ahhhh..... new york

My friend Jen invited me to join her and her sister Sara on a trip to New York. This is truly one of my favorite places to visit.
It was Sara's first trip to the Big Apple. Her husband got us a room one block over from Time Square! It was a nice room. For those of you who know how picky I am about my hotel rooms, you know this had to be real nice for me to say so!
We arrived Friday night, checked in to the hotel and went straight to Time Sqaure. It is most impressive at night I think. We saw that TKTS was open and I was surprised by that! We decided to get tickets for a show that night since we had the time and went to see The Fantasticks. ( Tickets at 6:45 pm were limited.)
I have seen quite a few Broadway shows in some of the most amazing theatres so I was stunned when we walked up to the Jerry Orbach Theatre and saw how small it was. Not just small, but on the 6th floor! When we got to our seats, I couldn't get over how small the theatre was. It was about the size of the Majestic in West Springfield and set up the same way. The 'orchestra' was a piano and a harp. I broke into a laughing fit and I could not stop. I was so surprised and a bit disappointed for Sara because it was her first time there and I felt she was being cheated of the full theatre experience.
I think she thought I was a little disturb because I could not stop laughing. I have to say though, that the show was wonderful and after the first few minutes my anxiety melted away. The music was great and because the stage was in the audience, we got a nice closeup look at the actors. I am ashamed to say that I did 'judge the book by the cover'. The show was great and recommend it!
We went sight seeing in Time Square and got back to the room after midnight.
The next morning we went to the pier to catch the Circle Line to the Statue of Liberty. We were just going to tour the harbor since there are no tickets available to the statue until December. It was kind of pricey, so we decided to go to Battery Park. We walked a while until we realized that it was much farther than it looked on the map! On our way to the subway, we walked down NY's finest streets! I know it was one of the finest because it held the sanitation department and the street was decorated with clothing and a variety of fine bottles. We were the only ones on the street so I figured it was very elite. We took the subway to the park and caught a fun trip on the harbor and saw the Brooklyn Bridge, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

We then went to Canal Street to experience all the fine shopping it has to offer. You didn't have to worry about looking around because the vendors came straight to you and rattled off a list of all the wonderful handbags you could have; Coach, Louis Vuitton, Prada. Every few feet they were in stores, on the streets. Miles and miles of vendors. It was overwhelming.
We decided to eat at a chinese restaurant at... well, chinatown. Do you see the ducks in the window? I'd always wondered if they served them with the head on and they do!

it was a little windyAfter Canal Street, we took the subway again to Central Park. We rode with this not-so-cute guy in a polka-dot speedo with $1 bills tucked in the band. He really thought he was something else. I think that he is competing with the Naked Cowboy, which we did not get to see on this trp.

We went to Fifth Avenue to do some shopping and to St. Patrick's Cathederal and to Magnolia Bakery, which is my favorite place now, for some yummy treats. We went to dinner at a place called Azteca because my favorite Puerto Rican place closed. I was sad, but the fajitas at Azteca were yummy.

Jenn learned a painful lesson on this trip. Sometimes you have to sacrifice style for comfort. She wore sandals (I know), to walk around for the time we were there and boy did she pay the price! She had so many blisters that I cringed every time she took a step. She was a trooper, though. She did not complain ONCE. I can't say I would have been as nice.

I am grateful for the invite! It was a much needed break from reality!!!!!!!!!!!!