New York Day 2

Day 2 started at 3:45 am local time, or 9:45 am Israel time. I was wide awake so I decided to watch the rest of The People VS O.J. Simpson, which I had started on the plane. I watched the last 4 episodes, taking me to about 7:30, and then I went back to sleep for an hour or so. That time difference is real!

Getting our day started with some great American style coffee, something I'd missed travelling abroad. We made our way just a few subway stops to a very popular bagel place that had 7 kinds of vegan cream cheese! Jere and I split ours again (perks of travelling with an almost-vegan) so we tried the herb and the scallion cream cheese. The bagels were HUGE (that's America for you!) and they were so freaking good. I think from our first bite we decided that wouldn't be our only bagel this trip!

Next we took the subway to Chelsea market where we met with Jaime who took us through to the Artists and Flea section. It was an awesome store filled with good, homemade, local stuff! Jere got quite a few good finds I almost bought this hat! But didn't since I just don't wear hats, ever.

We continued shopping and then walked to the high line, one of Jaime's favourite things to do in the city. It's an old train line that was remade into a walking path. It was green and full of flowers and had some great views!

Next we had lunch at Beyond Sushi, an all vegan sushi restaurant I've always wanted to try. Their mushroom rolls and dumplings were so good! We all really enjoyed our meals, even though the experience was a bit jumbled as that location had just opened. In the staffs confusion we got a second order of dumplings, which we ate without asking questions

We walked and walked and continued to see the iconic New York buildings and landmarks.

We also shopped at the stores we'd come across, including a ton of thrift stores! We had some amazing finds. Jaime and I both got several items at a pop up sample sale where the clothes ranged from $5-$20. So good! Really cute stuff. My backpack is definitely coming home more full than when I arrived!

Next we stopped by an all vegan bakery where I got a doughnut and a cheese and raspberry pastry. Yum! Another tick off the food list.

We stopped by a Trader Joe's wine shop to get the $2.99 house brand of wine to enjoy at Jaime's boyfriends apartment in Brooklyn. It ended up being amazing wine, I was SO impressed! People had really full carts and now I see why! It was actually insane, the lineup to pay essentially starts at the entrance of the store and wraps around the back of the store and back up to the tills. So if you're alone you basically have to shop while in line. Jaime says if she's with people one person shops and one person waits in line as soon as you get to the store. Crazy!

With all that walking I decided to check out my phone to see how much we'd actually walked. I was shocked to see it was 13.9 km! And over 19,000 steps! And in the last month with my travels my daily average has been 16,000 steps and 11.9 km. Crazy! Much different than when I'm at home working!

With that we met up with Jaime's boyfriend Arash and took the metro out to Brooklyn. We busted out the wine and popped champagne on the roof of his apartment. The view was incredible! It was freezing, so we huddled under the blankets and watched the lights come on in the big city.

For dinner we decided to order delivery, and it just so happened that this fairly new all vegan pizza shop just opened in Brooklyn! We ordered 3 kinds to share between the 4 of us, and they were all to die for. Jaime's boyfriend Arash, not a vegan, said it was the best pizza he's ever had. It was so good I think Jere and I both dreamed about it that night!

We decided to head out to a little bar close by, super cute little open air place where we had some more wine and danced! One very drunk lady kept joining our group, it was funny to watch her. Then later the bar staff asked if we were with her, we said no, but she must have either passed out or gotten into some trouble! I was fading fast thanks to my 4 am wake up, so Jere and I got an uber home and promptly passed out. What a perfect, food filled New York day!