I don't know what it is with me and the top-40 song titles this week. first kelly clarkson, now t. swift. but in today's case, welcome to new york actually was one of the inspirations behind mitch and I visiting new york this past month. that and the fact we had a 25-hour layover there. okay, so it was more the latter than the former, but it was the former that got me pumped and it was all mitch could do to keep me from belting the chorus and pumping my fists in the air as we were scoping the city from our window. it really does look like it's been waiting for us, doesn't it?
first thing after arriving in the city was food, which led us to our clandestine meet up with shake shack. there wasn't even a line (the first time)! and all of you burger die-hards aren't going to want to believe this, but it really does one-up five guys any day. I think it's the whole crazy-milkshake-flavor thing because they really will put anything in a vat of milk and sugar, that's for sure. but we tried oatmeal creme pie and it was surprisingly delightful. we don't even like oatmeal creme pies. so why are there no pictures, you ask? because after I fly, I suffer from food deficit disorder and would probably have eaten iphone if I'd pulled it out of my pocket at that moment. but seriously.
and sorry. one more thing before we move on. our hotel. all the pictures of our hotel were on mitch's iphone and he's studying so there's no bothering him today, but it was probably the saddest, best bang-for-your-buck you ever saw. we stayed in union square since that was a stone's throw away from the train station. and although it was totally within our price range for rooms that had their own bathroom, it was really more rent than gossip girl, if you know what I mean. but we were in luck because we came out of it bedbug free. hashtag, win. moving right along.
I don't know what we were thinking but we spent a stupid amount of time in times square. maybe it's because we were still so high after shake shack, but an hour max is all we should have needed. and the worst part about times square is that there's no pretending that you're a local because no locals would be caught dead in times square. trust me, I asked my friend from queens. she endorses this statement.
but with the help of google maps, a second wind, and a surge of adventurous spirit, we headed east (I'm seriously just guessing here?) and ended up at rockefeller center. mitch and I didn't know the importance of rockefeller center but I knew that was where the ice skating was and mitch knew that was where the legos were. to his dismay, we showed up and they had already closed up shop. it was like, why did we even leave the house this morning?! you know? we didn't skate, but we did window shop and I came to realize that our kids are going to have a lot of legos, and then we took pretty, ethereal looking pictures and came across a bunch of rubber duckies and if a new yorker wouldn't mind enlightening me, what are those about anyway? I dared mitch to touch one because we're five and unsupervised and he did and then I made him sanitize his hands before reholding mine because, I mean, germs!
total fangirl moment right here. is it terribly pathetic that when I walked in grand central I didn't take in the gorgeous architecture, but I was all 'serena van der woodsen was like, right there.' I'm pretty sure I drove mitch nuts with all my gossip girl and how I met your mother fun facts, but I think it added a little something extra to his new york experience, agreed?
and then we paid way more than I care to admit (think upwards of $50) to visit the top of the empire state building. I'm pretty sure anyone who's seen sleepless in seattle would agree that a kiss at the top of that iconic building is probably somewhere on their bucket list. except the sad part is, it wasn't even really the top! to get to the very top would have cost us like over $100 and I decided this counted. and it totally did. my ever-frugal husband even said it was worth it. the panoramic view of the city from that height is the only way to see new york. no crowds. and even though it was dark and windy as all get out, we still got a picture. because 'if you didn't get a picture than it didn't happen.' bucket list rules.
my poor husband. to make the most of our 25-hour layover and our 22 hours in the city, I may have woken him up kind of early thinking we'd get a head start on our day. and before we go on, I'd just like to mention that if it hadn't been for the the guy puking in the alley outside our window (like I said, we stayed in a real classy part of town), I probably would have snoozed through the alarm, as well. thanks, puker. to whoever and wherever you are, your assumed but undoubted debauchery really saved our trip.
