NYC: Day 4

On our fourth day, we went all around Manhattan, from the collegiate atmosphere of Greenwich Village to the bustling Financial District.  SantaCon, an amazing pastrami sandwich, a gorgeous bay ride, and more of NY's architecture also make an appearance.

Greenwich Village

Lots of red-brick buildings here which all look European-inspired (like St Luke's Place).  This is also where the Cosby house is.  There were a lot of buildings under construction, but it was a nice area to walk around.

David's Tea

Tired and lured in by a tasty sample, we went into this tea place.  They have loads of teas in canisters against the wall, and the girl at the counter was really helpful in giving us teas to smell.  My favorites were the ones with tiny candy cane and lip-shaped mints.  At an exceptionally cheap price ($2), I got a fruity red tea, and my sister got a chocolate something.  The girl also gave me a free tot bag, too-- cool!  I thought their tea supplies would be as affordable, but nope, overpriced mug infusers.

Sitting in the back of the chic cafe, we warmed our hands and sipped our cups.

All the workers were wearing ugly sweaters because they were having a contest.

Washington Square Park

We strolled over to Washington Square Park and sipped our tea, enjoying the view.

On the other side of this arch are two statues of very different Washingtons.  I'd like to think of them as the gentlemen and the general.

Some NYU buildings.

We went shopping in Urban Outfitters (this was the dirtiest Urban I've ever seen).  This was the view outside the window.

Jefferson Market Library

Supposedly this building is one of the most beautiful buildings on some list, but I wouldn't know it because the entire front was under construction when we got there.  The inside was really cool though because it looks like a castle.  There's a tower with a spiral staircase and stained glass windows, and the bottom floor looks like a dungeon.  One downside was there weren't any restrooms, and I badly had to use 'em after the tea.

Tenth Ave

 This was en route to our next stop and why I love NY.

Carved Indian wood.  Look at the intricacy!

Sooo... I guess churches like these are a dime a plenty.

Strand Bookstore

This is a huge two-story bookstore.  The shelves are super tall and crammed with books.  Worth a look if you're into that kind of thing.

LUNCH: Otafuku

Placed on a block of Asian cuisine, this restaurant has no seating inside, and it's just large enough to boast a counter.

We ordered the octopus balls and obonoyake (pancake).  We asked for everything on it, and they gave us such a big mountain of that dried stuff that the wind kept carrying a flurry out of the container.  The sauce was a little too salty.  The octopus balls were ok (a little too squishy for me).  The pancake was good and stuffed with cabbage and things (reminds me of a Chinese food).  We sat on the one bench outside, and this was our view:

Oh, did I mention this day was SantaCon?  This was just a small sampling of the crowds of drunk hipsters dressed as Santa or Christmas trees.  My sister made the astute observation that all Santas were the same type of people.  And they were everywhere.

LUNCH: Caracas Arepa Bar

This Venezuelan restaurant serves arepas, which are basically floury bread with ingredients on top, like a soft taco but with a thicker dough.  I don't get what the hype is all about.  We got the arepas de pabellon.  The beef was dry, and the bread was tough and not soft at all.  Halfway through, I realized everybody was dousing their snacks with a bottle of sauce.  That might be the trick to it, but if so, then the sauce alone is not worth the jacked up price for a tiny taco.

I did enjoy the view outside the window.

Um... yeah, we saw this gnome in the window of a salon.

FiDi

The buildings here are so big and important looking!

St Paul's Chapel

A quaint old-fashioned, colonial chapel that's refreshing compared to all the other ornate churches elsewhere.  With two crystal chandeliers hanging fron the ceiling, the interior of the church is painted coral and soft teal.  This was the church George Washington was inaugurated and often went to church with his own seating booth.

Since it is a stone's throw away from the World Trade Center towers, this is also an unofficial memorial to 9/11.  It's small, but a must visit.

