Nothing Like a Little Adventure

I always forget how close I live to the Big Apple...it's so easy and cheap to get there, but it always seems like it's so much further and so much more of a hassle to get to. I have lots of friends who are always telling me to "come down and hang out!", and I always enthusiastically reply "yes! soon!" and then soon never happens and I remain a crappy friend. But this weekend I finally did it! I went on a tiny little adventure. 

The day started off with a short trip to New Jersey, where we were visiting family. We had dessert before our dinner, played a few rounds of ping pong in their basement, then went to an Italian restaurant. Then around 8 I escaped on the New Jersey Transit into the city, transferred trains at Secaucus to Penn Station, hopped on the 1 train going uptown and arrived in Harlem. I was visiting a fellow woodwind/jazz musician, and we were listening to some very cool music. And then he showed me some old Charlie Parker recordings, which he described as such: "Just when you're about to think the choir is starting to sound a little cheesy, he just comes in with the baddest sax solos". For example:

Then we took a train downtown looking for a little bar where we could catch up, and found a nice little dive-ish bar over in Soho, close to Katz's deli. It was very festively decorated still, even though we are well into the new year. I didn't catch the name of the bar, but I did notice that it was open later than bars in Boston, and I realized how convenient it was that the subway is open all night. After a few pints of Guinness, we decided to head back (word on the street is, the quickest way to Harlem is on the A train), and finished the night off with a nice relaxing hang. 

The next morning (this morning), we had to leave a little on the early side, and I ended up heading back downtown on the 1, switching over to the N at Times Square, and getting off at 28th street. My first mission was to find something to eat. I stopped in at Roastown Coffee, had a little breakfast sandwich and a large amount of water. I had about an hour and a half to kill before I needed to meet up with my family, so I decided to get some fresh air. There is really something to be said about walking around outside by yourself. It's good for your soul. 

I took a walk through Madison Square Park...

Walked through the Union Square Greenmarket, and enjoyed a cup of hot apple cider...

And I sat briefly to admire the Flatiron building.

I made my way over to my aunts apartment, where my family arrived slightly before me (I would have been there on time but I was so busy listening to my ipod and loving the fact that I was in NYC that I inadvertently walked a few blocks in the wrong direction). From there, the boys went to go play football and eat pizza, and the girls took off and did something way more cool. 

My aunt showed us this awesome place called Eataly which I can only describe as an Italian Faneuil Hall. It's got little shops for chocolate, meat, cheeses and wine, plus there are little restaurants inside, and tables where you can eat at, it was certainly an experience to be had. We managed to find a spot at a table where we split some sandwiches, I had a porchetta sandwich (roasted pork seasoned with garlic and rosemary with giardiniera), and my mom and aunt had a piadina sandwich (14 month aged prosciutto with provolone). 

The girls, enjoying lunch, and an ample pour of wine

Bread

The market-type area, with shelves and shelves of pasta

Cheeses

Um that's not pizza. It's focaccia. 

As you can see, it's really different from anything I've ever been to. Except for maybe one place that I've been to in Rome. 

After our lunch, we stopped by a little shop called Whisk which had a lot of cute Hampton-esque kitchen items, and stopped by Starbucks (no link necessary there) to bring back some coffees. The boys were already back when we arrived, and we had some snacks (little ice cream cones from Trader Joe's). It's also a tradition to play a few games together, so we played categories, and also this really fun game called Don't Scramble the Egg Game, inspired by the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Then it was time for goodbyes, and hugs, and a few last minute pictures before making our way out to the car for our drive home. 

And that's how my adventure in New York went. 

There's really something to be said about just doing it. Just hop on a train, find your way there, and visit old friends who you love spending time with. 

And you know what? It was totally worth it.