Things you absolutely must do or see in New York City.
Central Park
This is the place I spent the most time in New York. It's so beautiful and extensive that you can easily get lost inside, and spend days exploring. Everything is gorgeous and unique. Spend a lot of time there.
Fat Cat - Greenwich Village
We randomly stumbled upon this Jazz Club and ended up spending two nights there. It's filled with shuffleboards, ping pong tables, pool tables, and chess tables. The bands that play there are all really random, but very talented. And they have $3 PBR.
Grey Dog Cafe - Greenwich Village
We found this little restaurant in Zach's guidebook. Spectacular sandwiches and soups.
Canal Street
This is the craziest and most hilarious place in New York. Canal Street is basically a huge mall for selling stolen or knock-off goods. You can buy fake designer purses and jewlery, and a lot of random perfumes. You can get 5 t-shirts for $10. You have to bargain for everything though, because you can always talk everything down in price. I bought something for $15 that was originally $50. Almost none of the vendors speak english better than "You want scarf?" and "No, real designer."
Empire State Building
The views are absolutely insane, but arrive a lot earlier than you want to be on top, because the line is deceiving.
Brooklyn Bridge
It's just too cool to pass up. Great views of the lower east side, and a lot of history.
Grotta Azzurra - Little Italy
Go to this place before 4p.m. during the week. Get the lunch special. You get a plate of pasta and a huge entree for $9.95. The food is amazing, and they have really good service too.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Spend a whole day here, and bring water. There is so much to see, so take your time.
Times Square
You have to. Just don't go for New Year's Eve.
Jersey Shore - Hoboken
Awesome view of Manhattan at night.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Matt here:
The events of the past few days.
I ended up finally getting into the Museum of Modern Art. Apparently I made it on the last day they were showing Van Gogh's Night exhibit, which was really spectacular. I have no pictures to show you from the exhibit, as photography was permitted, but here's everything else.
Jackson Pollock - One: Number 31, 1950
Andy Warhol - Campbell's Soup Cans
Roy Lichtenstein - Drowning Girl
Edward Ruscha - OOF
Andy Warhol - Gold Marilyn Monroe
A seemingly blank canvas, aka, Modern Art.
Henri Rousseau - The Sleeping Gypsy
Paul Cezanne - Chateau Noir
Pablo Picasso - Student with a Pipe
Pablo Picasso - Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
Some elementary school students were there doing their own interpretation of Pablo Picasso's Three Musicians
Van Gogh - Water-Lily triptych
Piet Mondrian - Broadway Boogie Woogie
Edward Hopper - Gas
This was one of the strangest things I'd ever seen. Right as you walk in you see this huge ampitheater kind of seating area. In the middle is a huge cushion with tons of pillows. Signs tell you to remove your shoes before stepping into the area. On the walls around the circle, a gigantic movie is playing, and it was like being on acid. I wrote down some of the stuff that happened in the movie so I could remember it for later. The movie played continuously so I'm not sure where the beginning was. The first scene I saw was a person's feet walking through the rain. There was a lot of slow motion and puddle mashing. Next the feet were squishing all different kinds of fruits. Then, a pig could be seen running through a field. It was pretty weird looking. Next, a red headed girl was eating an apple. Suddenly, the pig from before was eating an apple. Then, out of nowhere, the girl was naked, floating in a pool. Next we saw just her feet. Then back to her floating in the pool. Then, straight up Va JJ (this was a pretty graphic movie for a public museum). Then there were tulips, a car driving through the tulips, the red head eating tulips, and then the girl crawling naked through a field. That's when I left, utterly confused.
Cool furniture
More modern, cutting edge art.
The scary movie.
We went to Greenwich Village to eat later that day at Grey Dog Cafe. Amazing food. on the way back, we saw a fence that had all these little painted tiles on them. I didn't realize until I was right next to it that it was a 9-11 memorial. Really amazing. I think it must have been done by the community.
It's really amazing how much 9-11 still effects everything in New York. People continue to unite around this horrible day in really astounding ways.
After the village we went on the Staten Island Ferry. Overrated to say the least.
Liberty.
The Ferry.
With a lot of time to kill for the rest of the day, we took the subway to 110th street, and proceeded to walk all the way through Central Park. I can't describe how much I love the park. I could vacation here and just spend my time there.
Wisconsin?
More waterfalls.
Zach and the falls.
A cave.
A view from the lake.
Another cool view from farther south.
This is a castle in the middle of the park.
Southern central park, looking south.
Love.
The next day we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, which was really spectacular.
Madison, we go hard, we go hard.
Going hard.
The rest of the day we walked around the Little Italy and Chinatown areas.
Serving up fresh, steaming hot dogs in front of the New York Supreme Court.
The most wonderful lunch special in the world. See our final post.
Zach being baller in Chinatown.
That night we went down and sat near the BBridge at night.
We took the subway to Fat Cat, chilled there for a while, then called it a night.
The subway.
Zach Jones'n.
Cloudy Empire State Building.
Some random pics from today:
So many taxis.
I came to New York neutral and after a few days had a bad taste in my mouth for this place. There are so many people here, it's difficult to get used to. Everyone is always in a rush to get everywhere, and I feel like a lot of people put on a facade. I kept thinking about Third Eye Blind and "New York City is evil, the surface is everything." Three hour lines for everything, the suck of New Year's Eve, I was ready to get out of here.
