On our second day in New York City we slept in, which was glorious. We were lucky enough that our apartment faced a sort of in-between buildings courtyard rather than a busy street, because whoa man they like their car horns! They use them all hours of the day, non-stop. Although we could still hear them while in our apartment, it definitely wasn’t as bad as it could have been if we had faced the street.
NYC tip: Bring earplugs for sleeping!
After getting ready for the day we went for brunch at Barmarché, a really cute and cozy restaurant on Spring Street with life-size birch branches and an eclectic frame collage on the wall as decor. I remember ordering the french toast on brioche and only making it through 2 half slices because it was so rich. I think it was then that I realized that I’m more of a savory person in regards to my breakfast preferences now…too much sugar first thing in the morning just doesn’t work for me!
After breakfast we headed to the subway to buy a week-long metro card and take our first subway train ride!
Here’s Husbie pretending to be afraid of the subway. He’s also modelling what NOT to do on the subway, which is have an expensive camera out in the open. We were never remotely in danger of getting mugged, but in almost every tourist handbook we read it said this was definitely not recommended (oops).
Our first stop was the Guggenheim! This building is quintessentially New York City for me, and as a graphic designer I have long desired to walk its spiral halls. To be completely honest, I enjoyed the architecture and I’m glad we went, but out of all the museums and galleries that we visited, the Guggenheim was the most underwhelming. I’m happy to say that I’ve seen it. I don’t think I will visit it again when we go back to New York one day.
After visiting the Guggenheim we walked a few blocks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We stopped for a quick snack (a hot pretzel from a street vendor – YUM) and took a few pictures before heading inside. We realized that the Met needs a whole day in itself to explore! We kind of rushed through the exhibits in order to see most of the museum before closing time. If you are a fan of history and art and artifacts throughout the ages, you will adore this museum. Give yourself plenty of time to get lost and wander aimlessly about, discovering beauty around every corner.
Yep. We took pictures of each other at the same time!
Our favorite exhibit was Arms & Armor, which included a huge hall filled with authentic suits of armor from the Medieval age. I was always obsessed with castles and knights growing up – A Knight’s Tale with Heath Ledger was one of my faves! The suits of armor were quite beautiful – the intricacy of hand etched details on each suit was amazing.
After the museum closed, we walked through Central Park for the first time (but not our last)!
We then caught the subway over to Chelsea for dinner at The Highliner (formerly The Empire Diner), which is an old railcar converted into a restaurant that has been featured in numerous TV shows and films, including Woody Allen’s Manhattan, Home Alone 2, Men in Black 2, and Igby Goes Down.
Then while walking through Chelsea we randomly came across The Highline! It’s a public park built on an elevated historic freight rail line that is one mile long. It’s quite surreal to be walking along a lush green walkway amongst all the brick and glass buildings. It was an absolutely lovely place to be as the sun was setting, offering beautiful views of New York.
We ended the night by waiting in line for a few hours for tickets to the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater, a comedy club co-founded by Amy Poehler back in the day! We saw the late ASSSCAT’s show on a Sunday night which is apparently the best night to go. Although we didn’t see anyone we recognized, we laughed our butts off and saw one guy who did an eerily uncanny impression of Adam Sandler. He did Adam Sandler better that Adam himself could! We made friends in line with a few guys named Nick and Tom, who ended up hailing us our first New York taxi after the show because we were too afraid to!
Lessons Learned: Random adventure Sunday nights in NYC are waaaaay different from the ones in Edmonton!
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