TravelStream™ news feed for member sockmonkey70 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/sockmonkey70 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 01 Jan 2009 13:18:20 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230831480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230831480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230831480/tpod.html Thu, 01 Jan 2009 13:18:20 -0500 New York City

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New York, New York, United States

Yesterday was amazing. We slept in a bit (seems to be a trend lol).  It was finally snowing! I wish you could have seen the smiles on our faces walking through it. We couldn't contain ourselves. It made this trip perfect. We made it to Broadhurst theatre around 1:30 to see Equus. We sat on stage (about 10 feet above). I could have flung myself onto Daniel Radcliffe had I been braver/more of an idiot. The play was fantastic. Simple set design, but still gorgeous. The performers were very talented. Very interesting subject matter also :) Funny story...we were sitting by two guys from Natchitoches, who went to NSU. What are the odds! 
After that, we came back to the hostel for a bit to plan out the rest of New Years Eve. We really wanted to see a Comedy Show. We settled on the Gotham Comedy Club. They had a great lineup, and it wasn't too terribly expensive. We just really didn't want to be stuck in the Times Square mob. 
To pass the time until the show, we went and ate at this really cool place called Cafeteria. All of the waiters were model gorgeous. Really cool looking restaurant.. All modern. It was a little pricey but worth it for the experience. Lisa ate a burger and I had fish and chips. We also tried their signature Macaroni and Cheese...it was all crusty on top just how I like it.
We came back to the hostel to put on more clothes. It was about 15 degrees last night, with a windchill of 1 lol. We headed over to Gotham for our 10:30 show. Very cool place. The show was hilarious! I couldn't have imagined a more enjoyable thing to do on New Years Eve. We watched the ball drop on the screen at the Gotham. It was an amazing energy...just being in New York at all for the New Year.
We walked to Times Square to see the carnage/aftermath. Just a bunch of confetti flying everywhere and drunk people lost. It was cool though.
Well, gotta shower. Write more later.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230739500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230739500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230739500/tpod.html Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:13:25 -0500 New York City

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New York, New York, United States

Yesterday I woke up around 9:00 but Lisa drug ass until around 11:30. Well we did have to change rooms. One of our German roommates had the plague so we asked if we could have a different room..they gave us a private room. Way nicer, well, as far as this place goes anyway.  The dudes at the desk here are awesome.
So after that adventure, we set out for the day to go see some art. Our first stop was the Frick Collection. Pretty awesome. Then we went to the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art), and last on the list was the Guggenheim. It took up most of the day. We came back to the hostel for a bit. I managed to lose the key to our new room down the sink. It was awesome. For the night, we decided to go see a movie. Yes, a movie.
We watched the The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. 3 hours of awesomeness! The movie theatre was three stories and cool as shit.
This morning I woke up to go smoke and it was snowing. FINALLY. It's supposed to be 12 degrees tonight. We might get our white  Christmas after all. At 2 we are going to see Equus aka Harry Potter naked. Very excited.
Now I need to wash my greasy hair. The wind up here does wonders for it :)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230612720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230612720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230612720/tpod.html Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:01:10 -0500 New York City

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Wanted to post a few photos before bed. Just a small sample.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230607080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230607080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230607080/tpod.html Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:30:59 -0500 New York City

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Lisa was still a little under the weather today, so we took it easy again. We ventured down looking for a building by one of Lisa's favorite architect...it was supposed to be a few blocks from where we are staying. Unfortunately, it seems as though this building hasn't been constructed yet LOL.
We walked back, and stopped at an awesome little place called Amadeus Pizza...Let me just say they gave us enough food for 5-6 people...Food here isn't nearly as expensive as you would think, and they give you heaping portions. It may be worse than in the south. She ordered a "mini" pizza which was the equivalent of our large pizza. Don't ask about their large. They gave me a Philly Cheesesteak big enough for me to eat at two meals, and you know I don't leave food left over :)
After gorging ourselves silly, we ran back to the hostel with our left overs and headed off to get tickets to our Broadway show. Turns out Wicked is sold out until late January (epic fail). I was bitterly disappointed. Fortunately, Daniel Radcliffe is starring in my second choice of shows, Equus and we got tickets ON STAGE. We won't have the best view but come on...I will be mere feet from a nude Harry Potter LOL.
Next we went to the American Museum of Natural History. On the subway we met these two guys from Arizona that had been looking for the museum for an hour and a half. We hung out a while but ditched them once we got to the museum. Poor things were hungry but got hot dogs so we could hang out, but we just left them there. The museum itself was awesome. My favorite part was the section on human evolution. Many comparisons of the skulls and skeletons, and a good timeline of hominid/homo sapien development. Very interesting. Lots of awesome skeletons of extinct mammals too...Dinosaurs...You name it they had it fossilized.
For our last venture, we decided to take a ride on the Staten Island ferry. It's free, and it takes you pretty close to the statue of liberty. It really was amazing. The view of the city from the ferry was absolutely perfect. The lights reflecting into the water was more gorgeous than any postcard I've seen. It was one of those "Oh my God, I'm really here" moments.
Now we are back at the hostel doing laundry :) I'm about to eat the rest of my sandwich.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230562740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230562740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230562740/tpod.html Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:05:08 -0500 New York City

