That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
I just came back from an overnight trip to New York yesterday to meet up with my cousin and her husband. Can New York City be adequately visited in a day? Yep, I’ve written an earlier post about doing New York in 6 hours.
New York City draws me and I’m still trying to figure out why. It’s not the cleanest city I’ve been to, it doesn’t have the allure of Paris or the edginess of London, and it’s noisy all the time with the honking of cars and the grumbling construction machines.
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New York view from the Staten Island Ferry. Free way to see the Statue of Liberty from afar.[/caption]
Yet, the city has a pull that I can’t seem to resist. It is an urban jungle with the towering glass skyscrapers mixed in with Gothic and Greek revival style of houses and Federal style rows of houses. Don’t be too impressed. I googled the type of architectures in New York. There are more styles and while it lacks the consistency that some European tourist destinations have, the mishmash of styles lend the city its own identity.
I’ve seen the city in Winter, Spring, and Summer. While Winter turns the city colorfully bright and sparkling, Spring and, probably, Fall time would be the best times to visit since Jack Frost won’t be nipping at your face in Winter and Summer won’t be drenching your clothes in sweat.
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Rockefeller Center in Winter[/caption]
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Harlem Heights in Spring[/caption]
No matter how many times I’ve visited, there were always something new to discover. There were the usual tourist spots, such as Times Square, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center (in December), Grand Central Station, the Meat Packing District, Central Park, and, of course, the department stores of Barney’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Macy’s, and Bloomingdales.
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The dingy Grand Central Stop underground[/caption]
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The beautiful chandelier above ground in Grand Central Station[/caption]
Then there’s the Cloisters in Upper Manhattan. It’s billed as a museum but for me, it’s an architectural wonder. I walked through the four cloisters: the Cuxa, Bonnefont, Trie and Saint-Guilhem, and soaked in the medieval atmosphere.
Another museum that fascinated me was the Met Museum. I was giddy the entire time as I toured the jewelry and fashion collection exhibits.
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Manus X Machina Exhibit: Karl Lagerfeld’s wedding dress[/caption]
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Dresses by Designers whose names I didn’t get.[/caption]
I’ve done the food walking tour of Chelsea Market and did the hop-on-hop-off bus tour. I would recommend the Hop-on Hop-Off Big Bus tour to get the lay of the land if the subway is too intimidating. However, once you understand how the subway system works, traveling gets easier though not always comfortable. The underground swelters in the summer, the ticket machines don’t accept bills and coins, and, sometimes, the train carriage’s air conditioning doesn’t work. Think of it as all part of the experience.
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Fresh oysters at the Chelsea Market[/caption]
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Bagel for breakfast isn’t too bad[/caption]
For food, I’ve tried Asian, Pan-Asian, Greek, Filipino, Korean, Russian food along with the famous New York style breakfast — bagels. I can’t say I was impressed but it was satisfying. The day before, I brought my cousin and her hubby to Mari Vanna since H and I had a great experience (I did since the male wait staff paid more attention to me. H was the one who pointed it out. Haha) in Washington DC. Sadly, the menu was limited and the food was average at best. The staff were great and made up for the food. The dinner was much better at the Korean place which we randomly picked because Izakaya Mew had a queue and my cousins had to catch the bus back to New Jersey.
In terms of what I haven’t seen or done, I still haven’t been to a Broadway Show nor have I visited the Yankee Stadium. Since I’m not exactly a baseball fan, I can live without doing the second one. That means there’s another thing to do when I visit New York City again. When that would be, I’m not sure since we’re at the tail end of our time here in the US.
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Riverbank State Park in Harlem[/caption]
Do you have any place that keeps calling you? Have you been back there a lot?