anyway, back to business. we got up all early and stuff and I even skipped on doing my hair because I was so excited to get out and about just to discover that new yorkers don't seem to get up any earlier than anyone else. unless, of course, they're walking their dog or going for their morning run. so we bought our subway tickets and moved on up to central park. and even though I was feeling a little out of sorts about everything being closed and the bagel shop I had wanted to go being too far out of the way (it was listed on buzzfeed among the best in the city), central park in the early morning could not have been more perfect. all the cherry blossoms were blossoming and the sun was shining without being too hot and there were perfectly good bagels at all the random street vendors we passed on the way there. but as I had bagel crumbs falling in my lap, I had to reassess my way of life because everyone else in the park was so active. walking dogs, running, riding bikes in their individual pelotons. and so we went and rented bikes. 'cause I was feeling like a fatty.
^^ balto. mitch's childhood hero. we had to make sure we found this statue. ^^
so this is going to seem really off-subject, but I promise to segue back to our new york adventure afterward. last summer I had a really unfortunate mountain biking experience. if you're really good at mountain biking, I envy you. but I also gawk at you because it's lost on me how bumping along every little rock whilst riding down a mountain can be fun. I tried it. I even got pictures for bucket list posterity. but it really set me off the bicycle. however, I'm happy to report that riding a bike in central park is nothing like flinging yourself off a rocky cliff at twenty mph and scraping your hands and knees and any other exposed skin in the process (though, I don't think I ever got my speed up that high). in fact, a bicycle is the only way I recommend seeing central park if you're pushing it for time. we probably made it halfway through the park before it was time to turn around and we would have made it further, too, if it hadn't been for the necessity to stop and take pictures. which is mostly my fault because I couldn't get enough of the cherry blossoms. I think I had fifty photos starring the cherry blossom littering my camera roll.
^^ look what we ran into as we were pioneering up to a glorified hot dog stand! ^^
and with this charming little map that my friend, joanna, drew me, we navigated our way up to 70th-something street for our first experience at gray's papaya where we feasted for $10. it wasn't anything fancy and there's nowhere to sit (a seat was something we were in desperate need of after that walk) but those hot dogs tasted like more than just hot dogs. perhaps that's why they placed it so far out of the way. so that people were extra hungry once they finally got there. or perhaps they're just surprisingly good hunks of meat wedged between a plain ol' bun.
and then, because I'd hit my daily hot dog allowance, I had to counteract it with some mango. we stopped at a trader joe's along the way and then hunkered down in the grass at sheep's meadow to go through pictures and relax. silly how we reminisce before the experience is even over, isn't it? and then that warm-but-not-too-warm sunny day dissipated into an ominous gloom and we half-hurried, half-moseyed to the nearest subway terminal where we accidentally became bronx-bound and had to turn around a board another train that took us back to the airport to catch our ride to geneva.
^^ our in-flight menu. ^^
if you saw that we rode global first to geneva on instagram, then I'm sure it all crossed your minds how we could afford that on a medical student's salary (which is negative dollars, in case you were wondering). a fair question. and the answer is... we didn't. because we couldn't. we just got really lucky in that my dad has some sweet airline connections. all in all, airfare was the cheapest part of our trip because it was free. but it was also a super cool experience. it's suppose to be like how it was when flying was a five-star experience rather than the dread-and-anxiety-producing experience that it is today. you're in these private little pods and I forget how many courses we ate, but there were a lot of them and the flight attendants just keep bringing you food until you tell them to stop. the chairs fold down into beds and the flight attendants come and turn them down for you to make them all comfy and sleep-worthy. and as comical as it is, my favorite part was getting up to go pee whenever I wanted without disturbing the person sitting in the aisle seat. and I never had to wait for the bathroom because you only share it with two other people. strange, but it's the little things. needless to say, first class gets a huge stamp of approval in my book.
whoa that was a winded post! I apologize. even my fingers are exhausted. how are your eyes? admittedly, I need to work on being more concise, but that means thinking more concisely and that is just not going to happen. hopefully, it wasn't a total bore. keep checking back for (undoubtedly) more winded posts regarding the rest of our trip. next stop, geneva. have a great day and thanks for reading!
love, arielle
No comments:
Post a Comment