After I enjoyed my breakfast, I dragged my giant duffle bag to Emily's dorm to drop it off for the day, and went to take a little walk around my old stomping grounds. My feet took me up Broadway to 10th Street, which was the location of my old dorm with its fantastic view of Grace Church. My old 3rd floor window was even cutely decorated like we used to do, though one of my old floormates is the current R.A. on the same floor so I'm not too surprised.
Dorm room 3rd floor on the left; Grace Church on the right, Empire State Building in the distance, and lots of cabs - this was my daily existence in 2007.
I passed many places that I remember... Bagel Bob's (DELICIOUS), the Gallatin building (the school within NYU I attended), the corner store under my dorm, the pizza place with the AMAZING white pizza, the street I used to have to drag my bari sax down to get to quartet rehearsal... and it was like I hadn't missed a single beat even though it's been 3 years.
After walking through the heart of campus, I found myself at Washington Square Park, where I enjoyed the better part of my morning. There were students, musicians, homeless veterans, dog walkers, everybody was out in full force (the weather was amazing - 60 degrees in February???). I sat in that park for hours, enjoying everything.
The closed-off half of the park... so pretty and serene, with the aftermath of the last month's giant snow dump still present despite the mild weather.
The arch - we were told during our first week if we ever walked through it we'd never graduate. So, out of spite, I walked through it.
The fountain, and the library and student center across the street.
In particular, there was a pianist that had wheeled his piano to just in front of the arch, making for excellent photos. He was really good, and I enjoyed listening to him. He entertained a little girl who was enamored with his piano, he played while a 60-year-old woman interpretive danced around him, and a student blew bubbles under the arch... he played for probably a solid 4 hours (if not more).
At some point, I went over to the Psychology building and snuck in (I still have my old ID and just had to flash it to the guard) to participate in my friend Dani's psych study. It was a fun little experience of trying to do certain tasks, compared to how well I thought I could do them beforehand.
Finally, Mara (my old roommate) got out of class, and we took the Peanut Butter & Co lunch I'd picked up (an entire restaurant of peanut butter sandwiches - SO many varieties!) up to 50th street and got in line to see a taping of the Daily Show! It was quite fun - if you watch Thursday's episode, watch the crowd in the beginning, I'm up there in the middle somewhere!
After the Daily Show, we were both hungry, and both indecisive about where to eat (we're both foodies, and everything sounds delicious). We settled on an Italian place called Stecchino, and it was amazing. Bruschetta with truffle oil and other deliciousness on top and lobster ravioli - mmmmm!
The wonderful Mara.
Mara's friend from high school in Boston, who she hadn't seen since 2006, was our hostess! It was a very surreal experience for Mara.
We then went to pick up my bag at Emily's, then met up with Mara's boyfriend Zach (he got my stamp of approval) and went to a place called "Rice to Riches" - basically, it's like Yogurtland, except instead of yogurt, it's rice pudding. DELICIOUS.
FYI: I will be posting a lot about food in this blog. I'm a bit of a food nut.
We went back to Mara's, enjoyed our rice pudding, and settled in for the night. It was very difficult getting the internet to work (hence me being a day behind in posting), and eventually I just crashed (less than 6 hours of sleep in the last 2 nights? I was done).
I love New York. I missed it so much.
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