After a halt at Zurich and a total of 17 hours, the sisters landed into JFK. Emotions were overflowing. The relief of finally getting out of the flight, the excitement to be in our favorite city in the world, a wee bit of anxiety to clear immigration smoothly and most of all, super happiness to see our friends Sue and Pete who were providers of our lodging and boarding in NYC.
Immigration took an hour and half to clear; well couldn't complain we were at one of the world's largest airports in passenger volumes. Once out, and in one of NY's famous yellow cabs, we started savoring all the sights that passed by us. NYC never looked better. The city invites you in to hear, observe and be part of its enchanting spirit. My friends' place was perfectly located in the heart of the city and everything was a walk away. Yes, one walks a lot in NYC. Its the best way to see all that the city has to offer with its street markets, the massive stores, super eateries etc.
Sue was a doll who had a list of where we HAVE to eat and what we MUST see. The amount of food consumed in 5 days there was next to incredible. From Shake Shack burgers, to Magnolia Bakery, to Turkish food at Baba Ghanoush, classic American food at Big Nicks, Chipotle ( the one i miss the most), Gray's Papaya, Phebe's, Sbarro's and i forget the rest :D We had decided we did not want to do any major touristy things so Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller center were not on our list. Instead we went off to Coney island. So after a super lunch at Nathan's ( yes food again); it was time to explore the amusement park. Now when compared to the Disney theme parks, Coney Island may seem severely outdated. However there is a charm in visiting America's oldest amusement parks. The boardwalk, the beach and then the rides it was an awesome afternoon. One can get lost in the melange of people all there to spend a beautiful summery afternoon.
NYC also meant shopping and one day was dedicated to that. We landed in the holy land of all shoe lovers - DSW. I think I could live there and be very content. We never realize how time flies (and money of course) in a shoe shop. So about an hour or so and 3 pairs of shoes later we emerged to do some more shopping. Nordstrom, Victoria's secret, Old Navy and many stores later we started formulating ideas of how we were going to fit it all in our suitcase.
The 3 girls decided to do a girls' night out and what a night it was. A couple of shots and many drinks down and stories were pouring away. We can pretty much figure how our night went with all the pics we took too; starting with us sober to what am i doing here :D. We encountered some of our fellow drunken brothers and sisters; all of us at one pizza place to satisfy our hunger pangs. We were entertained by one's singing, and were invited to join another in an after party sorts. The night is always young in NYC they said, but we went home !!! Another fun place we visited was a speakeasy club called Milk and Honey. It is supposed one of those secret, non advertised, non fancy looking places where one enjoys exotic drinks. We loved the concept of the secrecy but it did take us a while to find. Somehow for all the ype we heard, it didn't quite live up to the expectation; an experience none the less.
NYC was most about all the conversation we had; the chatting never ended. We reminisced college days, friends circle, how we have all changed over time, ex-bfs, what kind of losers we used to be, and those innumerable hilarious stories.The wine kept flowing and so did the stories. We have a million photographs capturing each place we visited - central park, hi line park, times square, chelsea market, Grand Central and so many more - each one with its own story to tell.
5 superbly spent days later, it was time to move on to Boston !!! See you there ...
