This is the Last Photo Bill Ever Took.

Laundry was the first order of business today. We both had a pillow case full of clothes that were starting to become an atmospherical danger, so we decided we had better wash them this morning. Spent about 5 bucks for a single load, which wasn’t too bad considering it’s the Upper West Side in NYC. It was also the first time either of us had used a laudromat so we felt pretty good once we finished and all our clothes actually smelled clean!

After we dropped off our clothes at the Hostel we hopped the train downtown to Ground Zero. This was the second time for me and the first for Devon. We took some great pictures of the construction going on and went inside the newly built museum. It is completely non-profit and run by familes members of victims from September 11th. The whole experience was quite moving and very emotional. One of the most moving things I saw was a photo taken of Ground Zero shortly after one of the towers collapsed, by a professional photographer. That in itself was emotional but the fact that he was killed moments after taking that shot is what really got to me. There was a caption under the photo saying the man’s camera was found in the wreckage and the photo in the exhibit was the last he ever took.

After a quick slice to get our emotions back in order we headed to “The Best Kept Secret in New York City”. For those really interested ask me about it .

Once we finished with the mayhem, we headed to Wall Street. Walked the streets, went into Tiffany & Co., then quickly out again after seeing a tiny coin purse that cost much more than it should have! We then took a few pictures by The Bull and decided to head to The Fire Museum.

THIS IS WHERE THE DAY WENT HORRIBLY WRONG.

We hopped on the train to Spring Street, only to realize that we were on the wrong. Once we realized this, we quikly got back on the train- the other way, back to our original stop. We THEN got on the correct train, got off at the right Spring Street stop only to realize the museum is closed on Mondays! With all of our time squandered we decided we had better head back so we could get to our play on time. Little did we know our little adventure was far from over. We ended up about 3 stops into Brooklyn when we finally realized it and had to back on the train to Manhattan and fianlly got to hostel!

Having only 20 minutes to get ready, change and run out of the hostel we hurried around the room in a frenzy and actually made it out and to the theatre with time to spare. Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theatre was, in one word; spectacular. Everything about it was amazing and we sat next to this lady from New Jersey. If you haven’t ever met anyone from NJ, trust me when I tell you, it’s quite an experience. We then went across the street so Devon could have a drink, talked a little and then got on the train home and made it there in one try!

The Last Photo Bill Ever Took

Our Pizza Lunch. Huge Slices!

CLOSED. LOL

Reflecting

We talked to a guy named Chris tonight. He is from Austria and is studying to be a mechanical engineer. Although his english is not as strong as he would like it to be, he managed (in the course of our hour long conversation) to remind me of a few things. Thought I would share. Do with them what you will.

1) Americans tend to be very ethnocentric and often see the world through one set of glasses.
2) It is impossible to understand the world until you have walked around it.
3) There are still great people in this world that genuiely care about others and their well-being.
4) Finally, the people we surround our selves with are what truely matter, not our possesions. Even though our culture would have us believe differently.

I think I’ll visit Europe some day, if Chis is any indication of the mindset across the pond, I am sure I will love it.

Weather Report; Freezing with a chance of death

I would like to say I am joking but in less words and more numbers that was basically the weather report for the last two days. With the wind chill factor it has dropped below zero several times and there have been winds gusting up to 20-50 miles an hours. Welcome to an east coast winter!

But have no fear, we still managed to have a great time today and took in a ton of sights. This morning we found another really great place to eat on the Upper West Side ( where we are) and had a delicious breakfast. After that we took the subway downtown to The Statue of Liberty. Before I talk about how majestic it is and what a great symbol of hope and freedom is it, let me first talk about how apparently they transplanted it to the middle of the Arctic!! It was windy, super cold and snowing a bit, the whole time we were there. But we had a blast, met a cool couple from Baltimore who told us how much colder Chicago is and that we should be happy we weren’t there.

Anyway, after that- which by the way took a while between missing trains and exchanging tickets, we made our way to Rockefeller center. I taught Devon a game I like to call Sniper. It can be played like this: Have at least two people playing (Devon and Myself in this case). Find a public arena where people fall easily ( skate parks, bike parks, places where people rollerblade, in our case it was the ice skating rink in Rockefeller Center). Then pick one person each (your victim) and if your person falls first you get a point. Tons of fun and free!! Try it when you get the chance!

Following a lively game of Sniper we walled around Rockefeller center, looked in some shops and decided that since it was within walkig distance we would make our way to the Empire State Building. The view from the top was spectacular. Keeping with the theme of the day, however; it was COLD AND WINDY! So windy in fact, that one whole side of the observation deck was closed. The upside was that we literally did not have to wait in line and could go inside and look out to get the fill 360 degree view.

After that we started to walk toward our subway train to get home and stumbled upon a great little Chinese food place had an amazing meal that was well priced and we have enough left over to eat tomorrow!

