New York City with my Girlie, Day Two: Thursday, December 8, 2016

I woke on this day to the soft sound of H singing 'Happy Birthday!' to me, her sweet voice backed up by the bustling noise of New York City waking up as well. A stream of messages from friends and family, as well as a long-distance birthday serenade sent across the miles, marked this day as extra-special, too, and we eagerly got ready and headed out to our planned breakfast spot. I was very excited to take H to 'Le Pain Quotidien', my absolutely favourite place to enjoy the first meal of the day in New York City. The restaurant's French name means "the daily bread" in English, and speaks to the simple traditions and handmade goods that are the foundation of both their menu and philosophy. H seemed as taken with the spot as I've always been, and she chose the waffles with berries while I had the avocado and hard-boiled egg on toast. As we savoured our breakfast and planned for the day ahead, I smiled as thoughts of M and my dear friend S came to mind, people with whom I've also shared memorable mornings at this special spot during previous visits.

Walking towards Times Square, we passed Trump Tower and got caught up in the huge crowd of onlookers milling about across the street from this flashy and blinged-out building erected by the U.S.'s not-so-humble President Elect. A constant media scrum now occupies part of the street, and we watched as several reporters took turns speaking into a rolling camera with the building that somehow looks like a pair of baby's first shoes bronzed for posterity as their backdrop. There were also several protesters hanging out alongside the barricades holding up placards with such words as "Dump Trump" scrawled across them. 

Times Square, with its indescribable bustle and lights, always makes me slightly uncomfortable. The famous commercial intersection in Midtown Manhattan is, admittedly, not my favourite area of New York, yet it is a must-see and had us craning our necks upwards as we took in the countless billboards and buildings towering around us. A fun foray into the M & M Store, featuring three levels of candy-coated chocolate and candy-inspired merchandise, as well as a peek into the festive Disney store gave us enough of a taste for shopping in this commercial mecca. No, big shoppers we are not!

Is there such a thing as too much choice?!!

 

Times Square

Escaping the intensity of Times Square, we walked on to get to Bryant Park, a lovely breath of fresh air located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and between 40th and 42nd Streets. As I recalled from my last trip to the city, another Christmas Market was set up in this square surrounding the ice rink that the park is also home to. We stopped for a snack break, which also included macarons that we were happy to find at a stall in this Market as well. As we wandered through the festive aisles of huts, we came upon an open space where a rather large group of people of all ages were engaged in various degrees of juggling. As in, some were experts and others were obviously just learning how, balls and pins flying around the area. H and I had fun tossing some balls around, and got some great tips and direction from some incredibly kind folks who were just out on their lunch break enjoying their community and engaging with people happily as they joined in. I was deemed to have a "freakishly natural knack" for juggling, but I know it was my Dad's lessons from way back in the day when I was a wee carnie wannabe that I had to thank for it!

The beautiful tree at Bryant Park.

Learning to juggle in Bryant Park.

Day Two's macaron selections: Tropical Mango and Nutella.

A symbolic street on this birthday :)

Our next destination was the American Museum of Natural History, another attraction on our City Pass. As it's located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, like our hotel, we were able to stop in at the 'Y' to drop off some of our things before continuing up to this amazing museum - one of the world's largest - which houses 45 permanent exhibition halls as well as a planetarium and library. We saw countless specimens and human cultural artifacts, and also watched the IMAX film, "Wonders of the Arctic," a beautiful chronicling of the "story of survival in one of the most unforgiving environments on Earth: the frozen wilderness at the top of the world." And of course we couldn't help but make many connections to the movie, "Night at the Museum", the 2006 fantasy-comedy starring Ben Stiller, set in the museum. Our visit's final mission, begun after the announcement stating that the museum was soon closing, was to find the Easter Island Moai who loved chewing gum in the film and referred to Stiller's character as "Dum-Dum". We were literally racing through the corridors and galleries when we triumphantly reached him!

The American Museum of Natural History.

 

Blurry proof that we did, indeed, reach the gum-loving Moai before closing time!

Darkness had descended when we emerged from the museum, and we spontaneously caught a yellow cab out front and gave Little Italy as our destination. Our dinner plans were taking shape! Once again, we lucked out with a fantastic driver. Upon telling him that we wanted to go to Little Italy, he replied, "You fed your eyes, now you feed your belly!" We talked phones, and he knew that the Blackberry had been invented in our country when he found out we were from Canada. He thought it was incredibly cool that we were from the very city where it had been invented! He also pointed out the Dakota building, John Lennon's home and the place where he'd been shot. He wondered aloud why so many people were at the location right then, a question I was actually able to answer, as my birthdate is shared with the tragic date of Lennon's death. Our easy conversation continued as we slowly but surely made our way through the rush-hour traffic of the city. He pointed out NYU, and shared personal stories of his three daughters, asking about the rest of our family, too. H was beginning to fade as we neared Little Italy, and our driver exclaimed to her, "Don't sleep. Don't yawn. There is a pasta waiting for you!" Indeed there was, and we enjoyed it at "Capri", which beckoned us with its warm lighting, delicious-looking menu and convincing doorman who ushered us in out of the cold of the New York evening. After our tasty lasagna and cheese ravioli, we walked just half a block to my favourite spot in the neighbourhood: Cafe Ferrara, NYC's famous Italian bakery which dates its origins to 1892. Hot chocolate and tea warmed us through and through, and tasty desserts topped off our night perfectly.

We walked out into the chill night air together and strolled arm-in-arm to a nearby subway stop, which we took back to Columbus Circle and our home-away-from-home in New York. While I certainly missed seeing some of my other loves, this was with no doubt a most memorable birthday shared with my darlin' girl, H!

My wonders: Have you ever been to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, or to another city's museum of natural history, and if so, what were some of your visit's highlights? Are there favourite cafes or restaurants that you look forward to visiting in various cities? Please share your tips in case I'm ever able to visit those locations! :)