vagranting

I arrived in Chicago on Tuesday, and it’s been good. But I meant to post about the highlights of New York before I left, sorry about the delay. I would recommend all of the following to anyone going there. Also, there maybe a repeat of some things I mentioned previously. None the less, here they are (in no particular order):

• Walk the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s gorgeous. Preferably at sunset.
• Of course you should also walk Central Park. It goes without saying.
• The Circle Line Cruise. One of the best ways to see the city is from the water. I can’t recommend this one enough.
• Speaking of views, you will need to see the city from the top of one of two buildings: the Empire State Building, or the Rockefeller centre. I went to the ESB, but I’ve heard the better option is to take the Rockefeller for a clearer view (the Empire has chain link fencing around the deck) with the bonus of taking in the ESB itself. Also, you have the option of spending the same amount you would pay for tickets to the observation deck instead on a exorbitantly priced drink in the Rainbow Room on the 75th floor with similarly breathtaking views.
• The reason I did the ESB over the Rock was because I bought the New York Citypass. This gives you access to the Circle Line, Empire Observation Deck, the MoMA, the Museum of Natural History (also highly recommended) and the Guggenheim. If they’re on your “to see” list, it’s definitely a money saver. Plus you have 9 days to use it.
• The UCB Theatre. Shows are on every night of the week, and all under $10. I went twice, and both times were great fun.
• While there are a few places you must eat at while in New York (like Katz’s, Papya King, Grimaldi’s) I would highly recommend 2 places in Chinatown. Prosperity Dumpling and Saigon Banh Mi. Ridiculously cheap and delicious.
• Also ridiculously delicious: espresso at Café Grumpy. There are a few other espresso places in New York (not as many as you’d hope), but I didn’t get out to them for myself. Grumpy though, gets my personal thumbs up. I went through 2 loyalty cards!
• Of course, as well as the other well-known attractions I would highly advise checking a few web sites for information on current happenings in the Big Apple. By checking these sites first, I found out about a few things that my hosts hadn’t found out about, like the 20at20 Off-Broadway promo ($20 tickets) and Dine In Brooklyn (Brooklyn’s Restaurant Week).
  • Newyorkology. The Basic NYC Guide is required reading.
  • Gothamist. Updated several times a day.
  • Time Out New York. Check the student guide for cheap thrills.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s a starting point. While I didn’t fall in [heart] with NY (our relationship is somewhere between like and love/hate), there is still so much left I didn’t get around to seeing this time, I hope I make it back again in the future.

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Time flies. Almost 6 weeks flies. Overall I’d say I’m pretty happy with my New York experience, I think I have a decent feel for the place. A much better understanding than I would have left with if I’d only stayed a week. So here’s what’s on my still-to-do (before Tuesday morning) list:

• Jazz at the parlor.
  Free weekly jazz concert in a lady’s living room in her Harlem apartment.
• A proper New York bagel.
  The definition of this sparks heated and lengthy debate amongst bagel lovers. The bagel I have had here (from a place in Greenpoint) was nothing worth writing about. By trekking to one of the bagel Meccas I hope to gain some enlightenment on this odd baked good.
• Some Soundwalk tours.
  The Boston ipod tour impressed me. Hopefully these could work out well too. I hope to do the Meatpacking District, Chinatown and Wall St on Saturday. They’re 60 minutes each, and it gives me another excuse to get some more Bahn Mi and dumplings in Chinatown. Mmmm.
• The PS1 MoMA.
  The less-highfalutin, edgier sister gallery to the MoMa proper.

Also it would be totally awesome to be able to see the Daily Show live. It’s a long shot, but I’ll try calling for last minute tickets in the morning.

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I ended up spending St. Patrick’s Day in Boston. Which is a decision I’m glad I made. Although it was still cold and wet, it wasn’t half as windy and unpleasant as the previous day. I used the opportunity to take a short ipod walking tour. For those not familiar with these, you download an mp3 to your ipod or mp3 player, and you get given a starting point for the tour. It then tells you where to walk and about the places you see along the way.

The Boston Audissey tour was quite informative (for someone with minimal knowledge of US history), and I enjoyed the tone and style of the presentation. It was very casual, the walking pace was relaxed, and the background music and theatrics were not obtrusive on the whole. I recommend it highly.

Walking through Boston was actually quite nice in spite of the cold and the throngs of St. Patrick’s Day revellers. It can be a bit difficult to traverse cobblestones in the aftermath of snow and rain. I accidentally stepped into shot of some drinker’s group photograph and received a very vocal, “BOO!” from the crowd lining up to get into the bar.

I was also able to check out the food in Boston’s famously Italian “North End”. I went with Joseph, who had generously let me crash at his place in South Boston while he was back in New York, and his friend Jim. We had generously portioned pasta dishes at Antico Forno, and then proceeded to eat our way to illness by then indulging at Mike’s Pastry.

In light of this, I don’t discount my time in Boston as a waste, and would actually be happy to return at a warmer time of year. Oh yeah, and the weekly transit pass would’ve been a good idea ($2 single ticket, $15 unlimited weekly). I spent nearly that much in just 3 days.

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Well, my time in Boston has come and gone.
Day 1: drizzling rain.
Day 2: snow, sleet and wind.

It’s a shame really, I would’ve really liked to have seen the city better. The few places I did see:

• The Harvard area. People in shops I visited seemed friendly on the whole. I’m sure it would have been a lovely sight too if it weren’t for the freaky weather.
• Simon’s coffee shop. Today I really needed espresso. Simon’s provided that fix, and it was quite good. But the shots lacked body. I miss the triple-basket ristrettos from Café Grumpy. Actually I really miss doing my own shots of the Caffeine Organic blend on our Butterfly. Sigh.
• The Institute of Contemporary Art. I had heard a lot of hype about the architecture of this new building (which only opened in December). I was underwhelmed to say the least. 1 floor of gallery space, 2 floors closed to the public, poor signage and generally rude staff. It even looked unfinished in places. Sadly, I would not recommend this to anyone visiting Boston.
• Save the admission price of ICA and buy a burger at Mr. Barley’s instead. I didn’t get around to trying the customary Boston Lobster roll, but as a non-seafood person, I wasn’t too excited at the idea anyway. The burger however, was great. And massive. Good quality meat, great hand-cut sweet potato fries.

So that’s the summary of my Boston experience, the good and the bad. I think I’ll delay my return trip until tomorrow night though, hopefully the weather will be less intense when I finally reach New York that way. Plus, it would be a shame to miss St. Patrick’s Day on a bus.

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