First Guests!

So a couple of weeks ago we were blessed to have our first house guests in New York. Ashley and Nicole (friends from Des Moines who now live in Pittsburgh) drove from Pittsburgh to spend the week with us. Gabe had just changed rotations to ER so he had more flexibility to hang out which was nice. We had a blast. It was fun to play tour guide to the City, teach them how to ride the subway, and show them some sights. We had a busy week and saw quite a bit. We also spent a lot of time just catching up on life. Gabe would have liked it if their hubby's could have come along, but alas residency programs don't care about your social life.

Our first day in the city we went to Central Park, Times Square (and all the fun stores that go with that including FAO Schwartz, Toys R Us, and the Disney Store), went to a cupcake place called Magnolias (although we all ate banana budding which was delicious), had some hand pulled noodles from a hole in the wall restaurant - delish, and then came home worn out.

The next day was our recovery day/beach day (yes, we live about 3 blocks from the beach, I didn't even realize there was a beach in New York, but that's a story for another day). Our beach day was kind of a bust as it was cold and windy, but we made the best of it.

The following day we headed back into the city. The subway ride from our house to Manhattan is about an hour and a half, so it's a commitment. We took the subway to the Brooklyn Bridge and then walked across the bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan in order to get a wonderful view of the city. Walking the Brooklyn Bridge is one of my favorite things to do thus far, you can see the Statue of Liberty off in the distance and all the sky scrappers as well. When you come to visit we can walk the bridge as well :) After we were in Manhattan we then made our way to see the Bull by Wall Street. This was quite the popular destination for tourist and was difficult to get up close to get a picture without 50 other strangers also in the picture, but it was good to see. We then ate lunch and proceeded to the 9-11 Memorial which was really neat. They are currently working on a museum that will open next Spring/Summer next to the Memorial. I think it will be a good thing to see but hard to see at the same time. We then went to see the Flat Iron building and then walked to supper where we met Ashley's sister-in-law and our cousin Taylor. It was a fun and exhausting day!

The next day we said our "see you laters" and they bravely drove out of the city. I was completely exhausted from a wonderful fun-filled visit. Can't wait to have more visitors! Make a list of what you would like to do and we'll see what we can accomplish!

The Girls and I at FAO Schwartz, you can never be too old to visit this place!

 

 

 

Gabe was in his element with all the legos!

 

 Radio City Music Hall

Times Square

Do you think the subway would take us all the way to my folks house on 42nd Street?

Nicole riding the subway (it's usually more crowded, we were just getting close to our house which isn't very crowded)

Ashley in her natural element taking pictures

Gabe sleeping on the subway - a common occurance

Start of the Brooklyn Bridge

And the journey begins

I love this bridge but have no clue what it's called

Manhattan sky line

My beautiful friend Nicole

My beautiful friend Ashley

 This is for you Taylor!

 Ash and I on the bridge

 Lady Liberty in the background

Strong Man!

 Love locks. People visit the bridge and write their names and date on there and then leave them on the bridge.

Neat clock somewhere in the City

Freedom Tower

Ash's college mascot was a bull

 Freedom Tower up close, still under construction

9-11 Memorial

A white rose is placed on the name of the person who has a birthday that day, there were multiple roses the daya we were there.

This is where Taylor works, we're too poor to eat there and certainly not famous enough to get reservations, but it was fun to walk by :)