TravelStream™ news feed for member travelingirl on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/travelingirl en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:39:47 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1245356105/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1245356105/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1245356105/tpod.html Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:39:47 -0400 Adventures in New York City!

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New York, New York, United States

Alternate titles for this entry:

When All Things That Could Go Wrong Actually Do
Went to Hell and Lived to Tell the Story

Itinerary O'FUN (Notice the first two letters of "fun" are F U)

1:50pm - Leave Northern Jersey, drive into city via the George Washington Bridge
2:50 - Arrive at Riverside Drive and Park there on 95th street.
3:02 - Meet Mitch at his apartment. Work on installing Finale to his computer.
4:17 - Leave to go to the "new" High Line (http://www.thehighline.org/). Try every metro card, realizing there is insufficient fare on all the cards. Have a "nice" guy swipe his unlimited card through to let me go through the turnstile.
5:12 - Go to Old Navy on 6th Ave, shop for "travel pants."
6:05 - Go to dinner on 8th Ave. Order Penne Vodka and Pinot Grigio.
7:03 - With much silliness, travel back to the Upper West Side. Realize there's still insufficent fare, miss 1 train, but catch the next one.
7:36 - Hang at Mitch's apartment, still silly, and work on Finale.
7:44 - Call Erica for technical support on Finale because it just doesn't work the same on Macs.
7:46 - Develop bad stomachache from said Penne Vodka and Pinot Grigio.
7:50 - Mitch puts on "Alien" and it reminds me of the time last year I had a stomachache and I tried watching the episode of Anthony Bourdain where he's eating a pig head in Romania and I literally had to run to the bathroom to vomit.
7:55 - Mitch changes channel to something more appropriate.
9:30 - Travel with Mitch to the convenient store for something to make me feel better before the trek home to Jersey.
10:11 - Realize, with much shock and dismay, that my Ford Focus is not on Riverside and 95th.
10:24 - Walk up and down, searching for vehicle.
10:48 - Go back to Mitch's apartment and figure out who to contact to get the car back.
11:23 - Realize that I don't recall my license plate number and proceed to wake up mom and dad in order to get it.
11:33 - Thoroughly freak out mom and dad, but unable to retrieve a license plate number.
11:36 - Mitch calls 311 for the towing company.
11:47 - Realize that "Alvin" at 311 gave us the wrong phone number.
11:52 - Call the police.
12:22 am - Realize that I still need a license plate number or VIN number.
12:43 - Get in touch with the Towing company, they are able to figure out car details.
1:03 - Thoroughly relieved that at least the car wasn't stolen.
1:05 - Still have a stomach ache and sleep in Mitch's livingroom.
8:45 - Wake up and get ready to retrieve car. Realize the toilet is clogged
9:00 - Wake up Mitch.
9:06 - Toilet overflows several times, water everywhere. Can't find mop.
9:11 - Find mop.
9:46 - Go out for breakfast, in the pouring rain.
9:55 - Get extremely soaked, but make it to the diner.
9:59 - Order food, get order taken by guy who usually is nice, but is extremely short with us.
10:10 - Get my food, but Mitch sits without food.
10:14 - Waiter finally realizes Mitch is without food and gets his order.
10:22 - Finish as much food as I could stomach.
10:34 - Feeling comatose, go downtown on the 1 train (with sufficient fare - thanks Mitch for swiping your card!).
10:59 - Arrive at 42nd Street/Port Authority, hear "Alleluia" played on trumpet in the distance by a subway performer and think it's strikingly, eerily fitting (you know, that Catholic/Christian hymn they perform around Easter), hail cab and travel to pier 76 to pick up car.
11:23 - Is relieved to be reunited with my beloved car. Pay excrutiating amount of money to the NYPD, realizes that I still have a parking ticket on my car.
11:46 - Sit in traffic to get through Lincoln Tunnel.
12:35pm - Arrive on Rt. 3 in Jersey.
1:05 - Arrive home and take a much needed lavender bubble bath.

These misadventurous situations are pretty nuts, but really absurd and will make for funny stories in the future. They make me very grateful for good, patient friends who have mops and umbrellas and pull out couches. Thank you, Mitch for getting through this day with me!! Agh!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1219465740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1219465740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1219465740/tpod.html Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:20:52 -0400 Adventures in New York City!

