Last Thursday two of my best friends arrived just five minutes before I did in my apartment building and from that moment their Power Trip to NYC had begun. I'm still exhausted while writing...After a refreshing shower for Heiko and Luc, we started pretty simple with a nice lunch at Union Square, while a thunderstorm flew right over the city and people got soaking wet in no time. When things started to get better we did some first shopping, something that would be a pretty dominant theme during the 3,5 days of the visit.
Friday was for "Shopping@Fifth" after which we headed for a great diner at Sushi Samba in the West Village, we had some good conversations! After that the Buddakan bar and restaurant was the perfect place to have some cocktails among the hip and good looking Meatpacking crowd.
Saturday was another shopping day for the guys, now they had aimed for a premium outlet center an hour drive outside the city: Woodbury Common Premium Outlet Center... At first, I was against going there for cheap shopping. But once we arrived, I arrived some hours later as I had a small hangover, it was a nice somewhat overwhelming experience. Literally a small village in the hills north of NYC with only premium brand outlet shops. Unbelievable!
That night we had another very nice diner planned in Spice Market, one of my favorite restaurants as some of you must have noticed. Atmosphere, service and decor are great, the food is very good. Again I wasn't disappointed at all and we enjoyed every aspect of this Asian Latin fusion concept... After diner we headed to the Soho Play House where we saw a comedy show, a mix of stand-up comedy and improvisation theater. Obviously, American humor is not the same as Dutch humor. Simple jokes and, at some point in time, a naked comedian on stage were not the ingredients for a successful show to my opinion.
Gansevoort Hotel rooftop bar was next. Outside you can see the West Village, Hudson river, New Jersey and Meatpacking district, inside we enjoyed a nice view on some celebs like Dennis Rodman, a former top NBA player (who once was married to Carmen Electra for no more than a month) and Yfke Sturm, the Dutch super model. It was a super evening!
Sunday was a nice sunny day, taking a water taxi from the west side to the east side (Brooklyn Bridge) was a great opportunity to see the skyline of this impressive island called Manhattan.
It was an intensive but highly enjoyable weekend, guys. Come back soon!
