Roaming the Streets

Yesterday was a very special day. It marked the one month anniversary of my coming to New York City! And I've got to say, I'm thrilled that I survived the first month, having never lived in a place quite like this before. Like always, my time here seems to be flying by. Maybe that's because I'm working a full-time job that keeps me busy five days out of the week. On my days off, however, I'm managing to get out and enjoy the history and culture the city has to offer.

One of my favorite things to do on my days off is to just wander around without any specific agenda, just exploring on my own. Although I've also been spending quite a bit of time with the other interns, I have to admit, sometimes it's just nice to be on your own. Pretty much every Saturday I've just set out with one or two things I'd like to see and make a whole day out of it. For example, last weekend I wanted to see Grant's Tomb. I did see it, but also meandered around Columbia's campus and various other neighborhoods in the upper-west side. A couple weekends ago I set out for Greenwich Village and had a great time exploring the shops and eating food in this unique area of New York (I could have eaten about a dozen cannolis from Rocco's Pastry Shop). Yesterday, I started out by attending Trinity Wall Street Church. On my way back to the apartment I managed to visit: the World Trade Center site, Union Square, Macy's Department Store, the Empire State Building and the New York City Library. It was a pretty full day considering I planned on going to church and that's about it.

This type of unscheduled site-seeing is my favorite thing to do. Sure, when you are with a guided tour you gain random bits of information I otherwise might not pick up on, but I enjoy the independence of being able to go at my own pace. And I'm discovering there are so many interesting things found "off the beaten path" that aren't necessarily the normal tourist attractions. Each neighborhood has its own unique culture with various shops and historical attractions. Next weekend I plan to visit Theodore Roosevelt's birthplace and then hope to explore Little Italy the following weekend. However, there's no guessing what other points of interest I'll discover while in route.