NYC 2009: Conclusion of the first night

Of course the perfect ending to our first day in the Big Apple is a nice meal. Kate found an Italian Restaurant in her guidebook called Carino's. I think the owners paid off the guide book people because the description in the book really wasn't all that accurate. They said it was affordable, which it really wasn't, and they said it had "classic Italian fare", which while wasn't completely false, it wasn't exactly true either. Lets just say if you just wanted pasta, sauce, and meatballs you weren't going to get it. Our food was OK, just not really worth what we paid. The interior was borderline cafeteria style with large tiled floors, bright lighting, and tacky Christmas decorations. The picture of the front of the restaurant is quite misleading. As we were walking in a group came out and they were mocking the place. We didn't pay much heed but perhaps we should have.

Afterwards we walked around the upper East Side a little while. Out of curiosity we popped into Serendipity 3, a famous pastry/ jewelry store featured in multiple films. It was pricey, and very, very busy. After one over priced disappointment we really weren't willing to go try for another. Luckily we had more of my Aunt's Brownies back at the room. Kate had a Skip-Bo card game that she purchased while we were in Greenpoint, and we were eager to get to the warmth and security of the room and relax.