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New York, New York, United States

After my only student of the day, I headed in by bus to the city. I was originally heading in to meet up with my Irish and Celtic music group and then go to the Saw Doctors, but then I decided to go in early and hang out with Vlad Vines (Mitch our church choir director)! I met him after I got in at Port Authority. We witnessed a "Free Tibet" protest - this was the first protest I had ever seen in NYC (although I had seen protests in other cities). Well, these people have America as their place to protest - it certainly can't be done in China! After I accidentally got caught up in the protest, we browsed around the area. We went to the M&Ms store (the gypsy made me do it), and a few music stores. Mitch got a mic stand in Sam Ash then we went on to Colony's to check out sheet music. It is definitely a nice place! Afterwards, we checked out Hell's Kitchen and he brought me to Amy's Bread. We were distracted by a gentleman loudly, in an overly intelligent New Yorker accent (think yuppie), trying to teach an eight-year-old how to play chess. We had a nice time and covered lots of ground, we both walked around times square to pick up the subway - he went uptown, I went downtown.

I was a little late getting down to Ulysses down near Wall Street - I didn't realize the ride would take so long but no worries since only two others were there. We stayed at the bar inside for awhile and then went outside to the picnic tables to order some appetizers. I loved the street we were on because it was like how old new york must have looked - with cobblestones and streets wide enough for foot traffic only. I got to know a lot of members of the group. I met a girl who was born in Cork and moved when she was young to the US and then was a nurse for a little while in Ireland about three years ago. She told me that she still sort of has an Irish boyfriend over there and they talk through skype. Her and another group member told me that I should go live over there (yay more inspiration).
A little while later, we made our way down to the Staten Island Ferry area to take the five minute ferry ride to governor's Island to see The Saw Doctors. The Saw Doctors is an Irish rock band that I originally heard about through my Irish uncle's cousins when I was doing some Irish research. They recommended this group to listen to. My Irish and Celtic music group had an event to go see the Saw Doctors, so I decided to get tickets (and on Goldstar they were half price!) When I originally listened to them, (I have to be honest here) they sounded a little watered down U2 style. But, even though I wasn't completely crazy about them after first listen, I continued to get used to the two + albums I downloaded. They still aren't my FAVORITE but I really got to know a lot of their songs and I am starting to catch on to the hype. Irish bands might just have a different sound (duh) and I should get used to it. Plus, it's all for research ;). We took the ferry over and it had been a long time since I had a ferry ride. Some rowdy men (acting like boys) were already lit from being at Ulysses and starting singing "Wild Rover" very loudly. I got some niiiicee sunset pictures of the financial district and of those waterfall installations that I just recently heard about.
The concert was a good time. On the ferry ride back, people were way rowdy and making lots of noise, chanting and singing. I luckily had a subway riding bud and went up to times square to get to port authority. I stopped at Mickey-D's since I had a spare hour. I got a bottle of water and sat at a table for a minute. My sister had her friend prank call me and I actually really believed that someone found my sister's cell phone in a bar and was using it to drunk call everyone on her contacts list. It was loud in McDonalds so I couldn't really tell what the hell the phone call was all about. I woke my mom up because I thought my sister's phone got in the wrong hands, but it was only my sister's friend Gerald playin a trick on me! Dammit! Port Authority was especially filled with freaks as always (but, that's how it has its charm!). I rode home on the bus, with rowdy drunk men (boys, really) and others.

Pet Peeves:
1: People from Bergen county feeling bad for me that I'm so "out there" in Jersey. When I describe where I am, they think I'm in central jersey. They feel bad that I traveled such a LONNGG way. I like public transportation, I can't help it. It's nice to chill out while someone drives you around. I'm only an hour if I drove in. It's just a little longer with a bus or train. It's like these Bergen people have a secret club and if you're a little west you're "OUT THERE" And, therefore, some sort of primordial alien person. And while I'm at it, it's time people have heard of DOVER. Haven't people seen highway signs that say "Dover"? It's a big landmark when we are talkin about directions (West - Dover, East - New York, etc.).
2: Drunk men on public transportation at 2am arguing about football teams and players. Screw them and their stupid masculine desires for hearing themselves bellow about men wrestling each other over damn pig skin. Who cares. Let's argue about hockey instead. At least a play lasts for more than 10 seconds. AND most hockey players are really hot. My fave (ex-NY Ranger): Niklas Sundstrom (woo he's swedish!).
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/3/1208807220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/3/1208807220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/3/1208807220/tpod.html Tue, 19 May 2009 21:45:58 -0400 At the Pubs for RESEARCH! My Excellent Adventures in Tracking Down Irish Music - Ireland 2008

