Issue #84: Everything I did on my New York trip
My complete travel diary. Plus, the unexpected joy of the Laundromat.
I just got back from New York. I was there for my friends’ wedding, a modern transatlantic couple who met on a Hinge date two years ago and never looked back, the sort of scenario that could inspire Richard Curtis out of his decade-long directing hiatus.
In the run-up to the trip, I had my own kind of serendipity: a journalist friend’s place in Brooklyn was free while she was travelling, and did I want to stay there? Which, given that I was attending this wedding sans plus one, was a solo female traveller’s godsend. I have, however, returned absolutely knackered – and not just because of the jet lag which is currently telling me I have few hours longer to sleep before I go out in pursuit of an Everything Bagel.
I have a tendency, when travelling, to beat myself up for not carpe-ing the diem as much as I think I should do. The galleries I haven’t visited, the views I haven’t looked out on, the foods I haven’t tried, the tan I haven’t quite perfected. In this case, it was the 101 things on my New York recommendations list that I didn’t tick off. The shoulds and the must-sees and the don’t misses.
I’m wildly unrealistic – optimistic, at best – with my time. Which works when I somehow achieve those unrealistic goals. Other times, it leaves me exhausted, unwilling to admit my limits, to concede to the fact I haven’t got the capacity to meet even half of the things I think I should do.
A way around this, I think, for a hypothetical sensible person, would be to define a rough holiday intention: like a ‘going out’ holiday (whatever those look like); a culture ‘cation; a foodie tour; or a shopping trip. This was a lesson I learnt, actually, when I started going on holiday with my friends in my late teens. ‘What’s your holiday intention?’, a self-defining Type A friend would ask me on the journey there. Unused to exercising much autonomy on family holidays, I’d baulk at the question. But it was a good one, and one I’ve tried to ask myself since.
However, I failed to do so on this trip. And so I think I was dwarfed by the big ol’ city, the momentous task of even making a dent in all the things I ‘should’ do alone. In the city that never sleeps, I followed suit. On my most active day, I walked 30,000 steps, with a little help from a ferry and a subway, and yet it wouldn’t have even occurred to me to rest. Thank God I met a New Yorker friend that evening, who suggested we go for ice cream (it turns out I really needed the sugar).
It meant that a trip to the local Laundromat to wash my absent host’s sheets – it’s rare for New York apartments to have their own laundry facilities – was hands up the most relaxing hour or so of my trip. I sat in the sunshine finishing my book with a $5.15 iced oat latte from the local bakery, Mazzola, the smells of their trademark lard bread wafting around me as I got serenaded by an old Italian man singing to himself.
As I suggested earlier, though, my time optimism has its perks. When I look back on my trip (as I did to write the list below), I did a lot, particularly given that a big proportion of my time was spent at the three separate wedding events. One of the best decisions I made, I think, was to mostly stick to my absent host’s local guide to Carroll Gardens, the leafy Italian-American neighbourhood in Brooklyn where I stayed, known for its gorgeous brownstones, and now my favourite neighbourhood in New York. So, before I pass out from jet-lag, here’s my travelogue diary (with a downloadable PDF version)…
Everything I did in New York (mostly Brooklyn)
Alma BK (rooftop): Delicious Mexican food – it’s nice to oneself what guacamole should taste like, when this close to Mexico! – and, perhaps more importantly, incredible views of Brooklyn. I was there for sunset, and it was magical.
Smith Street Bagels: Your classic New York bagel place. The smoked salmon, red onion, lox and capers bagel put its London equivalents to shame, as I knew it would. For those in the market, the gluten-free Everything Bagel was decidedly not bad (which in the general spectrum of gluten-free is a pretty high accolade).
Italian dinner at Gersi: I had a special evening eating in the back-garden area with my friend and her 18-month-old daughter, who toddled around introducing herself to fellow customers while we enjoyed chicken parmigiana, lemon spaghetti and sauteed broccoli rabe (the latter a trendy New York vegetable that is like a more bitter version of tenderstem). This is a favourite neighbourhood restaurant of my absent host, also.
Mazzola Bakery: While I only went here for my daily coffee, this place is worth visiting purely for the locals that frequent it, predominantly old school Italian-Americans who all seem to know each other. It’s a local institution of Carroll Gardens, the Brooklyn neighbourhood I stayed in. Oh, and many people said I should try the lard bread, so if you’re curious…
Pizza at Baby Luc’s: So I was staying round the corner from Lucali’s, a very famous pizza place frequented by the likes of Beyonce. Which is a funny claim to fame, as I’m not sure Beyonce would be my authority on pizza, but anyway it makes it notoriously hard to get into. Thankfully, it has an outpost around the corner called Baby Luc’s, which I visited twice during my stay – once in a very fancy silk and gold outfit following the wedding opening party, where I clearly had not eaten enough canapes.
The East River Ferry from DUMBO to Williamsburg: While a lot of New York tourist-ing is pretty expensive, one of the best experiences, the ferry from DUMBO in Brooklyn to Williamsburg, is just $4 – thanks to a state subsidy, apparently.
Barely Disfigured: In a bid to channel Carrie Bradshaw, I had a very chic one-and-a-half cocktails here (the second was free, which happens a lot when you go out solo, perhaps more so in a little black dress).
The Whitney Museum of American Art: This is one of my favourite galleries, on account of the permanent collection of Edward Hopper, generally considered the laureate of loneliness. However, I’ll be frank; I was a shell of myself at this point of the trip, and had thankfully visited a couple of years ago, so I found myself escaping to…
The High Line: This is one of the end points of the Whitney. The High Line is the result of a public campaign to repurpose an old railway line that was going to get knocked down, and it’s widely considered a hugely successful example of urban regeneration, with its perennial greenery and cultural credentials. It’s also incredibly welcoming: I loved how it has different seating formations to suit singles, couples and/or groups, and it’s one of the few places I found in the city with great public toilet facilities. You can follow it through to Hudson Yards, a glossy shopping plaza which boasts…
The Vessel: Thomas Heatherwick’s award-winning staircase, which looks like a ginormous honeycomb. I ran through an unexpected rain storm to see it, and was glad I did: despite this building’s controversy, it’s awe-inspiring.
Jewellery shopping at Gorjana: A relatively affordable (for New York) jewellery store a newly-native Brooklynite friend introduced me to.
Feeding my addiction at Trader Joe’s: There are two reasons you must go here if in America. Firstly, the sweet n’ salty Grainless Granola – which I purposelessly left behind at my host’s flat as I have a heroin-like addiction to it and cannot be trusted. Secondly, the Everything but the Bagel seasoning – a sesame/poppyseed/onion/garlic blend which is unrivalled in the UK and levels up most meals, including salads (according to Ottolenghi).
Cobble Hill Park: A peaceful neighbourhood park with a playground, where I ate my Sweetgreen Kale Caesar salads (another US addiction) a couple of times. A great spot for eavesdropping on New Yorker conversations.
Van Leeuwen: As a member of the lactose intolerant community, I am constantly short-changed by ice cream places that typically offer one of two vegan options (inevitably, dark chocolate and mango sorbet, which is nice but I do tend to lust after the other options). At Van Leeuwen, the vegan options are as much a main event as the others.
