NYC Road Trip {Day 4}

Highlights- Empire State Building, MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), Chinatown, FAO Swartz, Wicked.

Check out the other days of our trip (day 1 here, day 2 here, and day 3 here). Sorry that some of the days are long and kind of a ton of detail, we fit a lot into as little time as possible. Feel free to just check out the pictures. 

This was one of our busier days and our morning was thankfully able to start earlier and without incident. We took the bus instead of the subway and it made for a much more enjoyable morning. We were able to see some sights as we traveled because we were above ground, it also helped us get a better feel for the cities layout and we were not as disgustingly hot as it was waiting for the subway to be the grossest part of the day. Weather wise this was also one of the nicer days for temperature. It was still hot, but not sweating like a man all day kind of hot. Sadly we did get a bit more rain than the other days, but it was still a nice trade off for a little cut in temperature.

We started the day with the Empire State Building, as again the guide books said it would get busy quickly as the day went on. We were some of the first people there and we were able to just keep walking through all of the queues that were set up. I feel like had each been full it would have been over two hours of just waiting in line. The Empire State Building was included in our city pass and with that came a free audio tour. This was a wonderful experience, so instead of simply enjoying the magnificent sights, you learnt some of the history and found out what buildings you were looking at. I discovered I love audio tours.

Top of the Empire State Building. It was super windy and nice and cool

Top of the Empire State Building. 

Such a crazy beautiful view. It was almost unreal.

View from the Empire State Building.

Top of the Empire State Building.

We had an audio tour. It was very informative. 

A close up of the location, today it is a golf green.

This is the location of where the Titanic was originally supposed to dock.

The tip of the Empire State Building was originally used for blimps to land.

The Empire State Building.

From the Empire State Building we headed down to the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). The main reason for the visit was because it was included in the City Pass as well, but to be honest it had some pretty awesome stuff in it. We did the museum kind of quick (and hour and a bit I think) and could have done it faster. It was a place that the entire time I was there I was thinking how much the husband would enjoy it as it was the kind of art he was interested in. While I on the other hand kept wondering how a red square could make it into an art gallery.

I loved the Andy Warhol's, the Jackson Pollock's, the Claude Monet's and of course Vincent van Goug. It is hard not to be taken aback by some of these super famous, extremely breath taking art pieces. It was also nice to see that I could put my university art history course to use and actually remembered and recognized some pieces. It was kind of awesome to see art that I learnt about in a text book in real life. It took a bit for me to actually realize that these were originals, so kind of a big deal.

Amanda and I trucked it out and saw pretty much all of the museum. Meanwhile Tiffany and Michelle saw a bit and then walked around outside. If I did it again and had as little time as we did, I would have jumped right to the fourth and fifth floors. That is where the famous stuff is, the stuff that makes a bit more sense to me, but it was still pretty cool to see some of the crazy stuff that is there. The one that stands out the most to me is a lady kept all of her hair, skin and nail clippings for years, put them in honey jars and then when she died left them to the museum. Crazy.

Doing the audio tour at the MOMA.

At the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in front of an Andy Warhol.

A Jackson Pollock. Truly cannot be appreciated until you are inches away. So awesome.

van Gogh's Starry Night.

From the MoMA we headed for lunch. While Tiffany and Michelle where wondering outside the MoMA they found a wonderful little restaurant that they then attempted to lead us to. We walked around the block once and realised we could not find it. So we hoped on a bus to take us towards our next stop the spa and found a restaurant near by. The place was another brewery, but this time in the basement of a building beside the Empire State Building. 

It started off great with a tour of beer (samples of six different beers), and a great looking menu, but quickly headed south. We ordered and were sitting talking, when I notice something on the booths wall behind Tiffany. I watch it for a bit and then it starts to move. I get the girls attention and we all notice it, and the conclusion, it is a cockroach. Now I had only seen them in movies prior to this. A part of me didn't really think they existed, but they do, and I have never been so disgusted in my entire life. That is probably a lie, but I honestly felt like I was going to be sick because of it. At that moment our food arrived. I could not eat. I was still completely freaking out. Tiffany shares that she had seen another when she went to the bathroom, but thought I would have the reaction I did, so she didn't want to say anything. We told the waiter and they brought the manager, who explained it was because of the construction they were coming out. The reasoning didn't make me feel any better, but with our food already here, and only twenty minutes before we had to be down the street at our spa appointments, we figured we would give it a try. I tried so hard to eat my salad. I finished maybe a quarter, and then saw another on the floor beside me. I called it quits. It just made the fantastic dinner we had that much better.

A tour of beer at lunch.

The spa was an experience in and of itself. We thought we were getting a good deal. The list of items was awesome, and the fact that it was only 25$ was like icing on the cake. That was so not the case however. For being some new up and coming place with a famous head stylist who charged $500 for a hair cut, I expected more, much more. I was glad I did not let her touch my hair with scissors and others who did, had to have it fixed when we got home. So this day we did cut, wash, condition and blow dry. The card said style, but we were told even if we wanted it just straightened it was an extra $30 minimum. I was not impressed. My hair simply blow dried is not happy. This is when we realised it was very much so a money grab. I was lucky and had a girl who did not try and sell me anything. The others not so much, as their stylists pushed products and extra services like crazy.

Waiting at the spa.

From the spa we took the subway to Chinatown where we shopped in the rain and bartered for some pretty awesome deals. None of us expected to come away with quit so much and by the end we each had a bag full of everything from scarves and sunglasses to electronics. We ate dinner in Little Italy which was hands down my favourite meal and a wonderful experience. We sat on a little patio at a restaurant that was at an intersection with restaurants on each corner. After we were sitting for about 15 minutes the setting changed completely. The street closed to cars, the patio barriers moved to include the side walk and tables, chairs, trees and potted plants came out of no where. All of the restaurants started expanding their patios and the area really came to life. It was a fantastic setting to have a delicious meal. 

Tiffany and her meal.

Amanda and her meal.

Thankful that the rain had stopped for dinner. Yumm.

From dinner we headed back to the the subway and up towards the theater for Wicked. We had some time to kill before the performance, so we super quickly hit up FAO Schwarz. It was on my must see list and honestly after visiting it, I am so thankful that I dragged the others there. It was huge and over the top and fantastic. I loved everything about it.

Those containers are full of jelly beans, so you can picture how huge the boxed candies are and the princess statue. 

Here you could get your own Muppet made to your specifications. Kind of awesome, but also super expensive.

The piano from big.

They had toy soldiers opening the door and greeting people. He was awesome at his job.

From FAO Schwarz we took a cab (due to the rain), to the theater for Wicked. We got the cheapest seats in the theater to make it somewhat affordable and it was a great decision. The seats were wonderful and the show was great. It was very different than I anticipated, but it was fantastic and shockingly hilarious. I am so glad that we indulged in seeing a Broadway show.

Wicked was awesome.

Such a great end to a wonderful day.