New York City

As the title of this post hints at....I have just returned from a LONG weekend in New York City with my friend, Annemarie. She had to attend her cousin's wedding and asked if I'd go with her. What? Are you kidding? Of course I'll go with you. I mean, it's not like I have a job, or anything important that I'm needed here for...unless it's applying for jobs that I know I won't get. I have to do that to keep the unemployment checks rolling in.

Anyway, New York.....we flew in on Thursday afternoon and by that night we had checked in at our hotel (we were staying at the Hyatt on the Hudson in Jersey City), gone back out, got a water taxi and hauled ass across the Hudson to Manhattan, baby! In about 4 short hours, we managed to check out the WTC site, the Marina, Battery Park, and do some window shopping in Little Italy, then off to the Empire State Building. We purchased our overpriced admission ticket to the Observatory on the 86th floor, where we got the most breathtaking views of New York and vicinity. It was about 5 pm or so, and the sun was just beginning to go down - it was a bright beautiful day and sunset was just amazing. A soft orange orb slowly disappearing from the horizon. As it disappeared, the buildings all began to twinkle like stars in the heavens. I swear I could see for 100 miles. Perhaps not, but that's what it felt like to me. We stayed up there taking in the scenery, until we realized we were STARVING. Time to eat! At the same time, we looked at each other and just knew where we HAD to eat. Our stroll thru Little Italy earlier when we were on our pilgrimage to see the Empire State Building determined where we decided to have dinner. We found this amazing little place, Da Gennaro, on Mulberry Street when passing thru the first time. We high-tailed it right back over to Little Italy, plopped down at a sidewalk table, and hailed the water in our best rusty Italian. Total immersion in Italian culture is the way to go. Chianti doesn't hurt, either. I had pasta with garlic & olive oil, and Annemarie had Chicken Francaise. Oh, and a side of penne with pesto. And dessert. Always dessert. We had profiteroles, filled with creamy sweet ricotta, and topped with chocolate hazelnut spread. Delicioso!

After dinner, what did we do? Most people would head back to the hotel and relax. Not us! Nooooo, no. WE WALKED ACROSS THE STREET to another restaurant, sat BACK down and ordered a prosecco....with a strawberry floating in the glass. We toasted to ourselves and patted each other on the back at our prowess and our ability to maneuver our way around in NEW YORK CITY. (not ever having been there before, I was more than pleased with my excellent sense of direction). We sat a good long while in THIS restaurant, just watching people and talking about what all we planned to do for the rest of the trip...starting with the wedding the next day.

When we were ready to go back to our hotel, here's how it laid out.....

Got up - hailed a cab. He drove us to where we thought we needed to be. Well, we were wrong. It was the WRONG port. We still had to walk about 8 blocks past the Manhattan Sailing Club to the Financial District pier, where we caught the water taxi BACK across the river to the Paulus Hook Terminal, where we walked another block back to the hotel. Let me tell you my piggies were SO tired by the time I got the boots off. Time for sleep now.

Next post I'll tell you all about the wedding and our next excursion, which included Ellis Island, Lady Liberty, Park Avenue, Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, Central Park and all points in between. We are some traveling fools....in boots.