NYC Part Three

This is the last instalment of my adventures in NYC. On the Saturday we headed out to Williamsburg to eat ourselves silly at Smorgasburg. If you're ever in NYC on a Saturday (during warmer months) I would definitely recommend checking it out (that's if you like eating). The Smorgasburg markets are part of the Brooklyn Flea, which is on every Sunday at the same place. The choice of food is quite amazing and you'll see things you've probably never heard of before. My sister and I started by sharing a passionfruit doughnut from Dough. Isn't there some kind of saying about eating dessert first? Anyway, next I had a vegetarian hot dog from Asia Dogs. They have so many interesting varities of hot dogs with all sorts of toppings. Mine had a mango coleslaw and peanuts! Next I had some eggplant dumplings - also great. I would have liked to stay the whole day and eat but I'll probably have to do that another time. 

We walked around Williamsburg for a little while until it started to rain. We found a coffee shop/bar on Wythe Avenue (I think it was called Kinfolk) and huddled there to try and wait out the rain. The rain stuck around but we realised we were right near Brooklyn Bowl. Can't think of many better rainy day activities than bowling! Brooklyn Bowl is a really cool music venue and bar and has about 15 or so bowling lanes. We played one game (I came second last - thanks to my sister for being worse than me hehe) before heading back to Manhattan.

On the Sunday morning I met my friend Amy for brunch in SoHo. Amy was also visiting from Australia and fortunately our itineraries just overlapped. We had brunch at Balthazar which is a really popular French restaurant and bakery. If you go on a weekend you can expect a wait - it was about half an hour for us. It's a beautiful old restaurant and the food is excellent. I had the most amazing waffles! After brunch we had a look around some of the shops in SoHo and met up with Amy's friend. As I was super broke by that stage I left them to do their shopping and headed back to the hotel.

That afternoon I got to catch up with a couple more of my NYC friends. I met one friend at The Smith which is a bar and restaurant near the hotel where we stayed. I wish I'd discovered it sooner at it was very cool. They also have a restaurant in the East Village. That night, Ben and I went for dinner with two other friends on the Upper West Side. It was awesome to be able to introduce Ben to my friends and also see their new, beautiful apartment. They invited us back for a drink and a round of a board game called Blokus. It was a perfect way to spend our last night in NYC!

On our last morning there we made a spontaneous decision to visit Top of the Rock. I'm glad we did this as even though I've done it a few times now it's always so amazing to see the city from above. Before long we were headed back to the airport to make our way to Chicago. As you can probably guess, I had an amazing time in NYC and I'm glad I got to share it with my siblings, Al and Benny. 

NYC Part Two

Next on our itinerary was to catch the (free) Staten Island Ferry for a view of the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan. Seeing the new World Trade Center from the water really put things into perspective. That thing is massive! It was a pretty grey and cold day and we weren't too sure what to do next. In the end we caught the 1 train up town to the Upper West Side and had lunch at one of my old favourite haunts, Peace Food Vegan Cafe. I wish I'd had more time to spend up there - definitely one of my favourite neighbourhoods. 

That afternoon we found ourselves back in Times Square (I can't really remember why) and the boys (Ben and Al) ended up getting hassled into buying tickets to a comedy show while Sam, Sophie and I managed to escape. They had a great time, thankfully, but it was a very frustrating experience. Being heckled is one of the not-so-fun parts about being a recognisable tourist. That afternoon, the boys went off to see a movie (it was a pretty miserable day) while Soph and I did some girl things like visit the Mac makeup store and eat Magnolia cupcakes. 

While Al and Ben went to the comedy show that night, Sam, Soph and I headed back down to the East Village to another old favourite of mine, S'mac. This place specialises in Macaroni and Cheese. You can choose from lots of different combinations and toppings. They even do gluten-free and vegan! We eventually rolled ourselves out of there and while Sam headed back to the hotel, Soph and I went for a couple of drinks at a rooftop bar in midtown called 230 Fifth. You can see the spectacular view of the Empire State Building above!

Ben and Al had a little too much fun at the Comedy Show so the next day we all did our own thing while they slept it off. Okay, that was just Ben haha. It was a lovely day and I decided to head out by myself to the Upper East side where I spent a few hours strolling around Madison, Park and Fifth Avenues admiring the amazing apartments and thinking about the entirely different world some of those people live in. 

