Trip to NY - Part 2

Saturday -
A very brisk, windy day met us on Saturday morning.  After stopping at a pastry shop in Times Square for a quick bite for breakfast, we headed our way south to start what I'm going to call Park Day.  Our first stop was Bryant Park to eat said breakfast.  From there we walked our way down 6th Ave to Madison Square Park with a quick detour to Madison Square Garden.  I also captured some dramatic shots of the flatiron building. 

Continuing south along Broadway, we walked through a farmer's market that was being held in Union Square Park.  Before leaving that park, I was diverted by some wonderful music and found that it was someone playing a hammered dulcimer.  If you’ve never heard it, it's a beautiful instrument - take a look...

Our last park stop was at Washington Square Park where I satisfied my craving for a pretzel from a street vendor and sat in the shade of the tall trees to rest our feet.  The park was pretty crowded that day, but there was not a cloud in the sky and the breeze was wonderful.  I think it was a combination of the tranquility (so quiet!) and the proximity to NYU (plenty so see!) that made it by far my favorite park. 

It was still early in the afternoon, so we decided to continue south and hopped on a subway to Little Italy and Chinatown.  While in Little Italy, we witnessed a wedding procession that literally stopped traffic in a very busy intersection.  In Chinatown, I purchased a South Korean beverage (yeah figure that one out) called OKF Aloe Vera Juice.  It's quite pulpy, but not too sweet and very refreshing.  It gave me the boost I needed that late in the day. 

The beauty of New York may be food for some and shows and museums for others, but for me it's the ability to hop on a subway at Canal Street and within 10 minutes, find yourself all the way on 42nd Street.  After spending an entire day on my feet and walking about 40 blocks, I was praising the NY subway system! 

Back at the hotel, we got all dolled up for our fancy dinner at the revolving restaurant The View atop our hotel.  Here's me with my cousin E.  We clean up pretty well if I do say so myself.

We had yet another wonderful meal and by this point I was getting quite spoiled with all the good food and impeccable service.  We finished off the evening with a few drinks in the revolving lounge which was located directly beneath the restaurant.

Sunday -
If Saturday was park day, I'm calling Sunday Museum Day.  Our first stop was on the Upper East Side at The Museum of the City of New York.  This was more on my list of things to see than my cousin's, but I convinced him that it would be worth the trip.  The Mannahatta Project exhibit debuted earlier that week and after reading about it in the paper, I was determined to check it out.  The exhibit was quite the eye-opener.  And be sure to click on the link because the site itself is very interesting. 

Since that museum was pretty much at the northern end of Central Park, we walked down the museum mile along 5th Ave.  We stopped at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis reservoir which gave dramatic views of the Upper West Side. 

We also passed in front of the Guggenheim Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Along our way, I was busy taking photos of some of the striking architecture on the Upper East Side. 

We stopped for some ice cream in front of the Met, then continued across Central Park and headed towards the Museum of Natural History.  We spent the rest of the day touring the 4 floors of that museum, much to the protest of my poor aching feet.  We were absolutely starving by the time we were back at Times Square, so we stopped at a corner pizza shop a block up from the hotel and did a little people-watching while munching.

For dinner that evening, I had made reservations at one of my favorite restaurants in NYC - Perilla in Greenwich Village. 

It's a little hole in the wall, but it's a very nice hole in the wall and the food is simply spectacular.  At this point I was trying to convince my cousin to move down to New York.  It would give me yet another reason to travel down here more frequently!

To be continued...