Empire State of Mind (New York, Part 4)

I spent the backend of my trip just shooting the breeze. I've never been a traveler who relies on an itinerary; but rather, my mood and whether I have good walking shoes on.

The thing about New York is there's so much to do on one city block. You don't need an agenda...you just need to take a step outside. I wasn't trying to see the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and Grand Central Station, but I stumbled across them while on a mission to get morning coffee. C'est magnifique!

Honestly, California is really lacking in these grand, gorgeous buildings. Sure, we have the beach...but give me architecture, please! I especially loved the brick buildings in Soho, most likely my favorite area of New York...

Beyond gawking at the architecture, we were in Soho for a specific purpose: to eat at one of the best pizzerias in America (or so we were told). 

Lombardi's boasts "the best on the planet" when to comes to pizza, although I saw this claimed on numerous awnings all over NY. Hmmm...I get the feeling that New Yorkers believe they have the best pizza in the world... 

Aaaaaaand....

They just might be right.

This pizza was pretty flippin' good; although it's hard for me to say it's the best in the world, as I'm not well-traveled enough to decipher that. I will say it was melt-in-your-mouth awesome, and I'm curious to know how Chicago stacks up. 

***

The next day I had museums to visit and important people to see.

The Met is one of the loveliest and most massive museums I have ever been to. I hurried through a few prime floors, and kept it under an hour-and-a-half. 

I couldn't admire the impressionism for too long, because I had a very important blog friend to meet: Frank from Frank (Slept Here), lover of bacon and purveyor of robot takeovers.

Frank is as quick-witted and kind as you'd gather from his writing. And as he put it, it felt like I was getting together with an old friend, as we've been blog buddies for many years. I also had the chance to meet Frank's fiance, who is pretty darn perfect for Frank...congrats to the lovely couple! The best part about meeting Frank? Hearing him order bacon on his burger, reaffirming that all is right with the world. Thanks for coming out, friend. 

***

Wrapping up our last full day in the city, Lainey and I were completely drained of energy. No amount of coffee or tea could wake us up; in fact, we started to fall asleep in coffee shops. 

Even through my exhaustion, my heart still beat wildly for NYC until the very second I left. It is a new favorite of mine, rivaling the likes of Istanbul and London (my other favorites). It has the craziest, busiest, most ambitious energy I have ever felt, ANYWHERE. And I love it.



Until we meet again, New York. And I believe we shall meet again.