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New York, New York, United States

Lisa was sick yesterday so we got a pretty late start. It was nice to relax a little though. We went to the MoMA (not impressed), I bought a pack of cigarettes for $11 and almost killed myself, then we headed over to Hells Kitchen because we read there were some good places to eat there. We found this diner that had EVERYTHING you could imagine to eat...pretty delicious and cheap as far as NY goes. Then we headed back towards the hostel. We stopped in at the massive post office right down the street from the hostel and just sat there absorbing everything...When we got back to the hostel we did some research and asked th guy at the front desk about a quiet place to have a drink. He recommended this cake shop/ bar so we tried it out. It was very nice...Good music, interesting atmosphere..candle lit....Nice.  After that, we came back home and passed out from exhaustion.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230441120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230441120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230441120/tpod.html Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:45:13 -0500 New York City

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The city makes it's own music. It is far from the quiet, peaceful surroundings I'm used to, but it still has beauty. Banshee like squealing in the subway when it stops, random performers with their homespun instruments, horns, traffic, conversations spoke in languages I don't understand...It all weaves together to help invent the atmosphere. I swear half the people up here speak a foreign language.
This morning we were off to try and get tickets to Wicked at the lottery (front row seats cheap) but we were unsuccessful. I think we are going to try on more time, and then just give in and buy the damn tickets full price. Seeing a show on Broadway is at the top of my list of things to do while I am here. We ate from a cart on the street today. Lisa had a hotdog, I ate a hotdog and beef on a stick LOL. It was cheap AND delicious. 
After our misfortune, we headed out towards Grand Central Station and the Chrysler Building. Fanastic. We passed the UN, stopped in at the NYC Public Library, and then made our way to China Town. I bought an awesome scarf, but we got out of the area pretty quickly. We're too poor to be tempted by that much shopping...When I say slam packed with shops I am not exaggerating.  It was interesting to see all of the little markets with food stands. Sea food by the pound on most street corners, various birds cooked with heads still attached hanging in windows...A couple of streets over we found Little Italy because we were hungry again and we wanted to try some authentic-ish Italian. We settled on a little restaurant that looked the least touristy. It also doubled as a cigar shop. Walking in it almost felt like we were intruding on a private Italian party lol...But they let us stay and eat. It was pretty good too. Lisa didn't like her Calzone because it had too much cheese, but I enjoyed her extra cheese a good bit.
We wandered around trying to get over to the Sea Port, and ended up in the WTC area. We met this really crazy guy named Jose who gave us some free books, free hugs, and his phone number. I guess it's the southern charm. He directed us to the best view of ground zero..the second floor of the Burger King. How else to spend a somber moment of reflection besides hanging out with the king. It was so weird to see people laughing and talking (and eating hotdogs as Lisa pointed out) basically on top of the spot were so many people died. 
We eventually headed down to the port to find one of the things I had been adamant we do...See Bodies The Exhibition (www.bodiestheexhibition.com). All I can say is wow..I WISH I could have gotten some pictures. Real human bodies sliced and diced into artistic anatomy lessons. The most stunning portion was the blood vessels...They had injected a chemical to harden and dye the vessels, so they retained their shape. They were displayed in glass cases of water in a dimly lit room and it was simply stunning to see the intricate weaving that occurs...spindle thin vessels balled up like yarn and intwined with larger veins and arteries...Lit red against a dark room...Beautiful and incredible to think all of that is inside of us. There was also a room with fetuses..I am pretty sure I could never have an abortion after seeing just how human a fetus looks after only 9 weeks. It's really amazing to see how well developed their structures are so early on. We left the exhibition and made our way onto the actual port. What a contrast to the city. Massive ships bobbing against the cityscape...it was almost comical. Here I must interject that it was dark and misty...Lots of fog. We stopped and got some cookies, then headed back. We were both dead tired, but Lisa really wanted to see the Brooklyn Bridge. I must say hiking up that bridge was the LAST thing I wanted to do at the time, but it was entirely worth it. The Brooklyn Bridge, at night in the fog was AMAZING. Spooky beautiful. I can't wait to see it in the daylight too. I have never felt so small, but I have never felt so...powerful. As we were leaving the bridge it really dawned on me exactly what I am doing. I am young, poor, but having the time of my life. It's so exhilarating to be here and be experiencing all of this. I wish everyone the chance to leave their bubbles and comfort zones and experience what there is in the world.
Going to try and upload some pictures now!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230347460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230347460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230347460/tpod.html Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:12:16 -0500 New York City

