pick-up system seems very efficient, the piles of garbage are just so stinky & nasty!
The other nasty thing about the city? The French tourists. They were so damn rude! I'm not someone who believes that it's just the French in general, as I've traveled to other cities in which there were far more French tourists & didn't have any issues (and I've met many delightful French people). However, the French we encountered in NYC? OMG. Pushy, nasty comments, dirty looks... ugh! The non-French Europeans at our hotel? Delightful! The French? Not nice at all! Just an FYI - it's really not polite to stare at couples during breakfast & make inappropriate comments (amazingly, some Americans actually understand French!). Ugh!
Despite the nasty tourists (and we actually spent a lot of time laughing about the stupid people) and gigantic rats in the subway (*shudder*), we had an amazing time! I'm so ready to move there or go for another visit... something! NYC is incredible and I'm so happy I was able to experience such an amazing city with M! :)
--------------------------------
*full photoset here
(they're not labeled yet - I'll do it later this week & will also add the non-blog friendly pics to facebook!)
We wandered around some awesome museums!
I really loved the Guggenheim & M's favorite was The Met. We both also enjoyed the MoMA (this exhibit was quite interesting), but it was so bloody crowded! We made the mistake of visiting on a Saturday, but by the time we realized it was horrible time to go, it was too late (we had already used our prepaid tickets). We went to the others on Sunday, which was perfect. There were still a lot of people at both, but the crowds weren't overwhelming (and we didn't have to deal with all the pushy a-holes like we did at the MoMA).
We ate! A lot!
Cupcake stop #1: Crumbs Bake Shop
Cupcakes: Elvis & Brownie
Positives: Large selection, clever cupcake names, and multiple sizes
Negatives: They were all out of vanilla (which I love). Also, I didn't like their frosting at all - the actual cake part was yummy (banana), but the frosting (peanut butter) had a slight chemical taste to it. M liked his Brownie cupcake, but it really wasn't anything special.
Verdict: Worth checking out, but avoid the Elvis! Also, I wouldn't make a special trip there (we stopped at the Times Square location when we were already down there).
Cupcake stop #2: Magnolia Bakery
Cupcakes: Vanilla w/vanilla frosting, vanilla w/chocolate frosting & Devil's Food
Positives: Excellent vanilla/vanilla - both the frosting & the cake were yummy
Negatives: Long line to get in (20 minutes), rude people working there, little selection (they couldn't keep up with the demand), chocolate frosting was far too rich
Verdict: Although the vanilla cupcake was delicious, it wasn't anything better than what I've had elsewhere. In fact, Magnolia was a bit of a disappointment - it really didn't live up to the hype!
Cupcake stop #3: Eleni's
Cupcake: Vanilla-Vanilla
Positives: Very cute shop, friendly workers, wandering employees with free samples! :)
Negatives: Cupcakes didn't stand out, way too many screaming children running around
Verdict: Good cupcake, but nothing exciting.
We had pizza three times...
Pizza place #1 (right): Super-greasy, crappy crust (soggy & flimsy)
#2 (left): Less greasy than #1, but nothing special
#3: Definitely the best we had all week - unfortunately, we didn't find it until the last night. They had my favorite combination (artichokes, black olives & fresh tomatoes), which was a definite plus. However, it wasn't anything better than what I've had in Chicago.
Verdict: Eh. I wasn't impressed with the pizza at all. It had nothing to do with the Chicago-style vs. NY-style debate (I'm not a fan of Chicago-style pizza - I prefer the thin Roman-style) - it just wasn't good pizza!
Fish & chips on Liberty Island and street food (M had dirty water hot dogs & I tried a smoked pretzel)
Brunch at Colicchio & Sons: M had the Tap Room Burger and I had the Brioche Pain Perdu with Smoked Maple Syrup & Bourbon Butter. Everything was delicious, the people were all very friendly & attentive, and I loved the layout of the restaurant... excellent experience! [However, I still think Rick Bayless' food is better! :)]
Oliva's for M's birthday dinner: delicious tapas & even better live music. It was insanely crowded (it's a tiny place) and there was an issue with our reservation (we had to wait almost 40 minutes past our time), but the owner made up for it by giving us free wine, a huge pitcher of sangria, and dessert (oh, and he was smokin' hot!!). We were completely wasted by the time we left, but luckily, it was an easy trip back to the hotel. :) We even ended up on the same train with another couple who had been at the restaurant & had an interesting conversation (well, as much of it as I can remember) about Brooklyn and various salsa clubs - one of the guys resembled Dan Lauria & the other was a dead ringer for a young Fidel Castro. :)
We took pictures of garbage!
The garbage fills the streets & is whisked away by morning. I've never before been in a city that doesn't use bins to contain the garbage! Then again, I don't know where they would put all the bins because there aren't many alleys (Chicago is all about alleys - garbage bins, parking spots, giant opossums, and sometimes even restaurant entrances are in the alleys). Although the pick-up system seems very efficient, the piles of garbage are just so stinky & nasty!
The other nasty thing about the city? The French tourists. They were so damn rude! I'm not someone who believes that it's just the French in general, as I've traveled to other cities in which there were far more French tourists & didn't have any issues (and I've met many delightful French people). However, the French we encountered in NYC? OMG. Pushy, nasty comments, dirty looks... ugh! The non-French Europeans at our hotel? Delightful! The French? Not nice at all! Just an FYI - it's really not polite to stare at couples during breakfast & make inappropriate comments (amazingly, some Americans actually understand French!). Ugh!
Despite the nasty tourists (and we actually spent a lot of time laughing about the stupid people) and gigantic rats in the subway (*shudder*), we had an amazing time! I'm so ready to move there or go for another visit... something! NYC is incredible and I'm so happy I was able to experience such an amazing city with M! :)
--------------------------------
*full photoset here
(they're not labeled yet - I'll do it later this week & will also add the non-blog friendly pics to facebook!)
4 comments:
I am glad to hear that things went well and that you and M had a great time.
I am off to NYC in a few weeks!
I love NY style pizza. :)
I am so glad you and M had such a great time. I "heart" NYC too. I miss taking day trips there.
You are making me very homesick.
Makes me want to drop everything and go. Maybe in June or July.
So glad you had a great trip!!
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