Dec 18-23: New York City

Martin and I went to NYC from December 18-23. We took the red eye from LA and arrived at JFK at 7:30 am…. giving us only 4 hours of sleep (if that!). After dropping off our luggage at the hotel, we sought out breakfast, and then went to Rockefeller Center. After Rockefeller Center, we stopped inside St. Patrick’s cathedral to warm up and to take a look at the church. It was still early so we went to Times Square to get some shot glasses at Hard Rock Cafe.

It was still early, and we decided to think about lunch. We wanted NY Pizza and went to Lombardi’s, located in Little Italy. The restaurant, we realized, doesn’t open til 11:30. After lunch we wandered around looking for a Borders bookstore. Eventually we ended up in the financial district, which led us to the ferry which took us to Liberty Island and Ellis Island.

 
 

 

  

The last ferry leaving Ellis Island was at 4:50, which was perfect… because we still had theatre tickets to Mary Poppins at 8:00! (You’d think we be exhausted!) After the show, we walked back to our hotel, which was very close to Radio City Music Hall.

 
 

The next day was the first day of snow in New York City. It was snowing pretty hard, but we did make it to the NHL Reebok store before giving up, and spending most of the day indoor, waiting out the heavy snowing. We also took a nap, since we needed to make up for the lack of sleep from yesterday! When we woke up, the snow stopped (but it started raining!) and we walked to Stage Deli for some chicken soup and we split a corned beef sandwich on rye.

 
   
 

Our third day, we had lunch at ChinaTown before deciding to head to the Bronx to see the Yankee Stadium. The old stadium was going to get torn down and a new one was being built across the street. This picture is the new stadium. Since we were out here, we continued onto Coney Island… home of the Nathans Hot Dog Eating Contest!

 
 

On our 4th day, we took a train to Newark, NJ to catch a hockey game at the Prudential Center (aka The Rock). The New Jersey Devils were playing against the Philadelphia Flyers. We took the train from Penn Station, which was also where Madison Square Gardens was located. The Devils won in a shootout, 4 to 3.

 

The hockey game was at 1:00, so when we got back to the City, we decided to go to the Empire State Building. Here’s the view at night on the 86th Floor.

On Monday, our 5th day, we decided to take a look at Grand Central Station before heading over to the United Nations. Below is the picture of the UN’s General Assembly room, and our tour guide (Ron) who is from Israel.


   

 

After the UN visit, we found a Japanese restaurant for lunch, and then decided to go to Greenwich Village (aka: The Village). It got really cold, so we stopped to get a Manicure/ Pedicure, and chatted with a local guy. The guy told us about Magnolia Bakery, which was featured on the tv show “Sex & the City”. We stood in line outside for about 1/2 hour (which we hear was very short!) and waited an additional 10 min for cupcakes. They were making them as fast as people were buying them… and the shop limited customers to 12 cupcakes per person.

Our final day was walking Central Park, before heading to the airport. Yes, I know there’s a dumpster behind Martin. That’s the entrance we used to walk the park.

 
 
 
 

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