nyc

so we're back from nyc and i finally started to unpack my bag. yikes. overall the trip was a good one, even though it seemed everything we tried to do got messed up.

thursday/friday morning - drove the 600 plus miles to nyc, taking turns driving and listened to almost half of a long way down by nick hornby. made a questionable stop in newark, new jersey at an ihop and we were on our way through the lincoln tunnel at 6am!

friday - we did the today show, tried to get conan tickets (which ended up just taking up a lot of our day), checked into the hostel, watched a little of the st. patty's day parade, bought our metrocards, walked many blocks of 5th avenue and 34th street, and ate fish and chips at a pub. we were so exhausted after driving all night!

saturday - sex and the city tour! we got to sit on carrie's stoop, eat magnolia cupcakes, drink cosmos at scout, and see some of the locations from the show. it was neat to see where the girls hung out and good way to learn a little bit about the city. after the tour, we went to soho and browsed some of the couture shops and made our way to chinatown just in time for everyone to shut down their shops. so then we went to the financial district only to find our subway route wasn't running that day, we eventually made it to ground zero, after dark. went back up to the upper west side, where we stayed, and grabbed some asian cuisine.

sunday - got to times square by 11am, after a yummy bagel at a local deli, to get in line for matinee broadway show tickets. hairspray - sold out, the producers - too expensive. unfortunately we had to go to the off broadway shows and blindly chose Family Secrets. not bad, but not spectacular. before the show we shopped at the world's largest department store - Macy's...my miracle on 34th street! i found some cute tops, pajama pants, and a nice handbag. rachel found a comfy TH robe. the evening was spent cruising the hudson river around the south side of manhattan and getting the lowdown of the city from a true new yorker. i wasn't ready to be done for the night, so i suggested a movie. we saw transamerica at a theater in times square. luckily the subway runs 24/7 so we made it home....late at about 2am!

monday - packed up our stuff and trucked it over 8 blocks to the car and then caught the bus to the guggenheim. unfortunately, the unique architecture of the building was masked by scaffolding on the outside, but we did get to see the spiraling inside. too many sculptures and not enough paintings, but still a neat experience. we decided to head home after the gug. i snapped a few last pictures from the car, the sky was bright blue with fluffy white clouds, looking good next to the high rise buildings. continued to listen to a long way down and tried to stay awake. made it home at 1am - definitely did not want to go to work in the morning. i felt like i needed a day on the beach after visiting the business of the city.

i thought that i wanted to live in new york city, at least to try it for a short period of time. i think i would feel way too lonely there and it seemed very overwhelming to me. i still have respect for the city though and all the different types of people who reside there, it's such a curious place to visit. who knows where home is for me! now i'm back to my regular life in cincinnati.