Last Day in NY

Today has been my laziest day on this trip. I loved it.

First thing in the morning (at about 1030) I packed up all my stuff and checked the heck out of that hostel. It was a fantastic experience, but with my blistering second degree sunburn, 80 plus degrees just wasn't gonna happen for me again.

I was easily able to check in early at my new room for the night and it was amazing. As soon as I walked into my room I breathed a sigh of relief and cranked the air conditioning to lowest temperature, highest fan. I am pleased to report that its doing its job famously.

After I got settled I watched a little TV and then spent a lot of the day up on the roof. Because that's where the pool is. (Neat, I know.) I made sure to put on 70 spf sunscreen before going outside or in the pool. It was a gorgeous day out today.

Later I decided to walk around town for a bit and ended up seeing yet another film. (NYC is my new favorite place for movie watching... even if it is ridiculously expensive.) I saw Kung Fu Panda this time and really enjoyed it. Now I'm back at my beautifully chilly room and will probably watch more tv and maybe order room service before calling it a night.

I checked my flight information again and it looks like the flight may not get in until 730 at salt lake. But I'll have my phone with me before we actually take off so communication will hopefully not be an issue.

This is probably going to be my last post for a while unless interesting things start happening in my regular everyday life.

Until we meet again!

Day 9 in NY

So I woke up extra late again today, which meant that I wasn't up in time for mass. Oh well, its not the most important thing ever. I also woke up too late for the hostel breakfast and I was starving so I did what many New Yorkers do on a quiet Sunday morning/afternoon... I had brunch.

I really was craving crepes ever since I walked past this little crepes shop in SoHo the other day. I used my phone to search Google Maps and found a crepes place only a few blocks away. It's called Golden Crepes. I got a Dulce de Leche with mixed berries crepe. It was delicious. If I lived here, Golden Crepes would be my new favorite shop. They also make panini but I was so full after the crepe that I decided against ordering anything else lest I add to my body's already sufficient energy reserves.

After brunch, I took the train out to Brooklyn. I ended up getting off at a very predominately Spanish speaking neighborhood called Highland Park. It was a really interesting experience for me. I have never truly been immersed in a culture as foreign to me as this. I noticed on the train out there that there were only three other white people on the train with me once we passed a certain subway stop. Everyone else was brown and black. I loved it. For some reason I apparently enjoy being the 'odd man out' as it were.

I walked to the nearby park after wandering through the neighborhood and sat on a bench just trying to understand what the people around me were saying. I could only pick up a few words and phrases here and there... just barely enough to know what language they were speaking. As I walked through the park, I came upon a woman selling sliced mangos. I bought one from her and said "thank you" before realizing that I should be saying "gracias"--so I quickly corrected myself and she repeated as most sales people do, "thank YOU" (except in Spanish, of course.)

It was a delicious mango. I continued walking until I found what I'd been looking for in Brooklyn all along. The Evergreen Cemetery. I figured it would be a fit place for me to be on Memorial Day weekend. I walked around the cemetery looking for names I might recognize from the PAF file I had looked over a few times. I didn't recognise any names until I was almost back at the exit, at which point a "KOEHLER" popped out at me. Probably not necessarily relates but I was fascinated all the same. I snapped a quick picture and found my way back to the subway station.

Instead of going back to the hostel to let my phone charge, I took the train up to Harlem. I wandered the streets for a while and explored the shops and houses until I found a power source. I plugged in my dead phone and searched for the nearest subway station since I had gotten myself completely turned around. I made my way back to midtown and Hung around at Bryant Park. I took a few pictures that were pretty cool but my phone was a jerk and didn't remember them. I watched a group of older gentlemen of all colors playing a hale called Pelanque or something in the park. At first I thought it was some sort of urban horseshoes game but I guess the rules are a little more complicated.

Anyway after that I went back to the hostel, took a shower and started packing extra things into a box that I got at FedEx the other day. I taped it up and took all my dirty clothes to the nearest laundromat. I got all my clothes nice and clean and came back to my room. I randomly decided to double check my flight time for tomorrow and discovered that I'm a dummy. You heard me correctly, I'm a dummy.

