We took the DC2NY bus from Union Station (extremely easy and inexpensive: only $30/person round-trip and you get free wifi on the bus!). We left on a Monday morning and arrived 4 short hours later at Penn Station, NYC. We walked the few blocks to our hotel: Herald Square Hotel. We were very, very happy with our hotel choice. We were a couple of blocks south of the Empire State Building in the perfect location for everything we wanted to see and do. The room was newly remodeled and comfortable; we even had 2 chandeliers: one in the bedroom and one in the BATHROOM! So cool.
After putting away our stuff and getting settled, Carlos and I set out to find a snack before dinner. We meandered our way to Doughnut Plant. We thoroughly enjoyed our hot chais and doughnuts (I had a matcha green tea cake doughnut and Carlos had a pineapple glazed doughnut).
After our snack, we walked around the Flatiron district and stumbled upon Eataly, an Italian gourmet food marketplace run by the famous Mario Batali. This place was huge and full of delicious-looking vegetables, cheeses, meats, and pasta! We would return on our final night to enjoy dinner here.
From there, we wandered south towards our dinner choice for the evening: Ippudo. This is an authentic Japanese ramen place that I found and it did not disappoint! We arrived right after they had opened at 5 pm and there was already a huge line out the door, uh-oh. We waited only a couple of minutes and were seated very quickly at a little communal table. Carlos and I both ordered huge bowls of ramen and it was so good--probably the best ramen I have ever had! I would definitely return to Ippudo again. It was a really cute place (the bar was glass with ramen bricks underneath!) with extremely tasty food.
We were beyond stuffed at this point so we walked over to the Strand Bookstore to browse. It reminded me of Powell's Books in Portland, OR: tons of new and used books lined the bookshelves of this 4-level store.
From there, we visited a nearby comic store on our way to Times Square to see the lights there at night. One noticeable thing about NYC is that there are people everywhere, all of the time. DC streets feel like a vacant parking lot compared to the hustle and bustle of New York! We took some pictures and Carlos ate some meat on a stick (his dessert) while we wandered around and enjoyed everything.
From there, we walked back to our hotel and turned in for the night. Tomorrow was our day to visit the American Museum of Natural History!
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