5 REASONS TO LOVE NEW YORK CITY

True, it’s been a while, but it’s been pretty busy around here.

First Boston, then NYC — and so I have so much to show you.

You see, last weekend we were in Concord with my sister and her family, and then this past Monday we headed into NYC.

We rented a great AirBnB  for three nights in the West Village

and came back to my sister’s house last night.

So while the memories are still fresh, I present to you:

5 Reasons to Love New York right now.

One. Greenwich Village.

I spent a good deal of time here as a teen, and thirty years later, I found that it still has so many charms — and things to see, do and eat.

I loved starting off our trip in Washington Square Park, and it wasn’t until this trip that I realized that it was a potter’s field, and thousands were once buried underneath (allegedly many still remain).

Nowaways, it’s filled with NYU students, and neighbors and people playing chess. I love the arch that takes it’s inspiration from L’Arc de Triomphe.

We were located just a few blocks off of Bleecker Street, and there were so many great places to check out.

I loved Murray’s Cheese shop

and a number of other places in this gourmet ghetto: bakeries, chocolate shops, butcher shops, great restaurants and so much more.

Susan Sarandon walked by me yesterday right near our apartment

and in NYC, celebrities are commonplace and are left mostly alone (we also saw Shia LaBoeuf in a hoody and sporting a killer scowl).

There are also loads of cute coffee shops here

and I fell in love with Joe, a tiny coffee shop a block from our apartment.

Next time, I’m going to buy a shirt from Saint James and cupcakes from Molly’s.

2. There are so many different kinds of frozen confections to try.

We are pretty spoiled with ice cream options in Portland, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t lots of intriguing options here, too.

Truth be told we had the above (Triple Chocolate Dove Bars) the first night with Eric Kayser cookies (more on that later) before we got our bearings, but we made up for lost time later.

Like by getting gelato at  L’Arte De Gelato in Chelsea Market (again, we’ll come back to this, too, later).

This gelato was incredible.

And for novelty, it’s hard to beat the offerings at 10 Below (we went to the Chinatown branch).

For those not familiar, a flavored sweetened condensed milk is poured onto a frozen disc and extra ingredients of your choice (like fruit, cookies or candy) is mixed in and it freezes on contact.

Once spread out and frozen, the employee takes a long spatula-like utensil and shapes into long ice rolls.

We had a similar one in Paris and while we preferred that one for its fruity exuberance, this one was fun to plow through, too.

For our next trip, I want to hit Big Gay Ice Cream Shop and some of those roving ice cream trucks I’ve been hearing about (maybe even have one of those Serendipity frozen hot chocolates Charlotte’s raved about).

3. Unique shopping.

I don’t know where to start here, but we popped into so many fun stores I’ve never seen elsewhere.

We found Sockerbit, a Scandinavian shop specializing in confections and tabletop.

This was perhaps my favorite new find.

I loved everything about this place — from the adorable table top

to the beautiful candies.

Then there was Flying Tiger, a Danish superstore.

Charlotte and I spent an hour here looking at all the unusual offerings, and I wanted to take the whole store home with me.

(It reminded me a little bit of HEMA, the Dutch shop we went to in Paris.)

Here are just a few things I got from FT.

I also hit some really fun vintage and consignment shops in the West Village — so fun to try on vintage Chanel and 50’s shift dresses.

Next time, I can’t wait to visit some of the great cookware shops of New York — and more of the vintage boutiques.

4. A Thriving Coffee and Bagel Culture.

We have a lot of amazing coffee shops in Portland, but I love that there’s a decent bagel place on almost every corner here– and how people are fiercely loyal to their favorites.

I ended up going to Murray’s a couple times — sometimes eating there

and sometimes bringing the treats back to the apartment.

Not only did Murray’s have great bagels but I loved the chocolate crumb cake and black and white cookies from there, too.

Next time, I am going to make Ess-a Bagel and Russ and Daughters a top priority– they both came recommended from trusted resources but we just ran out of time!

And to conclude with #5 in this first round up, I can’t forget to mention a big favorite: Central Park.

I would have liked to have spent a lot more time here than we did, but we packed it in at this spectacular beauty.

Twenty four hours of our trip blessed us with incredible sunshine, and luckily this was the time we ambled through.

We revisited Strawberry Fields, but seeing the castle in the Rambles section was a first for us.

Coming from the madness of 24/7 emergency vehicles and car alarms and honking and chattering everywhere, it was such a wonderful respite just to hear birds — and not too much else.

Ancient glaciers have left immense boulders throughout the park, and my kids liked nothing more than climbing rocks and chasing each other around.

Next time I hope I will have more time so that we can rent bikes and see more of the park, including the Reservoir, the lake with the rowboats — and perhaps even enjoy a picnic in a pretty spot.

So that’s New York, round one.

We’re now back in Concord, and more adventuring, eating and family time awaits.

More soon!