What is this ridiculous weather?! Today was definitely the coldest day since we’ve been here. The minimum was -8 and the max was -2. Needless to say, the objective was to stay indoors as much as possible.
We met up with Matty at Columbus circle and walked through Central Park for part of the morning. We visited main spots and I felt like a tour guide. Bethesda, the literary walk (I think it’s called.. Not a very good tour guide, clearly), Belvedere castle and the boathouse. I wanted to go to the zoo but it was getting colder and colder so we went in search of something warm before entering the museum of natural history.
After the soup, we went in and spent around 6 hours in there. It is huge! We started in the planetarium and went upwards, took a break at level 2 and had lunch at a mexican place called Cafe Frida. It was delicious even though the service wasn’t great. We saw the biodiversity wing, the marine life wing (which really, let’s be honest, is more like a menu at a seafood restaurant), American forrests and so many more. All I really wanted to see were the dinosaurs!
And there it was! Dinosaur bones! I got a little snap happy but the T Rex was so cool. The museum fatigue kicked in and after a fun visit to the museum shop (we all want an inflatable, remote control, helium flying shark.. YouTube it. You’ll start to make reasons up about why one is necessary for life) we braved the cold and made our way home.
My hands and face felt like they were going to fall off. No joke, it hurt to move or make expressions because it felt like everything had turned to ice and I was cracking the ice. It was painful. But worth it because S and I decided to go and catch a broadway show. Matty went his separate way and we were off to Times Square, which by the way has cleaned up nicely. Even on the night of new years, you could see how efficient they are with crowd control and the clean up afterwards. You’d hope they would be after how many years of doing it.
If you’re going to watch shows on Broadway but you’re not too fussed which show or what day or which seats, go and line up at TKTS. You can get tickets that are 50% off which is what we did and we lined up at about 5pm-ish. The line wasn’t too long either! I had the suggestion to go and see Memphis (2010 Tony for best musical) and there it was – 7pm show at 50% off. We got two tickets for $140 and we were in row J. So awesome! We were more towards the side so some of the stage was cut off but for the price we paid, it was amazing.
Memphis is fantastic. It’s funny, it’s emotional, it’s eye opening. The talent was amazing. The story is a bit like a grown up version of Hairspray set in the 50s during the era of segregation. The music went from upbeat to full of depth and emotion. We can see why it won the best musical award. We decided to go and see another musical the next night. Either The Lion King, Phantom of the Opera, Chicago or How to Succeed in Business. I’ve seen two of those already but I’m happy to see any of them. I love musical theatre (insert me swirling red wine).
Before the show, we went to eat at Bubba Gump, the restaurant based on Forrest Gump’s shrimping business. I was dubious at first because it is a tourist trap and I only wanted to try it to say I’ve tried it. It ended up being really good! The pastas were awesome and their cocktails were delicious. I finished my pasta and the leftover of the pasta S ordered. I was stuffed but it was worth it.
We got back to the hostel but really didn’t feel like going to bed plus having four other dormers makes us a bit uncomfortable. So we went on a bit of a bar hop in the freezing cold. We went to a rooftop bar (230 on fifth) near our place with an unbelievable view. The empire state building was smack bam in our line of sight and the Chrysler just to the side. The city skyline was beautiful. If the drinks weren’t so expensive and the wait staff not so shithouse, we would have stayed. It was a good place to chill and have a chat.
We went to an Irish pub next which was a bit of a walk away. Watched some football and basketball before deciding to go elsewhere. At this point conversation started to pick up but no bars to go to! I guess it was a Tuesday night so we sat in our hostel lobby and chatted away.
We got to bed at 2am and I was up thinking about how to make the most of the rest of this trip. Do we see more sights? Do we just explore on our own? Do we spend time with the people we know here? Do we spend time with just each other? I don’t want to go home but I probably should make the rest of the time count. Wow this is depressing. Can someone find me a job here??? Heh!
