best of 2013

In no particular order, some of my favorite photos from the last year from a bunch of places: Germany, Sardinia, Prague, Paris x 2, Stone Harbor, NYC, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Gran Canaria.

water taxi

Another "Sorry, Stephen": in the scant three hours we had between throwing Stephen on a plane and heading out of the city ourselves, not only did we make it to Times Square, we also rode the water taxi around a good bit of Manhattan. We didn't have time for the whole tour out to the Statue of Liberty, but we did get to ride from 42nd Street on the West Side over to South Street Seaport, my old hangout a few blocks away from my apartment. I hadn't realized quite how badly Hurricane Sandy was still affecting parts of NYC until I got to South Street Seaport and saw that it was all still shuddered upwards of six months later -- though it looks like they've since reopened. Re: water taxi: highly recommended! The Circle Line Cruise is supposed to be excellent as well. Next time I'll take Stephen along and maybe even make it all the way out to the Statue of Liberty, which I've only ever seen from afar.

times square

     
I avoided Times Square when I lived in New York and never made it there with Stephen while he was in town, but as soon as Ann and I threw him on a plane back to the other side of the ocean, we made our way straight there. And you know what? It was, for once, remarkably delightful. (Sorry, Stephen. Next time!)

manhattan's streets

  
I wax a lot more poetic about New York City now that it's been a while since I lived there and am far removed from the stress of working there -- though even just visiting I find myself getting sucked back into the go-go-go routine, running around so much that we never even managed to do more than wave at Central Park from the subway exit at Columbus Circle (sorry, Stephen!). I debate whether I really want to live there again, like I felt so sure I would years back, but I still love it, and think it's gorgeous, and know there's not anywhere just like it.

manhattan food recs

  
1. Cienfuegos, East Village: amazing dark & stormy cocktails with homemade ginger beer; crispy avocado with guava habañero; excellent atmosphere. Yes, the cocktails are expensive. Yes, they are worth every penny. Excuse the blurry picture of the crispy avocado. I would have taken another shot, but we were too busy devouring them.

2. Peels, Bowery: everything about the decor (bright natural light! pale wood!) appealed to me immensely. The food was not as amazing as I would have hoped, but it's a fantastic place to go hang out and linger over breakfast on a weekday. Weekend brunch is apparently crazy, so take advantage of being on vacation and go during the week.

3. Shake Shack, Madison Square Park: exactly what I had been craving for days. I got the bacon cheeseburger because, you know, sometimes you just need these things, but actually even for non-vegetarians I'd highly, highly recommend the portobello burger. That thing is a work of wonder stuffed with cheese. The cheese fries and the milkshakes are excellent as always, and the people watching/photobombing can be counted on to be excellent.