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Kildare Town, Ireland

Ah from pub crawing to church hopping! I've got my diet coke in
hand and I'm chillin' in my hostel after a super long day but one that was very
fulfilling. First a quick bit about what I did after I wrote last
night - we ended up going to the Apache pizza place for personal pizzas
and having an indepth discussion about the possibility of a trip to
Iceland June 2009! Then I can possibly extend that trip with a
week in Scandinavia! Rock! (Family - are you banging your
heads against the desk yet???!!! MUAHAHAHAHA!) Maybe a
couple days each in Denmark (hey - I've got a new research project -
word is, that's where LEGOS were invented and that's where the
amusement park LEGOLAND is!!!!), Sweden, and Norway. Why?!
Why not!

Then we were all ready to grab a pastry from Spar - the convenient
store nearby but I was lured into a pub featuring ballad singing.
I ordered some cider and whipped out the iPod for some more classic
tunes. I'm very curious how many frickin times I've heard Whiskey
In the Jar since I've been here!!! I thought "Hey, drinkin this
cider isn't too strong!" but then became quite hyper and silly on the
way back. After a little bit I calmed down, got myself to read
some of the Reverend's books that I got yesterday at church, and went
to sleep. I slept like a baby. I've got a twin sized bed
but it's so comfortable with two comforters.

So we set our alarms for a bright and early 5:45 AM - we had an early morning train to catch!!!

This morning, we had a taxi ordered up for us to meet us at 7am outside
the hostel. I ran quick to Spar and got ourselves some pastries,
smoothies, and other early-morning necessities. We headed off via
taxi (driven by an authentic Dubliner) to Heuston Station where we
picked up the 7:35am train to Kildare. The taxi driver asked us
where we were going...we answered "Kildare." He asked what we
were seeing...we answered "Saint Brigid sites." He asks
"why?" We just gave some simple answer, like "it looked
cool." It's hard to get indepth with a taxi driver about our
intentions in Kildare.

The train went well...we arrived at the Kildare station and started
walking in the direction that we were told to go in. Here's a
little background: I have been corresponding via email with a Brigidine
sister (Catholic nun) who runs a spirituality center on the Saint
Brigid. Saint Brigid also takes on attributes and folk lore of
the celtic Goddess by the same name - Brigid. About a year or two
ago I found out about her duality as both a saint and Celtic goddess
and was very intrigued. Truth be told, I started doing more and
more research, and what drew me to Ireland was going to see her sacred
sites.

We arrived at the Kildare station pretty early and by the time we found
the center - which is also a couple of the sister's homes, it was
really early. So we walked around the town. We were struck
by how "normal" the town seemed. I could picture myself living
there. We stopped at a big Spar this time that contained other
shops in it - it had a nice cafe in it so we sat and rested awhile and
refilled our caffeine supply. I had a yummy, fluffy, buttery
croissant. After a little while, we went back up into the
sister's neighborhood. As we walked down the block, we rounded
the corner and immediately we saw an older woman in a cute little red
car waving at us with a wide smile. She knew it was us meeting her at 10 am like I
originally said in our email correspondence. She was very
welcoming and brought us inside the center...she brought us into a room
and lit a candle to welcome us and she showed us all the information
she had about the history of the Brigidine sisterhood. At this
point as I'm writing, I think that you need some info, please check out
http://www.solasbhride.com about who Brigid was and the history behind
the sisters there. This sister was so warm and inviting and was
not your average sister - she did not wear anything that identified her
as a nun...but she did wear a Brigid's cross on her sweater. She
told us and showed us a model of the center that she was able to get
money to build in two years. After a little while she sent us on
our "pilgrimage" around the town of Kildare and she told us that we
should come back to see her later in the afternoon to say
goodbye.

