The Long-Overdue New York Post

Whoops... Matt and I went to New York back at the beginning of December, but with the holidays and my general laziness, I haven't gotten around to posting about it yet. The short: it was a blast! Great food, awesome shows, fun times. The long:

We flew in to La Guardia on Thursday and got into our cab just in time to experience downtown New York rush hour. All of the crazy honking and obscenity-shouting you see in the movies? Totally real! I'm thinking New Yorkers could use a crash course on chilling the eff out, no? Anyways - our hotel was really cool. We stayed at the Hilton in Times Square using the rewards points Matt had been accumulating over the last year. We ended up getting a room on the 39th floor with a view of the city. That night, we unpacked, bundled up, and headed out to have sushi at a cute restaurant called Aoki. We were both surprised at how dead the place seemed to be given the thousands of people walking around outside in Time Square and the great Yelp reviews we had read. We weren't disappointed with the food - very fresh and tasty. And the prices weren't out of control like we were expecting either.



Afterward, we decided to act like non-lame adults and go to a bar. We started at Latitude, which was pretty similar to a place we used to go in Tucson called Sam Hughes. But there weren't TVs there and Matt wanted to watch the UA/ASU game, so after a while we headed over to a pub called The Mean Fiddler. There, we sat and had some appetizers while we watched the first half. This place seemed like a bar/frat house hybrid, since there was an intense beer-pong tournament happening in one area of the place. It must be a weekly league or something because the teams had shirts with their names and logos. Also - this is where we learned of an awesome but dangerous game you can play with your friends:

After the meal is done and the check comes to the table, have each person throw in their credit card. Then, when the waiter comes by to pick it up, let them know that you want them to pick just one card at random to put the whole bill on!!! GAHHH!!! The guys at the table next to us apparently play often, and it looked like a lot of fun (if you're not a cheap-o like me).

We watched the second half of the game from the hotel and I fell asleep as our beloved Wildcats threw away the game. Which wouldn't be so bad, except I returned to work to find my cube ASU-ed. Bleh!

The next day, we woke up and rode the subway down to the ferry. Matt was able to see the metro routes on his phone so we really didn't have many problems navigating the system. I thought it was really cool that you can ride the ferry for free - it goes right by the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island so you can get a great view without having to go too tourist-y. It was beautiful to see where our families started their American lives, and we enjoyed the quiet ferry ride. Then back at the ferry dock, I had legit the best pretzel of my life. It was cinnamon with vanilla icing to dip and it was warm and amazing. I imagine if my life were to ever flash before my eyes, that pretzel would make an appearance.


After the ferry, we walked around Battery Park, the Financial District and Wall Street, and saw where they are re-building the World Trade Center. Then, Matt agreed to let me duck into a department store to do a little Christmas shopping. It was crazy and hectic in there, but fun and we got some good deals. We continued our walking tour de New York by heading over to see the Brooklyn Bridge. Sitting on a bench and looking out over the water was very peaceful.



Next came Matt's food highlight of the trip: Bar Pitti. It was a restaurant recommendation from one of my co-workers and it did not disappoint! Apparently Beyonce and Jay-Z eat there a lot, but when we went it was just a bunch of regular Joes. However, the food was very authentic, and our Italian server described the menu to us in an insanely heavy accent. We started with a proscitto salad, then moved on to the main course: Veal Tortellini for me and Rigatoni with turkey sausage for Matt. A little Panna Cotta to cap off the night, and we were in dining heaven.

Our last stop for the night was over to see the off-Broadway production of Avenue Q. It was one of the funniest plays I have ever seen! The actors were wonderful and the songs were hilarious. It had both of us cracking up the whole time. It was a great way to cap off the day.

More to come... possibly written by Matt because I am tired now and going to bed :)