NYC - Part 4

The final segment of our NYC experience with Ben and Jo was just as special as the days before (well, maybe not as special as the proposal). On Tuesday morning we woke up early and headed towards midtown, I needed to return something at American Girl Place and we wanted to see Rockefeller Center.

After a very expensive breakfast we grabbed a taxi and went to The Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art). Anyone that has not been to NYC, or not been to The Met, this is a MUST do. Of course it is busy and a major tourist destination, but if you know where to go, you can leave the crowds behind.

Ben and Jo kissing on the steps of The Met.
First we wanted to check out the Egyptian section, and the beautiful Temple of Dendur. The Temple is a busy area of the museum, but rightly so. The entire temple was purchased and brought from Egypt to be placed inside the museum because it was going to be lost under the rising Nile. Originally this temple sat on an island in the Nile, so the museum recreated an island inside the three story gallery for the entire temple to sit on.

Leaving the Egyptian exhibit, we headed upstairs to a much more quiet and peaceful area of the museum, the Asian arts exhibit. The Chinese gallery has an entire inside courtyard build in the traditional style, with a stream bubbling in the corner. We also checked out the Japanese art area, and of course the Korean art gallery.

Soon we were getting hungry and walked towards the back of the museum (through the medieval art section, another favorite of mine) towards the cafeteria. The cafeteria at The Met is not a normal cafeteria, instead it is a huge area where you can choose from dozens of choices of gourmet food. I chose four mushroom ravioli in a arugula and sun dried tomato sauce.

After lunch we checked out the arms and armor section, more of the medieval galleries, and finally we moved onto the very famous European art galleries. We saw some of the most famous paintings in the entire world, including Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, and more.

As the day wore on we were getting more and more tired, but before we left I insisted we visit the modern gallery to see my favorite artist of all - Hopper. After a quick visit to the museam gift shop (first time in my dozen or so times visiting there, I didn't purchase anything), we headed back to the hotel to rest and freshen up.

We all were very excited for this night because we had purchased tickets to The Lion King! As we walked down Broadway into the center of Times Square, the world seemed to be just as excited as we were. We entered the theater right off of 43rd, and were awed by the awesome-ness of this location. There were floor to ceiling windows in the lobby that looked over Times Square from three stories up. Wow!

E and I were especially excited for this night because we had purchased the tickets for each other's second anniversary gift.
Once the show started we all sat there in amazement. The costumes were AMAZING! Showing someone photos or video does not do this show justice, it was breathtaking. Here is a video I found on YouTube, to give you an idea of the show, but really, this does not do this justice at all!

Plus, the entire cast was African American, which I found really really neat for a story that is set in Africa. The entire time, each of us were mesmerized, we all loved it.

After the show we hung out in the lobby for quite awhile, the view of Times Square was stunning and we really didn't want this night to end. We talked, joked, and looked at the bright lights below. We even got an usher to take a group photo of us.Finally we left the theater and walked back to Korea Way. Jo said there is an amazing restaurant there, that has the best Korean food in the world (even better than in Korea, she says!). We arrived quite late to a very authentic Korean restaurant and were seated near the front in beautiful hardwood seats.
Jo ordered everything in Korean, and out came beautiful dishes of kimchi, peppers, soup, and finally our main dish - bibimbop. Bibimbop is an authentic Korean dish of rice topped with wonderfully marinated veggies, egg, pork, seaweed and more. You top the entire dish with spicy red sauce, and then mix. Wow! Bibimbop is now my new favorite food.
Finally our night was coming to a close. It was close to 1:00 am, and we were all tired and ready for bed. Everyone was also a little sad, because the next day would be our last day in NYC together, and we had had such a wonderful time.

On Wednesday morning (mine and E's second wedding anniversary!) we woke up early and packed our things. Downstairs in the hotel lobby we checked out and left our luggage under lock and key. We walked around the block and got a fantastic breakfast of bagels and coffee, and then hopped on the Subway and headed to Chinatown. Chinatown is a favorite stop of mine, but really is very different than other Chinatowns I've visited (it is a world away from the rest of NYC). We wandered around, looked at fish stalls, did a little shopping and finally ended up at our favorite restaurant, Joe's Shanghai. We had already visited the midtown location with Colette and Jen earlier in the week, but you can never have too many soup dumplings.

Soon lunch was over, and we decided to wander through Little Italy, get an Italian Ice and hit up Ferrara's for a cannoli. Jo snapped a photo of E and I enjoying our favorite dessert all of NYC has to offer.
By 3:00 our trip had come to an end, we hugged Ben and Jo and said goodbye at Penn Station. They caught their bus, and we caught our train, and we headed home. It was a great trip.