Here is part II and we actually did so much these last two days that there could be many more parts, but I will summarize!
Saturday we shopped again, but this time it was warm, well, relatively speaking. It was near 50 and it felt like a heat wave after Friday. Instead of the "regular" shops that the "meek" go to, Malea and I headed into Chinatown. We hopped the subway like old pros and that is such a great way to maneuver the city!
Now I like to think of myself as bit seasoned in this part of town--I feel confident in the black market browsing and the odd sights... but this trip was definitely different than any other time I have been there. First off, Chinatown is an interesting area of the city. Here is some tidbits of this area" in case you have never been: As you head uptown on Broadway past the eclectic Greenwich and shopping mecca Soho, you approach Canal Street. This is the main road in Chinatown and as with every distinct section that the city has, Chinatown has a much different feel and look than its surrounding neighborhoods. Its the largest population of Chinese in the world outside of China. We didn't come to Chinatown just to browse... Malea came with a want list of purses for her friends and family. These aren't just any purses--but the sweet knockoffs that I think make up most of the purses you see people carrying around the city. We were ushered into the normal hidden back rooms of shops, but we also were taken into the bowels of the area, walking for what felt like forever through the most authentic parts of Chinatown including bamboo merchants, little flea market shops that sell pretty much everything you would ever want--and a lot that you don't and very authentic food markets (read:smelly fish and butcher shops) and the scents that escaped from these shops were not always the most pleasant (Poor Malea, being 4 mo pregnant the smells didn't do her any favors in this part of the city--especially when we came across a slightly sour smelling barrel of live large frogs for sale. See pic). All in all, it was a successful shopping day in Chinatown. Right up there with the purses, the HUGE bag of slightly damaged Fortune Cookies that Malea bought for $2 was quite the deal. We closed out the day with a nice lunch at Vincent's in neighboring Little Italy and then headed home.
Sunday Tom drove us into the city and dropped us right in Times Square. It was near 60 and we were so happy to be warm. We did some shopping but mostly sight seeing at Bryant Park, Union Square and Strand Bookstore. The highlight of the day though was Madame Toussards Wax museum. We had a great time laughing and posing and I have posted some of the least embarrassing pics.
We had a wonderful time and Malea really lucked out with the weather! It was great to visit with her and nice to have a couple days off from work!
I attached some pics. Malea with Oprah, the Rock and getting ready to catch F train at Bryant Park. Chinatown and the frogs. Me cooking something up with Rachel Ray and then hanging with Bono. Even in wax, he is just cool.
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