The First Adventure

Karsen Odle
Dec 1, 2025
5 min read

Original Post Date: May 19, 2019

Original Post Location: New York City, NY

To kick off the summer of adventures, my friend Maura Thieszen and I decided to begin in New York City. (Maura is also studying in Copenhagen, Denmark.) While researching flights we realized that we could save money by traveling to NYC on a Thursday, including the cost of an Airbnb, rather than flying there on a Sunday, so that is what we did!

5.16.19 – New York City Day 1

We started our day by flying from Kansas City (MCI) at 6 AM to New York City (LGA). Once on the ground we awkwardly made our way through the airport and to our Airbnb. Trying to navigate a new city and its public transportation while also lugging around giant bags filled with all the stuff I thought I would need for three months was nothing short of a hassle. New York City was sure to greet us well with our first encounter with a local was getting to watch them chew out a bus driver using many choice words. When we finally made it to our Airbnb, located in Queens and in the neighborhood of Corona, we dropped of our luggage and headed to Brooklyn. As we found out later, our Airbnb ended up being a “short” one-hour subway ride from any attractions.

Our first stop in Brooklyn was Prospect Park and its surrounding neighborhoods. Here we had our first New York Style Pizza at Joe’s Pizzeria and learned that it is almost impossible to find a place to use the restroom. (A helpful tip for finding restrooms while touring NYC will come a bit later!) While ordering our pizza at Joe’s we learned that they start with an already made cheese pizza, you then list off any toppings you want, they sprinkle them on and then throw your slice back into the oven to melt everything together.

To finish out the day we went to Coney Island Beach and Boardwalk to see the ocean and grab a bite for dinner. Once we reached the beach we were finally able to relax and let the cool breeze coming off the Atlantic Ocean refresh us from our incredibly overwhelming day. After lots of traveling and exploring we headed back to the Airbnb early for a little rest and relaxation.

5.17.19 – New York City Day 2

Our second day in NYC began with another “short” subway ride to Central Park. Neither of us had been to downtown NYC before and as we came up from the subway we were both in awe as we found ourselves in the midst of the concrete jungle. We could not believe the immense height and scale of all the buildings. On our way to Central Park we stopped at the Guggenheim Museum. Since we had no set plans for this trip and no time constraints, we decided to hang out in Central Park for awhile and take in all the good skyline views that you get while walking around the Jackie Kennedy Reservoir. Throughout the rest of the day we made good use of our metro cards by hopping our way around the city stopping at The Met, Times Square, The Rockefeller Center, Hudson New York Hotel, Grand Central Terminal, the Chrysler Building, and Roosevelt Island.

5.18.19 – New York City Day 3

Our first stop of the day was the Flatiron Building. Across the street there was a beautiful park and Italian eatery. This area quickly became our favorite spot we had visited. We went to the eatery and picked up a couple of pastries to munch on while we sat in the park and took in all the views. Following this relaxing morning we walked along the Highline and found some adorable restaurants. We then went down to the lower east side to visit the Friend’s Apartment Building, which was in the most amazing neighborhood. This was the only neighborhood that we visited that I could ever see my self living in. Almost every townhome had ivy growing up the side of it with adorable window boxes and a beautiful front door. After exploring the Greenwich Village Neighborhood we made our way to the World Trade Center and the 9/11 Memorial. This memorial and the architecture with it was awe inspiring. Later, as we were trying to find a place to eat, we stumbled upon the most perfect restaurant along the river, Merchant’s River House. It had a great atmosphere and food, as well as a view of the Statue of Liberty and the Jersey City skyline.

5.19.19 – New York City Day 4

On the previous day we fell in love with the plaza at the Flatiron Building and so we decided to go back again to eat brunch and sketch. This was my favorite moment throughout our time in NYC as we had no where to go and could just relax. We ended up spending 2 hours there, just taking it all in. In the afternoon we finished up our list of places that we wanted to visit which included the Glossier Flagship Store, The Brooklyn Bridge, Battery Park, and Katz’s Deli. Due to the massive amount of people walking across the bridge and our intense sunburns, we chose not to walk very far across and headed to Battery Park to find a place in the shade. With this being our last day in New York City, and needing to head to the airport soon, we went to Katz’s Deli at 4 PM thinking that we would avoid the lines. Yet, when we arrived there was a line out the door. Although, Katz knows what they are doing and it wasn’t long before we had our food. After finishing the sandwich and feeling fulfilled that we had accomplished everything in NYC that we had wanted to, we made the long trek back to our Airbnb to pick up our luggage and head to the airport. Thankfully we planned to get there super early because I ended up having major issues at check-in with my carry on bag being too heavy. Eventually everything was worked out and we successfully made the flight to Copenhagen.