Heres the crew. We just walked, walked, walked. We went everywhere together, following our fearless leader, Ryan. 
It always felt like daytime, because the lights were so bright.
Yes Evan was on this trip. He wasn't in many pictures. (This was on purpose in case Tina saw them and would be sad she missed the trip. He didn't want to document that he had fun.)Such a sensitive husband 
Okay, of course we had to take a picture of a romantic kiss on the top of the Empire State building. It was bit windy. But the two hour wait was worth the view.
Granny Christensen would have loved these flowers at Macy's. We sped walked through it. We had a plane to catch.
Sweet.
Robert loved the dogs. Where's Robert? Oh on the corner buying a dog.
We ordered room service, five pints of haggen daaz. 20 min later and this is what arrived. I guess they didn't realize that all we needed was eight spoons.
Serendipity's famous frozen hot chocolate. We loved it.
Just admiring the modern art. One of Ryan's favorite.
Aren't we cute. We had an on going movie tour, (compliments of Sabrina). We only really cared to see things that had been in movies. Central park was an Enchanted tour. I am sure this has been in many movies. 
We took the free ferry to the Statue of Liberty. We mostly enjoyed the sitting.
An eating pit stop. No time to actually sit and eat.
Yes I was very active on this trip. 
Time square. Yes I am really that shortI wanted to put up all my pictures but it takes way to long. So here are a few.
Where shall I start. It was incredible, I loved every moment of it. I can't wait to go back. I was totally exhausted from the trip but it was worth it. New York is an amazing place. I think my favorite thing was all the shows we went to. For me it was the symphony that was the highlight of my trip. I have never heard such an amazing sound before. Every player was good and they seemed to enjoy it and give it their all, unlike the Calgary Philharmonic. The soloist was incredible and seemed to energize the whole orchestra. Mom, I and Sabrina forfeited the New Yankees game on Saturday afternoon (it was cold) and we went to the symphony again. I was super tired, so this time I couldn't stay awake, but it was great. I loved the opera, the opera's weren't my favorite but the whole production of them was incredible. The cast was enormous, the voices superb and they even had real animals. I think Ryan actually enjoyed the cultural experiences as well, even though he still says that he can't fully appreciate just how good the symphony was, I keep telling him I am sure he could even tell the difference between them and the Calgary Philharmonic. My only regret was my broadway choice, Phantom, don't get me wrong it was good, it just wasn't amazing. But we were all together and others loved it so it was a good night had by all. This was Ryan's dream holiday, non-stop action. You just go and go and go. His favorite part was just being their, just walking amongst all the people and feeling the ongoing energy. I wasn't tired there, the city just gives you energy. We would walk around after the shows, around 11:00 pm, and it felt like the middle of the day. I think the trip was topped off with the group that we were with; Dad, Mom, Sarabeth, Ryan, Brandie, Robert, Richard, Anna, Sabrina, Evan, and Sara Lee was with us for a while. (a great asset to getting around). We stayed at the Marriot right in Time Square, we stayed on the 42nd floor and took everyone on a tour to our room because the elevator ride up was amazing. My ears popped every time I went up, 42 floors is very high. We all went every where together, the company was so great. Standing in line for two hours to get up the Empire State building was still fun because we were in good company. By the way I did think it was worth the wait, it was really neat to be above the New York skyline. Ryan, who had google-earthed New York numerous times before the trip, (he swore he always knew where he was going) was a fearless leader. There were a few times that some in the group would oppose his leadership and threaten to break away but these threats were always in vain. No one else there was brave enough (or mainly tall enough) to lead the troops. He was, as Tina would put it, a sound leader. He kept a good pace, always aware of who was falling behind, and made you believe he knew where he was going. I would like to applaud Mother for persisting that we go to Serendipity, we did have to reroute our plans and take a taxi there, then walk home in the rain. But it was well worth it the frozen hot chocolate was delicious and the restaurant was very quaint. (We were saddened when in Los Angeles we saw a Serendipity III and realized that it has become a chain thus taking away its quaintness but still very worth the detour) Our eating was hit and miss, nothing to great. If in doubt I would go with the pizza it seemed to never fail. Speaking of pizza I had a really good chuckle when we all went into Lombardi's (the oldest pizzeria in New York) and tried to get directions to John's (supposedly the best pizza in the world according to Woody Nelson). Were we suprised that no one there new where it was, so we ended up ordering from them. Of course we were in a hurry so after telling them we were going to sit down, we changed our minds and went outside and ate the pizza outside in front of their store. I think they were thoroughly entertained by us. One of Ryan and Robert's highlights was the nachos from the Marriot hotel, the cheese was like 7-11's but gourmet. Dad's was probably the chocolate ice cream from the hotel that he ordered the first night and it just never was the same the other nights. Another highlight was probably the comments that came from walking through the Met and looking at the modern art. Some of their favorite pieces were probably, the diagonal florescent light, the pure blue canvas, the fermaldihide shark, the metal bubbled satelite dish thing, just to name a few. A lot of thought and pondering was also given to the exhibits in the Gugenheim Museum's foyer. Lets just say we didn't get past the foyer. We sat and watched the moving thing that circled the hall and had something to do with broken up books and then much more thought was given to microphones that were recording a block of ice and had been for the past twenty or so years. Its not that we didn't appreciate modern art, was just a few of the exhibits that left us questioning. What didn't we do, you ask. Well pretty much everything, but I feel like I could go back and do everything the same again and enjoy it. Thanks to all who made our trip a success and especially to Mom and Dad for all they did. Here are a few pictures.