My flight doesn't leave tomorrow. It leaves Tuesday. I had a momentary panic moment when I realized that I reserved the wrong number of nights for my stay at the hostel. I have to check out tomorrow. I considered just buying a last minute ticket back home but the cheapest one costs 400 dollars. I said, "No thanks,"and considered my options. I could try to get the hostel people to let me stay an extra night, but I've been having some serious trouble sleeping here since there is no air conditioning and my room gets up to at least 80 degrees at night... and so stuffy its difficult to breathe. There is also no screen in the window so I can't leave it open at night.

So I checked my options and decided that I would be willing to pay no more than 200 dollars for a better place to stay tomorrow night. I made a reservation for 150 and the only thing I care about right now is that the rooms are air conditioned. I would pay pretty much my life savings just for air conditioning right now. (lol not really... but really...)

Anyway so for those of you who were expecting me to be back in Utah tomorrow night... psyche!!! My flight doesn't get in until 710pm Utah time on Tuesday, May 31st. Do I presume correctly that someone is willing to pick me up from the airport at that time or thereabouts?

Time to toss and turn in the sunburned heat!

AKA, buenas noches.

Day 8 in NY

This morning I slept in until 11 am and felt very lazy... even though that's only 9 Utah time. I took it slow today and decided I just wanted to walk around. First I went to the United Nations Headquarters. They only offer tours every hour or so and I'd gone at just the wrong time so I only got to see the main floor exhibits. It would have been cool to see the caucus and assembly room things or whatever they are but I didn't want to wait around for 45 minutes.

When I exited the building there was some sort of Turkish festival or whatever going on just across the street. Almost everyone was wearing red and carrying around a red flag with white symbols on it. I guess that's the Turkish flag. I'm probably wrong though. I decided not to venture into the crowded park where said festival was occurring but instead took the subway to SoHo.

Except that the MTA is on a different schedule because of construction on the weekends for the next few weeks. So I had to get off at Union Square and just walked down Broadway--passing through NYU--to get there. At around the south end of NYU, I stumbled upon a random art display by students, I think. It was all very cool. If I had art to buy, I wild get it there.

I really had to pee all through SoHo, so I don't think I was able to enjoy the shops nor architecture as much as I would have had my bladder been empty. I made it all the way down to the World Financial Center plaza before I started screaming (not literally, mind you) and ran into a Rite Aid looking for a bathroom. NYC needs more public restrooms and that's a fact. I found a bathroom but it was locked so I peeked my head over into the break room and asked this dude having lunch if there was a key. He told me that it wasn't a public restroom and I told him it was an emergency and he told me where the key was "hidden" inside a blue shopping basket right next to the restroom.

Once I'd emptied my bladder I went outside into the northish end of Battery Park (or at least that's where I think it was) and I purchased a Fatty Dog and a can of cold Diet Coke. I took my time eating lunch slash dinner and then walked around the World Trade Center construction site and then walked to Wall Street. It was sooooo amazingly crowded down there. I made my way to the Bowling Green and saw the Charging Bull statue. I didn't get very close because it was surrounded by a tonnnn of tourists. So I found a bench to sit on while I enjoyed the shade. A little while later I walked to the Staten Island Ferry again and, luckily, the dancing guys were dancing again!

I only watched one song and didn't donate any money and took the ferry to Staten Island. At the ferry station there I had macaroni and cheese from Au Bon Pain and waited for the ferry back. I was pretty much the first person in line to get on the ferry since I didn't get back on after exiting the ferry from the trip to Staten Island. I got to be outside at the front of the ferry so that was cool.

When I got back to Manhattan I watched the dancing boys again for a while and contributed couple of bucks this time before I left. It was funny when the young kid was asking the circle of people to move closer in he said, "It's okay, don't be scared, we're only black." I laughed when he said that. Silly boy. Super cute though and a talented dancer. He was probably eleven or twelve.

After that, because of construction, the train that I normally would have taken wasn't running so I took a bus to the next subway station that had a train I could use and took that back to the hostel. I let my phone charge a bit while I went to the local theater to get a ticket to Midnight In Paris which is a 'limited release' picture. I really enjoyed it and recommend it as very entertaining and thought provoking. It's rated PG-13 in case anyone more selective than I am was wondering.

Now its time for bed. I've never been to mass before so I'm going to try to wake up early enough tomorrow to go to the one with a choir at St Patrick's.

Goodnight!

