my top ten new york highlights

10. foods of ny's chinatown food & culture tour (not just for the food...but wow...the food was GoOOoooOOoD!) i learned more about the history of chinatown in 3 hours with our guide rajim than i have in 20 years of (sporadic) visiting on my own!


9. visiting the american folk art museum for the women only exhibition, and finding we'd serendipitously landed at henry darger headquarters ...a month after seeing the film "in the realms of the unreal".


8. the victorian collage display, playing with pictures, at the metropolitan museum of art. (my favorite museum in the world...maybe my favorite place in the world?!)


7. the view from the rather glorious top of the rock observation deck at rockefeller center...the sheer awesomeness of being there at night...the fact that we went on the spur of the moment and somehow avoided all the crowds & lines...the nice girl who took our photo...the guy with the i-phone who showed us mars and venus and some of the constellations.


6. staten island bryan ferry! it's easy...it's efficient...you cannot BEAT the views of the harbor...and wouldja believe: it's FREE!!!

5. the holy trinity of divine sticky toffee pudding experiences in 3 different modalities (warm with custard, takeaway cupcake, and a tin for home) at tea and sympathy. yum. (YUM!!!)

4. the 1920's paris photographs at international center for photography... (where, ironically, visitor photography is prohibited) ...and the 1920's paris paintings at the guggenheim...and the fact that we saw them--with no knowledge or pre-planning--on consecutive days.


3. the "scavenger hunt" for menus and postcards and brochures and cool packaging to make a travel book...and watching it come together a bit more every night


2. sitting outside the hotel on our last night, just hanging out and watching new york happen before us, in the cool air and the fading sunshine of yet another beautiful spring day.


1. spending 5 days with someone who doesn't think it's weird that fine art, sushi menus and manhole covers...amongst other randomness... make me think of cards!!! (PRICELESS!!!)

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eta tuesday morning: i was so tired when i set this up last night that i forgot to mention my eleventh favorite nyc thing: the awesome summaries the divine stephanie has been posting for each day of our trip! not only are they MUCH more logical than my ramblings, she has more--and better--photos, as well! (check out day 1, day 2, day 3) thanks, stef! ♥ (i did get my pics, such as they are, uploaded into a webshots album, finally.)