New York, Part Two

After the wedding festivities were over, it was time to head into the city and get our eat on. As one last hurrah, the Boston University crowd decided to celebrate with brunch. Derek graciously drove Glenn and I from Armonk to our hotel (and drove THROUGH Times Square - an impressive fete for even an experienced New York driver) so we could drop off our bags. After checking in, the three of us hopped on the subway and headed to what became our most frequented area this trip - Greenwich Village.

The 10 of us celebrated our last meal together at Blue Ribbon Bakery. I ordered the 'Blue Benedict' which consisted of two perfectly poached eggs, serrano ham (siginficantly better than regular ham, which, as discussed here, I hate), Jarlsberg, and tomato on toasted fresh challah bread. Originally the thought of a benedict on challah turned me off, but I trusted the chef and wound up really enjoying the uniqueness of this dish. The most notable thing about Blue Ribbon: not only is the basket of fresh bread they bring out when you sit down delicious, it is all baked right beneath your feet. If you are seated on the main level be sure to walk downstairs and check out the beautiful brick bakery where the bread you just enjoyed was prepared only a few hours prior.

After brunching, we decided to spend some time walking through the Village to find the famous Magnolia Bakery. Not being from parts of the country where waiting hours in line for cupcakes is part of everyday life, many of the BU crowd were suspicious of the line out the door. I don't know if I would say the cupcakes were worth the wait, but the experience certainly was. I loved thinking that this was one of the first places where the cupcake trend started, that it was somewhat of an institution in Manhattan. The Carrie Bradshaw in me squealed with excitement, then sent my sister a text message telling her where I was. I loved it.

A couple of cupcakes and silly stories later, it was time for Glenn and I to head back to our hotel and prepare for the rest of our Sunday. Hard to believe so much still lay ahead, but our limited time in New York made it hard to have any down time. We got to the hotel, relaxed and watched an episode of Celebrity Apprentice (WHY?), then cleaned up for Mary Poppins. The (only) great part about staying in the Times Square area was the location. Any other time I've gone to a show, I have had to think about how long it would take to get to Midtown, let alone try to figure out how long it would take me to leave once the show was over. Not so when you are on 44th and the show is on 42nd! We had a nice leisurely stroll down to the theater and then hiked our way to the (lower) balcony. We both really enjoyed the show, and our seats were phenomenal for the price we paid. This picture is super dark, but imagine us dressed in uber chic New York black loving every minute of our lives.

Next on the agenda: dinner with my good friend Hanson at The Spotted Pig. I CAN NOT describe how excited I was to go to The Spotted Pig. I was ready to order as much as humanly possible, but only wound up needing a glass of wine and the gnudi, along with three bites of Glenn's burger. I know these are talked about on every food blog known to man, but truly, the gnudi were extraordinary. I was skeptical of a place so widely discussed in the food world, and could not imagine it would live up to the hype. IT TOTALLY DID. I know that most of the time I walk around as if I had been smacked with the positivity stick, but truly, I worked hard to figure out where we should spend every meal and every penny and The Spotted Pig was everything I expected it to be, if not better. You should go.

One would think after this many activities in a day we would be through and ready to get some rest. Not so. This is New York! We only had 2 days! Drinks at the Gansevoort after dinner? Yes please. A very fun friend of mine with very good taste stayed at the Gansevoort on her last visit to New York and recommended going to the Rooftop Bar on a non-Saturday night to see the sights. The views from the top are beautiful and reason enough to spend $13 on a glass of the house wine (or gin, straight up, if your name is Glenn Murdock) but I was disappointed in a couple of things. First, the stemware was plastic. I don't care how many intoxicated individuals you deal with on a given weekend, if you want to get away with adding yourself to the top evening spots in Manhattan, you need real glass. Second, the cocktail waitresses were dressed like they were serving drinks at the Palms in Las Vegas, not a 4 star hotel that goes for well over $500 a night. All in all, I would still recommend the Gansevoort as a place to get drinks, because the view is gorgeous and, scantily clad or not, the staff are all lovely, friendly, and helpful.

I leave you with our final image of the night - Times Square at 2am on a Sunday in the off-season. See that guy in the background? He was the only other person around! What a unique experience, to see a place rarely occupied by less than 1000 frantic visitors completely empty.

New York part two: it's a wrap.