It wouldn't be my first time going to Manhattan, but it would be the first time I fully appreciated its charm. After an hour train ride into the city, we said goodbye to the new friends we made out of the complete strangers sitting across the aisle from us and popped on the subway. It was surprisingly empty, especially since we were on peak, but I didn't question it.
Finally, seven or so stops later we had made it, we were in the Big Apple.
The song "Uptown Girl" began playing in my head as we joined the crowds of bustling people, swiftly walking down the city blocks. We headed to our first destination, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Now, don't get ahead of yourself, while I am a museum junky, we had a lot to see and little time to do it. I didn't want to go into the museum, I just wanted to live out my Blaire Waldorf from Gossip Girl moment. You know, the scenes were Blaire and Serena and their goons sat on steps of the Met eating yogurt and drinking coffee? Well, that was the moment I wanted to live out. I was shocked to find that when I got to the Met, the steps were packed. Who would have thought sitting on the steps of a museum was a cultural thing? I mean there were dozens... and I mean dozens of people perched on steps of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. After a minute or two of scouting out a good location, I positioned myself on a middling step, relinquished my phone to my younger brother -- otherwise known as the #1 Instagram brother of the year -- and struck a pose or two while he clicked the shutter button away.
Look, I know it seems like a little thing, but this was a truly iconic moment for me, only second to what I imagine having breakfast at Tiffany's would be like.
After the Met, we started our way toward Central Park. We debated taking the subway -- which undoubtedly would have been faster -- but we opted for a nice New York like walk instead.
On nearly every block there were street vendors with beautiful and/or unique pieces. Some vendors were selling jewelry, others art prints, and others vintage-looking NYC hats and merchandise.
When we got to the park we gawked at its size. I'm not sure any of us realized the scale of Central Park. It was blocks and blocks and blocks long and wide. Some might find it underwhelming, but I really think about the awe of having a woodsy area in the middle of a major metropolis.
From the 5th Avenue side of the park, we were able to get quick peaks of donkeys, birds, and an alpaca in the Central Park Zoo.
We didn't have any burning desire to enter the park, so really we just observed from afar before making our way over to St. Patrick's Cathedral.
I could say so much about St. Patrick's Cathedral, but what I really want to share is the dichotomy of having such a historic, ancient-looking church in the middle of a major modern metropolis.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral is like a peaceful sanctuary in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the big apple. It was striking to me how industrial and loud everyone and everything was outside of the church and then when you stepped inside it was like a time capsule of history -- not to mention jarringly quiet compared to the rest of Manhattan.
After staring in awe at the intricate technicolored stained glass and immaculate carvings likely done by hand, I took a moment to sit in a pew and pray. Praying in the Cathedral wasn't any different from praying in my bedroom, but it was neat to sit in such a historic place and talk to my creator. I noticed by dad snuck off to pray as well. While I only had a brief 5-minute conversation with God, my dad kept his head bowed for at least 15 minutes. My dad grew up a proud Catholic, and it wasn't until about 10 years ago that our family decided that Catholicism wasn't really the most transparent Christian denomination and we decided that denominations were just social constructs created by man... but that's a different blog post.
Anyways, I think it must be noted here, too that St. Patrick's Cathedral is not only a tourist attraction but a functioning church... meaning, Catholics go there for mass every Sunday. I couldn't imagine going to church at a literal tourist attraction, it's sort of a strange dichotomy to me. Then again, the Catholic Church is a massive business.
Moving on, after St. Patrick's we made our way to the most magical Nike store I've ever seen in my life. Look, I know it's just a Nike store, but the next time you are in Manhattan, you must go there! It is five floors of everything Nike you could dream of, not to mention it looks so futuristic. We walked into the store and it sparkled silver. The walls were glass and cases of silver mannequins surrounded us. Tiny rainbow lights illuminated the floor. It simply took my breath away out of pure shock. I felt as if I had just stumbled onto a very fashionable space ship.
Everything in the store was incredibly expensive, but my thrifty self accidentally fell in love with the cheapest item in the store. It is this 90s/early 00s retro turquoise t-shirt with Nike spelled out on the front in balloon letters. It cost me $25 and I learned that clothes are not taxed in the city.
The one downside to this store was the minuscule women's section. Don't get me wrong, there was a ton of clothes for women but they are all mauve, purple, teal, and pink. It was mostly leggings, windbreakers, and sports bras, and compared to the numbers in the men's section, the women's section was sparse. Despite this, I did find something I loved and then we left the store.
After Nike, we took a brief stroll through Rockefeller Center, passed by Radio City Music hall, and then we reached it... the Kate Spade New York store.
I've said this many times before, but I'll say it again, buying something from Kate Spade was a right of passage for me. I got my first Kate Spade item for my college graduation and cried like a baby. It is a beautiful gold watch with a navy blue and pink map of Europe on in inside next to the words "Going Places." I adore this watch, but I hadn't bought it myself. When I was younger I told myself, one day when I'll be able to buy myself something from Kate Spade, and that's how I'll know I've made it.
I hate to disappoint, but I didn't end up buying anything at the New York location. I mean the keychains for nearly $100. But I did fall in love with a darling pair of New York taxi cab ballet flats. I plan to order them online, but for the cool price of $300, I wanted to give myself some time to mentally prepare myself to spend that amount of money on a pair of shoes.
After Kate Spade, we walked to the world's most famous toy store in the world: FAO Schwartz.