Day 7 in NY

I barely woke up early enough to have breakfast this morning. It ends at 10. After breakfast I walked over to the MoMA and spent a long time checking out the exhibits there. I took quite a few pictures but the best exhibits didn't allow picture taking.

After the MoMA I decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and that was pretty cool. Once I got across the bridge I found a nice shady place to sit and uploaded all the pictures I'd taken earlier. After that I went to Grimaldi's Pizzeria and waited in line for probably an hour before I could even go inside. I ordered the Antipasto and then got a pizza to go.

I took a cab back to the hostel because I didn't want to carry my pizza on the subway or walk it all the way back. I shared a slice with one of the peeps at the hostel and then put the pizza in the fridge. I hope nobody steals it. Good pizza, that.

Once I had my phone all recharged, I took the subway all the way up to Ft. Tryon Park. It's an amazingly gorgeous place. It felt a lot like upstate does. I took a few pictures while there and will upload them to Facebook soonish. I also walked over to The Cloisters and took a few pictures outside but the museum had already closed for the day so I couldn't go inside.

I then took the subway to Grand Central Terminal and took a few pictures. After that I walked over to St. Patrick's Cathedral but didn't take any pictures because it was too dark for them to turn out. I will probably go back there on Sunday for mass with choir. I'll take pictures then.

After that it was really dark and my feet hurt so I grabbed another cab and took it to a movie theater a few blocks away from the hostel. The movie cost thirteen dollars--yikes!!! While I was waiting for the movie to start I met a Russian guy who grew up in Brooklyn but he still had a mostly Russian accent. I don't remember his name.

Now its time for bed!

Day 6 in NY

So this morning I decided I wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. I left the hostel at about 1030 or so and took the subway to Battery Park, which is where they launch the ferries for liberty and Ellis islands.

I got in a moderate-sized line to purchase my ticket. That line took probably 30 to 40 minutes to get through. After I got my ticket I walked all the way around the park to the end of the line for the actual ferry. It was a pretty long line. It took about two hours (give or take fifteen ish minutes) to get through that line. I passed the time listening to various street performers. I don't know what the instrument is called but there were a couple of guys drumming songs out on these metal bowl looking things. They sounded Caribbean. One of the guys started playing the theme song to Mission:Impossible. If I'd had cash handy I would have paid him.

There was also an Asian man playing an Asian string instrument. It was pretty beautiful. He played "My Country Tis of Thee" Asian style. It was cool. When I finally got to the front of the line I had to go through airport style security. That went fairly fast because I don't generally carry a lot of metal objects on my person.

I picked a railing on the main deck of the ferry to enjoy the ride. It was a good ride and I picked a good side to see the statue from. I decided to get off the ferry at Liberty Island and have a look around. I ate lunch there--which consisted of a burger and chili cheese fries-- and then walked around the island. I didn't get a pass to go inside the statue so I just circumvented it. Still awesome, in my opinion. When I went in the gift shop I looked at pictures of immigrants and noticed that they were playing an instrumental rendition of "Abide With Me" which made me want to be more active in Family History work. I wondered if I was the only one in that hot, musty gift shop to recognize the song.

The worst part of the day consisted of the hour I spent standing in the middle of a restless crowd waiting for the ferry to Ellis island. Because of this, I recommend getting an express pass or going on the first boat over. I don't mind being in the middle of crowds that are moving... but only being able to stand there for such a long time amidst so many sweaty bodies may have turned me claustrophobic.

When the ferry finally came I decided that I wasn't going to exit at Ellis island, and I still support that decision in hindsight. I couldn't handle yet another hour long line.

After the ferry I headed back to the hostel to let my phone charge since it died while I was tying to take pictures of the attractive black guys and the cute 12 year old boy who were all breakdancing right outside of the South Ferry subway station. I wish I could have watched them longer.

While my phone charged I bought a towel at Pottery Barn since the hostel doesn't provide them. It's a pretty good looking towel. When I got back to my room my phone was mostly charged so I unplugged it and decided to walk to Little Italy and Chinatown. That took a while but it was worth it.

I walked around until it got dark and then picked an Italian restaurant at random and ate dinner there. It was delicious. I do declare I will marry an Italian man someday. :P

Just kidding. But really, it was amazing. I ordered ravioli and had a cannoli for dessert. Soo good.

I got back to the hostel a little while ago and now its pretty much time for bed. I'm thinking tomorrow will be my museum day.

