I cannot be accused of simply backing an old chum! (146Cong.Rec.S4255)

I'm an opportunist, by which I mean that I take advantage of opportunities, even if it means me elbowing my way into someone else's plans. Some friends of mine announced publicly on Facebook that they were going to New York City to see a show. Unfortunately for them, this was a show that I wanted to see, so I invited myself to join them. Lucky for me, they were gracious enough to act like they didn't mind.

So after class on a Friday night, I took the bus from DC to the Big Apple. From the dropoff point by Penn Station, I walked to our hotel, The Evelyn, which was literally right around the corner from the Museum of Sex (left). Admission to the museum cost $17.50, so I settled instead for gawking at its gift shop and strolling to the nearest phallic symbol. Luckily, the Flatiron Building was only a few blocks south on Fifth Avenue (right).

After having taken my language test the Monday before, I was ready for a release from Russian. But it seems I couldn't escape it. One of the original tenants of the Flatiron, formerly the Fuller Building, was the Imperial Russian consulate, and just to the north of our hotel was Saint-Petersburg (left), an outlet of the same FromRussian.com that has a shop in Brighton Beach, also know as NYC's Little Odessa. I knew I wasn't going to have time to get to Brooklyn, so I shared some of my rocky Russian with the storekeeper as I scanned some matryoshkas (right). 

Also near our hotel was the famed French flare of Brasserie Les Halles, Anthony Bourdain's former restaurant. I didn't eat there, but I had a lovely meal of some French-inspired chicken risotto and Jenlain Ambrée, a farmhouse ale, at Le Grainne Cafe in Chelsea. Earlier in the day, I had a "house-made veggie burger" from Spring Street Natural in SoHo. 

But the best treat I had during my trip was a cafe au lait ring from Dough Doughnuts (top left), next-door neighbor of Idlewild Books, a store devoted to travel literature and guides; to be honest, it was hard to decide which place offered more tempting treats. Luckily, I had already fed my cover-browsing addiction at The Strand bookstore, where the staff either has a strange sense of humor or a unique outlook on humanity when it comes to recommending books. I don't really associate a pig's head on a stick with overcoming heartbreak, but that might work for some people (top right). Me, I would prefer to mend my heart by window-shopping at Citipups, which is an acceptable form of recovery because, in case you can't see the sign, the store does not support puppy mills (bottom). It should be noted that there was no sign about whether it supports using adorable fluffballs to entice shoppers into its stores. 

 

I knew I couldn't smuggle a puppy home in my backback, so I did my next stint of shopping at Chelsea Market (top left), where I could ingest my purchases instead of bringing them back on the bus. But that doughnut was pretty filling, so the only thing I bought was from the Filling Station: a Stillwater Existent, a dark farmhouse ale (top right). I even managed to refrain from indulging at Los Tacos No. 1, which seemed to be serving up my kind of traditional tacos, the likes of which I haven't seen since Las Ahumaderas taco street in Tijuana (bottom). 

I didn't realize until later that I could've used the food fuel as I took a self-led walking tour of some of the city's most distinctive sights. Book lover that I am, I headed straight to see those lions at the New York Public Library (top). The main lobby of the Schwarzman Building was a spectacular place to take a break from the biting cold (bottom left). Unfortunately, the beautiful Rose Main Reading Room was closed for renovations, but visitors were still allowed to crimp their necks looking up at the murals of the wood-paneled entrance (bottom right). 

Behind the library, a Winter Village, complete with ice-skating rink, was in full swing (top left). The frozen fountain was a nice touch, but somehow, I think it wasn't planned (top right). From beside of the library, you could catch a good view of the Chrysler Building down the road (bottom), but I had my sights set on another famous skyscraper.

From the winter wonderland at Bryant Park, I could barely spy the spire of the Empire State Building (left). After paying almost 30 dollars, I got a closer view of the famous lightning rod from the building's 86th-floor observation deck (right). I did not opt to pay $17 more to go up 16 more floors to the 102nd floor above. 

 

It was a cold and overcast day, but if you could stand to be out in the windchill for a few minutes, you could look all the way down to Lower Manhattan (top). Through the zoom of my camera, I could see One World Trade Center and the Statue of Liberty in pretty good detail (bottom left). I didn't expect the people-watching to be so fascinating, but it was fun to eavesdrop on single people Skyping and Facetiming from the deck and to watch cute couples cuddling up while they took in the view (bottom right).

 

But of course, the main show I had come to see was on Broadway: a Saturday matinee of Cabaret with Alan Cumming and Emma Stone (top). Cumming, in an excellent turn as the Emcee, filled the Roundabout Theater Company at Studio 54 with talent all the way to our seats in the back row. We made the day a double-header by taking in some evening improv by The Curfew at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Afterward, we capped off the night with cocktails at Black Door bar, where we serendipitously ran into an Australian couple who had followed our day's itinerary nearly to a tee. The meeting was serendipitous mostly because they bought us a bunch of drinks. But all good things must come to end, so I allowed myself one more glimpse of the bright lights of Times Square (bottom left) before I dodged the taxis around Madison Square Garden to catch my bus back to DC (bottom right).