It's really no wonder why this place is the world's most famous toy store, it is three floors of game, toys, and candy. Everywhere you turned there was something spectacular. From the life-sized tiger stuffed animal to the iconic giant piano the everyone desires to play. From the entire section of Harry Potter snacks to the biggest gummy bear you've ever seen. This place is like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory meets Macy's in Miracle on 34th street but on steroids. The energy is high, the lines are surprisingly brief, the customer service is top-notch, the atmosphere is something I can only describe as magical. I truly felt like my six-year-old self on Christmas morning all over again.
Onwards to Time Square we marched. I must say, Time Square is kind of underwhelming during the day. It's genuinely just a ton of people brushing past one another, surrounded by stores and massive billboards. The highlight of Time Square for me was all of the people dressed in costumes. We saw the Hulk, Spiderman, Batman, Lady Liberty, and the Naked Cowgirl (a 60-something-year-old woman, who yes, truly was naked outside of star-shaped nipple stickers, a thong, a cowgirl hat, and a guitar).
Now I think we've reached, perhaps, my favorite part of this trip... the pizza. You must, and I cannot stress this enough, go to John's Pizza of Time Square the next time you venture to Manhattan. As a New Yorker -- kind of -- I feel like I a decent amount of authority in telling you that this is the best pizza I've ever had. I always say when testing out a pizza place for the first time, always start with the plain cheese pizza. It will allow you to really dissect the flavors of the crust, the sauce, and the cheese. So, this is exactly what I did. The crust was perfectly crisp and perfect for folding in half like all good New Yorkers do. It didn't droop, it wasn't overly oily, the cheese was sharp and perfectly baked, and the sauce was bursting with both savory and sweet tones. With confidence, I can say it was the best pizza I've had in all 23 years of my life.
I haven't even mentioned the ambiance of the place, yet. The dim lighting, a cool temperature was perfect after a long morning of walking around the city. We were sat in the middle of the main dining floor, and if we looked up, there was a balcony were mostly pairs of two or three with sitting. The architecture gave an Italian/Mediterranean vibe, which was quite cozy. I know it might sound like I'm being generous, but it's been over a month since I was there and I can't stop thinking about it. I would John's 5 out of 5 stars without a doubt.
John's is on 44th street which is where a ton of Broadway theaters are located. As a resident theater kid, walking past all of the theaters and broadway signs brought back so many nostalgic feelings from my musical days. As we walked by cast members from "The Waitress" offered us ticket coupons, but we were only in the city for a day and we still had so much to see.
Eventually, we popped onto a subway and many our way to the Staten Island Ferry. If you are trying to do New York on a budget, the Staten Island Ferry is the no brainer way to see the Statue of Liberty. It doesn't go directly to it, but it passes incredibly close by it, and the best part... it's free. We made our way to the top deck of the ship so that we could get the best view of the green lady. If you are going to do this, go straight up the stairs, all the way to the top and go to the outside balcony on the right-hand side on your way over to Staten Island. Once you've gotten your fill of the Statue of Liberty, make your way back to the ground floor, because once the ferry docks, you'll only have a couple if minutes to get on a different one so that you can go back to the city. If you still want to check out the statue, follow the same steps as before except this time, go all the way to the left.
Now, I've done this ride before, and so far it hasn't gotten boring. In fact, I think there is a little Derek Shepherd in me... I think I kind of love ferries. This one, in particular, is lovely, as well. With a historic view and the cool Hudson breeze whipping through your hair, it's an enjoyable 20-minute ride.
After the ferry, which I found quite relaxing, we started to get a bit tired. So, we walked over to the sea glass carousel and went for a spin. As the right gently lifts you up and down and lightly spins you around a sea of magnificent, iridescent blues, purples, and greens, fly past you. I was sitting in a little green fish. This, too, was a relaxing experience. After so much relaxing, naturally, we all needed a coffee. Like they say, when in Rome do what the Romans do, so when in New York, get a Starbucks. This gave us the second wind we needed to finish out the day.
Now the last two attractions, which I didn't bother to take photos of. The Bull and the Girl. I think I was mediocrely excited to see the Charging Bull and the Fearless Girl. We walked first to the Bull, where we saw a massive line of people waiting to grab the bull, not by his horns... no, but by his manhood, or I guess I should say his "cowhood." It was an odd experience to see full-grown adults and little tiny children holding on to the bull's testicles, and honestly, we so disinterested that we didn't even cross the street to look at it, we just looked at it through the traffic.
I can admit I was a bit more excited to see the Fearless Girl. When we finally made it to her, we had the most bazaar experience. There was a real, living little girl whose hair was done up the same way as the statue, who was the exact same height as the statue, who was dressed like her and had the same facial features as her. It was almost as if we were looking a the real-life child the statue was modeled after. Again, we looked on from afar as she looked upon the New York stock exchange. In fact, at one point, I almost walked right past her. Because she is so small, she is also easy to miss.
Once we had gotten our fill of the tiny metal statue we finally made our way home.
Listen, I don't recommend trying to see all of Manhattan in one afternoon, because really you only get to see things for a moment or two, but if all you have is a day, I recommend you do it this way. I had a blast in New York City. Frankly, visiting it again reignited my love for the Big Apple. I remember leaving feeling full of life, adventure, and excitement -- not to mention exhausted beyond belief. I actually started looking for apartments in Manhattan before I remembered that it costs two arms and a leg to live there.
Still, as a place to visit, Manhattan is a fun and rambunctious city full of character and diversity.
K.M
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