New York, New York! { day one }

the big apple. the city so nice, they named it twice. empire city. 

the city that never sleeps.  gotham. the city of dreams. the city.

{   n e w    y o r k    c i t y  }

I felt it as soon as we ascended up the steps of the subway and caught our first glimpse. I heard it as I  walked  [gaping mouth and all] along the cab-horn-honking, ambulance blaring, tourist chattering, street performers performing, and construction workers yelling. I smelled it as I practically salivated at the marvelous scents of brick stone pizza, fresh coffee, and Italian delicacies. I tasted It in the pizza, pasta, bagels, crepes, and waffles. I saw it as my eyes beheld the twinkling lights of Times Square, the green hills and romantic bridges or Central Park, and the breathtaking skyline from Top of the Rock.  

in short, i fell in love with n.y.c. 

* * * *

here is the love story of a girl and a city

the fine print

I went to NYC in May 2013 for five [glorious] along with three Washingtonian friends. We used airbnb.com for lodging. Might I say, I am a bit obsessed with AirBnB. Check it out and just try not to fall in love as well. It's a site where you can sublet apartments in major cities, usually for a fraction of the cost of hotels. Bonus: it was so cool to stay in an apartment in the middle of the city [we were a few blocks away from Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, NY Public Library, and the Flatiron!] and feel like we were a part of this great city. 

[side note: we used the amazing iPhone app "Embark NYC" to guide us through the transit system. It simplified our routes and made it generally stress-free to get around the city]

//  d a y   o n e  //

We are ladies of priorities and first thing we needed to do after a long red-eye from the West coast was eat. I am glad we had our priorities straight because we could have missed the delightful creperie cafe right next door to our apartment [ Keko cafe ] and settled [as if anything in nyc is considered "settling"] for something else to fulfill our growling tummies.

After filling ourselves with crepe deliciousness, we took out our map and headed south towards the Flatiron District, stopping occasionally to browse sidewalk vendors and souvenir shops.

Eventually we made it back to the apartment, napped away our jet lag for an hour or so, and then headed towards Little Italy for some authentic pasta. We found more than we could imagine at the adorably decorated Da Nico. I had the best Chicken Parm I have ever had in my life. 

After dinner, we walked into a souvenir shop next door to browse a bit, and a few moments later, see two familiar faces and stopped to chat and laugh at the coincidence that in all of NYC, we bumped into each other. We planned to hang out later in the week and eventually us girls made our way back to our apartment to catch some much-needed Zzz's so we would be energized for our first full day in NYC!

**** 

next up: Brooklyn Tabernacle and the Met!