-- 48 hours exploring the Big Apple and one day at MoMa --
Hello New York City!
This is where it all started. Explore the city that never sleeps together with us! It's gonna be a guide containing exploration of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, wandering the urban park the High line, vintage shopping in East Village and as always snacking of a lot of food and drinks!
Psst. Print the map a la 'mini guide' to have next to you when reading the blog to follow where our fav places are.
Day 1.
We are waking up at The Jane Hotel which is a very quaint hotel in West Village. The rooms look as ship cabins and are clean and nice. You can choose of having private bathroom or sharing very nice common ones. At the rooms there are complimentary courtesy The Jane water in nice bottles. There are not really any common areas which helps the hotel keeping the prices down despite the great location. The house accommodate the very popular bar The Ballroom at the Jane, a rooftop bar and the coffee shop Cafe Gitane.
The images of the Jane is of the Jane Hotels courtesy.
We are starting the day at Sullivan Street Bakery for breakfast and to pick up coffee at the Jolly Goat Coffee Bar, that is serving Stumptown coffee from Portland, at the same street. We are enjoying some savory pastries at the bench outside the bake shop. We absolutely love love love their Canotto!
It is time to explore the High Line! The High Line is an elevated freight rail line transformed into a public park on Manhattan's West Side. The project started in 2006 and in 2009 the first section opened to the public. We are choosing to walk from north to south planning to end up in Meatpacking district for lunch! Meanwhile wandering the lush path you will pass a lot of places to sit and enjoy the many nice views and stands where you can buy coffee, snacks and ice-cream.
We end up in Meatpacking district and it is time for lunch. We explore the lovely Chelsea Market where several really nice places for savoring good food are gathered under the same roof. We just love strolling around here to feel the ambience of all the people in motion. Try the Lobster Place, Ronnybrook Dairy or Friedmans.
If the weather is nice, let's head up to Le Bain for early afternoon drinks and breathtaking views over south Manhattan and even the Statue of Liberty. The rooftop bar is very cosy with a fake lawn and garden inspired furniture. There is even a crêpe stand up there! You'll find the bar at the roof of theThe Standard hotel.
We continue the day in hipster East Village. The Mecca of Vintage shopping. Stroll the streets between Ave B and 2nd Ave from 6th Street up to the 14th Street. We got really fond of Still House at 7th Street focusing on design and jewelry, Verameat at 9th Street that also carries jewelry but also a lot of things/clothes with cat prints (which is something that is the secret burden of one of us), Cloak & Dagger at 9th Street. To sum up, we mostly enjoyed the shops at 7th and 9th between 1st and 2nd Avenue. But there are absolutely cherries to pick in the surrounding blocks as well.
Before leaving the hipster area let's go for a coffee at el Rey Coffee bar and Luncheonette, a super quaint spot in Lower East Side. You can even have a beer or a glass of wine here. We love their snacks and lunch options. This is a must!
Today we are grabbing a little pre dinner at Oficina Latina. When you approach this joint you can imagine being in an alley in Mexico - it feels super authentic. The design is very laid back with surf boards hanging in the ceiling and odd chairs to sit on. Here we oder several smaller dishes to share. And why don't order a caipirinha or a margarita?
After some mexi feelings we enjoy dinner at Freemans, situated in the end of a small alley way connected to Rivington St. This is a hip hideaway restaurant and bar giving you the feeling of being in someones apartment with its several smaller rooms. The walls are covered with paintings and stuffed animals. A must is their hot artichoke dip.
Schillers Liquor bar will make a good ending of the day. This bustling cocktail bar is also an awesome brunch spot!
Day 2.
Take a walk on the wild side or take a walk over Williamsburg bridge - have a look at the stunning views and keep going until you reach this day's first stop. Breakfast at Rabbit Hole.
Breakfast is our favorite meal of the day, especially when you are on holiday or if it is a lazy Sunday. Rabbit Hole is a perfect start on a day exploring Williamsburg. We had one of the best Croque Madame we have had with some fruits and of course a lot of coffee to company the never ending morning chitchatting.
