I (Still) Love New York
New York City: I never tire of it; it never gets old. There is something new around every bend, a new sight to see, a new neighborhood to explore, a new thing to do. Each time I go there, I do less cheesy touristy things and more everyday things -- my favorite thing to do is to just wander around aimlessly, finding something new and cool with each step forward. As a treat, we stayed at the Parker Le Meridien, which I can highly recommend to anyone who has 300 dollars a night to spend (or a butt load of points -- thanks to the four letter F word, that I will not mention here). It was awesome! And it is right in the middle of midtown, about 3 blocks from Central Park, which is one of my favorite places in Manhattan.
The view in the picture to the left is from out of the hallway window. I love the old rusty bay windows. Something about them just made me want to take a photo. This photo was taken with my phone AND through a dirty window, so its not the best photo ever, but I liked the idea of it.
The picture in the right is a Jewish deli that we went to (had seen it on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations show:the Disappearing New York episode). It is called Russ and Daughters and its on Houston St and it's great! Note the "homemade pickled herring" sign. We had bagels with lox and cream cheese. We also had an egg cream, which Jim Dedes, who grew up in NYC, always raved about. It was so-so. It tasted like a melted fudgesicle with soda water mixed into it. It didn't have any ice. It was weird. I still prefer a nice iced mocha myself.
We also went to Chinatown, Wall St, The NYSE, Ground Zero, Brooklyn Bridge, The Museum of National History and more general wandering..... Like I said, there is never a shortage of things to do! We tend to eat a lot and WHILE eating, decide where we are going to go next to eat. It is fun, but bad for the bulge! And I dont know if walking around the museum counts as "exercise"!!!