Yesterday was our laid back day. We took it slow in the morning and took our time getting ready for the day. We went down to the Starbucks in the lobby of our hotel, grabbed some coffee and did some NY people watching. I do have to mention that when you are in New York, try not to use the word "drip" and "coffee" in the same sentence. I ordered a grande drip and the barista looked at me like I was crazy. I kept repeating myself until Andrew finally jumped in and asked for a grande coffee. I felt silly, but then realized that this girl was not properly trained to work at Starbucks of she doesn't know what a drip is.
On our agenda for the day: Eat at the best pizza place in NY, See the Metropolitan Art Museum, Walk through Central Park, Ice Skate, Buy something for the kids at FAO Schwarz and Go to the NHL game NY Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins.
We did find John's Pizzeria near Times Square. It was fabulous pizza. I do have to mention the salad we had as a precursor to our meal. It was to die for! Basically a Caesar salad with sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, roasted zucchini, hot cherry tomatoes, crountons and prosciutto and mozzarella pinwheels. That could have been my meal and I would have been happy. But we also ordered a pepperoni pizza. It was also very tasty. Andrew and I both had a pint of Brooklyn Lager which complimented our pizza very well.
We hopped on the subway which we thought would take us a few stops away to our destination: The Metropolitan Art Museum. Well, we happened to accidentally hop on the Express train. It took us all the way up to Harlem. I was kinda terrified when we got off the train. I don't even know if that stop was dangerous or not, but I knew I wanted to get out of there. I think the unknown is more frightening than actual reality.
We found the right train and hopped on. We made our way to the stop for the American Museum of Natural History. Our plan was to get off there, walk through the park and end up at the Met. It was cool to see the museum of natural history from the outside at least. It's such an enormous building. The front entrance was under construction, so it wasn't as pretty as it could be. We crossed the street to the park and began our walk. Central Park is beautiful! It's a quiet escape from the busy, noisy city. I can see why New Yorkers love it. We found the Metropolitan Art Museum. The neighborhood it is in seemed like a very rich, upscale neighborhood. I could be wrong, but from the look of it, people around that part of town have money. To our dismay, the museum is closed on Mondays! We were pretty disappointed, but decided to walk back to FAO Schwarz through the park. It was a really nice half hour walk. We ended at the south end of the park at Wollman Skating Rink. We had talked about going ice skating there, but when we arrived it was only being used for lessons at the time. We continued on to the toy store, but before we got there, we walked past the Plaza Hotel...yes, folks! The one from Home Alone 2! There were all kinds of fancy cars parked out front, Bentleys, Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Escalades - so we decided to sit out front and see if there was anyone famous staying there. No such luck, but it was still exciting.
FAO Schwarz was so fun! We picked a few things out for the kids. I remember being a kid and wishing that I could visit that toy store. It's a dream come true! We could have spent hours there as well. There was every kind of teddy bear or stuffed animal you could imagine, along with dolls, doll houses, kitchen sets, play food, legos, and of course the Big Piano!
Next, we made our way to dinner. I wanted to have some authentic Chinese food since there seems to be a large population of Chinese people in NY. We found a restaurant that had great reviews near Times Square. We walked in and it was completely empty of other patrons. We felt a little worried at first, but then remembered it was a Monday night at 5:30 pm. We enjoyed some delicious and seemingly very authentic Chinese food. As we ate our dinner, the restaurant began to fill with Chinese diners....a sure sign that the food was indeed authentic.
After dinner we had to rush back to our hotel before the Rangers game to drop off the things we had bought at the toy store. Then we quickly made our way to Madison Square Garden. We were both really excited to go to an NHL game, as neither of us had ever been to one before. We were expecting a rowdy New York crowd and lots of team spirit. We found neither! We were very surprised that the crowd wouldn't get on their feet for their team, nor would they participate in the prompted cheers. It was very strange for us coming from the home of the 12th man. We did get to see a few fist fights in the rink, which was quite entertaining. I still can't believe that is allowed in a professional sport. It always baffles me. The Rangers lost to the Penguins - 1-3. Bummer!
On our way back to the hotel, we decided to stop for dessert at the Hotel Metro. I enjoyed a red velvet cake, while Andrew enjoyed an authentic New York cheesecake. He also ordered a $12 martini, but I think he got his money's worth because it was strong. We decided to move down the block to an Irish pub where we imagined the drinks might be a little cheaper. We had a few nightcaps, enjoyed some great music and got to watch a very drunk patron try to chat up several other drunk patrons. Pretty entertaining.
All in all, another fantastic day in NY!
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