I had heard about the Dean and Deluca store in SoHo so was really excited to find they have a smaller one on the UES. I spent a good half hour or so salivating over all the cakes and bread before eventually settling on some sushi to take to Central Park for lunch. It was really peaceful sitting in the park with my lunch. There were a heap of people sun baking because it was so warm that day. I then spent a little time window shopping along Madison Avenue and convincing myself that every well-dressed person was famous. I stopped at the Aesop store and bought some moisturiser and scored a few samples from the lovely sales assistant. Before heading back to the hotel I decided to treat myself to a manicure. 

That night was the baseball! Ben had been looking forward to this the whole trip and we had so much fun. My brother Sam came with us too. Ben managed to pick really good seats and we were only a few rows back from the field. I was actually kinda paranoid about being hit in the face by a ball! We drank a few beers, ate some terrible food and had a great time. Unfortunately the Yankees lost, but it was a close game!

We made the most of the good weather the next day and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. The highlight of course was eating pizza at Grimaldi's on the other side! Ben's face above says it all.

That night was a highlight for me. Some Australian friends of mine who live in NYC invited Ben and I to a competitive story-telling event in a bookstore in SoHo. The event was called 'The Moth' and happens regularly around the country. Storytellers are given a theme and the opportunity to put their names down on the night. They are then called up to tell a five minute true story which they are then scored on. It was so much fun and felt like such a 'only in New York' thing to do (even though it happens elsewhere hehe). The theme that night was 'envy'. Some of the stories were hilarious while others were quite serious and powerful.

Following that our friends took us to the West Village for dinner where we crammed into a hole-in-the-wall Indian joint for some delicious Kati Rolls. Because we weren't quite bursting at the seems yet, we walked a little further to a gelato shop to seal the deal. It was great to see my friends again and a perfect night of laughs and food.

I've just got a few more days to write about but I'll do that in another post as this is long enough!

Photos by me.

NYC Part One

Despite scoring the worst taxi driver in the world for our very slow journey from JFK to Manhattan, I couldn't contain my excitement as that familiar skyline came into view. We spent eight nights in NYC and stayed at the The Pod Hotel on 51st Street. It's a pretty hip hotel with basic modern rooms and an awesome rooftop (first pic). 

Ever since I left NYC after my short stint living there a few years ago, I've been wanting to take Ben with me to show him why I love it so much. To be honest I think he was a bit overwhelmed to begin with and couldn't quite get his bearings but by the end of the trip he was feeling more comfortable and starting to know his way around (or at least the difference between Uptown and Downtown hehe). We both agreed that the next time we go we'll stay in an apartment and not worry about doing the touristy things.

The afternoon we arrived we took a walk from our hotel to 42nd Street, past my old office and into Grand Central Terminal to watch the comings and goings for a little while. From there we made a mandatory visit to Times Square (never again! haha) and had dessert at Ellen's Stardust Diner where the waiters and waitresses are aspiring Broadway stars and sing to you while they serve. Lotsa fun!

The next morning we had breakfast around the corner from our hotel at a diner called the Morningstar Cafe. It's just your standard American diner but it has a special place in my heart as I stayed at the same hotel when I first moved to NYC and my Dad (who accompanied me for the first week or so) and I would go there every morning. The food is cheap and the servings are huge.

From there we walked up 5th Avenue to Central Park and spent a few hours wandering around and admiring the Spring blooms (okay, maybe that was just me). Exiting the park we walked down Central Park West to Columbus Circle and had lunch at Whole Foods. Oh how I miss that place! We then took the subway to the Meatpacking District and walked the High Line. It was super chilly that day so we were stoked to find a Blue Bottle Coffee stand along the way. I've now experienced the High Line in Winter, Summer and Spring with the latter being my favourite for sure.

There's me navigating the busy NYC streets and a family of tracksuit enthusiasts. 

