Travel Photo Diary-New York DAY 1
Day 1 of a Life Changing Weekend in NYC
My NYC trip with Trang and Jessica started at 4:50am when we landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport.We instantly felt the cold bite of an east coast winter while waiting for a taxi to take us to our hotel, located on 42nd St.and 10th Ave. We were instantly enthralled by the lights and commotion of the city all before the sun had even risen. We were unfortunately unable to check in early to our hotel, but fortunately able to leave our luggage in a secure place so that we could roam around until check in time (keep in mind we got to the hotel around 6am, check in was at 3pm); thankfully Trang had an itinerary for us to follow, so we had more than enough to do to fill the time.
We walked to the Port Authority Bus/Subway station on 42nd st, bought a metro card, and hopped on the subway train to go grab breakfast at the Clinton Street Baking Co. & Restaurant. We arrived so early that we had to wait about an hour for the restaurant to open (at 8am), but it was well worth the wait; we ordered coffee, and shared blueberry pancakes, eggs benedict, and a swiss cheese and bacon omelet. Definitely a great way to start off the day, because then we continued on our trek to visit Battery Park, the 9/11 Visitor Center (we didn't experience the actual Memorial Center because we hadn't purchased passes in advance), and lastly Union Square for a little bit of shopping.
It was around 2pm when we headed back to the hotel, we were hoping that the hotel would let us check in just under an hour early. Which, thankfully they did. We all settled in and took a nice 3 hour nap before getting ready for dinner at Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich's restaurant, Lupa Osteria Romana right on the northern border of Soho, and surrounded by Greenwich Village and Noho (have no idea what the actual area is called).
We enjoyed a nice bottle of wine with minestrone soup, duck ragu, and gnocchi. Then ended dinner with the Lupa Tartufo (like an ice cream and chocolate truffle) and a Zuppa Inglese (like a tiramisu parfait) for dessert. The night ended in us going back to the hotel and getting a good night's sleep!
It was a long, but exciting first day in NYC; can't wait to share the rest of our trip with you!
