Last stop New York City! And we stayed in Brooklyn. In an Airbnb. We’ve had great experience with Airbnbs in the past. So we hoped for the best on this one. It ended up being in an area that was a little further out than I thought but it seemed good enough. The apartment was a fixer upper, but it had everything we needed. The first thing we did being that we were in Brooklyn was head to the bridge. We crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and even though it was totally packed we still got to see amazing views. The first stop in Manhattan was Katz’s Deli. Is 30 minutes queuing outside, 30 minutes waiting inside and fighting for a table worth it for a sandwich? YES! It is. Honestly it was the best sandwich or two sandwiches actually (we got one corned beef and one pastrami). The pastrami sandwich is slightly better, but even now I would wait ages for another one of those sandwiches.
We headed to New York City to see my friend Abby and to celebrate New Years Eve in THE place to go. Well seeing Abby was as amazing as ever. She is one of the best most consistent friends I’ve ever had. She is and always will be the friend I can’t wait to see, and can always rely on. Abby cleared her schedule to spend a great deal of time with us. But before she came back to NYC for NYE, Col and I did some more touristing. That included a crazy Times Sq the day before NYE and geez that was crazy. I’ve been to Times Square before and it’s always busy, but that time of year it was insane. We also headed to the Whitney, which is one of my favourite museums in NYC. The exhibition is always changing but I like the focus on American art. PLUS the building… It’s got some amazing views and I just am inspired by the building itself. Once we left the Whitney we went to what may have been my and Col’s favourite exhibitions: Rolling Stone’s Exhibitionism. I am not a crazy Stones fan or anything. I mean yes I like them, but I really never expected to like the exhibition as much as I did. But with videos, music, costumes and set ups of flats, studios and backstage, you delved straight into feeling like you were getting an exclusive on the Stones. If you’re in NYC go!
Earlier I said that Times Square was busy, well it wasn’t just there it was NYC. Apparently everyone wants to be in NYC for NYE which means all tourist things were jam-packed. If you are wanting to see true NYC don’t go in between Christmas and New Years. Oh and DON’T go to the Top of the Rock. The Top of the Rock is the observation deck of the Rockefeller Center and while I think it is probably great any other time of year, when we went it was the worst experience I have had. We tried to get in the first day but the queue outside looked like it’d take an hour. So we tried again the next day where we went from one queue to the next to get to a counter where we could exchange the tickets we had bought for ones with specific times on them. We opted to go the next day rather than wait around for hours. When we went on the day and time we had on our ticket, the queues didn’t end there we had several and security to get through before we finally got to the top. Once up every inch of glass was covered with a crowd of people 5 people deep. The views were completely obstructed and there were way too many people at the top. We were so angry that the experience wasn’t enjoyable. Overall I think it was 8 queues up, 2 queues down, all over 3 days. Not nice. (OK the view was nice I guess…)
The last bit of our trip we went to the Guggenheim. Although the exhibition was a collection of white canvases, the building is and always be a remarkable piece of art on it’s own. We also had dinner with Abby at one of the best places ever. Peaches Shrimp and Crab was amazing. Lobster clubs, shrimp and grits, grilled salmon and even fried chicken what more could you ask for. The last day we were there we took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty slightly closer up. Then after a quick bite to eat we went to the Comedy Cellar. This was a request of Colin, because famous comedians like Louis CK, Aziz Ansari and more have performed there. Honestly if you love comedy, you have to go there! You have to pay entry and buy a minimum number of drinks and they choose your seats for you. BUT you will have time best time and you will be able to see and hear. Seriously it was the best time.
Well that was the end of our little Americas trip and I’m so glad that Colin came with me for Christmas. It was so much fun and we got to see and do things that not even I had done before. I really can not wait until we can go again!
Just a little sKATterbrained. 