Where shall I start. It was incredible, I loved every moment of it. I can't wait to go back. I was totally exhausted from the trip but it was worth it. New York is an amazing place. I think my favorite thing was all the shows we went to. For me it was the symphony that was the highlight of my trip. I have never heard such an amazing sound before. Every player was good and they seemed to enjoy it and give it their all, unlike the Calgary Philharmonic. The soloist was incredible and seemed to energize the whole orchestra. Mom, I and Sabrina forfeited the New Yankees game on Saturday afternoon (it was cold) and we went to the symphony again. I was super tired, so this time I couldn't stay awake, but it was great. I loved the opera, the opera's weren't my favorite but the whole production of them was incredible. The cast was enormous, the voices superb and they even had real animals. I think Ryan actually enjoyed the cultural experiences as well, even though he still says that he can't fully appreciate just how good the symphony was, I keep telling him I am sure he could even tell the difference between them and the Calgary Philharmonic. My only regret was my broadway choice, Phantom, don't get me wrong it was good, it just wasn't amazing. But we were all together and others loved it so it was a good night had by all. This was Ryan's dream holiday, non-stop action. You just go and go and go. His favorite part was just being their, just walking amongst all the people and feeling the ongoing energy. I wasn't tired there, the city just gives you energy. We would walk around after the shows, around 11:00 pm, and it felt like the middle of the day. I think the trip was topped off with the group that we were with; Dad, Mom, Sarabeth, Ryan, Brandie, Robert, Richard, Anna, Sabrina, Evan, and Sara Lee was with us for a while. (a great asset to getting around). We stayed at the Marriot right in Time Square, we stayed on the 42nd floor and took everyone on a tour to our room because the elevator ride up was amazing. My ears popped every time I went up, 42 floors is very high. We all went every where together, the company was so great. Standing in line for two hours to get up the Empire State building was still fun because we were in good company. By the way I did think it was worth the wait, it was really neat to be above the New York skyline. Ryan, who had google-earthed New York numerous times before the trip, (he swore he always knew where he was going) was a fearless leader. There were a few times that some in the group would oppose his leadership and threaten to break away but these threats were always in vain. No one else there was brave enough (or mainly tall enough) to lead the troops. He was, as Tina would put it, a sound leader. He kept a good pace, always aware of who was falling behind, and made you believe he knew where he was going. I would like to applaud Mother for persisting that we go to Serendipity, we did have to reroute our plans and take a taxi there, then walk home in the rain. But it was well worth it the frozen hot chocolate was delicious and the restaurant was very quaint. (We were saddened when in Los Angeles we saw a Serendipity III and realized that it has become a chain thus taking away its quaintness but still very worth the detour) Our eating was hit and miss, nothing to great. If in doubt I would go with the pizza it seemed to never fail. Speaking of pizza I had a really good chuckle when we all went into Lombardi's (the oldest pizzeria in New York) and tried to get directions to John's (supposedly the best pizza in the world according to Woody Nelson). Were we suprised that no one there new where it was, so we ended up ordering from them. Of course we were in a hurry so after telling them we were going to sit down, we changed our minds and went outside and ate the pizza outside in front of their store. I think they were thoroughly entertained by us. One of Ryan and Robert's highlights was the nachos from the Marriot hotel, the cheese was like 7-11's but gourmet. Dad's was probably the chocolate ice cream from the hotel that he ordered the first night and it just never was the same the other nights. Another highlight was probably the comments that came from walking through the Met and looking at the modern art. Some of their favorite pieces were probably, the diagonal florescent light, the pure blue canvas, the fermaldihide shark, the metal bubbled satelite dish thing, just to name a few. A lot of thought and pondering was also given to the exhibits in the Gugenheim Museum's foyer. Lets just say we didn't get past the foyer. We sat and watched the moving thing that circled the hall and had something to do with broken up books and then much more thought was given to microphones that were recording a block of ice and had been for the past twenty or so years. Its not that we didn't appreciate modern art, was just a few of the exhibits that left us questioning. What didn't we do, you ask. Well pretty much everything, but I feel like I could go back and do everything the same again and enjoy it. Thanks to all who made our trip a success and especially to Mom and Dad for all they did. Here are a few pictures.
Wow. I'm not sure where to start. I upbraided you for not posting so you go on and write an essay. But I loved it. I think I could imagine your trip perfectly. I would have loved being there. I'm so happy for you to have gone. Modern art with the family would have been a crack up FOR SURE. Love Tina
ReplyDeleteWoody Nelson? Is that supposed to be "Woody Allen" the actor/director synonymous with NYC, or "Woody Nielson" of Saskatoon, formerly of Calgary, or "Willie Nelson" country music star? I'm lost.
ReplyDeleteThe Real JL