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New York, New York, United States

Here is the link to Lisa's blog so you can keep up with us both!
http://www.travelpod.com/members/lnrac
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230345420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230345420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230345420/tpod.html Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:08:30 -0500 New York City

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Leave it to us to forget our boarding passes and hostel information at the house. I freaked out, but everything worked out OK. The people at the airport were very helpful, and got us new boarding passes fairly seamlessly. 
On the plane, I could only feel sorry for any person afraid to fly. There is an entire world above the clouds and everyone should see it atleast once in their life. Landscapes shaped completely from imagination exist up there.
Our flight made it into LaGaurdia at 10PM last night. I have never been so nervous in my life. Lisa called Tony and got the address to our hostel. We weren't even sure what the name of it was at the time. We met this awesome lady in the subway who overheard our dilemma. Turns out she is a tour guide and gave us some really helpful advice. We finally made it to our hostel about midnight. After checking in to our tiny room, we decided to go walk around the city a bit. Madison Square Garden was close-by, as well as a homeless lady with a boombox but apparently no money. We stopped in at this place called the Tick Tock Diner to get some food. It was pretty delicious considering we had been traveling all day. I probably would have eaten anything. Fortunately I settled for a cheeseburger. 
It was such a relief to get back to the hostel and get to bed, but unfortunately the heating system in the building didn't care for us to sleep. A good portion of the night sounded like someone was sawing and hacking away at something dangerously close to the window. I thought someone was trying to get in lol. Our German roommates pointed out that it was just the heater though, and we tried to sleep as best we could.
Morning came too soon today. I was dead tired. Not a happy camper to see Lisa's smiling face waking  me up. Eventually her excitement rubbed off on me. FREAKING NEW YORK. Oh my gosh. We set out this morning without a clue what we wanted to do. We ran to K-Mart (yes, I said K-Mart) to pick up a few groceries and brought them back to the hostel. Then, we wandered. We walked and walked. It is just so much to take in. Things are completely different here. I don't think I have ever in my life seen such an eclectic mix of faces, a melting  pot in very sense of the term. And it is a  completely massive city. I just can't get over how it. I could live here for ten years and still feel swallowed up in the vastness of it. It's beautiful, it's dirty. It's loud and crowded.
We ended up over around Times Square for the better portion of the day. It was brilliant. We were crammed on the side walk like sardines trying to absorb everything. Fantastic billboards, signs, displays...It's just so alive. I think it's a place someone would need to see in person to fully appreciate.
OK well I am tired of typing for now. I'll try to write more later.
<3's
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230198480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230198480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sockmonkey70/1/1230198480/tpod.html Thu, 25 Dec 2008 05:56:04 -0500 New York City

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Bossier City, Louisiana, United States

So it's almost 5AM, day of departure. Haven't finished the laundry, much less packing. Everything is a mess right now and the only thing I am sure of is how awesome this is going to be.  I feel a little guilty leaving for the holidays, but those who know me understand I would throw myself under a bus for my family. This is generally the time I spend at home with them to really catch up. I think they understand though.  Now time for a little sleep before the hectic day starts.
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