Lots of new posts to update you all on! I had an incredible trip to Disneyworld with the Hardersens! It really couldn’t have been a better trip and they are the best Disney tour guides and trivia guide (Faithidoo!) you could probably ever find.
Firsts things first though! Going back to the weekend of January 7th…
Kathy was in town for business in Jersey and stayed in the city with me for the weekend for a little exploring around my new “hood” before traveling down south for vacation time! So.. it all started with Kathy’s work crew dropping her off in the city before they headed back to the airport headed to the west coast. Note to future visitors, and I’m sure Kathy will tell you the same thing.. don’t get dropped off in the South Bronx. It’s not exactly the ideal area to be at. In fact, when the cab service you call won’t get out of their car, or let alone let you in without asking you and confirming what number you dialed you start to understand just how un-ideal it might be. I can’t speak from personal experience because I don’t like to go anywhere above 105th, but from Kathy’s experience I’d say skip the South Bronx and get dropped off further downtown. Luckily, Kathy made it into Manhattan, to my office, and back to my apartment safely but as the cabbie told her, “You may have been lucky this time, but I wouldn’t suggest you ever try that again.” I think you get the point!
That night I told Kathy down by the river and through the park of the Upper East Side. Then Kathy treated my roommate and I to China Spice, a new Chinese restaurant about a block away from our apartment. Dinner was delicious and it was nice to show Kathy a little bit around our neighborhood!
Saturday started with a morning of sleeping in. A long night of sleep was in check before our early 3:30 wake-up call Sunday morning! Saturday involved headed down to Midtown to check out a low-mass at the Church of Holy Innocents. Or that’s so we thought. The church was beautiful! It’s amazing to me in the middle of Midtown that hidden between the buildings there are places of such serenity and calmness. When we went to the church it was announced that the normal mass was going to be replaced by a funeral mass. This would only happen to Kathy and I! Instead of being a low mass it ended up being a high mass though, which ended up being really interesting to watch. Since the whole mass in in Latin I didn’t understand anything except for the Eucharistic ceremony that I have pretty much memorized. There wasn’t an actual body at the mass either, but just a fake casket so I guess that makes me feel a little better about crashing a funeral?! Haha.
After mass, we were onto a new feat of pre-sert. Crumbs! They’re one of the most famous bakeries in the city and known for their delicious cupcakes that are also pretty big. I tried a cookies and cream and it was fabulous! Kathy also got a container of minis to take to Florida and I think those were even better! I definitely have a couple on my mind from the minis I’d like to try a big one of!
Once we finished our cupcakes we were off to Artisanal for a late lunch/dinner. We ended up getting a cheese and cider sampler to start though and were full enough to hold off on dinner. We tried three different ciders with cheese pairings. I couldn’t tell you any of the names of either.. but I will say the first pairing was great, the second cider tasted a little like gasoline and then the third one was delicious as well. The cheese was very delicious too. People-watching in New York has soon become one of my favorite things and restaurants are no exception of holding characters. We were seated next to these three great classic New Yorkers. Think of the typical New York stereotype, accents and all and you had the people next to us. Everything about crazy fur coats and hats is also true. See exhibit b sitting a couple of tables to the right of us with the woman and the huge bushy fur hat. Aww, New York I love you.
We wrapped up the evening rooting for the home team (Seahawks) on tv playing the Saints. Let me also note we watched it in Spanish. I’m not quite sure why, but sometimes my tv picks up random channels in Spanish. I can’t complain too much because we don’t actually have cable, but just a cable splitter from our Internet, but it is an interesting site. Luckily, sports don’t require a common language for understanding so we were in the clear. Somehow the Seahawks pulled it out and won too! Even though they would end up losing to Chicago a week later.. it was an exciting and unexpected win.
After that it was to bed for us until our alarms went off at 3:30 and we rolled out of bed, out the door, into a taxi, and onto Laguardia!