This day will be a lot about shopping in the neighborhood. We are focusing on vintage, design and chocolate. The blocks to make your way through is the blocks between Kent Avenue and Driggs Avenue between N 14th St and Williamsburg Bridge. There are great vintage shops everywhere, and also a lot of local designers and artists showing off their pieces. Some of our favorites are AWOKE Vintage, Ad Hoc (both in Greenpoint and in Williamsburg), Artists & Fleas, Swords Smith, Catbird, Joinery, Mociun, Amarcord Vintagde, Jumelle, Hickorees, the Kinfolk store, Brookfarm General store and Moon River Chattel. A must is also to visit where they make the delicious chocolate Mast Brothers and take a peek into the awesome Sketchbook project!
image borrowed from bkstyled
It is time to take a shopping pause and pop in at Maison Premiere which is an oyster house and a cocktail den. When we walk through the doors to this place, suddenly we are in another world from the past. We are handed a list with around 30 different varieties of oysters to choose from. If you happen to pop by between 4 - 7 pm, you will get 'buck a shuck' oysters.
Artists & Fleas is a market with different artist, designers and a lot of vintage items under one roof. Stroll around here for a bit, be amazed of crafted stuff as pretty jewelry. When in Williamsburg and being two beer lovers a stop at the Brooklyn Brewery is mandatory. Book a guided tour or just chill out in the tasting room.
We continue our main mission - to find good spots to hang out. Next door to Brooklyn Brewery is Wythe Hotel. At the hotel there is a very nice roof top bar. You can both sit indoor enjoying the views over the skyline of Manhattan or enjoying the time at the outdoor terrace overlooking both Manhattan and very nice views east. The Ideas bar was one of our absolute fav stops at our trip. With a well made cocktail in our hands we make plans for the night and decide to spend rest of the evening in another favorite area, the Greenwich Village.
Put a nice dress on, dinner tonight is at an Italian place where they specialize in risotto. Everything is gluten free. Risotteria have a wide variety of risottos to choose from. The choices stands between what rice to have, what broth and which of all the heavenly toppings.
If someone made us make the choice between sweet desert or cheese, we would say cheese without a thought, every time. Let's head to Murrays Cheese bar next door. It is a lively bar where they serve cheese high and low.
We love to find hidden gems, it is more of a sport that way. Little Branch is exactly that kind of a place. What you need to look for is a brown door at the corner of a house, nothing more than that. You knock on the door to be let in and down the stairs you find a super small but cosy jazz bar. Amazing. The cocktails here are to die for.
Day 3.
Rise and Shine! Let`s kickstart this lovely day with a little run in Central park. But the body do need breakfast (coffee!) before we do anything. We start of with a quick bite and a big coffee at Ground Support Café in Soho. We walk by and make a quick pitstop in a cute shoe store which also has a pop up gallery. Bucketfeet invite different artist to design the shoes which make them become one of a kind and very personal. We love the concept.
Central park is a really beautiful, green getaway and it feels good to hide from the buzz and big buildings for a while. After a walk in the park a la run we need some lunch.
No NYC visit without a really good burger. Say Hello to Burger Joint which is located in Le Parker Meridien building. It is a bit tricky to find the place but don't give up. It is worth the search for the yummy treats, and don't forget to order fries since fries is given a complete burger meal (and another secret burden of ours).
Let´s head to MoMA and look at some art. When going to MoMA ( Museum of Modern Art), plan your visit. You don`t want to pay a lot when you can get it for free. MoMA offers free admission every Friday evening from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Cha-Ching! Wandering MoMA for a couple of hours will be the last thing in NYC for now.
Going soon? Print our 'mini guide' including a map showing all our favorite spots:
Our best tips of what to bring home from NYC:
Mast Brothers Chocolate, Williamsburg
Do not forget to try the Vanilla & Smoke
mastbrothers.com
NYC prints
The High line
Up here you can find really good souvenirs. We fell in love with some awesome NYC prints.
NYC Subway Umbrella
MoMA Design Store
Local Jewelry
Artists & Fleas - Williamsburg & Chelsea market
Totes
For example Ace Hotel, Dean & Deluca, the Highline
Many shops, hotels & cafes sell good looking tote bags that you can re-use when you are back home.
One of our favorit souvenirs
NYC Pillow, Embroidered entirely by hand
American Folk Art Museum
http://www.catstudio.com/shop/pillows
Donut Map, NYC
Project No 8, Ace Hotel
What else do you need? A map showing where to find Donuts in NYC...
New York Yankees cap
Support the sports
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/nyy/ballpark/team_shop.jsp
