A Monday in NYC

Monday in New York seems like a whirlwind of a day.  We did so much!  We started off the morning with treats from a nearby bakery, and delicious muffins made by our hostess.  All good stuff.  Then we hit the subway and headed to Times Square.  It's so interesting to come up out of the dark subway into a street that is loud and bright and never stops.  There were people everywhere.  We decided to take a tour of the city on the Grayline double-decker bus.

A replica of the ball dropped on New Year's Day, in the Visitor's Center

We loved our first tour guide.  He was funny, and knew a lot about histories of building, architecture, and neighborhoods.  I wish that we had stayed on his bus the whole time--we would have learned a lot more--but we had places to see!  I just love the different types of architecture you see in the city.

Our knowledgeable tour guide

This is Lady Gaga's neighborhood.  I took a picture so the girls could see how normal it was. :)

Our first stop was the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.  My parents had been here the last time they were in New York and wanted to go again.  I'm so glad they did.  It was gorgeous.  (I am also happy to say that this is where my camera was dropped and broken.  I never liked that camera, and was thrilled to be able to buy a new one--although I didn't buy it until Christmas.  So pictures from here on out are taken by my parents.)  The Cathedral has so much history; it's an interesting read, go here.

One of the side chapels where construction was happening.  I don't think there has ever been a year where there was not some type of construction going on. 

We hopped back on the Grayline and rode through Harlem and around Central Park. Again, I'm in love with all of the different architecture and the gorgeous old churches.  I guess my dad is, too, because he took a lot of pictures.  I kind of wanted to tell the tour bus to stop so I could hop off and see inside the churches.  And the Apollo Theater, of course. 

I loved that we were up high and could hear the street music and sounds and see the people bustling around.

Cute little school group.  Reminded me of Madeline.

Temple Emanu-El

A glimpse into the Central Park Zoo

We hopped off the Grayline and hopped on the Subway (can you hear how well we were getting around--we were practically New Yorkers by this point-ha!) to head down to Union Square and check out City Bakery and Fishs Eddy.  We were so glad we took Lindsay's advice on these two places.  The hot chocolate at City Bakery was just as divine as she said it was--like drinking a melted candy bar.  And the food was just as good.  Delicious sandwiches and salads and mac&cheese and cookies.  Yum!  We really didn't mind how much we had to pay for the food, it was so good! 

Fishs Eddy was the most charming shop.  We picked up some unique NYC souvenirs and enjoyed browsing.  I'm pretty sure that, if given the chance, I would refurnish my whole kitchen with dishes from this store.  They carry vintage dishes from hotels and restaurants that have updated their dishes or gone out of business, as well as charming lines all their own.  Such a great place. 

Then we headed over to Chelsea Market and The High Line.  On our way, we passed a movie set.  Didn't see anyone famous, but found out the movie was called Gods Behaving Badly.

Closest I'll ever get to being in a movie. :)

Again, so glad we listened to Lindsay and visited Chelsea Market and The High Line Park.  I loved The High Line.  It is a park built on the old elevated freight rails, built in the 1930s to elevate dangerous freight trains above street level, that ran on Manhattan's West Side.  (One thing that was fun about visiting there is that my Grandpa D used to work on the line--likely right near Chelsea Market.  He would unload produce from the boats to the rails, and from the rails to the trucks and deliver them to markets.  This is how he met Grandma.) It think it was a clever idea to change the rails into a park to add more green spaces to the city.  It's very well done.

Chelsea Market is a fun place--a food and vendor market in a building that used to house the American Biscuit Company, makers of Saltines and Oreos.  Now it houses the market and Food Network's recording studios.  So much good food.  It was too bad we were so full from our lunch at City Bakery.  But, I did get a crepe from Suzette Creperie.  I had to after seeing it on Food Network.  But, it wasn't as yummy as I hoped. 

 

We then headed back to Times Square where we used one of the cleanest and nicest McDonald's restrooms I've ever been in, and caught our night tour bus that took us over Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn.  Despite our really annoying tour guide that was showing off for his Army buddies on the tour, it was a nice ride.  But freezing cold.

I think we all barely had enough energy to make our way back to Brooklyn, where our ever gracious hostesses had warm beds ready for us to fall into.  What a fun, full day!