big city weekend

what to do with a no-school friday, and two parents with a vacation day? i can think of lots of reasonable things: stay home, clean, hike, read, movies, etc. but we took an unreasonable path last weekend, and instead of staying home, we left town. we headed to new york for a short weekend of exploration.
i've said it before, but i'll say it again because i'm not afraid of repetition: i really love new york city. david really loves new york city. it's gritty, it's dirty, it's historical, it's alive, it's eclectic and freeing, it's iconic but accessible. it makes me feel good to learn how to navigate it, to explore the endless things that want to be explored. it is a short 1.5 hour plane ride away.

so we went.
and we spied the tall buildings of mid town from the plane.

and we landed and ubered and dropped our bags at our air bnb in soho and we hit the streets with hungry bellies. we walked straight to russ and daughters in the east village to get some good jewish deli, but the wait was 1.5 hours and our stomachs were growling. instead, we went around the corner to yonah shimmel's knish bakery and got down on knishes, soups, and kugel noodles. this place is so awsome that it has it's own wikipedia page. check it.

then a little walk around the lower east side on bowery, where we saw an artist installing this mural about the gun control debate. it is an intense image. looks like the image is now time magazine's cover. 

we found our subway stop, and took it a few stops downtown....

...to city hall/brooklyn bridge. this is one of my all-time fave subway stations.

we took a little walk over to the monument for the african burial ground, where african families--free and enslaved--buried loved ones just outside the city wall in the 18th and early 19th centuries in a mass grave. it is overwhelming, standing there, thinking about slavery and american history. the kids didn't have to be told to be quiet and feel the reverence of this spot. they could feel it on their own.

we found a bathroom in city hall (the comptroller's office, to be exact), and then made our way to the bridge....with a little freestyle walking and parkour mixed in.

the bridge. (not pictured: the woman slicing and selling baggies of ripe fresh mango for $3. it was a divine treat.)

and the other side? pizza, view for days, and

 ....two bridges.

carousel under the bridge. my second time on it, but first time with kids!  both times have been exquisite.

then the subway brought us up to grand central terminal to ooooh and ahhh at that epic ceiling,

and to whisper secrets to one another through the archways of the basement passages of grand central, just outside the entrance to the oyster bar. check this out when you're there. it's wonderful. it's just like the acoustic chamber at the museum of science and industry in chicago.

and then we found 'em: those wonderful friends. i wish this picture could capture the true chaos of this restaurant table, but it doesn't even come close. everyone was spazzy, wild, grouchy, tired, couldn't sit still, had giant milkshake sugar buzzes, and ugh...it was a scene. (don't worry--all four parents, while happy to see one another and adept at tuning out wild children, did NOT drink 3 bottles of wine. those are water bottles.)

and then, just a little too far after bedtime, we took the train back downtown and got to our cute soho apartment and trudged our tired legs up those 6 floors of stairs.

and then we went one more level up to see the rooftop. it was glorious.

back inside, and snuggled in with books in a cozy cute apartment.

and our sleeping nook in the kitchen.

and the view of the kitchen from the sleeping nook.