As promised...

IT HAS ARRIVED.....THE MOST.....EPIC....BLOG POST....EVER. The pictures say it all:

I kept track of the bus's progress on the trip down...longest bus ride EVER.

And when I finally made it to NYC, this was the first thing I saw!

Grand Central Station

Mad and I decided to take a night time stroll to Times Square. We decided to stop and take pictures on the way, not realizing at the time that this was the back of the NY Public Library

We made it!

Times Square!

The Swatch Store - look at the chandeliers! 

Madeline really liked some of them

SO. EXCITED.

Surprised Jazz Hands

"Skating"

Grand Central again

...and inside...

...constellations on the ceiling!

A post office that's open 24/7 - just what you need, huh Mom? ;-)

Empire State! Don't worry, we'll be back

He just keeps cropping up

I forget what this one is called...cool building though

So happy to be resting our feet :)

Apparently really awesome burgers are made here

The Wall Street Bull

Apparently the artist who created this (i.e. painting a wall blue and adding metal rods) got paid $1,000,000. Fair compensation?

First glimpse of Lady Liberty!

We can't wait!!!

There she is ladies and gents

One of my favorite pictures of the trip - Madeline captured this moment :)

...and tried to do it herself. I give it a 5.3 out of 10 ;-)

Hahahahahahaha - can't get over Mad's expression here

Ellis Island coming up

Yeah - life jackets are real handy under all that wood

Chinatown!

We had no idea what 95% of this stuff was, but it looks cool

Gorgeous fruit

This photo of dragon fruit is currently my phone's background - LOVE the pop of color

We were supposed to go here for lunch....but Madeline led us into the wrong door :(

But we were greeted with hot tea

and scallion pancakes

and dumplings

and tangerine beef....so it was ok.

Candy store!

Note - ALWAYS read the labels before sampling candy in an Asian candy store. You might make the same mistake Madeline did and get dried cuttlefish. Ick.

Cute little teapots!

And we stumbled across Little Italy on the way

How would you like that for a chandelier? (sundried tomatoes)

CHEESE

Pretty stairs :)

Just look at all those different kinds of pasta!

Now that's one way to keep your hands warm while driving...

I wants zem....

The following series of pictures is from a gallery in SoHo. These are couches. These are chairs. These are ART.

Love this umbrella stand - I want it too

Yep, you read that right - $22,000 for a rose petal, seat one person at a time, couch. Now who's actually going to sit in one of those??? I'd be afraid of crushing the design.

Madeline and her teapots :)

Heading into an art gallery in SoHo

I *love* this outfit - the skirt is so pretty!

Another cool chandelier

For you Dad :) We walked all the way up to Cafe Reggio on a friend's recommendation but on that one day it was closed for filming a movie (with famous people - no we didn't get to see them) boooooooo

Brooklyn Bridge

Rockefeller Center!

Isn't it pretty?

We were way too cold to skate, but enjoyed the view

Cool store display

For dinner - Piccolo Cafe

So...much...walking. Believe it or not, we never set foot on the subway while in NYC.

We ran into the Museum of Natural History but didn't stay - we were on our way to the Met!

Mary Poppins? :)

Mary Poppins take 2?

I can't wait to go back and get this photo in the summer - it'll be GORGEOUS

We have a LOT of matching pose pictures

Cafe Sabarsky for lunch. SO. GOOD.

Cheddar stuffed brats

Käsekrainer mit Sauerkraut & Rösterdäpfel 14

Smoked Bratwurst stuffed with Cheddar Cheese

served with Sauerkraut, Roasted Potatoes & Dijo

New favorite food!

Spätzle mit Schwammerln, Erbsen, Karotten & Estragon

Creamed Spätzle with wild Mushrooms, Peas, 

Carrots & Tarrago

And for dessert - coffee piled with whipped cream and a hazelnut tart with fresh raspberry compote 

Linzertorte

Hazelnut Tart with fresh Raspberry Confitur

That's one way to pretend you have grass on the ground

We made it to the Met! Much artwork to follow....

I feel like this too sometimes

Fabergé eggs

Now that's one way to propose! Not sure I'd need the chicken....

This will be on my coffee table one day

Haha, Mom don't you think this is hilarious?! I would actually sit in this one, unlike the earlier couches

For Benjamin - a space gun!

Being silly in the Met

My *favorite* piece of the day - I want a poster of it

"This is the color of my dreams"

Look closely...

...and this is what you see

Just look at the texture on this one

From far back, this is what it looks like

She was hanging onto a wall

Creepy, huh?

Up close...

...far back

Interesting piece

Up close view

Another favorite - you stand up close and see your reflection like this

And this is the full piece

Overlooking Central Park

Mom, doesn't this kind of remind you of the Louvre?

For Dad and Benjamin :)

Another one for Daddio and Benjamin

Look! It shows we're actually in the Met on the map on my phone. That's how big this building is.

Shall we sit down for tea?

Why yes we shall!

Bye bye Met - I"ll be back :)

For the Dadster

Who knew you could purchase everything you ever wanted with an M&M theme?

Getting our hotdogs from a hotdog vendor

In our dress up clothes for our first Broadway show!

Say whaaaaaaaaa?

Pouty pose

Hercules pose

Inside The Majestic on Broadway

After the show - it was an absolutely SPECTACULAR performance. Couldn't believe how well done it was.

Shew we're tired!

Columbus Circle

Inside Time Warner Center (reeeeeeeeeally fancy shopping)

And for lunch - ABA Restaurant

Birthday lunch for the birthday girl! Can you believe she's 22?

Feta cheese. Inside fried dough. Need I say more?

Doesn't look like much, but this was *excellent* falafel 

The Combo - every kind of meat you can think of over rice

Another cool shop

E is for Emily!

And now we reach 5th Avenue...much looking was done here. No touching, no buying.

NYC has a lot of cool chandeliers (haha)

F.A.O. Schwartz! 

Even big kids still like toys - I wanted the giraffe and the elephant 

Lego Indy

TOM HANKS WAS HERE!!!!!!!!!

Having a blast :)

One day..... ;-)

The one in the top left - that's the one I want

Bloomingdale's!

Very cool interior

Mmmmm....we had an hour wait, so we took a little detour in the meantime 

We took the Roosevelt Tram (back and forth for only $4.25) across the river and back while we waited. Scary but fun!

Here we go!

Rising above the crowded streets

With a great view of the Queensboro Bridge

Finally made it into Serendipity 3 - isn't it cute?!

The menus were GINORMOUS

ooooooooh boy!

Signature frozen hot chocolate

A very happy birthday girl!

Soooooooooo tasty

Yep - I enjoyed it til the last drop :)

And dinner? Why a legit NY pizza of course!

We did plenty of walking to burn off all that food :)

A friend recommended Ess-a-Bagel - I can't believe we almost missed out on this! THE most fantastic bagels I've *ever* had

Who knew there could be this many different kinds of cream cheese???

I opted for chocolate chip cream cheese on multigrain

Madeline got freshly-sliced pastrami on everything with plain cream cheese. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven - yep, it was that good. My favorite meal of the trip.

Could I pass for an on-the-go New Yorker?

These reminded me of the Alexander Calder exhibit I loved at Pompidou in Paris

St. Patrick's Cathedral

We found Saks 5th Avenue! 

I loved the dress on the left

Look Mom - we found the American Girl Place!

Oh but wait! You might think we're done....but noooooooooooo - not yet! My blog post is too full of photos...