As much fun as this city can be, having someone to explore it with just makes it that much better. Last weekend, that person was my good friend, Alicia Foley.
Alicia's flight got into New York late Thursday night so we started her first NYC experience bright and early Friday morning. I took her down to the nearby bakery, where I went with my Mom and her friends while they visited, so we could indulge in some cheese danishes. We then made our way to midtown where we purchased student rush tickets to the Broadway show "Promises, Promises" starring Kristin Chenowith and Sean Hayes. After securing our tickets and making a quick pass through Times Square we went down to Battery Park where we boarded a ferry to Liberty Island, home to one of our nation's most iconic symbols, the Statue of Liberty. It was my first time since freshman year of college since I've gone out to see Lady Liberty. We had a good time while there, especially as we unsuccessfully attempted to get a decent photo of the both of us in front of the statue. Epic fail, oh well. The ferry also took us to Ellis Island where we got out and looked around for awhile. However, our hungry stomachs were demanding we find a place to eat so we soon headed back to the mainland where we ate at a fun diner in Greenwich Village. We then visited the World Trade Center site, the financial district, the Wall Street Bull, and walked through part of SOHO. We then made our way back to the Broadway Theater where it was time for "Promises, Promises" to start. We had a great time at the show which successfully managed to get several of it's classic Burt Bacharach songs stuck in our heads for much of the weekend.
Our Saturday morning started off by assisting Chhaya by taking some old clothes she wanted to donate to a neighborhood cobbler (I didn't even know cobblers still existed). Alicia and I then went down to Union Square where we had an enjoyable morning at the farmers market. We bought some Empire Apples and chocolate milk from a dairy farm vendor. While there, Alicia introduced me to maple candy, a treat she enjoyed as a child, but which I had been deprived of for some reason. We managed to squeeze quite a bit of site-seeing into that afternoon: we explored the Strand bookstore, visited Grand Central Terminal, walked down 5th Avenue, admired a middle-aged wannabe figure skater at Rockefeller Center, watched the "Big" Piano Show at FAO Schwarz, and then took a stroll through Central Park. That evening we had hoped to see "Wicked," but were unable to get tickets so we got student rush seats to the play "God of Carnage" instead. Before the show, we ate supper at El Azteca Mexican restaurant. We then went back to the theater for "God of Carnage." The cast consisted of a whopping four actors: Jeff Daniels, Lucy Liu, Dylan Baker, and Janet McTeer. However what they lacked in numbers they more made up with their energy, comedic timing, and sheer talent. It was a hilarious 90 minutes of theater. Before heading home that night we stopped by Café Lalo so Alicia could try out a true New York cannoli...they're so, so good.
Sunday proved to be a more laid back day as far as sightseeing. We paid a leisurely visit to Central Park where we saw such popular sites as Strawberry Fields, Bethesda Fountain, and the Belvedere Castle. We also saw The Dakota, John Lennon's apartment building, and checked out the dinosaur fossils in the lobby of the American Museum of Natural History. We then made our way back up to Washington Heights where we got a bite to eat at a nearby diner and then enjoyed a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-shaped popsicle purchased from the ice cream truck stationed outside Fort Tryon Park. I then took her on a brief tour of the park before it was time for her to go. After she left, I cried the rest of the day away. Okay, not quite. But it was sad knowing from here on out, I'm on my own. No more guests. I'm going to have to sustain the remaining duration of my New York experience without any further visitors. No worries though, I will make do. I plan to thoroughly enjoy the rest of my time here; sadly, I have a feeling these last few weeks are going to fly by and this entire experience will soon be just another memorable event in my past.
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