Sunday Serendipity

First thing in the morning we packed, checked out and then ran like crazy to Serendipity to get our name in at 11am when they open. Luckily, there was only a little line so we were able to get in after about 20 minutes.

The inside of the shop is tiny with only enough room for a handful of tables on each floor. The bottom floor as a gift shop near the entrance where you can buy trinkets and candy. The entire place was decked out for Christmas including glass ornaments in an array of colors clinging to the walls and a neon pink Christmas tree against the back wall. There are also a myriad of old-fashioned glass lampshades hanging from the ceiling.


We sat at a tiny little table in the middle of the restaurant and ordered from the ornately decorated menu. I had the Haight-Ashbury sandwich and my mom ordered the black bean soup. Lastly, I ordered a frozen hot chocolate which is the Serendipity trademark. It really did taste like frozen hot chocolate! It was massive, ice cold, and definitely used high-end chocolate. The Haight-Ashbury was a little soggy and strange tasting but it's not what I came for so I didn't really care.


The staff was really nice and when I asked about the movie, Serendipity, they said that the table Jon Cusack and Kate Beckinsale sat at was upstairs. The upstairs area was just as small and cozy. And yes, I took a picture of the table because I am a total geek.

Full of chocolate sauce, my mom and I decided to hit up a few more landmarks before we had to go to the airport. FAO Schwartz was AWESOME, Rockefeller Square was romantic, and Grand Central which was empty but beautiful.

From there, we picked up our suitcases from the hotel and took the $45 flat fee taxi to JFK. Something I noticed about JFK that is annoying is that all the restaurants and stores are past security. My mom and I were flying on different airlines in different terminals so we didn't have anywhere to hang out for the three hours before our flight left. It sucked. We ended up parting ways and I sat for two hours with nothing to do because I was too cheap to buy a $14 book.

To end the blog, I will provide my review of the Sheraton Towers Hotel. Location-wise it is the ideal place for the first-time tourist because it is so close to many of the things you would want to see and do the first time you visit especially the fact that it is on the Macy's Day Parade route. Next time I think I'll head to Soho which has much more of a locals scene than Midtown.

In terms of the hotel, itself, I felt that I was overpaying for the experience. After the parade they refused to let us back in through the main door resulting in about two hundred people trying to jam through the tiny side door into the building. The rooms were relatively spacious but my mom's comforter was dirty and they never replaced the dirty water glasses in the room. The bed was really comfortable but the room was way too hot so we ended up leaving the windows open all weekend to get some air. Overall, for over $300 a night it was not good enough.

In terms of the trip? New York is my new favorite US city, although Austin comes close. For someone who is always on the go and extremely social, it was the ideal place for me. Granted I probably experienced the best four days of November weather ever, I think that I could stand the cold in exchange for the culture and activity. I'm literally returning home just so I can plan my next trip here!