Mark & Jen: New York City!

This had been on Mark’s list of must-do’s for a while. We happened to get an amazing deal from TravelZoo on our hotel, and cheap flights from Buffalo as well, which sealed the deal! It was a vacation full of pizza eating and the most walking we have ever done in our life. We saw all the major attractions, and also some off the beaten path.

Central Park was everything everyone says it is. Breathtaking views, gorgeous walking trails, a lot of runners, bikers and tourist carriages.

Yankees stadium – great game! It happened to be against the Toronto Blue Jays, which made it even better. Unfortunately, the Jays lost. :(

Canal Street….this was quite the story. I had this overwhelming shopping urge for fake Coach bags, so as we got onto Canal street, I started following this random guy down an alley to an apartment. Mark kept mentioning how this was such a bad idea, but it was part of the NYC experience in my mind. We were led up stairs, into someone’s apartment, through a fake walled room, and into this room that was covered in Coach and Louis Vitton purses. I didn’t fall in love with anything at that place, so we decided to leave and venture into another sketchy apartment :)

Not satisfied yet, I found another person to follow for purses, and we ended up inside an astro van with curtained windows, sitting on kids plastic chairs while we searched out purses. I found a couple and we were all set! Bartering like a madwomen, $60 later, I walked out with 3 great fake coach purses. SCORE! Sketchy? Maybe, but it was a memorable moment!

Couple thoughts:

1. Best pizza EVER at Grimaldi’s (under the Brooklyn bridge)

2. Beautiful walk over the Brooklyn bridge

3. Subway lines are crazy (makes TO’s subway look like child’s play)

4. Bring running shoes – LOTS of walking

5. HUGE cupcakes everywhere – YUM!!

6. Life-size piano at FAO Schwarz – brings the kid out in you

7. Times Square is sensory overload, but something to experience

8. TKTS booth – worth it for getting cheap tickets