We took the bus tour to Greenwich Village where we got off so Julie could take pictures of the apt of Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City. We also stopped at this Indian (from India) boutique where Julie haggled for about a half hour with the guy and finally bought a comforter and pashmina and table cloth. She got a good price, but who really knows. I mean for all we know the things could have been made in China for dollars. We got back on the bus and went to Soho and Noho and got off the bus for the H&M store. I scored tons of jewelry for cheap. Think Forever 21 but even less. I was disappointed that that one did not have a kids section. But it was probably a good thing because I had a hard enough time stuffing everything into my luggage as it was.
We then toured the Native American Museum and took pictures of the Raging Bull (near Wall St). We got to see St Patrick's Cathedral. It was being renovated though and it had ugly scaffolding in front of some of it. Gorgeous building none-the-less. We saw the Empire State building again, walked through Times Square again. We walked around Rockefeller Center, home of the Prometheus statue, and saw the NBC corporate building address "30 Roc". We saw the studio where the Today Show tapes. We had a long leisurely dinner at this nice restaurant called Brasserie Ruhlmann where I dropped $55 for just me. Food is so expensive there, it was kinda a good thing that Aaron wasn't with me. I can't imagine spending twice the price as I did on food. It was pretty expensive because I ordered the tuna tartar for an appetizer and then "rabbit" for the entree. The tuna was very tasty but I did not like the texture, but it tasted so good I still ate it. The rabbit was good. It was game-y-er than chicken and turkey, but tender. It came with noodles that were good too. It was just nice mostly to sit and people watch and relax. We sat outside and the weather was perfect. And our view was awesome looking over Rockefeller Center.
We then made our way back to the Times Square/Broadway area and walked around before we headed to the "Wicked" theater. We were literally the LAST row. Dang scalpers...our tickets said $61 but we paid a little over $100 for them at least a month in advance. It was nice though because the theater was better built and I didn't have to crane my head like I did during "Curtains" because I couldn't see over the next person's head in front of me. The show was awesome, need I say more? While walking out of the theater, there was a crowd of people waiting at the back stage door where none other than the actors of Elphie and Galinda were exiting. Julie got their autographs on her play bill and I snapped pics of them. I felt very touristy. Oh well.
We took the subway home and fell into bed. We had walked so much in that city but I loved it. I couldn't help but notice that everyone there wears nice shoes...I mean girls mostly. They are all cute and stylish, but if everyone was walking as much as Julie and I were, their feet must have killed. I saw some wicked corns on some girls feet in places I didn't know you could get corns. We saw one girl who had stuffed toilet paper in the heels of her shoes and under the front straps because I guess she had killer blisters. I had packed some cute shoes for just in case but I didn't have the guts to wear them ever. I just wore my trusty flip flops the whole time. Now, they are not just any flip flops, they had arch support! They were so comfortable and not once, not once! did my feet hurt or were sore for any other reason than we were walking 10 miles a day. Seriously, they hardly hurt. Get it? My flip flops are awesome. Enough said. 
Tue Jul 22 2008 13:53 nyc day 3:
Woke up got ready and walked a couple blocks for breakfast at this amazing bakery called Leavin Bakery. I got a chocolate chip banana bread slice and a chocolate chip cookie for later that must have weighed no less than a pound. It was huge, but for $3.75 it had better be. We hopped on the subway to Times Square. Good thing Julie was with me, a seasoned NY tripper who knew the subway system, or I would have been completely lost.
It took about 2 hours to sprint through all 5 floors, hitting most of the popular exhibits. My favs were the geological area with all the stones, rocks, crystals, etc, and the "caveman" exhibits. It is crazy though how many animals and creatures I had never seen before. I now believe there are hundreds of species of spiders undiscovered in the rainforests because of all the bizarre "things" I saw. It made me realize I know nothing about what's out there. After the museum we made our way over to the "MET" (Metropolitan Museum of Art) which would have been so cool to see, except Julie cried Uncle and we were off to find a drug store with lots of pain killers.
We thought lunch would help too so we got this genius idea to go eat at Bobby Flay's restaurant on 5th ave. I mean we were on 5th ave, how far could it have been? A $13 cab ride later we got to Mesa Grill just minutes after they had closed for lunch, not to open again until 5. Blast! Our day was not turning out as planned. We took a cab ride back to the hotel where Julie could take a nap (another $15) and I went off exploring by myself. I didn't want to go far and I didn't want to take the subway by myself because I would for sure get lost so I walked down to the Lincoln Center again and walked around all the table displays that were there for a fair that weekend. I was gone for about an hour before Julie called, and just in time because we had dinner plans with Leonard and Sumana, my cousin and his wife. We had a little time to kill though and hadn't really eaten much so we stopped by Pink Berry!! Gotta try Pink Berry. It is the best frozen yogurt with fresh fruit. SooooOOOooo good.
We took the subway to Queens and met them at Sac's. They treated us to this wonderful Italian place where we had gourmet pizza. The biggest thing I remembered was that their bread basket had this focaccia bread with a little bit of marinara. It was like pizza without cheese. I could have stopped there, it was so good, but the pizza was even better. Good choice Leonard and Sumana! We then walked to a crepe shop and split crepes. I really enjoyed the food that day, to say the least.
After that big meal and good conversation, we said our goodbyes, and Julie and I went to go walk off our big meal at the Brooklyn Bridge. We took the subway back to the station right before and took the 20 minute walk to the middle of the bridge and "look out" station where we took pics. The view was so unique to NY and the whole city experience. Very fun. We ran into some British ladies vacationing there. Most people it seemed were not from there, or even the US really. Most people had accents. For the most part though, the people we talked to were very friendly. We didn't really encounter the "new yorker" snobbery you hear about. It was crazy how many non-US citizens were vacationing there though since the dollar is so weak and it's cheap to come here. I was a little disappointed to not hear so much of the ny accent. That would have been fun.
Our last night here, we packed some and got ready to leave the next day. Tue Jul 22 2008 14:30 nyc day 4:
Sat was "Museum Day" for us. We first stopped at breakfast at this place called Cosi that Erin loves, so we tried it. Bagels were good and their flat bread for sandwiches was even better. They had samples. We first went into the Am Museum of Natural History, made famous among other things by Night At the Museum. It looks nothing like it did in the movie, but it was pretty amazing. I love history, Julie not so much. She was pretty miserable because she was having killer cramps and could barely walk. The thing about most museums is that they guilt you into paying "their price" for admission, which is a suggested $11-17 depending. It is really free, but they make you feel like a cheap skate if you contribute less. I did want to support them though so I paid $5.
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