Goodnight, all!

Day 5 in NY

Well this morning I woke up at around 8 or so and had breakfast in the commons area. It was fairly good. Not the best complimentary breakfast ever but whatever.

After breakfast I went over to the Rockefeller Center Plaza and bought a ticket to the "Top of the Rock". There was a good sized line because of groups of tourists but it probably took about the same amount of time as getting to the top of the ESB did the other night. The view was great at the Rock... better, even, than the view at the ESB.

After I finished at the Rockefeller, I walked over to the theater district and picked up my ticket for Wicked. I still.had two hours to wait before the doors would open so I walked over to the Food Emporium because I was starving. It's a pretty similar feel to Wegman's except more urban. (obviously)

I walked around the block a few times before deciding that it was late enough to go into the theater. There were a ton of people there. I got a pretty good seat at the front of the mezzanine, and was happy with where it was situated.

Anyway Wicked was amazing. I loved every bit of it! I do need to mention, though, that nobody compares to the original cast. That being said, today's cast did a magnificent job and I remember thinking as I walked out of the theater that I would be completely satisfied with my trip if it had ended right after that. It was that cool.

After Broadway I spontaneously boarded a train for Coney Island. It took quite a while a get there. As soon as I arrived I went straight to the beach, bought a hot dog from Nathan's, and hung out there until about an hour before sunset.

I went back to the hostel to let my phone charge up and then went down to the Staten Island Ferry. I rode it there and back and that was really fun. I loved how windy it was.

When I got back to Manhattan, it was too late to do much else so I just came in and wrote a blog post.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring!

Day 4 in NY

Let me just say that today has been awesome. This morning I woke up at 830 and got all my stuff packed up again. Then I hung out with Rina and Jack until 1045 at which point it was time to go to the airport.

My flight from Syracuse to JFK was fast and uneventful. I met someone who also likes Robert Jordan so that was cool I guess. At the airport I decided to hang around for a little while since check-in at the hostel wouldn't start for a couple of hours. I bought a grilled chicken sandwich at Cheeburger Cheeburger and that was pretty good. By the time I finished eating it was time to head over to Manhattan.

I'd read somewhere that you shouldn't accept a cab ride from anyone who tries to get you in the airport or before you get to the yellow taxi line so I ignored all the ride offers and got straight in line. A few minutes later I was in a cab heading downtown. I was a little uneasy at first but I guess I get used to things quickly. I'm just glad I'm not the one who was driving...

The cabbie found my destination easily and he was very good and helpful so I tipped him well. Check-in was simple and fast bit I was surprised that I got a private room since I thought I'd booked a shared one. Not that I don't enjoy having privacy... I really really do.

So after I got all settled in I decided to walk up to Central Park and maybe find a quiet place to read, but I ended up just walking all the way up to 83rd or something and then taking the subway back down to 23rd once my phone died.While I let my phone charge back up on my room, I walked over to the Corner Bistro and had a Bistro Burger, fries, and water. It was pretty good but I was pretty hungry so I didn't take much time tasting it.

I thought about just going to sleep when I got back to my room but then I decided to make the most of my time and see the Empire State Building. It was gorgeous up there. Windy... but gorgeous. I tried to take as many pictures as possible without being redundant.

When I got down from the ESB I wasn't tired yet so I headed over to Times Square to see the lights at night even though I'd walked through on my way to Central Park. It was rather pretty and I would have stayed longer but I decided that since I was alone I should head back to the hostel. I got back at about midnight.

Wicked tomorrow afternoon!!!!

Day 3 in NY

Today was probably the least eventful of all the days I've been here. This morning I woke up late and went to Panera for lunch and then saw Pirates 4 with Charity Hunter.

Afterwards I had planned to hang out with Steve Rutagarama and Seth Hunter but Seth is a flake so I only hung out with Steve. I guess Seth just had better things to do than see me while I'm in Syracuse. I guess we weren't as good friends as I thought we were.

I wish he'd let me know sooner that he changed his mind... I could have spent that time hanging out with one of my real friends.

Anyway I'm over it. But mom, please stop bringing up how fantastic you think he is because he's obviously not that great.

On a better note, I had a good tlme with steve, and am looking forward to NYC tomorrow.

Shout out to Wesel and Wassail for making my trip that much more awesome-er!

