New York (1/25/07)

Oh my, here we are and the trip has begun. New York is well… as expected. Not to take anything away from it, but then again it was freezing and New Yorkers are obnoxious… of course that was expected as well.

We left the Rock at the crack of dawn, I mean seriously when was the last time I got up at 4am?!? And on purpose for that matter!!! Anyway Jeanne-Marie and I survived and reached our lovely hostel, the Chelsea Inn. I swear that was the mostly sweltering hotel room I have ever had the displeasure to encounter. Oh and for those who are not already aware Jeanne-Marie and I are now officially engaged (took my damn time didn’t I, it only took 6 and a half years to get it done.

On the rest of the first day, we meandered through the area near our hostel (17th st. between 5th and 6th ave.) Had some amazing greek food just down the street from our front door… it is nice to be in a big city again.

Day 2 we focused on mid and uptown, seeing everything from Times Square, Penn Station, Central Park, the Met, and attempted to see MoMA but my dumbass forgot it is closed on Tuesdays….doh! It’s a long damn walk from 17th to the Met ( around 70th) and of course with all of our wandering in between, we had a hell of a day of walking… what a way to break in the new shoes. That night for food we went to a place again down the road, Havana… I can’t call it bad Cuban food but it was a bit disappointing, although the free jolly rancher shots made up for a little bit of the crappyness of Jeannie’s rice dish.
Wednesday we explored Broadway and lower Manhattan. We somehow managed to not buy anything on Canal St. and Chinatown… oh yeah we are on a budget…. Well hell who thought we would actually stick to it…. Although Jeannie has been encouraging me with that big whoopin stick of hers… anyway went by WTC and Battery Park to catch a glimpse of the Lady. Then we went back up to Time Square for a yuppie lunch and on to MoMA… did I fail to mention that Jeannie’s watch screwed up and so we thought we got there at 3:30, when it actually was really 4:45…damn that was a sprint through a museum if I ever saw one…. Oh well chalk it up as another excuse to come back to the City….darn.

Thursday we mailed home all the shit we thought we needed when we really didn’t. After thought we were chased out of the hostel at noon and forced to go to the airport hours before the Iberia check-in desk had even opened….woooo good times in JFK terminal 7… good times…yeah…

New York as a whole was interesting, most especially the vitality of the street, and all that it encompasses. From vendors to dogs, from markets to stoops, from taxis to suicidal pedestrians. The street was always vibrant and full of… not life exactly… but rather action. The city may not sleep, but it certainly never sleeps…. And now that I think of it… it didn’t let me sleep either… Well on to Bilbao and all the glories of Spain.