My day started early with a 6am flight to catch, but I really enjoyed having the option to park and fly. I used to hate having to rush down when the taxi/uber got here. I appreciate being able to proceed at my own schedule. The parking was easy to find and the shuttle service very efficient. Because YOW is a smaller airport, the customs/security process was very speedy as well. I got to enjoy some downtime before I boarded the express plane to EWR. It was a short 1 hour flight over to EWR. While I was getting off the plane, I thought about how nice it is to just get away briefly from real life sometimes. A change in scenery can be so refreshing.
I looked up the directions to get to the hotel ahead of time so I hopped onto the AirTrain in the airport, then transferred to the train to Manhattan. Unfortunately, I did not know there was Penn station in Newark as well as New York, so I purchased the wrong ticket. It was good the conductor was nice and allowed me to pay the difference while I was on the train. Why must it be so confusing though? Why is Newark next to New York and why do they both have Penn Stations? Anyway, I then took the subway to the hotel but of course another adventure. Since the subway route is closed for the long weekend, I needed to take a shuttle. But of course they did not call out the stop so I missed my stop. Finally arrived at the hotel and reunited with my friends! Traveling alone can be nice, for the flexibility, but I think that was enough adventure by myself for one day.
First stop, Top of the Rock! I have been here before but I decided to go up again since none of my friends have been. After many pictures and enjoying the view, we went down and had some Ben and Jerry’s sundae. I had the caramel fudge one and it was amazingly delicious.
We slowly made our way over to The Lion King. I was so excited. I’ve seen many musicals before but this one was truly magical! The stage and props were utterly amazing. They really brought this Disney Movie to life. I was in awe throughout the show.
After the show, while waiting for our other friends, when we saw a crowd of people around “The Halal Guys”. I remembered the gyros being amazing in NYC, so we needed to get one. My friend and I shared one and was a fan immediately. Next, we headed over the central park and had a little walk before dinner. For dinner, we scoped out Hell’s Kitchen for some good eats but did not find something that we all agreed upon. So we headed downtown to get some Ramen at Ramen Lab. Unfortunately, they were closed for the weekend as they were changing chefs so we will have to wait until our next trip. Fortunately, we looked across the street and saw L’asso Pizza. It looked busy so we assumed it was good. And we were correct! What a pleasant surprise! Their thin-crusted pizzas were incredibly tasty. We had their L’asso Supreme and also a vegetarian one (sorry I don’t remember the name and the menu online doesn’t show it) and they were delicious in their own ways. The L’asso Supreme was tasty on first bite. The vegetarian one, with asparagus, zucchini etc. gets more delicious as you ate more. We also had their meatballs, which were alright.
We were all exhausted so we were excited to head back to the hotel. Unfortunately, there was some more rerouting of the subways, which caused us to take a detour across the Manhattan bridge and back again. After several transfers, we arrived safely back to the hotel. Time to pass out.
Bowsing Nom Noms | Ottawa-Based Food and Travel Blog 