Day Two of our honeymoon started out with a visit to Central Park, and with this came challenge number 1 – taking the subway on our own. I’m happy to say that we figured it out (thanks to my brother’s help the day before) and made it down to Central Park mid-morning, determined to walk through as much of it as we could. We started out at Columbus Circle, and walked our way north, stopping to take in the scalloped bridges, the misty green trees turning to yellow at the tips, and playful ducks diving in and out of the lush green water.

Taking a little break at Strawberry Fields was nice – we munched on honey roasted almonds, and relaxed on a bench, watching throngs of tourists pass by to snap a shot of the mosaic of inlaid stones spelling out “Imagine.” We were married on what would have been John Lennon’s 71st birthday and it was nice to take a minute to pay respects to an incredible musician.

After walking by Cherry Hill, and checking out the Bethesda Fountain, we treated ourselves to lunch at the Boathouse restaurant, indulging in a sumptuous smoked salmon appetizer and wine, and thoroughly enjoyed the luxuriously crisp white linen and the view of the water from the picture windows.

After lunch, and taking a bit of a walk through the Ramble, we stopped to check out the Alice in Wonderland Statue – based on one of my favourite movies (and books) as a kid.

I was hoping to visit a museum or gallery during our trip, and we decided that spending a rainy afternoon at the Met would be perfect (the challenge here was to cram in as much as possible of the enormous gallery with so many art works!)

We found our way to the gorgeous Metropolitan Museum of Art at the end of Central Park, and spent the next few hours wandering blissfully among works of art that I’d seen in my mom’s art history textbooks: Degas’ dancers, Monet’s water lilies, a harlequin by Picasso, and a few Van Gogh works.

We checked out an Egyptian exhibit and the Greek and Roman works, and some more modern artworks by Dali, Warhol, and I also spotted a few Jackson Pollack paintings. Nestled in and among these more famous works we found quite a few other interesting pieces, like this floor to ceiling work made of bottle caps.

After leaving the gallery, we headed back to 5th Avenue to take a look in FAO Schwartz.

Besides the big piano that kids were jumping on the make the keys light up and play, there was a build your own Muppet workshop, thousands of stuffed toys, and oodles of candy.

We needed a break to rest our tired feet and headed back to the hotel before heading out to Little Italy. This presented another challenge: how to get there? We weren’t sure about the subway this time and decided to hail a cab and try to give the guy directions to get to Lombardi’s Pizza. It worked! Our efforts were well rewarded with the largest pizza I have ever even thought of eating:

We pretty much polished it all off too – it was delicious! After that I didn’t think I could stuff in another bite, but, while walking off our dinner I saw this place and I knew it was another challenge I could not pass up:

If a store only makes chocolate cake, and calls it the best in the world, it must be, right? Well, at 7 dollars a slice, we tested this out and they are right. It was the best chocolate cake. Ever. It was flourless, mousse-y and glazed to perfection. What a dessert to end a wonderful day of sightseeing and evening of eating!