I HEART New York

If you ask me to try and describe NYC, my personally held stereotype of this city is one of being overcrowded, unmanagably large and overwhelming. But everytime I come here, these adjectives are completely dispelled. The city is completely walkable, the overwhelming aspect is actually a chance for discovery and there are all these nooks and crannies of privacy and quiet in the city that appear seemingly out of no where.

Transportation in and out of the city, is also quite easy. I took the train up from DC and it took three hours and dropped me off right in Manhattan at Penn Station. From there, I took a cab up to 61st and Madison to have lunch with my dear friend Jennifer C.

Insert picture of Ernie and Jennifer here (it is MIA because my camera is testing my will and not focusing, instead giving me pictures of blobs the resemble my friends and I)

I'll be giving you a meal by meal description of my two days in NYC. Jennifer and I had sushi at a restaurant in Midtown. Jennifer and I met 14 (yes 14) summers ago on the famed "Love Boat". Afterwards, I went to her office to hang with her and met a person who works in her office that at one time worked for Enron. I got one of his cards, it might be worth something on Ebay someday.

I spent the afternoon in midtown and down in the West Village. I then met up with a former Lawrenceville student, Marta HB.

Insert picture of Marta here

She is starting her masters at NYU and has just moved into a great little place on West 4th Street in Greenwich Village. We walked over to the East Village to Little India (East 6th Street, thank you Nora B) for food. Marta is a "starving" graduate student and so I felt like a Dad taking his little girl out to eat. On our way home, I channelled Sue Chen, as I saw some discarded chairs on the sidewalk and picked them up and brought them to Marta's apartment for the entire collection of Marta's furniture is an air mattress.

This morning, Marta and I walked out into the Village looking for something to eat. The great thing about NYC is that even though we really didn't know what we wanted, we knew that if we pointed ourselved in the right direction, we would find something. And there it was, Tartine, a French Bakery, and there was breakfast.

Marta and I went our separate ways and I met up with Jose (the missing member of the Sex and the City group I am friends with). Jose moved to NYC back in April and is loving it, and making the requisite adjustments. Lunch was eaten at a small hole in the wall Cuban restaurant on 8th Avenue. Remember, conversation topics between SATC members is to remain amongst members, but let's just say some dishing was going ON. Afterwards, Jose and I talked our way into getting a tour at the new Chelsea Piers gym by claiming we were transplants to NYC and were looking for a gym. I think the woman who gave us the tour say through our rouse. Afterwards, we walked along the Hudson River and watched the "scenery" go by and sat along the benches. The entire day has been done on foot, no wheeled transportation as of yet. I think this is why I don't really see many obese people in NYC, everyone walks.

Right now, I am on Canal Street, awaiting my friend Ian M. who is going to take me to his favorite Vietnamese Restaurant. Following dinner, I will trek to Brooklyn Heights and stay with my Cornell friend Peter S.

Granted, I am seeing friends back to back to back and therefore being entertained constantly, but the city itself is invigorating and fascinating. I heart NYC..........