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Published: October 26th 2008
And the adventure begins....or is it continues...lol
My luggage is not scheduled to arrive until after 11:00 am, so I decided to grab a quick breakfast and go see the Statue of Liberty...yes, yes I know, that's a very tourist thing to do, but I'm a tourist in New York so...lol. Off I go to start my adventures in NYC. I hop the subway from 103 St. to the South Ferry Terminal. That was one long ride. I think it took about 30 - 45 minutes. You need to understand. Unless I'm in a car, I don't usually ride transit for 30-45 minutes. Wait, scratch that...I do, but only to see my parents 😊. It's almost 11:00 am as I make my way over to the ferry. OH MY GOD!!!! The lineup! Does it ever end? The lineup goes from the ferry terminal all the way back to the tourist bus drop off (outside the park). Hmmmm, looks like I'm not going to the see the statue today. Probably wasn't a good idea as it's Saturday too....oh well, shit happens (stepped into it again).
Well, that was a bust, so I walk over to Ground Zero as it's only a
few blocks away. It huge, but there is a lot of construction so you don't the full impact of the devastation that was there before. It really looks like a construction zone and nothing more. Not what I was expecting.
Empire State Building
I grab a quick lunch in a Mexican restaurant below the Empire State Building. I'm thinking , I'm going to make it to the top if it kills me...well, I shouldn't have said that as I have dinner plans and a musical to go see tonight. So, here I go. I jump into the line to buy tickets. The whole time I am standing there ticket sellers keep saying, "Buy express tickets, you won't need to wait 2 hours to go up the top". Two hours? Are they bullshitting me? I'm at the front door of the building already...famous last words...lol. In I go, up the escalator and into a line to buy tickets. Damn! Where the hell did this line come from? I wait, and wait, and wait...then I hear someone calling my name. It's Mourad. He's in the line ahead of me. Wooo Hooo! I get to move up. Now normally I would have
felt bad about doing this, but other people were doing this too so when in Rome (or New York in this case)...lol.
So, Mourad and I start talking; him with his very good broken English and lots of French; me with my awful French and excellent English...lol. Communication is amazing between us. We use hand gestures, guess words, and try to find other words to use. It's amazing that we can even understand each other...lol.
The Lineup
God this line is long. We finally make it up to the ticket booth and buy our tickets, but the line up continues. There is a separate line up for taking the elevators to the 80th floor. Gees, that's not even the observation deck (86th floor). How much longer will we wait? To top things off, the line snakes around the building. They do a better job at hiding the line here than they do at Disney...lol. After waiting in line for about 1 hour, we make it up the elevator to the 80th floor. Now we get into another line to wait for another elevator to go six floors. this is getting ridiculous. A staff member tells everyone that if
we don't want to wait for the elevator, we can walk up the stair. I grab Mourad (as he didn't understand a word) and start climbing the stairs.
Observation Deck
We finally make it to the observation deck and it's a marvelous view. You can see all of New York. Mourad and I spend a good 30 minutes taking pictures of New York. We head down and guess what? There is a lineup to go down. Luckily we walk down the six flights of stairs and join the line that is going down. 30 minutes later (much better wait...lol) we are back on the ground and heading back to the hostel. I think in total I spent two hours 30 minutes at the Empire State Building. I don't think I will be doing that again any time soon unless it's with someone special.
A Night Out
Dinner
I'm looking forward to having dinner with my friend Dana who lives in New York. We have only known each other from being online, but we have been friends for a little over a year now. God, has it been that long? I'm getting old...lol. Woo Hoo, my luggage arrived
The View
The title says it all.at the hostel. Now I can take a shower and change my clothes. I must reek...I'm surprised Mourad didn't say anything...lol. So, off to dinner I go. I catch the subway to the address Dana gave me. Not sure where we are going to eat, but I trust her...well, I won't if the meal is bad...lol. So, I get to the address with 5 minutes to spare and I wait outside the
restaurant for Dana...and I wait and wait...uh oh, is she going to stand me up? At least she sent me to a restaurant and I can eat by myself if that is the case...lol. Dana calls me and tells me she is running late...oh well, it's a nice balmy night in New York and it's not raining so I can't complain. Dana eventually shows up and we have a great dinner. Neither one of us is nervous about meeting or talking to each other. It's like we are old friends who haven't seen each other for a long time. It's great talking to Dana. She's much more cooler in person than online 😊.
The Musical
After dinner, Dana suggests we walk to the theatre. This is a
The View
The title says it all. really good idea as I have been having a difficult time getting my bearings traveling on the subway.
Note to self: get out and walk as much as possible to orientate yourself in a new city. On our leisurely stroll down to the theatre, we have a pleasant conversation and she points out all the famous buildings as we walk past them.
Avenue Q, I have been waiting to see this musical ever since I heard the song, "The Internet is for porn". The show is an adult version of the Muppet Show and it doesn't disappoint. It's the most hilarious musical I've ever seen. Also, the atmosphere in the theatre and the performers were great! As soon as the show finishes, I know that I would be coming back to New York just to see plays and musicals. Am I nuts? Don't answer that, I already know the answer...lol. I'm surprised that Dana has a great time as she has seen the show already although it was a long time ago.
Where Am I?
After the show, Dana and I walk home. I walk Dana home all the while telling her I have a great sense of direction and
The View
The title says it all. won't have any trouble getting back to the hostel from her place. Now that I have my bearings this should be no trouble...famous last words...lol. We arrive at Dana's apartment and I bid her a good night and promptly walk down the hill, towards the river, in the wrong direction. I'm absolutely sure I know where I'm going as I turn right towards 103 street. The problem was that I was not on Broadway or Amsterdam Avenue....am i lost yet? So much for my sense of direction. I blame it on the drink I had at dinner and my lack of sleep. Anyone buying this?...lol. After walking about five blocks in more or less the right direction, just the wrong Avenue, I ask someone, "Where is Amsterdam Avenue?" She tells me to walk four blocks East and I will hit it. I thank her and move on...see I wasn't really lost; I was just on the wrong Avenue...lol. I make it back to the hostel and jump online to tell Dana I made it back. I tell her that I got lost and she said that she was wondering why I was walking in the wrong direction but didn't say
The View
The title says it all. anything as it looked like I knew where I was going. Thank god I didn't cross the river. I would have been totally screwed...lol. Note to self: buy a GPS or bring a map with you at all times.
A New Friend
I'm still wired from all the fun I had tonight, but I decide to go to bed at midnight as I have a long day ahead of me. I'm packing up my laptop as this cute, blonde sits down at the next table and charges her cell phone. I look at it and make a comment about it. We end up talking till 3:00 am. So much for an early night...lol. Ash is her name and we exchange contact information before heading to bed. This was a great day even with the two and a half hours at the Empire State Building. I'm looking forward to exploring the city more with Mourad. Should be fun 😊
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