Travel Diary

Ah, sleeping in. That's part of what vacation is all about. No problems with a little extra rest, right? Spotting a theme here? Yes?

Soon we were up and at 'em. The first destination was Grand Central Station. I snapped many photos there and enjoyed all the energy and excitement in a place with people coming and going into various places of the eastern US. It just feels...electric. (There's no pun there; don't look for one.)

From there, we walked over to the NBC (Rockefeller) building. We needed to look into tickets to Top of the Rock. That's the elevator ride that takes people to the great hight of the top of the Rockefeller Building. It was sold out until 5pm and it was only around one o' clock. No, thanks. Maybe another day.

It was then time for food. We walked a good while and found the Italian District. Obviously, restaurants were abundant and we soon had passed by a place where the world's best cannoli (hey, the sign said so) was made and sold. This, we had to try. And it was... (drull roll, s'il vous plait)...

Fantastic!

I even returned to buy more for later. I loved it that much. However, I must add that it's best when consumed fresh. Bringing it home and refrigerating it, and eating it the next day just does not preserve the great taste. It was best on that street on that cold afternoon.

We walked on and finally found it: KATZ! This is the deli made famous by the movie “When Harry Met Sally.” Despite the long line, we had to eat there. We waited about 30 minutes to get in, and then waited another 30 minutes in the food ordering lines. We also observed how the Italian cook had great patience with the older Brit who just couldn't figure out that this wasn't the place to order sandwiches with each half dressed differently

So was it all worth it?

Yes, though not for the food, but the experience itself. The sandwich was decent, however, nothing too special. Yet, the atmosphere was great. We saw the famous table where the exciting scene took place and the staff was very nice. I would recommend to all to try out Katz at least once, but now that it's checked off my list, I probably won't go back unless it's with someone trying it out for the first time.

Across the street, we saw a cool gelato place so we visited that too. They had some very odd flavors--things you usually don't find in ice cream (I can't remember the strange flavors; however, they weren't fruits and sweets), but the girls liked it. I forwent trying any. Plus, I was distracted by the snow now falling outside the window. A snowstorm was starting, slowly but surely.

Next on the list was The Pickle Guys. The premise is it's a place where the food (including many pickles) sits in the barrels and just keeps absorbing the flavor. The idea being that the longer it sits, the more flavor is absorbed (think Whiskey barrels). I bought some pepperoncini, which were okay, and would have been great on sandwiches, but eaten raw...well, I didn't consume too many. The girls bought some olives, which I regret not trying later. I guess I never ate very much back at the flat.

After that, the girls were cold and wanted to head back. But we were close to Brooklyn Bridge and the current lighting looked like it might make for a great sunset. The girls headed back and Terry and I ran through the streets of New York City to try and reach the bridge in time to take some good photos. When it comes to photography, timing is everything.

This run was not easy as we were carrying a lot of stuff, and not equipped for running. But for the most part, we managed to arrive at the bridge in time, lungs burning and perhaps even bleeding a little.

Well, it would have been in time, but the sun had already dipped beneath some clouds on the horizon, so a golden bridge photo would not be possible. We did decide to just keep walking across the bridge.

It's a cool experience, and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and definitely should be done at least once. Below us, the traffic roared past (or crawled, depending on the direction). To the sides were great expansive views of the city and water. Notably, it was very, very chilly and a large wind was blowing fervently. Tourists were all about as well, and from the sounds of their accents, they were from all over the world. It's always nice to see that--people from all across the planet, taking time and spending money to come and see our wonderful little massive town called New York City.

About 80% of the way across, we pondered all that distance of getting back. Plus, the wind was really picking up and the chill was now piercing. But it occurred to me that the subway was probably right there on the other side. We could finish the walk and just ride the train back. Problem solved.

Finding the entrance to the subway would take a little effort as it wasn't marked very well. One would think they'd have better signs pointing to the stairs, but maybe more time overground means more shopping and eating. Who knows.

Before returning to the flat, I wanted to get some beer and vodka, so we visited a convenience store. I found my beer but they didn't sell any spirits. A worker said that a store just down the street did. Okay. Might as well just buy both items there. I put the beer back on the shelf and we headed over. They had lots of wine and lots of spirits.

But didn't sell beer.

Ugh. Where are the cameras? Not sure if that's a law or just an inconvenience, but I bought some mini vodkas there and returned to the first store once again to buy the beer. Ah, memories of frivolous activities.

Back at the flat, we had to wait for Lesly, who was out buying some cookies and had the keys to the locks. On the other side of the street was a young lady who was looking up into the air. Turns out she was talking to her boyfriend who was on the balcony four flights up with their Christmas tree. She was saying to wait a minute for some cars to pass.

I asked if I should be recording all this for a viral video? She said, “Probably.”

I actually did get out my camera on my iPhone and once again, the slowness of the phone let me down. (Love the Macbook, Hate the iPhone). But the coast was clear (or so she thought) and she yelled for him to drop it.

He did.

Just as an old man was exiting his flat and walking right in the path of the tree.

It missed him by inches.

In fact, I think it brushed by his hair. The man was about one foot from possible death (if the trunk had hit his head).

He. Was. Livid!

He yelled and yelled at her. She was very sorry and apologetic, knowing and agreeing that it was a very stupid thing to do. I mean, had the coast been clear, all would be well, but it's like going for it on fourth down. If it works, you're a genius, if not...

He just kept yelling. This man was not happy, as most probably would not enjoy being killed by a Christmas tree. She even said, “How can I make this up to you?” He said, “You can't make up stupid!”

Yeah, we felt bad for her, but it was better than the police arriving and her being tried for involuntary manslaughter. Count your blessings. Finally, he just said to clean it up and stormed off. I offered to help and said a few nice things to ease the situation, but she was okay.

It was interesting though. He did have an ample amount of anger, though for the most part, when anger is met by kindness or a lack of responding anger, the anger seems to get absorbed and swallowed up (took a while in this case). She never got angry back (had no right or reason to actually) and it, in a way, defeated his irateness. If anything, he may have been a lot less likely to tell the landlord about the incident.

One question lingered--where was the boyfriend when all the yelling was going on? You know, the guy that actually dropped the tree and let his girlfriend stand there taking all the blame?

I wonder if they remain together for long.

When Lesly arrived, we entered the flat and prepared for New Year's Eve. We would spend it at a nice restaurant, having great food and listening to a band.

The location was great--about one block away. About 9pm, we headed over and got our table. Jeff showed up a while later, and we all enjoyed some fine food. They spaced out the meal so the dessert would arrive about 20 minutes until midnight. Even the girls remained awake until then--maybe the time zone difference was still helping.

While it wasn't the biggest and craziest of our NYE events, this one was certainly very nice and memorable. Since more walking around would be done the next day, I also went pretty easy on the booze. I learned that much from my previous Hawaii trip. (And the most recent Seattle trip). Hangovers bad for vacation--unless the plan is to sleep the day away.

After that, it was back to the apartment to record the annual New Year's Eve video, which we make every year, but almost never post or watch. Finally, around 3am, everyone crashed.

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