Autumn in New York

I've been lucky enough to have visited New York City four times. Four times in four years. Every time I visit I'm just as excited as the first time I was there. I feel like I'm growing more and more comfortable and familiar with the city.

It's such a change to go from a small town to one of the biggest cities in the world, but I think I fit in quite well. :) I've heard a lot of people say they couldn't live in the city, but I think I could for a couple of months while I went to school. Then I would have to move because I couldn't afford it.

I love the hustle and bustle of New York. I love how sleek and sophisticated everyone looks. I love the culture. But what I mostly love is the food.

Oh, the food. If you love cooking, New York is the place to be. I was there for six days and I felt like I learned so much. There is all kinds of street food, so many different ethnic restaurants and markets, and the fresh produce is unbelievable. Fresh figs, fresh olives, orange cauliflower, passion fruit, maitake mushrooms - you name it. It drove me crazy because I wanted to buy everything up and start cooking and baking with it.

My mom and I stayed at a hotel close to Chelsea Market. It was very dark there, and at times we had trouble seeing our way through the hallways.

This is a view from our window:

This is our hotel room. It had a nautical theme and made us feel like we were in a cruise ship.


This is our tiny bed. I loooooved sharing a bed. Fact: my mom snores.


We spent a lot of time in Chelsea Market, which has restaurants, bakeries and shops. My favorite shops were the gourmet Italian food store and the Manhattan Fruit Exchange.

This is inside the fruit exchange:















There was a gelato place in the market that was SO good. Mmmm I could go for some right now. They had many different flavors.


I bought this to share with my mom:


Pistachio, chocolate, and tiramisu gelato. I think the chocolate was hiding.



When we weren't shopping for purses in Chinatown, we spent a lot of our time walking through (one day we walked from the west side of 79th Street to east 13th!) and admiring the city, and spending time in Central Park.


Senior pictures:


Let's wrap this post up with some food... pizza, to be exact. New York pizza! There's nothing else like it. Last time we went to John's on Bleeker Street, but this time we met my aunt and uncle at John's in the Times Square area, and it was just as fantastic.


I wanted to try Lombardi's Pizza, and so we did! It's supposed to be the first pizzeria in America, and also one of the best.



We ordered a white pizza (because I've never had one and wanted to give it a try), consisting of mozzarella and ricotta cheese, garlic and basil. It was pretty plain and simple, but it was really, really good. Probably the best pizza I've ever had - especially the crust.


Okay that's all for now. I have four more New York posts - a bakery tour for each one!