PASSWORD: big apple
(Change setting in video to 1080!)
At last! One of our most anticipated stops: New York City…. Manhattan.
We arrived in Astoria (Brooklyn) and circled the block and surrounding area several times before giving into an overnight lot for 10, 20 or 30 dollars a day. I cant recall because I’m writing this over a year following our trip… but to the best of I knowledge, here’s how it went. (Katie here - Sam forgot to mention the first night we actually got a ticket for street parking even though that sign was covered by bushes, bad luck)
We lugged our stuff up 3 floors of narrow steps to Tara’s sprawling 1 bedroom apartment and 2 cats. We later hauled our luggage back down, found the subway and rode into Manhattan. It was a crowded trip and the suitcases didn’t help. When we came to our stop and filed off the train, a man offered to assist us with our things up the stairs to street level – which was shocking but welcomed. I held my breath that he didn’t run with my bag once we got to the top. He didn’t, just nodded and said good day. Thanks stranger!
In Manhattan we split our time between our close friend Dez’s and Tara’s then boyfriend’s apartment, conveniently just a block apart. The first night was a bit blurry but I recall a bar with swings for bar stools, which was pretty dope. The next day, Dez took us on a nickel tour of the city. We saw the 9-11 Memorial, World Trade Center, Statue of Liberty (from afar), AND had a laughably terrible street vendor drawing done.
The next evening, we had a very trendy, New York, dinner at a nice restaurant in the meat packing district followed by a night on the town. We painted it red. Complete with street meat!
Tara was nice enough to make some time to cut my hair… on the roof… as the sunset. Katie’s too! I think. I was looking fresh to death. Katie and Dez went at night to see Time’s Square and Grand Central. Everything felt glamorous, from food to custom craft cocktails, even the coffee was divine. I felt like we didn’t wait anywhere. That’s how it goes when you know good people I suppose.
When our stay was over, we opted to take the train back to Astoria without our bags and then drive back across to collect our things. It was slightly nerve-wracking to weave among all the yellow cabs on the island and traffic was a bitch but luckily we made it through without a scratch.
We left with sore legs and sausage toes from all the walking and stair climbing (damn walk-up apartments, smh), but TOTALLY worth it and wouldn’t trade a thing. On to the next! Beep beep.
-Sam
PS, I was missing my Ed.
Things we learned…
Even if you think you are safe from parking tickets you must check EVERYWHERE for a sign
Don't trust that a door doesn't lock behind you
New Yorkers are actually very helpful
Jake Gyllenhaal is quite hard to locate