The next day Ben and my brother and I went down to the East Village in search of pizza and pizza we found. I enjoyed being back in the East Village as that's where my friend Jess and I stayed when we visited last year. We wound up at Artichoke where we grabbed a slice (or two in Ben's case) and ate it out the front. SO GOOD. After wandering the leafy East Village streets for a little while we decided to head further downtown to the World Trade Center memorial. I hadn't done this before and I'm glad I did. The memorial is really beautiful and standing underneath the new One World Trader Center building is just awe inspiring. That evening we had dinner near out hotel then grabbed a few beverages to enjoy on the rooftop.

More to come!

Photos by me, my brother and my sister.

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

I was super excited to be back in San Francisco after my first visit last year. After checking into our hostel near Union Square, we took a bus to the eclectic Haight-Ashbury district for the afternoon. Haight Street has a very boho/hippy vibe to it (we may have been high from secondary marijuana inhalation by the time we left) but there are a lot of cute boutique and vintage shops and the suburban streets nearby are lined with gorgeous Victorian style houses.

That night it was pretty chilly (in fact it was chilly the whole time we were there) so we decided to stay in and order some food to be delivered. My brother found a Chicago style pizza joint online (we just couldn't wait until we actually got to Chicago) that also had some vegan options. By the time the pizza arrived it was about 10pm and boy were we in for a treat. We definitely over-ordered as the deep dish pizzas were absolutely massive and we ended up sharing the left-overs with other hostel guests. Eating that pizza was an experience I doubt any of us will forget. Thick pastry followed by a layer of toppings and cheese and the most generous amount of sauce (on top) I've ever seen. Shortly after we all collapsed into a food coma and slept soundly while dreaming about the experience we had just had. More deep dish pizza stories to come when I actually get to the Chicago part.

The next morning, while nursing our pizza hangovers, we headed to the Mission District, a neighbourhood originally inhabited by native American Indians and then later a large Spanish population. There is definitely a strong Spanish and Mexican influence today with multiple Tacquerias to choose from, alongside other cute stores selling books, retro furniture and gifts and some trendy bars. Next time I'd love to visit on a weekend evening.

Ben had done a bit of research on where to get the best Mexican while we were in the neighbourhood and he stumbled upon Tacqueria La Cumbre which was featured on the show Man vs Food. I believe Adam Richman tackled a 1kg burrito or something equally horrendous (and by that I mean delicious). I was pretty stoked with my choice which was a falafel burrito. Two amazing things rolled (literally) into one! After lunch and browsing the shops for a few hours we made a quick pitstop at Mission Delores Park to soak up some sun and rest our feet. The park is on a hill that overlooks the city and is a great spot for a bit of people watching.

That evening we rugged up and made our way to Fisherman's Wharf to catch the ferry to Alcatraz Island. I did the day-time tour on my last visit but was pretty excited to see it all at night. The night-time tour also includes some extras such as access to the old hospital (spooky) and a few different talks to choose from. It was a freezing windy night on the island and with less people around it was definitely a bit scary at times. We joined a talk on the one and only successful escape from Alcatraz which was really interesting. I always wonder what happened to those inmates as they were never found! 

The next day we took a tram back down to the water and made a quick stop at the Ferry Building for lunch. The Ferry Building contains a heap of market stores selling artisan foods and a couple of cafes. We found our favourite coffee in America, Blue Bottle Coffee, which was a welcome surprise. We later discovered them in NYC too. We then picked up our transportation for the day - bikes - and tackled the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a very windy day and quite a challenge - especially those hills. This was one of my favourite things I did last time and it was just as fun second time around, even if at times I just wanted to get off my bike and sit on the ground out of sheer exhaustion. The only disappointment was the fog but by the time we got to the other side it had cleared.

Upon reaching the beautiful village of Sausilito on the other side of the bridge we were quite ravished and found a burger joint where I had one of the best veggie burgers I've ever had. By this stage it was nice and sunny and we spent an hour or two laying in a park by the water while we waited for the ferry back to San Francisco.

We spent our final day in San Fran checking out some of the shops along Market Street, visiting a Ghiradelli cafe and taking another walk along the water and past AT&T Park where a baseball game was in full swing. This got Benny pretty excited to see the Yankees in NYC!

San Fran, you are wonderful (and I don't even mind your hills and cold weather that much)! Next - NYC :)