These thousands of cranes were made to cheer up the workers and injured staying at the church.

People also donated teddy bears because they knew that a hugging a teddy bear makes anybody smile.  Aww.

All uniformed public officers donated their patches, which were pinned on the priest's robes giving the sermon.

The benches in the middle of the church were removed to make room for all the tourists.  Movable chairs replaced them.  When we were there, a woman was sharing her personal 9/11 story.  She also mentioned that St Paul's Chapel survived a fire years years before when everything around it burned.  It sounds crazy, but the chapel seems sacred.

Trinity Church

The seats here are astoundingly cushy and comfy.  We stayed here a bit.

Many stained glass windows here.  I really liked the petal detailing on these roses.

I went to use the bathroom and a homeless woman was using it to brush her teeth.  She was really nice and let me go in first.  My sister noticed there aren't many homeless people on the streets.  It could be because they're all inside trying to stay warm, or maybe there's better shelter access.

New York Stock Exchange

Wall Street isn't really much of a street.  It's more like a really narrow walkway.

You can't even get near the building because everybody's afraid people will occupy the area (or worse).

Georgie's across the street.

Staten Island Ferry

We got to the Staten Island Ferry right at Sunset.  This is a view of the Statue of Liberty at the terminal in Manhattan.

The ferry was impossibly huge with ample bench seating and really clean for being free.  There's even a little snack bar and restrooms in the middle.  We stayed inside on the main floor, but there's also an upstairs.

Honestly, the view of the Statue of Liberty isn't that great, since it's still far off and feels like you're just looking at it on a screen.  BUT the 25 minute ride is well worth the view you get of the skyscrapers from the water.  We headed out during sunset, so a yellow/pink hue was cast on the buildings.  When we came back, it was nightfall, and the lights were on in the buildings and statue, with the full moon hanging overhead.  At each end of the ferry, you can walk outside through a sliding door, where you're met with intense wind and cold, but also a better view.

When we got off the boat on Staten Island, we noticed that on the other dock, another ferry was just about to leave.  Everybody around us was bent on catching that boat and so started running to the other side, through ramps and hallways.  Soon, we all started laughing at how silly we were being.  We all made it with plenty of time to spare.

Brooklyn Bridge

My greatest regret this trip is that I did not get to the Brooklyn Bridge before sunset.  The view of Manhattan's lit skyscrapers is great from the bridge, but I wish I could have really seen the brownstone brick and sunlight filtering through all of the suspension wires.  I really liked that the pedestrians travel over the cars.

I heard that couples put their initials on locks and tie them on the bridge.  When we were walking there, we read a sign informing us of a fine for attaching anything onto the bridge.

DINNER: Katz Delicatessen

Okay, so I think I lied last time when I said that the English food was my favorite.  Katz at least ties.

The system for the restaurant is a little weird.  You enter and can either get table service or counter service.  For counter service,  you get a ticket, head to the section you want, and then they fill out what you get on the ticket, and you turn it in to pay on your way out.

For the pastrami sandwich, a friendly, portly man cut the pastrami straight from the bone and even gave my sister and I slice to try.  It was honestly the most tender meat I've ever eaten, super tasty, not salty and cut generously thick.  This was my first pastrami sandwich, and I'm afraid I'm ruined for all others.  They cram as much pastrami as they can between two slices of bread.  My sister and I split one, were full AND had leftovers for the next day.

We also got matzo ball soup (yumm), which was light in taste and calories, and a perfect counterpart for the sandwich.  Plus, the matzo ball is HUMUNGOUS!

Our tray was very overflowing with heavy plates, so it hurt to try to find a seat in the full diner.  I set it down at one table, only to be told that it was for table service customers only.  We finally got a seat in the back with the restrooms and looked at the walls crammed with photos of hundreds of celebrities with the owner.

Only to prove that they have good taste.

More photos to come in my next post where we go back to Broadway and visit NYC's most famous attractions.