new york: day two

So, we stayed on the 28th floor and it was literally the weirdest thing being up that high. The elevators (left) were glass on the walls, so you could just like, watch yourself shoot into space. It was crazy. But also very joyful.

Our first subway ride went very well! We actually didn't get lost at all the whole time. We were definitely glued to our map app and a subway map the whole trip, but it paid off pretty well in the end! 

So, I didn't really know where to go to eat and what to do. However, luckily Love, Taza just posted some guides to New York. So, we mostly went to places that were on her list. There are so many places to eat, we wanted to make sure we were only eating the best! 

I got a plain bagel with blueberry cream cheese and Jake got a plain bagel with dried tomato cream cheese (I know!). They were pretty good! I'm not sure if I could say they were the best in the world, but it was a nice cheap breakfast before we headed off to bigger and better things, haha. We gave it 7 stars. 

Also, I've decided that in New York it's impossible to not get strangers in your photos, so pardon the creepers in the backgrounds of most of these.

After breakfast, we started walking uptown to Columbia University (my dream grad school, cross your fingers) and we happened upon this!!! Jake's not a super fan of Seinfeld. In fact, I'm not sure he's seen more than one or two episodes, but OMG I LOVE SEINFELD. I was so pleased. I love when movie/tv show places are real. I'm still partially bawling that Central Perk is fake, but seeing Tom's Restaurant was so cool! 

We went to Columbia, but apparently there was graduation going on. So, I didn't get a lot of the pictures I wanted to get. (Well, that and the fact that I had never formatted my memory card in like, four years, so it was only able to hold like 9 photos and I didn't understand what the heck was going on. So, I had to use my iPhone for a lot of these, and that makes me cringe at life.)

We pretty much just walked around and explored. There was a really cool old church (catholic?) that we went into for a while. I have to laugh at the left photo below, because it's just so majestic. It's like the heavens themselves are descending upon us. Haha. Good coincidence I guess.

We walked over to Morningside park and looked out at the city. Gosh dang! I would love to have a view like that everyday.

After killing some time watching small children play small children sports, we popped into Shake Shack to get a bite to eat. I really wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was. The line was really long, and we almost went somewhere else. But, then we concluded that a long line was actually probably a good sign, so we stuck around. (Lol at the old guy in the photo below.)

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but I love food. It is literally one of my favorite things to do (if not my very favorite) when I travel. I got this DELICIOUS portobello mushroom burger and I don't think my life will be the same. Typically restaurants either have a Gardenburger or a portobello mushroom burger. Usually the mushrooms are just like straight up, and it makes me feel weird about things, so I usually don't get them. However, this one was like filled!! I don't even know how they did it, but it was miraculous. It was filled with munster and cheddar cheese, and then it had tomatoes, lettuce, and shack sauce. I die. 

Oh, and also the fries were like, the best ever. They were seriously so good. And the shakes, too! I really don't even like shakes. Like, I've probably avoided shakes for a good ten years, just because I think they are disgusting. Who wants to drink ice cream? Not me. BUT, these shakes were sent from the Gods. They were like the perfect consistency. It wasn't too thick that you have to eat it with a spoon, but it wasn't too thin that you feel like you're drinking melted ice cream. Like, they were literally sooooo perfect.

I obviously didn't taste the hamburger, but Jake said it was really good. He said he could taste that it was fresh and not frozen. So, basically we love Shake Shack, and rate it 9.5 stars, and cried ourselves to sleep every night because there isn't one even close to Utah.

We headed back to the hotel to meet up with the rest of Jake's family and then went to a Yankee's game! I had never been to a baseball game before, so it was pretty fun. I asked like a thousand questions, but I now understand one more sport, so applause.

After the game we were all sort of hungry. So, we went to Shake Shack again... haha I wish I was kidding. But, at least this time we took the rest of the family so it was a sort of excuse. I got a chocolate cheesecake shake and was pulled into heaven right then and there. But, the fries were different? Like noticeably so. Like, the fries the first time were thin and straight and the fries the second time were thick and wavy? So, whatever that's about. They were still good, but it is an X-file.

It was pretty late by the time we got back to the hotel, so we just chilled down and watched the old Spiderman with Toby Maguire. It's weird how a movie made only 10 years ago can look so dumb with it's special effects. We were seriously laughing at how fake and rigid everything looked. It makes me feel weird to imagine what movies are going to be like in 30 years, ya know? Gosh I wonder if it's going to be like that book where you can just get sucked into paintings, so like you'll go to the movie theatre and just get sucked into the movie and like observe everything first hand. 

Kidding, but really.

Also, I feel it's important to note that at the end of day one I wasn't sure if I could live in New York ever, but then after day two I was pretty sure I could live there and be completely fine. At least for two years at Columbia... 

XOXO

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