This trip report is fabuous! I don't want it to ever end, but I can't wait until the next installment! I'm taking my first NYC trip next month and I'm so excited after reading your adventures. Your Chinatown story had me in tears of laughter. And now I MUST go to Little Italy.
thanks. well, sorry, but it's coming to an end soon!
have fun in NYC next month!!! you'll have to come here and tell me all about it.
Loved this update! The Brooklyn bridge is sooo nice and I think its so cool you can walk over it although I never have, only driven. That's nice that they have the building locator thing still there with the twin towers on it but kind of eerie at the same time.
Chinatown is grosssss! I'm not a fan of it there either. I had a similar situation with a purse seller once in NYC. I saw a bag I liked (I'm a purse girl, still don't like Chinatown though LOL) so I asked the guy how much. He told me something like $75 so as I was about to put it down he's like "how much you want? how much you want?" I kept telling him my price would be wayyy too low and he kept insisting "how much you want? how much you want?" so finally I said 20 bucks. He snatched the purse out of my hand and started mumbling things and hiding the bag back in the big black garbage bag it came out of. I was like "see, i told you my price would be too low," and he just like waved me away. they're all nutso!
Little Italy on the other hand, I love too! The whole atmosphere is just like one big street festival, I love it especially at night. Another little anecdote here about city cab drivers. I once was in the city with 3 of my friends so we hail a cab and one friend had to sit in the front where she had a clear view of the driver driving with his left foot! They drive crazy enough as it is and this guy was driving with the wrong foot!
Ok, so now that I've taken over your thread with stories about myself, I'll stop.
Of course all the pictures are great as usual and the cab ones really had me laughing out loud
i guess i'm just too simple-minded because i'd rather spend an extra $10 and not have to stress about it! you should walk the bridge sometime. it's nothing spectacular but it's something cool to do! and you can do it in like half an hour. i can't believe that driver was using his left foot....weird!!!! don't worry - you can take over my TR any time with funny stories!
Ahh yes..Chinatown...my sister said she was ready to get out of there too! People kept trying to get their group to go to the back alley and look at purses with them too!
it was very scary!!! i don't think i've ever seen a purse i liked THAT much!
I am not too fond of Chinatown either. Little Italy is much nicer!
I have never walked the bridge, it's actually on our list of things to do this summer that we have never done in NYC.
BTW Anna was sitting on the steps of the building where my very good friend works!
let me know if you walk the bridge....love to hear what you think! i just think that bridge is so pretty. cool that anna was sitting on the steps of that building! i think we stopped there so brooke could take a call or something.
While I was looking at your Brooklyn Bridge pictures I kept thinking of that scene in Enchanted when Giselle and James Marsden are walking across it!
I am not a big fan of bridges so I probably would have been crawling across on my hands and knees by the end of it!
Chinatown!
Sorry the bargaining didn't go as planned.
That gelato in Little Italy looks delicious!!!
the misleading thing about seeing the bridge in the movies is that there are no hot dog or ice cream vendors on the bridge....only people selling water bottles for $1! so it's not quite as festive as it looks.
brooke said the gelato was very good!
Ooooh, we've never walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, it looks lovely! We considered it in January, but brrrr! We figured we'd turn into an icicle up there, and decided against it!
(Apart from Enchanted though, it also reminds me of Sex & The City, when Miranda and Steve meet on top of the Brooklyn Bridge. Awwww. And in Cloverfield, when Clover attacks them. Hehee.)
I've never been to Chinatown either! Now I see why!
Craziness! It made for a funny story though.
Looking forward to hearing about your twilight cruise!!
yeah, i don't think it would've been quite so fun in january!!!! i hate the cold so i doubt i would've done it then either. like i told jackie above, the bridge isn't quite as festive as in the movies. for some reason that steve/miranda scene sticks out to me, too, and it seemed wider and like there were places to sit and people selling ice cream or something, but it's not like that at all. it's neat though!
Am I the only person that actually likes Chinatown? And I'll admit, I have once or twice gone back with the little Asian women to get the "Coach" purse. The quality is usually better than what's in the shops. And actually, you don't go into a little alley, they usually have a store that's labelled as something else (I went into a "video repair" shop) but was closed. And yes, it's crowded, but you just need to be a bit aggressive.
As for getting kicked out, haggling is an art form, and you probably insulted the guy with the lowball price. Usually, you ask them what's hte best price they can give you for buying 2 bags, and go down from there. Did you get to try Bubble Tea in Chinatown? I love that stuff.
Little Italy is fun, it really is a giant street festival. I went there once during the San somebodyorother festival (really not good with the Italian stuff) and it was complete madness. But the best part was you couldn't walk 2 feet without being able to buy zeppolis.
it's just not for me. i don't like haggling. i don't like chaos. and i certainly don't like the idea of giving someone who yells at me my hard-earned money. it just seems like a little too much work for me when i can just go buy a purse from a store with a smile and no worries. but like i said before, i'm not much of a purse girl so i'm just not willing to go to the trouble. i understand it may be an art form but just because i don't do it well doesn't mean someone has to yell at me for it (like the purse nazi did). i guess i'm just used to the warmth and graciousness you get here in the south. we didn't try bubble tea....i think we just wanted to get the heck outta there after that guy yelled at us for trying to buy a purse!