View from the Empire State Building

Sniper Game Location

Rockefeller Christmas Tree

Lady Liberty

19 degrees feels like 1 degree!

Ok, so mike and I decided that today we would do the uptown tour on our double decker bus, as well as the museum mile. We started the day out with snow on the ground, a crisp wind, and a little sun. As we exited our hostel we noticed it was a bit cold, but nothing out of the ordinary. After admiring the beauty of the fresh snow fall, we continued on with our normal routine… Breakfast at a little coffee shop, then hop on the subway at 86th street and finally to our beginning destination for the day. As we walked up the stairs exiting the subway we were greeted by an incredibly cold wind… The type that cuts straight to the bone, that makes you (like mike continues to say) feel like you are at the dentist and the doctor injected your face instead of your gums. We stood infront of the museum of natural history waiting for our bus, and then finally hoped on the semi open top double decker bus. We rode for a while learning very interesting facts about celebrities and buildings, parks and clubs. We finally arrived at the museum mile and went to the MET first. After 4 amazing hours we decided to walk about 15 blocks back to the museum of New York… Wow, it was freezing! After exploring the NY museum for an hour or so, we walked outside at 5pm to catch our sightseeing NY bus. After waiting 20 minutes our bus arrived just to find it was full and we had to wait another 20 min and hope that bus had room… I’m sure you have guessed by now that we did not take our chances. We walked a few blocks and caught the subway to chinatown where we walked around in what we found out was 19degrees with a windchill factor that made it feel like 1 degree… PERFECT since I decided to wear a long sleeve shirt, jacket, jeans, beanie and scarf… No layers!!! Mike only had his thin sweatshirt and jacket, we were not to smart today. We still had a blast and bargained with the shops on china town and then finally ended up eating in little Italy. We both had tastey spaghetti and meatballs (not as good as grandmas of course, but still very delicious) while being graced with the presence of a man singing and playing the accordian… It felt just like Italy! After dinner we jumped from subway to subway and finally made it home. We are watching tv down in the common area, which is extremely popular, and meeting new people. Our hostel is interesting but very friendly. Well, now that we have defrosted, it’s time for bed!

The musician in little Italy

Stain glass by Tiffany at the MET

R and R?… More like talk and write!

Ok, so mike and I thought we would go back to our hostel early to get some sleep… Ya right! 5 hours later and I’m now writing this blog because I had to share my wonderful night with my roommates with you all. As we got ready for bed 2 newcomers came into our 10 person bedroom. Now keep in mind this was about 7pm. We made the casual polite introductions, which led us to 5 hours of fun, laughter, and memories with Patrick and salena. They are a couple from Canada who meet eachother in Germany. So right off the bat I knew we were meant to room together… They clearly are world travelers up for good times, and, well, I want to be. We talked about careers, school, and amazing places to visit. They leave tomorrow unfortunately, but for the meantime, it was awesome getting to know them. I/we are having an awesome experience at the hostels and I am really enjoying getting to know new people!

A Little R and R

And on the 5th day…we rested.

We bought a ticket for the NY sightseeing buses that are good for 4 days. We toured around Downtown and are now sitting at Starbucks resting. The plan for tonight is to go back to the hostel, hang out, watch some TV, go eat dinner and then hit the sack so we can hit the streets hard the rest of the time we are here!

A Very Brooklyn New Year

Midnight in Times Square begins about 5 o clock in the afternoon. That is when people start standing and waiting for the show to begin. Those of us not familiar with the processof getting there about 5, decided to eat something first, stroll out of Friday’s in Times Square about 6 only to realize we will be standing at 49th and 7th for the next 6 hours.

That’s where we were, about 5 blocks away from the 42nd and 7th which is technically Times Square, but we could see everything perfectly, just had a bit of trouble hearing the performances (which, in the scheme of things wasn’t all that bad).

Over the course of the night (and keep in mind, this will be the ultra condensed version) we met 5 amazing people who will be the main charcters in any of the New Years in Times Square stories we will ever tell. The main source of our entertainment was a guy named David Turner who we nicknamed Brooklyn, because he made it very obvious that’s where he was from. He had on flashing 2010 glasses and had a Marry Poppins bags of New Year celebration swag. He celebrated every hour like it was actually new years and had a bank of knowledge about the city and popular culture that would put any encylopedia to shame.

Devon and I both discussed this morning that neither one of us actually saw the ball drop because of the mayhem that was going around us. And honestly with the countdown on the screen, Brooklyn yelling at the top of his lungs and all the excitement I never even looked for the ball.

When all was said and done and after we said our goodbye to our new friends Mohamed, Alicia, Jared, Lidsey and Brooklyn and wished them Happy New Year and wished them luck with their futures we walked down the confetti filled streets with our heads held high and a new respect for everyone around us. We had all just endured 6 entire hours of standing in one spot all for a ten second countdown and not a single one of us would have given up that experince for anything.

The Mayhem that is Times Square on New Years Eve

“Brooklyn”