New York (September 3rd - 7th, 2009)

This was my second trip to Manhattan. I was hoping that this city would be my Paris of my Swiss experience, but I don't seem to make the trip out as much as I would like. Anyway, this time around, I didn't need to do the uber-touristy sites, as I'd taken care of those on the first trip, so it allowed for more important things. Like cupcake eating.



Other than that, here are some of the sights and sounds that we took advantage of in the city:

No, we didn't stay at The Standard Hotel, but we did have lunch at the restaurant. It was quite nice, although we seemed to be tucked into a strange corner. It was quite busy and we had demanded to be sat on the patio. The decor of the place (restaurant and hotel) was really nice. Trendy. I should have expected as much being in the Meatpacking District. The whole area is wonderful. A place to spend more money then I can part with at this time in my life, but it's still wonderful.
Since the last time that I went, they opened up The High Line. It's like it was made for me. People watching, relaxing, soaking up the sun. In my crazy travel sessions, I walk so much that I always need to find somewhere to sit to let my feet and back recouperate. The High Line is the perfect place for this. Some of the chairs were on wheels. On the
railroad, you know? So you could turn the loungers into couches and such. Everything about this place is great. Even a stadium seating set up to watch cars if you're tired of watching people. We also spotted a celeb here, but of course it wasn't me that did the spotting and I'd actually admired his suit jacket before being told that he was someone famous. Shows how much I know.

Following all other tourists in the city, we went into the M&M World. So many candies and I didn't buy any. How impressive. Needed to save my money and cavities for cupcakes. This city is



a commercial, money-making machine. That's all I have to say.
Another tourist trap, the Toys"R"Us. There's a massive ferris wheel in the store. For some reason it seems a whole lot more impressive than the Fantasy Fair at the Woodbine Centre


New York's finest hard at work? Times Square is is a busy busy place, so maybe they were just waiting for something to go wrong. As we were wandering around the area, we stumbled upon a little girl who was in tears. She was lost. In fighting the crowds, she got separated from her older brother and of course, in an area like that, what's a little girl to do, but cry? Luckily, through the help of good samaritans, some luck and a cell phone number the two siblings were reunited.

I knew that getting tickets for the opera at the Met would be impossible, but a night under the stars watching opera on the big screen is a close second. I can't beleive how busy it was. Have something like this in Toronto, and I'm not sure that the turn out would be so big. That's one thing that I love about Manhattanites. They really seem to appreciate the arts. This picture doesn't even begin to show you how many people were there. I'm pretty sure that they said that there were ~1000 seats, and then there was the large group of people who enjoyed the show from the comfort of the concrete floor. My tush was numb be the end. But it was worth it.



Seems like food was a theme on this trip. Dylan's Candy Bar was impressive, yet I still didn't spend a penny there. So much candy.




Continuing on the food theme, we went to Serendipity 3 for dessert. We were already stuffed from lunch, but I HAD to go so, in we went. The portions were so large, and when there's good food in front of me, I just can't say no.
It's a problem. I got the famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate, which
overflowed in the cup/bowl. Does anyone finish that thing on their own? I had a little bit of lactose overload at that place and felt ill afterwards. I would have liked to see the $1000 sundae in person, but no one ordered it while we were there. The place was packed and we only got a chance to sit down after putting our name on the list an hour earlier. We had planned to eat lunch there, but ended up using the hour wait to eat somewhere else down the street to return for dessert. It's a really
cute restaurant, but maybe more of a tourist trap than I like to admit. It's not so over-laden with tourists that celebrities will still go there, but I wonder what the break down of the demographics of patrons is. There are some famous celebrity patrons who call themselves regulars. I want to find a restaurant in Toronto that I can be a regular at. I'll work on it.


One part of the city that I haven't discovered much is Central Park. This time, I found the Alice in Wonderland statue, another popular tourist site and spent awhile there waiting for a perfect picture opportunity. It was more amusing to watch the interactions
and personalities of the different people who were there and their conflicting priorities. I need to go back again next time to get a better shot of the statue. I should look into the new movie that came out and find out if it's worth seeing.


Wandering the city, we stumbled upon a huge Brazilian celebration. The set up reminded me of Fete and I thought about getting food there, but it was a big too crazy and nothign really stood out to me. There were so many people on the street and vendors everywhere. I guess there's always something going on in Manhattan. I'm looking forward to the summer in Toronto when there are festivals every weekend.

Another food stop on our trip was at Jacques Torres. I was reaching my sweet quota by this point, so I only has one little square. The Love Bug was a "key lime ganache kissed with white chocolate". How cute. It was tasty (of course). I didn't get any cavities on this trip, but I wouldn't have been surprised if I did.