Chapter Four

Back to New York!

Greenwich Village took up most of our time on Thursday. We did the Murry’s bagels, then quickly took the subway to the village, where we walked around Washington Square Park, NYU’s campus, and the cute lanes of the neighborhood. We went to Peanut Butter & Co. for really filling sandwiches. I got the Elvis: grilled peanut butter, honey, and banana. They offer peanut butter everything and crazy straws for your milk! We took our full stomachs over to the Brooklyn Bridge, where we walked across. I don’t think I ever appreciated the architecture until I was actually on it, looking through the suspension wires and onto the cityscape. We followed the Brooklyn promenade down to the waterfront, where we relaxed and watched the boats go by. We got the best pizza at Grimaldi’s, right under the bridge. The place was crowded beyond belief – so we knew it was going to be fabulous. We caught the subway home to Chelsea.

Friday might just have been our busiest day. We woke up walked several blocks East, past the Flat Iron Building to the 6 train. We rode that up to the museum district of the Upper East Side. We first visited the Guggenheim. I really was going for the buildings architecture- a good thing since the exhibit wasn’t worth it. The artist had a unique technique (gun powder and explosives) to create his work, and I appreciated the theme. But floor after floor of his ridiculously similar pieces turned into one giant blur. The coolest part was at the entrance (see the picture of the cascading cars) you don’t even need to pay to see it! After the Guggenheim, we walked south along the park to The Plaza. The hotel has got to be one of the most magnificent places I’ve been. I have a huge wish of having the entrance way chandelier! We waited in line to be seated for tea – everyone before us was turned away- and then shocked when we were seated… silly “adults” you should know to make reservations! High Tea was fabulous and worth every penny. We both ordered pots of the Apple Spice Tea- it proved a great choice. Plates of mini sandwiches, scones, fruit, and pastries later we were stuffed. The best part was the passion fruit tart, I wish I could order boxes of them… alas I cannot. After the Plaza we walked north to The Met. We went through a lot of exhibits at The Met, but it would take a full day to go through them all. Highlights included Greek armor (complete with nipples), Egyptian Temple, the mural of Versailles, and all the modern art. We took a lamplight stroll through the park back to the Upper West Side, and took the 1 back home to Chelsea.

Saturday did major damage to the wallet. MademoiselleChampagne and I journeyed down to Soho to hit the shops. We were on a mission: first stop pick out an Easter gift for An American Girl in Paris, second stop get me a bag. We popped into Vosges for what we thought would be a quick purchase. Instead MC ended up getting a hot coco, which is served in a super tall shot glass- keeping it piping hot for very long. So we lazed about and took out time picking out her gift. We decided on a cute Easter bunny that is trimmed with green. It screamed springtime. Next we walked to Longchamps were I went straight to the Le Pliage wall. Lucky me- they had one left in the navy! I scored it and with the bags starting to pile up, headed in and out of some of the designer shops: Burberry, Coach, La Perla, Barney, Ares, Kate Spade, etc. One of my dear friends back home is having a baby- so I had to stop by Giggle and pick her up a gift. The winner: a white swaddling blanket with pink polka dots. She’ll love it. We stopped by Betsey Johnson were I found the cutest party dress- on sale! I should have bought the leopard print concoction… but maybe it’s for the best. We headed south to Canal Street, where we waded through knockoffs and people selling baby turtles. We walked up the main street of Little Italy, and stopped by a cute café. The food was okay, the service was the worse I’ve ever had. We headed back to Soho and peeked into Agent Provocateur then refueled at Jamba Juice. We headed back to Chelsea to unload. Then we took the 1 up to Columbia University to look around. I wanted to look at Barnard’s campus- get an idea as to how the other Seven Sisters run. Barnard is a block, one solid block. No more, no less. No wonder they depend on Columbia for everything. Columbia is a big campus for the city, but I don’t like how dense it is. Then back to Chelsea for bed.

Sunday we packed up and took one last stroll through Chelsea, then hailed a taxi (MC’s first) to take us to Port Authority. Five hours later we were back in our sun-drenched suite at school.

Cheers!

<3 CrownRoyal

Skyline from the Brooklyn Bridge

Cascading Cars at the Guggenheim

High Tea at the Plaza

Leopard Prints at Betsey Johnson

Central Park is so ornate!