Spending almost an entire day in Central Park by myself changed that. It felt like home. Walking through dirt and trees and grass. I started to see character everywhere. And that's how the city started to grow on me. Every neighborhood is like a different country entirely. The old, brick facades of Little Italy don't look like the city I'd heard about. Chinatown is so compact. Canal Street is one of the funniest places I've ever been. The financial district is sort of cold but filled with really interesting people. Greenwich Village is incredibly unique, everyone there has their own style. Midtown is filled with some of the most beautiful buildings and its constantly glowing.
I know now I've fallen in love with this place and all the people here. I understand why people come here for vacation and never end up leaving. I know I'll be back someday, I hope it'll remember me.
New York, Je t'aime.
The events of the past few days.
I ended up finally getting into the Museum of Modern Art. Apparently I made it on the last day they were showing Van Gogh's Night exhibit, which was really spectacular. I have no pictures to show you from the exhibit, as photography was permitted, but here's everything else.
Jackson Pollock - One: Number 31, 1950
Andy Warhol - Campbell's Soup Cans
Roy Lichtenstein - Drowning Girl
Edward Ruscha - OOF
Andy Warhol - Gold Marilyn Monroe
A seemingly blank canvas, aka, Modern Art.
Henri Rousseau - The Sleeping Gypsy
Paul Cezanne - Chateau Noir
Pablo Picasso - Student with a Pipe
Pablo Picasso - Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
Some elementary school students were there doing their own interpretation of Pablo Picasso's Three Musicians
Van Gogh - Water-Lily triptych
Piet Mondrian - Broadway Boogie Woogie
Edward Hopper - Gas
This was one of the strangest things I'd ever seen. Right as you walk in you see this huge ampitheater kind of seating area. In the middle is a huge cushion with tons of pillows. Signs tell you to remove your shoes before stepping into the area. On the walls around the circle, a gigantic movie is playing, and it was like being on acid. I wrote down some of the stuff that happened in the movie so I could remember it for later. The movie played continuously so I'm not sure where the beginning was. The first scene I saw was a person's feet walking through the rain. There was a lot of slow motion and puddle mashing. Next the feet were squishing all different kinds of fruits. Then, a pig could be seen running through a field. It was pretty weird looking. Next, a red headed girl was eating an apple. Suddenly, the pig from before was eating an apple. Then, out of nowhere, the girl was naked, floating in a pool. Next we saw just her feet. Then back to her floating in the pool. Then, straight up Va JJ (this was a pretty graphic movie for a public museum). Then there were tulips, a car driving through the tulips, the red head eating tulips, and then the girl crawling naked through a field. That's when I left, utterly confused.
Cool furniture
More modern, cutting edge art.
The scary movie.
We went to Greenwich Village to eat later that day at Grey Dog Cafe. Amazing food. on the way back, we saw a fence that had all these little painted tiles on them. I didn't realize until I was right next to it that it was a 9-11 memorial. Really amazing. I think it must have been done by the community.
It's really amazing how much 9-11 still effects everything in New York. People continue to unite around this horrible day in really astounding ways.
After the village we went on the Staten Island Ferry. Overrated to say the least.
Liberty.
The Ferry.
With a lot of time to kill for the rest of the day, we took the subway to 110th street, and proceeded to walk all the way through Central Park. I can't describe how much I love the park. I could vacation here and just spend my time there.
Wisconsin?
More waterfalls.
Zach and the falls.
A cave.
A view from the lake.
Another cool view from farther south.
This is a castle in the middle of the park.
Southern central park, looking south.
Love.
The next day we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, which was really spectacular.
Madison, we go hard, we go hard.
Going hard.
The rest of the day we walked around the Little Italy and Chinatown areas.
Serving up fresh, steaming hot dogs in front of the New York Supreme Court.
The most wonderful lunch special in the world. See our final post.
Zach being baller in Chinatown.
That night we went down and sat near the BBridge at night.
We took the subway to Fat Cat, chilled there for a while, then called it a night.
The subway.
Zach Jones'n.
Cloudy Empire State Building.
Some random pics from today:
So many taxis.
I came to New York neutral and after a few days had a bad taste in my mouth for this place. There are so many people here, it's difficult to get used to. Everyone is always in a rush to get everywhere, and I feel like a lot of people put on a facade. I kept thinking about Third Eye Blind and "New York City is evil, the surface is everything." Three hour lines for everything, the suck of New Year's Eve, I was ready to get out of here.
Spending almost an entire day in Central Park by myself changed that. It felt like home. Walking through dirt and trees and grass. I started to see character everywhere. And that's how the city started to grow on me. Every neighborhood is like a different country entirely. The old, brick facades of Little Italy don't look like the city I'd heard about. Chinatown is so compact. Canal Street is one of the funniest places I've ever been. The financial district is sort of cold but filled with really interesting people. Greenwich Village is incredibly unique, everyone there has their own style. Midtown is filled with some of the most beautiful buildings and its constantly glowing.
I know now I've fallen in love with this place and all the people here. I understand why people come here for vacation and never end up leaving. I know I'll be back someday, I hope it'll remember me.
New York, Je t'aime.
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