Wednesday, August 20, 2008

New York City - First Days


There just isn't room to fit all the pictures in... I took over 450, narrowed it down to just under 300 and posted them to flickr, if you want to check them out.
I arrived at LGA 4:30 pm August 5th. Walking out of arrivals, I was hit by a wall of heat, sound and activity. Cab drivers shouted offers of taxis, people packed the sidewalks, waiting for their rides. Horns blared as a minor fender bender blocked two lanes of traffics. Amidst all this chaos, I was so happy to see a car cruising by with a sign in the window with my name on it ~ my car service. I am so glad I booked this, it made my trip so easy!
I arrived at my "hotel" in Chelsea. A simple brownstone, with no outward indication that this was a hotel. My room was on the second floor, thankfully- not so sure I could have handled many more flights of stairs with my suitcase! The room was tiny - a teeny twin bed, a shower, a dresser and a TV. And air conditioning. It was perfect though, everything I needed, clean and comfortable. I unpacked and hurried out to see what his city was all about, hoping to find dinner along the way. I walked around CHelsea for a good two hours before I settled, wobbly from hunger and exhaustion, on a little place called La Grainne.
A glass of white wine and a fortifying sandwich only served to remind me just how tired I was, so I paid the bill, stopped at Billy's Bakery for some cupcakes and made my way back to my room.



Day two dawned rainy and warm ~ The rain was warmer than the closet sized shower in my room! I decided I wanted to try out Bouchon for breakfast, so set off from Chelsea, through Midtown to Columbus Circle. I passed beautiful churches along the way, Rockefeller Center, the New York Public Library, Bergdorfs and the Plaza Hotel. When I arrived at Bouchon, I was extremely disappointed to discover that the bakery adn Per Se were closed for two weeks... no wonder I couldn't get reservations.
Now very hungry, I wandered around for a few minutes, looking for breakfast. The Brooklyn Diner appeared to fit the bill and I was rewarded with a delicious and yet very expensive meal. I liked the polenta instead of hashbrowns option!

After breakfast, I moved on to Grand Central Station (huge!) and then to Macys.... oh, the shoes. I spent two hours in the shoe section at Macys ~ thankfully I came away with only one pair of shoes!

After I am done posting my round up, I will have a post with ALL of the New York City information (Business names and addresses.)

2 comments:

kickpleat said...

okay, you'll have to fill me in on all the details! i want to know what hotel you stayed in, just in case i ever make it there. so far, it seems like a blast!

Unknown said...

Kickpleat, it was amazing. And I will do a full link rundown at the end.