Day 2 in NY

I woke up this morning feeling rather refreshed. It was about 0930 as the Eastern rooster crows. I had just enough time to get ready for church. Luckily the Wesels live two minutes away from the church. It was stake conference today so unfortunately a lot of people from the ward were gone. I showed almost everyone I said hey to the video I shot on my phone of my new YSA ward's meetinghouse that's almost identical to the Liverpool one. Everyone laughed or thought it was cool.

After church I spent a few hours hanging out with Christine. We drove around Syracuse downtown with the windows down because its so nice here lately. It was really fun. Then at about 5, the three younger Bixby girls came over and we had a really delicious pasta and garlic bread dinner with trifle and bundt cake for dessert. It was amazing. Afterwards we played "the game of things". I recommend it as a fabulous social game. There were a lot of good laughs.

The Bixbys had to go home at about 2040 so after that we just hung around talking until 2200 and then Wesel and Wassail went to sleep and I went to Garrett's house. We drove around town until just after midnight at which point I.started getting tired and came back here where I will retire to bed shortly.

No pictures thus time either, unfortunately.

Thanks for reading! :)

Day 1 in NY

I feel like "today" consisted of 36 hours rather than just 24. I got off work May 20th at 1830 so I could make sure I had everything squared away before catching my red eye flight to Syracuse.

My dad, Mariel and Owen dropped me off at the curb at the SLC airport and I waved goodbye to them. I went inside and easily printed off my boarding pass for my flight to JFK and my connecting flight to Syracuse. I had made sure to arrange a 5 hour layover at JFK because I have bad experiences with JFK's traffic.

I went through security quickly because I didn't bring a laptop or checked luggage, and I was ready to board at about 2200. The flight was originally scheduled to depart at 2336 but the plane was late arriving so we didn't end up leaving until around 0020. Maybe later.

The flight lasted roughly 5 hours and I had been planning to just sleep that whole time but I got stuck with the one seat that couldn't recline. I slept exactly 0 minutes on that flight. When we finally got close to NYC all I could think about was how nice it would be to be able to sleep for 5 hours while I waited at JFK for my connecting flight. But, just my luck, there was heavy fog right above JFK and they had us in a holding pattern for at least an hour and a half. Then we got diverted to Newark so we could get the plane refueled because we pretty much used it all up just hovering above the city.

While we waited for the fuel truck to come give us a refill, everyone was given the opportunity to exit the aircraft and either find a connecting flight at Newark or take a cab to JFK since departures weren't being affected by the low fog. Or we comld just opt to stick it out on the plane. We were told that it would probably take longer to get a port for exiting the plane than the refueling would take. At this point it was only about 720 and they said we could make it to JFK within an hour. 19 out of the original 150 passengers decided that exiting was a better bet than staying on board but I figured that since my connecting flight wasn't going to board until 950, I'd have plenty of time to take a nap and grab some breakfast before my flight-- even with a three hour delay.

We ended up stuck at Newark from 715 until 915 at which point we finally rejoined the queue for takeoff. At this point I had pretty much given up making my connecting flight on time and was trying to figure out how I could get a rental car and maybe drive from Queens to Syracuse. I was even getting a little pumped about the idea.

Luckily for my bank account, we finally docked with JFK at 947. I hurried to find my gate ASAP since there was.still a chance that I might make it... and I only just made it to the tail end of boarding. Unfortunately that rush left me zero time to.use the restroom or grab breakfast or stretch my legs or take a nap.

But I didn't miss my flight.

Rina was waiting for me right outside of security. I didn't even have to call or text her to tell her I'd arrived like I thought I'd have to. As soon as we went outside I felt that familiar blanket of humidity and loved it. Wesel and Jack were waiting in the car and we went to Subway for free six inch sandwiches. They were really good.

I kept myself awake all day but it was mostly a daze. After lunch all the way until dinner I played with Jack. He is super cute! Rina told me that they have an extra car until July or later and that I'm welcome to use it while I'm in town, so after dinner I went to Rosemary's with Cherry Chris and we made s'mores on a small fire and got our flippy floppy feet eaten alive by evil mosquitoes. We talked and enjoyed our treats for a while and at about 2130 we decided to call it quits. I went back to the Wesels house and decided to write a blog post for my mom before going to sleep.