A cold day and a travel buddy meet up!

So I've been wanting to go to Serendipity 3 for a while... since I saw the movie Serendipity and saw Kate Bekinsale and John Cusak sharing a moment at the cafe eating a frozen hot chocolate, what looked like the most decident dessert I've ever seen. It took me 7 trips to New York City since that moment and Brandon thought that Frozen Hot Chocolate sounded disguisting and asked me if I thought I might be over exciting myself... I said yes, I quite possibly could be. But we went in there... this time it wasn't a long wait at all... like 5 minutes--I had a chance to go one other time and the wait was an hour and 20 minutes so I had to back out... so note to self if you go, if the weather isn't 5 degrees F outside then make reservations! But biting into that first spoonful was like kissing the man of your dreams for the first time... that anticipation and build up did not let me down! Brandon ended up getting regular chocolate cake and ended up dissapointed; which is good because the goblet full of frozen hot chocolate needs to be split by 2 people!

Cheap New York Know How:

1.) Subway pass... get an all day pass and Utilize it... the subway looks intimidating but is actually pretty easy to learn. Also go to www.hopstop.com if you want to map out your trip before hand on where you want to go. It will tell you what train to take, where to board and what transfers to do along with telling you how to walk to the rest of your destination... it's like mapquest for non car drivers! Also, don't take a TAXI... it's too much money!

2.) Food: Sure some places can be expensive... see my blog on my $21 hamburger or my other one on my $7.25 Miller lite beer... but there are places that are cheap... avoid places that are familiar... like McDonald's, the prices here are alot higher than the rest of the country and the food isn't too good for you. One of my favorite places to go to is the Market at Union Square on 14th street(you can get there from the N, Q, R, 1, 2, 3 and countless other stops)... but there are vendors who sell cheap fruit (apples, bananas, and such), bread and soup... but watch out they are only open on Monday, Wednesday, friday and Saturday. And are open all day long. The other place I found that I like is a Vegan Thai place called Pukk (71 first Avenue: between 4th and 5th street---I have a blog on it in my July 2007 trip) which costs $6 a meal and it's very filling and if you didn't know it was Vegan you would think you were actually eating real meat! Also, there's a place called Alpha Donuts off of Bliss Street in Queens... it's off of the 7 train, I believe.... It's less of a tourist trap and is cheaper. Oh also there's a Street Vendor on 59th street (I believe or it could be 57th...) but one block down from 5th avenue! And let me tell you these are the BEST Gyros I have ever had. I look forward to going there everytime I'm in NYC... I just walk around the block until I see the gyro stand instead of the hotdog stand... it's $5 for a gyro and coke. The funny thing was is on my greyhound bus trip back from Chicago a girl from Germany was sitting next to me and she was going to NYC. I was giving her pointers and I was trying to figure out the street and the guy infront of me turns around and says the street name (I really think it's 59th)... but if 2 people on the same greyhound know this vendor then he's good... and as my friend in NYC said... if you serve bad food in NYC then you're out of business in a couple of weeks so no place is really a bad place! There's too much competition! And if all else fails you can always go to get a slyder at white castle... for .56 cents a burger you can't get much cheaper than that!

3.) Lodging... when I go to NYC I stay with a friend in Brooklyn. I find that by bringing her beef jerky, cookies from where I am or just a gift card for a thank you it beats the expensive hotels. But one way to bypass that, if you don't have a friend there, is to stay in a hostel in Manhatten (they're like $60 a night or less) or stay in a hotel in New Jersey (like $70 a night)... where you can find cheap transportation to Manhatten.

4.) Activities: I found that going to see the statue of liberty is a pain in the butt to get the ticket ($25), stand in line for the fairy and stand in line to see the statue)... too time consuming and ehhh... but the Staten Island Ferry on South Ferry of Manhatten is Free. You get to enjoy the boat ride to staten Island and back (the right side of the boat going over and the left side coming back gives you a good view of the Statue of Liberty)... you don't get stuck with a crowd. If you want to go see a show on broadway you can go up to Times Square and wait for a vendor to sell them for cheap before the show... and some shows save seats to give away for cheap by a lottery process (this is how I went to see hairspray). You didn't get the best seats in the house but it's still a fun time and cheap! Friday nights at the Museum of Modern Arts (the MOMA) are free because of Target nights... so that's always fun! The night life is also fun... going out to the bars is a good time and I don't think I ever paid a cover charge... but liquor is cheaper than beer.

All in all I have figured out how to get a weekend getaway... i.e. 3 days and 4 nights, for $50 ($25 for subway fair and $25 for food and fun)... then that's when you have problems because you will just keep going back to the city... But like I heard the one time when I went to NYC I asked my friends and I told them it would be a cheap trip to NYC and they don't believe me (only my friend Brandon does and he loves tagging a long and driving for me).

But I hope this helps people who go! Also read up on my blogs because there's more information in the 3 that I've written!

So Grand Central Station (which was originally named Grand Central Terminal) is on the corner of 42nd Street and Park Ave and has 67 tracks for trains. It originally opened in 1871 but was shut down in 1902 after a steam engine collision. They tore it down to prepare for electric trains that would be more safe and it reopened in in 1913.

The ceiling was painted in 1912 by French artist Paul César Helleu to prepare for the 1913 regrand opening. He made to look like the night sky. It is said that it is painted backwards than what you would see if you looked up to the heavens. This is said that it's because it reflects a view of the sky in the Middle Ages.

The main concourse is always fun to look at and people watch. There are a lot of places to take pictures of... but if you get too close to the train platforms the workers will ask you to step back.

Over at one end of the concourse is a restaurant, called the Oyster Bar. I have never been there... but it looks trendy and expensive... but good! Also, down one of the corner tunnels is the New York Transit Museum. Here you will find history about the subway system along with a gift shop with some fun subway memorabilia of lip gloss and socks with the subway map on it, shirts, ties and mugs with train stops on it... games, and towels and key chains, etc.

Also, down a tunnel on the side of the concourse is a delicious pastry stop bakery...