Day 1 : Greenwich – Lower East Side – Meatpacking District
- We flew from San Francisco to NYC and landed in Newark Airport. The airport transfer is most convenient by Airtrain as it connects with the subway to NYC. I would suggest purchasing a 7-day pass for the subway on your first day.
- After settling in the short lease, we headed off to Lower East Side (Metro: Delancey St-Essex St) for the pre-booked ‘Piecing it together tour’ at the LES Tenement Museum. The ‘museum’ once housed 7,000 working class immigrants back in the 18th century and has been restored to homes from the 19th and 20th century.
I always like architecture and the history behind old buildings so it was interesting to step back in time and hear the history of it by an experienced tour guide. The tour is popular so book on-line in advance. There were quite a lot of people in our tour and as the apartments were small and ventilation was insufficient so it felt really stuffy with lots of people standing in the room. Apart from that, it was an enjoyable tour and I would recommend it.
- Lunch in Kat’z – apparently the best deli in NYC and serving the city the best cornbeef and pastrami sandwiches since 1888!
- Walk along Ave A and B, and 1st Ave, from Houston until 14th St – LES is full of many independent boutiques and bargain shops. Visit ‘Economy Candy’ on 108 Rivington Street. They have been selling confectionary since 1937. Click here for the LES Area Guide.
- Dinner at The Spotted Pig – this fancy gastropub is on my ‘restaurant list’ but I haven’t been to myself. Instead I went to Son Cubano, an excellent Cuban restaurant but sadly it’s closed down now. Hence The Spotted Pig sounds like another good choice.
- Have a night cap and listen to live performing jazz in the Basement of this award-winning restaurant - Cornelia St. Café back in Greenwich Village.
Day 2 : SOHO – Central Park – Greenwich Village
- We signed up for a Central Village/SOHO Food Tour with Foods of NY. We had a very good guide who not only showed us the best restaurants/delis but told us a lot history about the area too – hence it last for three albeit enjoyable hours! We had sampled a selection of yummy food from home-made mozzarella, gnocchi, peanut butter and lots of other finger foods all from renowned restaurants in the area. The tour price was a bit deer but samplers were enough for lunch. If I had more time, I would have done one more tour. The tours are popular so book ahead.
[ Places we were taken with the tour ] 
[ Joe's Diary did amazing fresh mozarella ]
- If you don’t fancy a tour, I’d recommend hooking up with a local through The Big Apple Greeters. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fix a time when we were there but I think it would be an interesting experience.
- After a long ‘lunch’, the next activity is to shed some calories off walking in the lung of NYC – Central Park. The park is massive with lots of visitors. Going by the Bandshell (in the middle of the park, around 72nd street) because all the funky old school roller skaters come out to an outdoor blocked off ring. They have crazy dance moves on skates and the energy is authentic NYC. To the west is Strawberry Fields, and to the east and a little North is the Met. Bicycle and rowboat are available for hire in Loeb Boathouse near 74th St and East Drive from 9:30am – 6pm.
- After a long walk in Central Park, enjoy a martini while admiring the amazing view of the Park on the Roof Garden Café & Martini Bar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It really is amazing how big of the park is! Of course also visit the museum or Guggenheim nearby if you still have time to spare.
- Dinner in Montes in Greenwich Village (97 MacDougal St) – We were shown to this restaurant during the food tour and sampled their home-made gnocchi. It’s a traditional Italian restaurant but kind of romantic. The food was excellent and portions were big. We had really delicious pasta with clams etc….. It was definitely one of the best meals while we were in town. Definitely put this on your list.
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