Layovers are kind of like the last day of school before summer vacation begins: they seem to stretch on forever, one final obstacle in your path before you reach the promised land. Yesterday I flew out of San Diego while it was still dark and arrived in New York with about 9 hours to kill. Luckily for me, my layover wasn’t too painful, because I was on a mission to see some friendly faces one last time before flying across the pond.
After taking the subway from JFK into Manhattan, I emerged onto a rainy Union Square and immediately made a beeline toward The Strand, which is pretty much my favorite bookstore on this planet. I couldn’t resist buying a new book, called Paramedico, about the exploits of an Aussie EMT who has traveled the world by ambulance.
I was also starving, so I walked a couple blocks down to Vanessa’s and had a cheap but delicious sesame vegetable sandwich. For about $2.50, it’s definitely one of the best deals in New York. The last thing I did was visit my awesome friends Ali, Rob, and Jane in Spanish Harlem, and after a delicious Cuban dinner, it was time to leave and go back to the airport.
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Life is a Camino 
It looks like a link is missing or my browser is messing up – were you talking about the Strand Bookstore? Love that place. My lunch spot of choice in the area was Num Pang Vietnamese sandwich shop, but Vanessa’s sounds delicious – I’ll have to try it next time I’m in the area!
I don’t know why the link was messing up, but yes, I went to the Strand–again. Pretty much every time I’ve been to NYC in the last 4 years I make a point of going. It’s like crack. And btw so is Vanessa’s. They give you the option to order frozen batches of dumplings by the dozen as well 😀
Wow, DEFINITELY checking them out next time I’m there – thanks for the tip! And yes, I’m addicted to Strand as well. 18 miles of books – how can you go wrong?!
No such thing as too many books!