OMG those cab pictures are hysterical!
At least you got to the pier on time, right?!
Love it!
I'm not a big fan of Chinatown either. I can't stand the crowds or the smell
And I'm not a big fan of knock-offs since, unfortunately, they're usually made by 8-year olds in central America. I loooooveeeee bags and accessories, but I'd also rather just buy something at Target. I don't care about labels to begin with
Loved this update! Can't wait to hear about the cruise. The NBC summer family get-together was always on the Spirit Cruise around the East River. There would be great food, music and an absolutely amazingly gorgeous view out over the skyline. Those nights were magical and bring back so many memories. I hope your cruise was just as fun!
PS - I HATTTEEEEEEEE when people come barging in somewhere without letting you out first. Where do they think they're gonna go if people can't get out to make room for them?!! It happens all the time in stores down at Disney and Universal and it drives me insane. People need to grow brains before they leave the house
i will admit that we were acting a TEENSY little bit in those pics!
i'm the same way about labels. i think half the stuff i see with big labels on is HIDEOUS! like louis vuitton....i think those purses are so ugly! (no offense to anyone who has one....i just don't like them.) those cruises you took sound like so much fun! as far as people trying to get into somewhere before you get out, my pet peeve is elevators. i usually have my ginormous case on wheels behind me and of course as soon as the doors open 15 people try to get on without letting me off with my big case first! drives me insane!!!
Chinatown is scary!!! The food is good though. My friend has gone in the alley to buy purses.....crazy!!! I love Little Italy. We used to go yearly to The Feast of San Genero (Don't know how to spell it). It was nuts, but fun! Never walked the Brooklyn Bridge either. My aunt is obsessed with that bridge and has tons of pictures of it in her house and walks across it almost daily. The cab ride pictures are hysterical!!! I looed like that whenever we drove in that city.
Didn't realize you live about 25 miles from here. Thought it was much farther away. I've lived her 5 years and I know nothing about this state!! I stay in about a 10 mile radius of my house at all times and never know the names of the streets.
we didn't have a chance to try any of the food besides those little donuts. your aunt walks across it daily? maybe i saw her. did she walk across it around 3:00 on memorial day?
i live up I-85, like right in between gainesville and athens. i don't want to name the town for creepy stalker reasons. but i'll just say i can get to the mall of georgia from my house in 25 minutes, so that can tell you kind of where i'm at.
You really did do everything on this trip - wow! The Brooklyn Bridge is really cool - we didn't walk all the way across though. I'm glad we didn't go to Chinatown, I wouldn't like that either.
Can't wait to see the cruise!
yeah, you didn't miss much in chinatown!! i just love that bridge....so pretty!
Hi Dawn!
I have been following along to this trip report in addition to your Christmas one and the one with Vandyfan.
I love to travel but am always nervous about visiting large cities, I have this fear of getting lost. This trip report makes me want to visit NY, the city itself and Central Park, such beautiful places. I am glad you decided to report on it!
hey, there! i hope you get to visit NYC someday. i'm not going to lie - it's easy to get lost. the good news is MOST people in NYC are very nice and willing to help you find your way. you just have to be aware of your surroundings to be safe. i'm sure you'd have a blast!
such a fun update to read!! crossing the bridge looked like fun--I have a skyline picture of the bridge and NYC at home too!!
thanks! it was a really cool thing to walk across it! now whenever i see it in pictures i can say, "i've stood right there!"
OMG!!! I have sat here with tears streaming down my face from your experience in Chinatown!!!! First of all, that guy was an idiot who called Brooke a slobbo! I don't have a clue what the heck that means!!
2nd, I would have done the same thing being protective towards him. Man, I love the fact that your outspoken! I am the only one out of my friends who will actually stand up for us when things happen.
I can't believe the guy who threw ya'll out of his store!! What the heck!!!! I have always heard that you can find some great deals, but it sounds to me like he wasn't having it! I would love to go to China town just one time!!!!! That would be it, because I don't haggle prices. I would have to make Chad or someone else do it. I just can't get the nerve!!
I love the Brooklyn Bridge pictures!
yeah, i have yet to figure out the slobbo thing! i'm not obnoxiously outspoken but people usually know what i think. ray is so mellow and passive so he hates it when i speak up. but what's so funny is if he's mad enough to speak up you better WATCH OUT because he's REALLY MAD!!!
with me i just sort of let you know whatever i'm thinking. i didn't like the price haggling. i guess i'm lazy!
i had no idea that the boat went out to get a closer view of her and i was so excited when i found out that's where we were headed! there are SO MANY things to do in new york and it's inevitable that you have to leave some things you want to do off your agenda. this was one we had to nix because we just didn't have time. but we were getting to see her up close anyway and we were all really thrilled about it!