We were off first to the Saint Brigid Parish Church. We noticed
quite a few stray dogs on our journeys. One dog especially
followed us around in our journeys. I tried not to get too close
to it in case of disease issues but it seemed like such a sweet, gentle
dog. The Parish Church was not open but we were able to see the
outside - especially the metal doors with hands outstretched.
After that we traveled down Bride Street to check out some ruins and
wells. We walked about 30 minutes outside the town center into a
very rural area. We passed a home that had an elaborate black and
gold gate. Then, I spotted the Black Abbey ruins. As my
guidebook states: "This abbey was home to a branch of the Knights
Hospitaller or Knights of St. John in the 13th century. They were
called the Black Knights because of their black habit enblazened with a
white cross. The Knights were founded in Jerusalem at the
beginning of the twelfth century during the time of the Crusades.
They were originally found to run a hospital in Jerusalem to care for
sick and infirm pilgrims who made the arduous journey from all over
Europe to the holy sites in the city..." There were also some
neat celtic cross grave stones that I took pictures of. We
traveled a little bit more down the street and we were able to check
out St. Brigid's wayside well. About the well: "In pre-Christian
times, wells were associated with the presence of a goddess and seen
as...mother earth, the source of life. The wayside well is a
spring well..."

On the other side of the well site, we spotted touristy-looking things
- like a tourist bus. Now, what we were doing today was kind of
an off-the-beaten-path type attraction...but we noticed something
touristy around the corner. It was a site of Japanese
Gardens. They were charging money to get in - instead of going
there, we used the bathroom and bought stuff in the gift shop
instead. Afterward, we continued on our journey. We noticed
the tourbus actually went past us in the direction we were going.
We were really hoping that tourist bus of old people wasn't going to
our cool, hidden site we were planning to go next.

At the next well site, there was a stream, small waterfall, statue of
Brigid, and prayer stones leading up to the well. Now, luckily
those old people were not there, but a few people who looked like they
were from the town came down. It was starting to really become a
nice day and we finally saw the sun. After some of the people
left, Danielle and I read from the guide book many of the sayings that
are traditional to recite as you go from one stone to another.
These sayings had to do with bringing peace into the world, caring for
people, etc. We were halfway done, and almost on-cue, someone
came up to us, almost as if she knew us. She introduced
herself and asked where we were from. She started talking
with us, the details I will not include in this blog. But, what
happened with this woman was very out-of-the-ordinary and set us off of
our trail for about an hour or two. I will just say that we
talked a lot with this woman and she let us in to a lot of the insights
about her life and insights about the town and its people. With
this lady, we took the 35 minute walk back to the town center. We
said our goodbyes to her, and headed off to a pharmacy because on the
way Danielle got "stung" by a plant and had some sort of swelling
reaction. The people at the pharmacy were very helpful.
Since we were thrown off course, we had to kind of regroup, so we went
to a restaurant in town (recommened by the sister). I had myself
some chicken tenders, chips (fries), and later a brownie. Then,
we were on our way to finish as much of the journey as we could.

We went down to the Kildare Heritage center to find a woman who the
sister told us could unlock Brigid's Cathedral. The woman who was
at the counter said it was late and that no one was available to open
the Cathedral for us. So we just accepted that and looked around
their little giftshop. I purchased some stuff - including an
Irish penny whistle.

We went off to Brigid's Cathedral. On the way I thought I spotted
the "white abbey" that was marked on the map - it was a catholic church
but I wasn't sure if it was actually the abbey we were looking
for. We went inside and Danielle lit some candles. After
that, we went on to the Cathedral like we were supposed to. We
got a little off the trail but, that's ok, because all we had to do was
try to follow streets to get to the large cathedral and tower. We
found it - unfortunately it was really closed...but at least the gate
was open and we could get some pictures. It was a little creepy
with the celtic cross cemetary outside - we also saw a place that
looked like a crypt outside - there was a set of steps down to a gated
area where they must have kept the remains. We also looked at the
tower as well. At that time, we had to go to the bathroom, so we
thought it best to visit the sisters (this time it was the sister we
originally met with and her biological sister who is also a Brigidine
sister). They were happy to see us again and we were able to take
pictures with them. After we said our goodbyes, we headed back up
to the train station.

