Category: travel

my trips

new york city – day 3

i’m starting to get a little tired in the mornings now.  i had to get moving today.

first up is the statue of liberty.  i had checked online the evening before for tickets to go up in the statue, but they were sold out.  apparently, you have to get those a month in advance (as do you tickets to late night with jimmy fallon).  but the ferry ride to staten island was free and takes you by the lady libby twice.  so, i took the boat.  it was cloudy morning casting a shadow on libby, but a few moments when the sun broke through gave me shots like this one.

the next time i visit, i want to make it to liberty island.  this time, however, it worked out well.  i had to make it back to town to find spaz (aka ryan) and have some lunch.  i got off at the wrong stop and ended up walking more than i wanted.  this turned out for the best as i hadn’t made plans to find park avenue and madison avenue.  my trek took me right through that part of town.  after a bit of searching, i hooked up with spaz and and some sushi.  it was a good catch up lunch.  in fact, i don’t think i’ve been to lunch with spaz before when he was still in knoxtropolis working for scripps.

my next stop was to visit ground zero.  this area is under a lot of security, and i wasn’t able to see as much as i would have liked.  diagrams and mock photos showed what the future of the site was to look like.  you could see the construction so far of the two new towers.  i found the memorial mural.  the changes to the block are significant.  the buildings in that part of town are very picturesque.

i didn’t stay too long there because i needed to head back to clean up to meet rebecca at lincoln center.  she was kind enough to grab some tickets to that evening’s concert of the new york philharmonic playing their summer classic.  (we ate some sushi before.  yeah, more sushi.  more good stuff.)

rebecca works there so she has access to the tickets–what a deal that is!  before the concert, she showed me around the plaza of lincoln center.  i saw a little of fordham university’s campus and heard some salsa tunes for a midsummer’s swing.

the concert was incredible.  it was one of the highlights of this trip.  the box seats we had gave us a good view of alexendar gavrylyuk’s fingers as he flew across the keys.  he performed amazingly.  the conductor bramwell tovey entertained beyond his conducting.  rebecca told me his interaction with the audience was worth the evening.  she was right.

we finished up with some pinkberry yogurt not far from lincoln center.  it was all-in-all a grand evening.

>> day 4

new york city – day 2

after getting some rest, i woke up and strapped on my dslr and took to the streets!  well, right, i found a starbucks first and grabbed some coffee and fuel in pastry form.  then i made my way to the trains again.  my next lesson:  pay attention to uptown/downtown mentions on some of the entry points before you pay for the train.  some stations don’t have access to the other direction without leaving and paying again.  it took a couple of times to learn this lesson.

my first stop was the empire state building.  the morning was overcast so visibility wasn’t as good as it could be.  but i got to the top and took some pictures from the 86th floor and then journeyed to the 102nd floor to see more.

i spent over an hour up on top of the world.  then i realized i was hungry.  i ate in the restaurant at the bottom of the building.  bacon on my burger.  good stuff.  while there, i found spaz (aka ryan) and made next day lunch plans with him.

ok, next stop:  brooklyn bridge.  subway again.  i am starting to get the hang of this transit stuff.  i made it to the bridge after a little wandering around to find the walkway entrance.  the walk across the top was one of my favorite walks.  the sun was hot, but the breeze made things feel better.

after casually walking around up here and enjoying the afternoon and taking a bunch of photos, i headed back to grab a shower and meet haley and her crew again for their cultural dinner.  the restaurant was awash in the east village.  the cuisine was ethiopian.  lindsey (lindsay? lyndsee?) and i did our duty and cleaned off one of the platters at our table.  it was good food.  and a few of us headed over for a load-your-own-pay-by-the-ounce/pound yogurt place.  phileo’s was the name of it.  again, good stuff.  and the evenings were better as they were cooler.

oh, and i had to taxi over to the east village since i had screwed up on the direction entry point again and realized i wasn’t going to  make it on time if i tried to train it.

>> day 3

new york city – day 1

even though i’ve been to new york almost every year growing up, i’ve never made it down into the city.  realizing this discrepancy, i decided to visit the big apple and see what all the hype was about.  hype indeed.  that place is so much fun!

armed with a little bit of knowledge of the transit system and a hotel room, i flew into the city midweek.  before i could meet up my friend haley for dinner, i had to be schooled a bit in the transit system and how it worked.  (this wouldn’t be my last lesson either.)  but i finally made it to my spot on the upper west side, the belnord hotel, which when i visit NYC again i’ll book a room.

i walked around until i found sarabeth’s.  i was almost an hour late and very hungry.  sarabeth’s did not disappoint.  and it was good to catch up with haley.

another note about my room:  after staying there for a week, i felt like a new york city resident.  i believe my garage alone is bigger than the room (including closet) and bathroom combined.  that is the standard size from what i keep hearing.

oh, and my next trip would be taken in the spring or fall.  never again in the summer.  despite being in the north, temperatures were what i left behind in knoxtropolis…plus some humidity.

>> day 2