having already been to new york several times this wasn't the typical touristy, see-everything type trips that i usually make. that said, we started off heading all the way up to the bronx to find the new york botanical gardens. we made it before 12, excited to take advantage of the free admission. come to find out that was only to for the grounds; a visit to any sort of conservatory or other building would cost us a whopping $18 (and that's the discounted rate). we decided to see if the grounds alone were worthy of our free admission. in the little area we explored there was an english-style garden with a nice mix of herbs and unusual flowers. the weather was beautiful and we stumbled across a wedding party with bridesmaids with parasols and very well-dressed guests.
after our short trip in the bronx we headed back downtown for a stop near columbia university. first, though, we stopped for a new york slice (no, not sbarro). actually 4 of them, plus a soda which still came out under $10. and, sorry, but new york pizza beats chicago's deep dish any day; it was delicious. we continued on to riverside church which were lucky to be able to go into before the wedding. the interior was really lovely; the clerestory windows were apparently modeled after chartres and the wrought-iron light fixtures were particularly cool. unfortunately we couldn't go up the 400-foot tower (home to the largest carillon bell in the world) as it's apparently been shrouded in scaffolding for 3 years and counting. scaffolding continues to be the bane of my existence. still, a nice church nonetheless. perhaps my favorite in new york though there isn't too much competition. (st. john the divine has some scaffolding issues of its own..)
we continued downtown, stopping at union square and passing through the farmers' market. we walked over to the strand and strolled the '18 miles of books' until we were too tired to go on. we each found a book and probably would have found many more given enough time. even the islamic art section was impressive. we continued walking on to washington square park where we spent a while leisurely reading and enjoying the view of the fountain (where local children frolic/bathe?). from there we headed up towards murray hill where we were hoping to find something good and quick (indian?) for dinner before our show. we rushed around trying to find something suitable. we went to a little chinese place where we got noodle soup and chicken curry. we ate quickly and, again, cheaply before walking the remaining blocks to the theater district.the show we had decided to see was called 'reasons to be pretty'. i'm still not sure why they chose that particular title. it's a new play and has been nominated for three tonies which, as it turns out, were the following night. the acting was pretty good (not great) but the writing itself didn't seem all the great. the jokes struck me as a little sitcom-y. the audience seemed to enjoy it though.
we walked home through times square, part of which is currently blocked off. there's a pedestrian zone right through the middle of the area with lawn chairs. it's a bit surreal to be able to park yourself in the middle of one of the busiest streets in the world. on our way home we picked up some glazed nuts and drinks (i love all the delis that stay open late). then back at the hotel we relaxed with an SNL rerun. how 'new york' of us.the next day we set out earlyish in search of flea markets. i was mildly devastated to discover the brooklyn flea market i was so looking forward to checking out was canceled for that weekend only. it starts back up next weekend under the brooklyn bridge. oh the injustice. at any rate we wandered to another one just blocks from our hotel that it turns out my mom and i had both been to before. man, we're like natives we're so good. there was a lot of good vintage clothes and my mom even scored a piece of british royal memorobilia (nevermind).
we hopped down to chinatown where we walked allll the way down canal street in search of a purse. amazingly even in that mecca of questionable designer accessories (gucci? prada? louis vuitton?) i did not find what i was looking for. but i did brush up on my ignoring street vendors' come-ons. wouldn't want to get rusty.
by the time we hit bowery we were pretty exhausted and hungry. we turned down the street in search of dim sum. the first placed we found was packed so we continued on. the next place we found seemed good and slightly less crowded. the clients were all chinese so we figured it had to be authentic. and when i say all chinese i mean, quite literally, we were the only white people in there. half the servers bringing around food had to grab someone to translate their contents into english. we had a serving of shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings and some steamed buns. between those little dishes we somehow ended up very full. i would have taken photos had i not been intimidated by the other couple sitting at our table. that couple, incidentally, put us to shame, order seven orders of dim sum to our three (all different than ours). i imagine they finished after we left but i'm not sure how they managed. apparently we had good reason to be intimidated.
after some subway mishaps (wrong way twice - yes it's possible - and a system malfunction) we had only a little time to wander around greenwich village. i had hoped to find papaya dog for a refreshing fruit drink and, in an uncharacteristic stroke of good luck, we happened upon it right outside the subway exit. we wandered and enjoyed our mango and piña colada (so cheap). we also managed to find a deli to pick up some dinner for later. this nicely rounded out our weekend of eating cheaply but well. though we did have to make a special stop for dill pickles ($1 apiece).we got our bags from the hotel and walked the few blocks to penn station where the bus was already waiting. apparently the 5.00 back to washington is a popular one and it was full. we managed to sleep most of the way back, waking up around 8 for our dinner of authentic new york deli sandwiches, packed with more meat than i could ever hope to eat in one sitting, and a bag of sundried tomato pesto chips (classy, right?). i only made it through half of the sandwich but in attempts to appease my 'healthy' side (ha) i had an apple too. the rest of the ride was largely uneventful, aside from a jerky bathroom door and a somewhat dysfunctional family. pretty much par for the course on a bus. then it was back to chinatown and the familiarity of the dc metro. good to be home.
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