This was my first trip to Manhattan since I have started traveling abroad, so I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about what I've always called my favorite city. Let me tell you friends, as far as I'm concerned, it's still the most rockin' city on the planet. And, we went at the absolute perfect time of year; the weather was wonderful. Not too warm, not cold at all, and absolutely beautiful the entire time. It was a complete success. Before we arrived, my mother and I didn't have too many plans, and we both thought we would end up with loads of free time. Free time? In New York City?? I don't think so. There's just too damn much to see and do to be sitting around. Let me tell you my legs and feet were absolutely killing me by day two. On day four I was limping and holding back tears, but it was all worth it.
This was a different trip for us. As I mentioned before, my mother recently retired and with that she gave up all responsibility. Outside of booking the hotel and flights, which I'm sad to say I won't even get that much out of her next time, she didn't organize a thing. It was pretty cool for both of us though, because I felt like I really accomplished something in getting a feel for the layout of the city and it's different vibes. We frequently used the trains (as the locals say, aka subways) and I only made one mistake getting on an express train by accident (which took us into Brooklyn. My mom was psyched to go over the bridge. So, was it really a mistake??). I felt like this was a great achievement as it was by far the oldest and most difficult subway system I have been on.
I had several firsts in the city, including: eating well (seriously, never had a good bite in the city before this trip..), an Off-Broadway Show (Stomp!), Little Italy, The Statue of Liberty, Top of the Rock, Columbia University, Zabars, Koreatown, traveling upstate, etc. etc.
Okay, so from here on out I've categorized our activities. Enjoy!
CENTRAL PARK
Well, it's beautiful. And HUGE. And so peaceful right in the middle of all that chaos. We really enjoyed wandering around a bit. We had no idea it was so close to our hotel (in the Theatre District), and we were able to walk there easily.
MEETING WITH FRIENDS
On our trip we were able to have dinner with my co-teacher and friend Lia's mother. She has been to Korea several times and even worked there at a university, so we thought it would be a great idea to meet for dinner in Koreatown. It was my first time to have Korean food in the states, and it was the perfect way to do it. Sans the awful smell of Korea, it was incredibly similar. Having someone else there who knew the food and the culture helped a lot, especially since it was my mom's first time to eat it. I'm not a huge fan of Korean food in general (putting it nicely), but I absolutely love the BBQ. We were able to eat that (bulgogi and galbi), which was delicious. I was proud of my mom for trying everything at least once. I'd have to say her thoughts on the food are similar to mine, but at least now she's tried it!
More than that it was great for us to meet Lia's mother. I think both parents really enjoyed meeting someone else in their position as far as us kids are concerned; I know my mom did.
We were also able to meet up with my friend Sam, and she was an excellent tour guide of the city. She lives in the Upper West Side. We got to see her place (so cute!), she took us to Zabars and up to Columbia to give us a tour of the university. The campus was absolutely beautiful; and it was so great to get an inside look.
She dropped us at a Cathedral near the school, which was absolutely beautiful and possibly my mother's favorite part of the whole trip.
UPSTATE
What a great thing for us to do. We loved it. As my mom said, it really put everything into perspective. An hour and a half train ride from Grand Central took us to Beacon, New York. Riding right up the Hudson the entire time was the way to go. It was so beautiful. The leaves had just started to change, so we were able to see a little of that, but most importantly, it was a clear day so we had great visibility.
When we got there, we found a little coffee shop/cafe and had some excellent food, including the best apple tart we've ever had! After walking around a bit we headed back for the train and the city. For us, it was the perfect afternoon adventure.
When we got back to Manhattan, we spent some time in Grand Central, one of my mother's most favorite places in the world I think. It was fun to walk around and see how much she was taken by its beauty; it really is quite magnificent. We also ate some great food and enjoyed some good coffee while we were there.
Us on the train in the morning.
First time we had ever seen one of these signs. The meaning isn't so clear..
The Hudson River.
SEEING THE SHOWS
We saw three shows when were in the city!!! We only had tickets for one when we arrived, but the half price ticket line instantly became our new best friend. Waiting there was the first thing we did in the city after checking into our hotel, and we were able to score tickets to Chicago our first night, which was by far my favorite show of the trip. It was the perfect New York City welcome. We both loved every minute of it.
We also saw Jersey Boys. The music was great but the show didn't do it for me in the same way. I learned some valuable information about my Broadway experiences that night. I need both singing and dancing to enjoy myself to the fullest. If you have a great voice and flounce around on stage, I'm gonna love you. But if you're not jivin', I'm not so into it. I think I was the only member of the audience representing my generation, which might have also explained why it wasn't my favorite. My mom absolutely loved it, which was great.
The last night, we got tickets to my first off-Broadway, Stomp! It was so cool to be in a different area, and the show was tons of fun. It was in The Village, and afterwards we ate some great food. One thing we learned this trip is there's not a decent meal to be found in the Theatre District. Nada. Zilch. It's all terrible. The Village, however, was a different story, and we were really happy that was the case.
FOOD
Like I said, there is no good food to be found in the Theatre District. Both times my mother and I have been to NYC together, that's where we've stayed, and both times, we've been incredibly disappointed with the restaurants in the area.
This trip we stepped out of our New York comfort zone's, and it really paid off in the food department. An excellent place to grab some cheap food (relatively speaking) was Grand Central. That was a great surprise to me, and the first time I enjoyed a meal in New York. Ever. Little Italy had some absolutely unbelievable food, and we ate at a great place called Sarah's (I think) by Central Park. Our food in The Village was also fantastic. So, lesson learned. Eat anywhere except Midtown. Done.
My mom and I split this crepe in Grand Central after coming back from Beacon. It was de-licious.
STATUE OF LIBERTY
It was my first visit and it was great. And very crowded. They are a little tricky with their advertising. You can't actually go into the statue without a reservation, but you can just buy a ticket to get on the boat. Hpmh. So, needless to say we weren't able to go inside Lady Liberty, but it was really cool to visit Liberty Island and ride the ferry. New York City looked absolutely amazing from the water.
We had a coast guard boat on either side of the ferry. No messin' around when it comes to Lady Liberty.
View of the city from the top of the ferry.
EVERYTHING ELSE NEW YORK
One night we saw the city from the Top of the Rock. It was amazing, and through this little adventure, I found my mom's one and only weakness: heights. I've seen it before at the Grand Canyon, but this was an even more terrifying experience for her. She did really well all in all, and to be fair, at the very top of the building, they have nothing more than a thigh-high guard rail. Not too top notch on the protection, there. The views were unbelievable, and we had exceptional visibility. Loved it.
A little bit of Thailand in New York...
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