I flew back to Badlands from NYC today.  Here's an overview of my week in the city, minus details about the adventure of getting out there and the AWS exhibit.  I posted about both these events previously.

Gary and I, at home amongst the bison, looking off towards the Badlands.

Saturday I met a friend for lunch at Ippudo, a Ramen restaurant near Union Square which is so popular that you have to wait in line to get in.  It's her last week in NYC, she's moving back to San Fran so there was a large group of friends there for lunch.  Had a good time.  After lunch I took the train north with Mike to meet Gary and spend the afternoon at the AMNH - American Museum of Natural History.  They have some wonderful fossil specimens from the Badlands.  Of course we also had to check out the squid and the whale.

Pondering the situation...

AMNH

Gary headed out to pick up some laundry.  Mike and I walked across central park over towards his place where we met up and took a train down to Decibel, a sake bar, for dinner and the most spectacular sake I have yet tasted.  Mmmm.  Mike and I then met up with friends/coworker Greg and Freya for a drink and snack at a place for which I cannot recall the name.  It was the third or fourth place we tried to get into, and my memory is fuzzy.

Along the walk through Central Park.

Chinatown

Sunday was mainly just Mike and I, and we spent most of the day walking all over.  Greenwich Village, where we were staying, down to Chinatown for a spectacular lunch at Big Wong's, up through Little Italy and a stop at Rice to Riches for a sampling of rice puddings. Over back towards SoHo and the west village where we stopped in to take a last look at the AWS exhibit at the Salmagundi Art Club on 5th Ave (I had work in the show).  It was the last day of the exhibit, and I wanted to have a chance to really look when the gallery was back to its normal state, minus the tables and chairs that were out for the dinner friday.  After that we walked back over to SoHo area to meet Gary and Francesco and another teacher friend of theirs for dinner at a little Mexican place.   Had a fun night.     
        

Chinatown along Mulberry.

Chinatown.

SoHo along Prince Street.

SoHo along Broadway.

Monday was a wandering day for me.  I set out with the goal of finding lovely gifts for the family that is taking care of my kids while Mike and I are away.  My quest had me a little bit of everywhere.  West Village, Chinatown, SoHo, Herald Square, Central Park.  Headed back to the apartment at the end of the day to drop off my packages and change shoes before meeting Mike and coworkers for a group dinner in Korea town.  His boss did the ordering, and we ended up with so much food that there was literally no free space on the tables.  Every last inch was covered with small bowls, large bowls, plates, and glassware.  Such a feast.  After dinner we headed to the Flat Iron Lounge for cocktails with a friend/coworker.  Love that place.  Then walked home for some much needed sleep.

Gutai exhibit at the Guggenheim

Awesome color coordinating, West Village.

Tuesday I spent wandering again, mainly on foot. Wanted to visit some of my favorite neighborhoods again on this last free day.  Among other places I headed down to South Ferry to walk around the financial district.  On a whim I decided to visit the National Museum of the American Indian.  They had a really fantastic exhibit about American Indian musicians in pop culture.  I then took a train up to meet Mike at his office, and we headed up to the Guggenheim for their exhibit Gutai: Splendid Playground.  It was good.  

West Village.

Met Gary for dinner at Bhatti, our favorite Indian restaurant on Curry Hill.  So amazing.  Had their okra dish, which is to die for.  I like paneer, and Gary suggested that we go for the Saag Paneer - oh, my.  Amazing.  As were the two kebabs we tried.  After dinner we walked across to the west village again, and went to Employees Only, a little speakeasy that can be very hard to get in to.  Mike had gone once before, but the times I've been along, they were full and the wait time was crazy.  Had a Ginger Smash and it was quite smashing.

National Museum of the American Indian

Elegant Signage at the NMAI.

Wednesday was a day spent at the Calhoun School, a progressive private school on the Upper West Side.  This is the school from which students and teachers have journeyed to the Badlands during my spring residencies.  An amazing group of people.  I visited the school to participate in their town hall meeting, a gathering of the 9th-12th grade students.  The group of students and teachers who participated in the Badlands endeavor presented photographs and stories from the adventure.  

Employees Only speakeasy

View out the balcony of our apartment in West Village.

I then spent the rest of the day hanging around on the 7th floor (art and biology) with the teachers and students.  Had lunch with everyone, which was amazing.  The school has a great chef, and I enjoyed minestrone, tuna on fresh roll, chicken schnitzel, roasted asparagus, smashed potatoes, a huge salad bar, and loads of fresh fruit.  The art room has an espresso machine, and Gary made me a lovely latte complete with an NPS badge drawn in the foam.  In the afternoon, Francesco invited me to join him and the other science faculty from the upper and lower schools on a field trip to the Body Worlds: Pulse exhibit in Times Square.  They had an extra ticket for the preview - show opens tomorrow.  I went along, and it was fascinating.  After that it was time to go meet up with Mike and coworkers for yet another group meal.  Went to DBGB, a french/americana restaurant on Bowery that was amazing.  Had the best steak of my life, cooked with a side of ramps a rare green that was just divine.  We all sampled some different cocktails as well, and had dessert.  Everything was fantastic.  Such good food.  After dinner we all walked over to Madame Geneva's, a lounge where I had the best gimlet ever last fall.  Almost everyone had gimlets, and loved them.  Walked back to the apartment late, packed up to be ready to head out in the morning.  I'm not quite ready to leave the city yet, wish I'd had that extra day that I missed because of the cancelled flights out.

Got up early today to shower and eat before heading out to catch a train up to Penn Station, then the NJ Transit over to Newark International.  Pretty smooth flights home this time, and quite the contrast in one day: morning in bustling NYC, afternoon driving the almost deserted Hwy 44 back towards Interior.