What I like Wednesday- NYC Trip!

Those of you who are fans of my Facebook page know that I had a jam-packed, fun filled weekend in New York! (And thank you to everyone who entered the Facebook fans only giveaway!) Until this weekend, I had never been before. Yeah, 19 out of my almost 24 years was spent living in Maryland and I never got around driving 4 hours north to go! But all that is behind me now. Thank you, cousin Courtney, for going to NYU and making me come visit you.

I took hundreds and hundreds of pictures, we jam packed soo much into the weekend! I honestly don't know how we did it. But not to worry. I condensed the amount and put most of them into collages so there won't be a bazillion pictures to scroll through.

After doing all the math for parking, gas, and tolls, David and I decided to take a bus to NYC. It was a long, cramped, and horribly boring trip, so this first little glimpse of the city was thrilling!

This is our "Huzzah we are almost there!" picture.

Remember this post from a few weeks ago? In case you missed it, David and I love to hit restaurants from Food Network's Diners, Drive ins, and Dives and Best Thing I Ever Ate. Our first stop in NYC was hitting a place called Stand 4, and drinking a Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake from BTIEA. It. Was. To. Die. For. Whoever said that this milkshake was the best, I wholeheartedly agree with them!! And check out how huge those straws are! The burgers were ok, the milkshake really was the star of the show.

After Stand4, we got settled into Courtney's dorm, chilled out, and then headed to the Bronx to have dinner with one of David's converts from his mission. (For those curious folks, David served in the New York, New York North mission.) Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the wonderful family, nor do I have anything to report since the entire evening went down in Spanish, and I barely speak a word. Afterwards, we stopped and Grand Central Station. All I could think about were scenes form Madagascar.

New York really is a city that never sleeps. Way past my bedtime we were at Times Square. It was completely overwhelming, seeing so many giant signs! My eyes had no idea where to look! We climbed up the stairs and surveyed the city, it's so beautiful at night! We ducked into the Disney Store to keep warm and I got distracted by the Tangled section. LOVE that movie. (Ad you probably guess from yesterday's paper lanterns post.) My parents seem to think that Rapunzel is fashioned directly after me, so that top right picture is me trying to show the resemblance.

For breakfast the next morning we went to an adorable little bistro by the dorms. It was perfect! David ordered hot chocolate that was literally a mug of steaming milk that he mixed melted chocolate into. I am now convinced that that is the only way to drink hot chocolate! And have you ever had porridge? Don't until you go here, because it's perfect. Same with the oatmeal, I don't think I'll ever eat microwaved stuff again!

We walked around Union Square again and admired the little stands. My favorite part was the "100% grass fed cheese" sign. Grass fed cheese? I know what they meant...but it's still funny to think about someone trying to shove grass down a block of cheese.

 We walked all the way from the campus to THE Macy's, you know the one! This picture is purely for my grandmother, Mugga.

Right across the street from THE Macy's was the Empire State building! (Every single time I called it the Eiffel Tower...apparently Paris is my next stop on places I have to visit.) We wanted to go up, but it just didn't feel right to shell out $50 to go to the top of a building.

When Courtney had to leave for work in the afternoon, we decided to get real NY pizza. This place was perfect! This is just a "regular" cheese pizza. Fresh basil, juicy tomato sauce, and melted cheese that took six bites before you could get all the melty stringiness in your mouth. I am a thin crust convert now.

 After lunch we headed to The Met, and in the subway, we saw a really fantastic subway band! They were so good, we threw ten bucks into the case and bought their CD! (The CD is awesome, but the subway really made everything sound cool. I guess it's true that most bands are better live.)

Onto The Met. I can't believe how such a big museum can be crammed into the city! We were there three hours, totally booking it, and still didn't see everything! David loved the Egyptian exhibit, but I was more drawn to the 17th century stuff. See that thing in the bottom corner?  That's an ice cream cooler from the 1800s!

We met up with Courtney after work and she took us to Dylan's Candy Bar. SO COOL! There was candy in the floor, candy from celebrities, specialty candy, bulk candy, chocolate, sour, gum, so much! We each got a half pound of candy, I got all sour candy, David got all chocolate. Sometimes I wonder who the woman is in our relationship!

Afterwards, we got lost! We were in a part of town not even Courtney had been to! We just barely missed the train, it literally closed in our faces and we were left in a completely deserted station for a long time.

Next morning was Chinatown, which was by far my favorite stop of the whole weekend! We spent a few hours there but it felt like a few minutes. There was to much to see, so much to eat, so crammed full of pure awesome. I'm fully convinced that I was Asian in another life, and my Asian-ness carried over into my full blown white-ness in this life. We went into a ton of shops, bought lots of souvenirs, and ate the most delicious food. I would honestly go back to NYC again just to go to Chinatown!

I seriously don't know how we did all that we did. After Chinatown we scurried on over to St. John's cathedral, the biggest Gothic cathedral in the world. Oh man, it is BIG. You know that "insignificant piece of dust" feeling you get when you stand next to the vast ocean and look up and the millions upon millions of stars? Being in the cathedral gave a similar feeling. Beautiful, gigantic, and reverent. The intricate details were stunning!

I finally was able to get an authentic New York hot dog from a stand when we headed to Central Park! It was one of the things on my "list" that I just had to do. Check! We walked all the way through Central Park, bumping into a bunch of runners for a race for colon cancer. There were inspirational messages written all over the paths with chalk that were so fun to read. We made it up to the John Lennon memorial and tossed a few pennies on it for good luck.

And finally, we traveled over an hour by sub, by bus, and by foot back to the Bronx to visit a literal hole in the wall called Cross Bronx pizza. David ate here a lot on his mission, and was thrilled to see that the same two workers were still there! But I'm sure you're epically distracted by the pizza. The size of the pizza was overwhelming!! And yes, there is a fully grown man holding up that pizza in the bottom left picture. Not only was the pizza huge, it was absolutely perfect pizza. The most delicious I've ever had. Eating all this pizza in NY has made me a pizza snob, I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to Pizza Hut.

Sadly...all good things must come to an end. We had to say goodbye way too fast!

We hopped back on the bus and got home at 11pm. I crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow and slept in until 9:30 the next day. Successful trip? I think so. We accomplished so much while we were there! Here is my "list:"

Go to NYC
See the Empire State Building
Ride in a jam packed subway
Get lost
Take a cab
Grand Central
See David's converts
Get harassed by a drunk on the subway (yeah that was really on my list)
Statue of Liberty
See some of David's old mission stomping grounds
Get a hot dog from a stand
China town
BTIEA/DDD location
Buy something from a vendor
Go to Cross Bronx pizza (this is linked with have authentic NY pizza)
Time's Square
See someone famous
Museums
Central Park
Pretend I'm a NYer and see if anyone notices (I think they did notice though, heehee)
Visit a cool shop that doesn't exist anywhere else

Wow, I can't believe I crossed so much off my list! I even crammed in a few things that weren't on my list! I'm so lucky. :) I'll absolutely be going back soon, anyone wanna come with?