Tuesday 24 April 2012

A visit to NYC

I haven't been quite so awesome at keeping up to date with my posts about recent travels, which have been enjoyably extensive. I find myself keen to write about various trips now, in retrospect, as and when I'm thinking of them.
Before I went to New York City in March, my visits to the States had been limited to the very other end of the country - Florida and Arizona and I was keen (despite the 45 minutes it took us, because of my British passport) to cross the border by car, to see "this end" of America and to visit a city I've been wanting to see for as long as I can remember.





As usual, I pulled a classic "Heather" - wanting to see, do, eat and experience everything and wanting to walk everywhere. As usual, I was keen to see many sides of the same city: I wanted to have my moments with all of those iconic names and places, but I also wanted to head off the beaten track - to see some of the older, less well-known but amazingly attractive residential neighbourhoods of this city, to visit unusual parks and islands, and to feel like I'd had a real chance to scratch the surface of this ever-changing metropolis.

We certainly did have a chance to enjoy some of the more touristy sites, a couple of the most memorable being Times Square (SO much more insane than I had ever imagined!!) and the awe-inspiring skyline of downtown Manhattan but we also had some wonderful walking, which certainly made up my favourite element of the trip.

We were lucky to have the time (and the weather!) to be outside, exploring a mind-boggling variety of neighbourhoods, each with its own unique character as well as a large chunk of Central Park, the most expansive green space I've ever seen in such a city. We elected to walk all the way to Harlem one day and Brooklyn and back (enjoying the iconic Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges and getting 
battered by the wind as we did so!!) another.








And, not only were we in New York but also, thanks to a couple of awesome friends of Nick's, we had a list of food recommendations as long as both our arms. And what an amazing place to eat it is!! Aside from the things that must be tried in NYC - pizza, ice cream, bagels, deliciousness from the world's biggest China Town, pastrami on rye - we found a whole host of other fattening treats and returned to Canada (after a 2 minute conversation at the border on this side!!) probably plumper but very happy. 
I call this last photo shoot here the "food porn" section:

Pumpernickel and raisin bagel (for less than a dollar!!)


Chocolate pizza, with banana (actually the best thing I ate in NYC - it was amazing!!)


At a restaurant in Chinatown where all the walls were decorated with $1 bills which people had signed and written on, and what we ate there:



Chinatown Ice Cream Factory - deliciousness in a tub (pistachio and almond cookie flavors....the second best thing I ate all week!!)



Too many cheesecakes....I chose this baby one (raspberry.)





Pizzas (there were three of us, hence the two giant ones!!) at America's oldest pizzeria.


Post-pizza cake (this was the day of, really, too much food.)


Apple pancake (with strawberry butter) for breakfast.


And last but not least, this jem of a picture.
He said it was the best chocolate chip cookie of his life. This is no small deal coming from my boyfriend, the cookie monster. I didn't get one (OH, THE REGRET!!!) but if you feel the need to check out the bakery - I know Nick does when we go back to NYC next time - have a look here:
http://www.levainbakery.com/


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