In my excite to actually try to get the right schedule to GO to
Kildare, I made the mistake of not checking when the train came to the
station to go BACK to Dublin! I figured the train would come
sometime...and it did...although we were questioning what would go
on. We hung out in the little train shelter and I pulled out my
penny whistle which resembles a recorder except two things are
different - a couple fingerings and it is pitched in D instead of
C. There were some kids who came in to see what I was doing and
we got to talk to the little guys. I also got hyper and started
singing Erykah Badu to pass the time.

As we were in Kildare hearing about how the townspeople know everyone
and aren't the most perfect, seeing some degrading graffiti on a back
street, noticing several stray dogs in the streets, and noticing a lot
of crazy graffiti at the trainstation, seeing a man in the street who
looked homeless, I realized that even though it may be a small rural
town, it really had its issues behind closed doors (as all places do,
but these issues were different than what I experience in my own
hometown).

We traveled back to the Heuston station and took the Dublin Bus down to
our hostel (luckily it came RIGHT to our door practically) and we're
just relaxing, maybe getting a snack for a late dinner.

And tomorrow...We're planning to go to the west side - checking out the
Guiness Storehouse, Kilmainhaim Gaol (the jail), maybe even doing some
shopping in unique shops. We'll see what's for dinner
also!!! Till next time!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1199124720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1199124720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1199124720/tpod.html Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:28:05 -0500 Adventures in New York City!

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New York, New York, United States

Well, my friend Lori and I decide to have a very different New Years Eve in New York City! We were both were looking for something a little different than the usual New Years. We reserved tickets to a party at a club on Canal Street called The Canal Room. Because we reserved the tickets so late, we had to pick them up at an office in Manhattan before hand. This was a pretty asinine setup, really. Instead of just showing our ID at the door or having printed tickets via internet, I had to go in early and stand in a large line for about two hours. Lori had to work, so I got the tickets and met up with her later. At least it wasn't too cold.

Later on, I met Lori at the TGI Friday's in Penn and had some dinner, then we headed to the club. We had an awesome evening. At first at the club, it was a bunch of newly-baptised NYC financial analysts all talking about what they did for a living. I guess in New York City (and the metropolitan area, really) the question to ask when you first meet someone is: "What do you do?" I've heard in other cities in other countries, that very question can be different. After awhile of talking to people and asking "What do you do?" it gets very tiring. But we had fun. I especially enjoyed our Chambord Champagne. Lots of dancing after all that stupid job small talk. We had fun meeting all sorts of characters.
See next entry...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1222746900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1222746900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1222746900/tpod.html Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:15:43 -0400 Adventures in New York City!

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New York, New York, United States

I had a lovely time meeting my Celtic Music group at Slainte (Irish Pub) in the Noho area and then going down to the Bowery Ballroom to see Amy MacDonald who is a 21 year-old up-and-coming Scottish artist. Very good stuff. La Rocca, an Irish band opened for her. She played her own tunes and a few slower/acoustic versions of some covers - like "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers. I was hoping she would perform my new favorite Celtic song, Caledonia...but she didn't. It wasn't an original by her but by another artist that I happened to hear on my Musical Pub Crawl in Ireland. A good time was had by all!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1222287180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1222287180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1222287180/tpod.html Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:28:27 -0400 Adventures in New York City!

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East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States

Right after school, I hurried home to get dressed and leave for the show. Even though it was early, I wanted to get myself there early so I left and decided to go to Six Brothers for some mutz sticks. I decided to ask a friend to join me for dinner who lives not too far away. By the time he arrived, it was getting late. I headed over to the Izod Center with about 15-30 minutes left. Through a couple unfortunate mishaps with the toll I had to pay and the parking fee that I didn't know about, I still arrived. I had only one ticket and my friend was there in other seats in another section. I eventually found her after Natasha Bettingfield sang in the opening act.
For me, the show was pretty emotional. I was thinking about how the crowd was joined - all young women my age. We all shared a special bond - whether we spent some of our elementary school days toting a New Kids On the Block lunch box, or wearing a shirt...we probably all had the experiences of dancing to their music at about 2am in a friend's livingroom during a sleepover. I figured out that they really marketed NKOTB well when I was about eight. They had the whole boy-band formula down - get a couple shy-guy basses, add on top one bad boy, one young boy who can sing falsetto, and one main hearthrob with a personality to head it up (with a falsetto). Speaking of falsettos - even if the original producers didn't have this in mind - by using a falsetto by at least two of the guys - it really appealed to the girls (and some boys) under 12 - because those children were developing their boy crushes in school. And those little boys under 12 had the same vocal range - similar to a changed-male voice's falsetto. But, my inner child was very happy. I often had tears in my eyes and got chills when I heard their earlier stuff. Now their new album is really all sexed-up. You can tell those "kids" grew up into a bunch of horn-dogs.

