Springtime in New York City

Last month we decided to take a weekend trip up to New York City to visit our friends Alexis and Thomas. Paul had visited a couple of times for random events in the past few years, including a Sufjan Stevens musical and a Notre Dame football game, but David hadn't been since 2023. So we packed our bags and flew up to JFK late on a Thursday afternoon, and took the train into SoHo where we were staying with Alexis. We popped into a nearby Italian bar/restaurant for some late evening snacks and cocktails before calling it a night.

Friday we got up and got some coffee at Asano, met our friend Thomas, then took the subway to the Museum of Natural History. This museum recently expanded with a cavernous new hall and several new exhibits. We spent a few hours exploring this massive museum, which is a must-visit for anyone who likes museums.

NYC here we come!

They changed the metro map and it's terrible now.

The first, but not last of David's matcha experience in NYC.

The Pacific Northwest exhibit hall.

A skyline of crystals.

A great uncle of David's colleague painted this mural!

The Gilder Center addition.

The outside of the Gilder Center.

We then went to lunch at Chama Mama, a Georgian (the country) restaurant, walked around a bit and hung out at Thomas's apartment until dinner. We had reservations at Pranakhon, an over-the-top and delicious Thai restaurant. After dinner we grabbed some wine and chilled at Alexis's apartment that night.

A Georgian dips sampler platter at Chama Mama.

The delightful salad at Pranakhon.

View of Brooklyn from Thomas's apartment

Saturday morning we took the train across the east river for a day in Brooklyn. The weather was great - warm and sunny with a breeze. We got off the train near the Barclay's Center, and walked a couple of blocks to Greenpoint Park where we met Thomas and Petros. It was very lively, and we explored for a bit - walking through the street market adjacent to the park. 

After a bit we walked through the adjacent neighborhood admiring the brownstones and went to a bookstore before our brunch reservation at Miss Ada, a Mediterranean restaurant. We had a variety of hummuses, various fresh and pickled items, sandwiches and some non-alcoholic drinks. After, Thomas and Petros headed home for a bit, and Alexis and us caught the train to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. With the beautiful sunny weather and the emergence of cherry blossoms, this place was thronged with visitors. We walked around and enjoyed the Japanese garden

The Barclay's Center.

Downtown Brooklyn behind Greenpoint Park.

Lots of shareables for lunch.

Cherry blossoms floating on the breeze.

David and Alexis in the gardens.

Dramatic blossoms!

The Japanese gate in the pond.

Pretty!

Inside the desert dome. It was a million degrees in the greenhouses.

After finishing up at the garden, we took the train back to Manhattan, where we met up again with Thomas and Petros, and the five of us spent some time hanging out in the Lower East Side bar hopping. First, we stopped for a cocktail at Reception Bar, which does mostly Korean-inspired drinks with soju. We then tried to go to Attaboy, a highly rated cocktail bar, but were refused because one person in our party didn't have their physical ID on them. We're all in our 40s, so that was a little unexpected. We pivoted and walked toward the nearby "Double Chicken Please" but it had a line down the block. Finally, we found "StEight behind Kuniya Hair," a tiny little cocktail bar hidden behind an equally small beauty salon. It was atmospheric and the cocktails were Japanese-inspired. We accidentally went to two Asian cocktail bars!

After our bar excursions, we hopped the train back to SoHo and had pizza and wine at Alexis's apartment.

First cocktail - with soju.

Delightful drinks and company.

These two, not so much! ;)

Second cocktail, behind the hair salon.

David's strawberry matcha cocktail.

David got a calzone...thingy.

Sunday morning we started again at a coffee shop, this time at the Bedford Studio. We strolled around SoHo and then waited for Thomas and Petros to join us at Abingdon Square. From there we walked along the Hudson River Park. There were tons of people out and about because the weather was so great! After a while of strolling we popped by a small place for a quick lunch before heading back to Alexis's place, packing up and heading home!

View of New Jersey across the river.

Hanging out on the pier.

Paul and Thomas at lunch.