On the road: NYC days 1 and 2

Our first day in New York City, we found our way to the metro station a few blocks from the youth hostel, and rode the M train to Times Square. Although I had driven through NYC briefly once with my family, this was the first time I really saw it up close. 

Times Square

As we flowed into the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, the city blurred into an overwhelming cacophony of rumbling car engines, grinding construction equipment, people yelling and talking, horns honking, and airplanes flying overhead. The winter air was chilly and thick with smells of burning gasoline, steaming manholes, and cooking food, while the visual stimulus of billboards, signs, shops, and skyscrapers left me in a haze of wonder. 

We spent the morning wandering through Times Square, avoiding the hawking salesmen who shoved pamphlets in our faces and advertised comedy clubs on the street corners by drawing you in with their own comedic skills. There were street performers, people in costume selling Broadway tickets, and food vendors at every turn. The city was decked out for Christmas, with extravagant window displays and holiday music playing everywhere.

At lunchtime we met my childhood friend Chenoe for a bite to eat at a sushi place near Bryant Park. She told us about her experience working for an architecture firm in the city, and mentioned some architecturally interesting places we should check out during our visit. Afterward, we continued to explore the city until dark, found Rockefeller Center and the big Christmas tree and ice rink, and eventually found our way back to our hostel to crash for the night.

The next day we ran into a bit of a hiccup before we could head back up to Manhattan: It was street-cleaning day, and we had to re-park our car. As it turned out, so did everyone else, and we spent over an hour driving around south Brooklyn looking for somewhere -- anywhere -- to park. Eventually we drove back to the hostel and found parking near the metro station, but by then it was after 11am so we had lost almost half a day of exploring.

Nonetheless, we made the best of it and made it to the Museum of Natural History by lunchtime. Although it wasn't nearly enough time to see the whole museum, we had a great time wandering the exhibits. They had some special programs on outer space in the planetarium and one on the science and history of poison, which was particularly cool.

Prehistoric turtle wants to be your friend.

We stayed at the museum until closing time, and then found our way to Little Italy to treat ourselves to our one fancy dinner of the trip. Little Italy was quite nice, although very touristy and, being dinnertime, we were once again hawked by restaurant hosts trying to draw us in:

"Free wine with your meal!"

"Three course dinner for $25!"

"We have real Italian cooks!"

Eventually we settled on one that didn't seem too crowded or have an overly-annoying host, and enjoyed a delicious and elegant dinner, before rolling back to the M train and returning to our hostel for the night. The next day would be our last in New York before pressing North again.