NYC day 3

Up and at it early this morning, my last day in NYC. I joined Aaron on his way to work at 9:30 and we grabbed coffee at his neighborhood coffee shop. He went on to work and I went on to finally see the Natural History Museum. It was everything I thought it would be. I walked around for 2 hours (that was all my brain and eyes could handle) looking at fantastic dinosaurs, wonders of the deep sea, wonders of the universe and every other animal to walk the earth. Very educational and very cool!

1:45 I hopped back on the subway to meet up with Aaron one more time to do what we do best, eat. We went to the cutest Cuban restaurant that made me want to dance the minute I walked through the door. Then the food made me want to go to Cuba! I had crab cake salad with guava cheesecake for desert! Holy moley!!!

Back on the subway again to head back to aarons, with a quick stop off to one more touristy area so I could pick up some of them 3 dollar I heart NY shirts. Now I'm sitting at the JFK airport, awaiting my flight to Portland. See you soon Oregon!

NYC day 2

Aaron woke up hung over from the nite before, the exact reason I didn't want to join him. So while he slept, I headed over to the Statue of Liberty and then wandered up Broadway Street, past Wall Street, strolled passed the massive hole in the ground where the twin towers once stood and then took a ridiculous taxi ride to a restaurant Bread to meet up with Aaron and an old high school friend, Ryan, for lunch. I arrived 20 minutes late thanks to NYC traffic. However, I was still there before Ryan and his wife. It was super good to see them again. It's strange how you don't see someone for 10 years and our lives have changed so much but are still the same person you remember. Fun times.

After lunch we parted our ways and aaron and I headed in the direction of the Natural History Museum, we headed in the direction alright, and then went right past it. By the time it would have taken to backtrack our path, we would only have had an hour at the museum. So, we decided to get off where we were and stroll through central park. I called this our Cloverfield Tour. We passed the subway stop, saw the apartment buildings, hid under the bridge and saw the open green where that dude got eaten. Oh by the way Central Park is HUGE! If you decide to walk across it, wear good shoes and get lots of hot dogs on the way.

At the end of Central Park lays the mother of all nerd stores, the brand new NYC Apple store. We spent a little while in there drooling over all the latest overpriced gadgets. I wanted to shove my pockets with iphones, shuffles, imacs, macbooks, and anything else i could get my hands on. I didn't (not yet!). Then on to dinner! We dined on NY's finest street food of hot dogs, cookies, and pizza. The pizza was probably the best i've ever had! Yes, even better than American Dream Pizza. Then on home, where after the long day of walking I fell asleep watching No Country for Old Men.

I <3 NY!

Hey everyone I made it to NYC! A quick rundown of what's gone on so far. I got in yesterday, friday, at around 12pm got my huge luggage and headed off on the subway to meet Aaron in Manhattan at his work. After sluggishly lugging my luggage through out the many stepped subways of NY I finally arrived at his work. After hello's and hugs we got down to business, on to mexican food; the only reason a really even came back to America. Two enchiladas and beans and rice later, I was on my own again with keys to Aarons flat in hand.

Once again I attempted the ridiculous task of getting my gigantic suitcase through the subway, at least I didn't have to change lines. I popped out of the Morgan Street exit to arrive in the heart of Brooklyn, aka, the ghetto. Aaron had drawn me easy enough directions and only left out several major points consequently getting me very lost...in the ghetto...white girl...huge luggage...in the ghetto. Sure no problem, I've traveled all over the world, I've no problem stopping and asking for directions... ironic thing however, no one spoke English. After wondering around for a half hour I finally found a helpful person who pointed me in the right direction. At last finally at aaron's place. I was down for the count, took a three hour nap waiting for
Aaron to get off work. Turns out he had to work late and didn't get off until 10pm, on a Friday! We then headed out for a few drinks at a local bar. Ah fine American beer, at last.

We woke up bright and early this morning and made our way into downtown Manhattan. We walked around a bit checked out some of the more famous spots. Then headed off to the Guggenheim Museum where there was an exhibition by Cai Guo-Qiang . It was extremely cool. Basically the guy blows things up for a living and in his spare time creates creepy political artwork using lots of taxidermy animals. After that, on to the next museum, possibly the mother of all modern art museums, MoMA! Before hand, however, we went and got amazing ramen noodles! Delicious! Then on to ponder the works of Andy Warhol, Picasso, Kandinsky, and the special exhibit, Design and the Elastic Mind. In the MoMA bookstore on our way out I had my first ever celebrity spotting! There standing right next to me was the former White House speechwriter, not to mention Emmy Award-winning actor, comedian, and game show host, yes, that's right none other than Ben Stein! Funny stuff huh?

To finish off our sightseeing for the day we headed over to Rockefeller Center where we had free passes to the top, courtesy of Dominic's visit the previous week. We had perfect timing, we went up to the top about half hour before the sunset began, we stayed through the sunset and watched the city come alive with lights. What an amazing site. Now it was time for dinner, over to chinatown for dumplings as an appitizer, then back across town to Mama's for some NY style home cooking, I had mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, and corn. One more time: Delicous! All of that chased down by yet another tasty american beer.

Finally back home now and i'm completely wrecked. Aaron has headed out to a friends party to live up the NY lifestyle. I will stay home and sleep off my Dublin jetlag. Besides big plans tomorrow.

New York