But I love New Kids - whether or not I decided at about age 11 to throw their cd out my bedroom window. Donnie came out later and talked about how we were the first concert to be performed on US soil in 15 years. He said how everyone back then thought we were crazy little kids and they were crazy guys. But others just didn't get it. NKOTB, for me, embodied something very important to me when I was eight. I even wrote them letters (the contents I will not divulge - that's between me and Jordan!)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1215228780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1215228780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1215228780/tpod.html Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:49:25 -0400 Adventures in New York City!

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Hoboken, New Jersey, United States

Ah, I usually don't have plans for 4th of July. So, why not go see the fireworks with some good friends? I asked a few friends (many college friends) to come up and join me! So we all met around 7 in Hoboken for dinner at Tutta Pasta (my fave!!) Ralph and I went from home and joined Kristin, Lisette, and Cindy (also from south jersey). We had a great dinner. Luckily, I found a great place to watch the fireworks from Frank Sinatra Drive - so we walked down. The weather was changing from sunny to rain drops. We were able to sit and watch the fireworks. We unfortunately only saw a few - since they shot them off from the East river, a cloud appeared behind the fireworks, completely covering them from our view. Oh well. It was a nice view of the skyline. I think they ended the show early (at least it seemed) because the weather was getting a little icky. Afterwards, we went for some snacks at a bar/casual restaurant. I got some dessert. A good time was had by all!

Note: I was having trouble with blurriness in these pictures. Sorry. But, my troubles inspired me to figure out some good low light settings with or without flash on my camera. Other lowlight shots in future posts are much more clear! Yay for progress!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1210474860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1210474860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1210474860/tpod.html Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:18:29 -0400 Adventures in New York City!

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New York, New York, United States

So after my Saturday teaching, I headed in to the city to meet my buds, Lori and Ralph at the Whitney museum. Unfortunately we only had a couple hours. The Whitney is really great - probably my favorite modern art museum. I love the MoMA for it's display of impressionist and post-impressionist works but I LOVE the Whitney. I really love how I can understand the abstract, non-representational pieces there. I don't have to wonder what the artist was thinking about when s/he created the piece. With a little help from some of the descriptions, I can understand the political/societal symbolism in the work. The installations are very interesting, as well as the short films. This is a gallery that truly makes you think. I felt like a kid the whole time - exploring each piece with intense curiosity. I didn't have enough time to see everything so a trip is definitely in store for the future!
Afterwards, we went to dinner at Connolly's Pub in Times Square. There we met up with my Irish and Celtic music group. Following dinner, we went up to see Shilelagh Law. I believe some of the members of the band are either NY cops or firefighters. They were absolutely awesome. Their tunes were very raucous and showed a nice interpretation from Irish-Americans. It was nice being there in a diaspora, if you will: it made me feel like I was back in Dublin for a moment, only from the viewpoint of descendents of Irish immigrants. I was starting to put all the cultural pieces together. I still have a lot to learn about this culture steeped in tradition, but I was well on my way. I enjoyed a nice few pints of cider as we rocked out to traditional Irish tunes. I was so happy I could experience this type of group at this particular time.
We walked back to the path and witnessed hot dogs still being made at 2am. Fun was had by all.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1214627040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1214627040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1214627040/tpod.html Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:00:44 -0400 Adventures in New York City!

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New York, New York, United States

The evening started itself off with good dinner at Tir Na Nog (Irish Pub) conveniently located across the street from Penn. It probably looks most like the Irish pubs I saw in Dublin. It even has the celtic calendar painted on the ceiling! Lori was a little late, but we were able to get our food before trekking down to Chapel of the Sacred Mirrors: a guided art gallery tour with Alex Grey (most known for his artistry on Tool album covers). It was excellent hearing all the indepth symbolism on each of Grey's pieces. It was fascinating to hear about the creations that arose from his LSD highs. Afterwards, we grabbed a taxi down to the east village. Conveniently, Pamela Means was playing at The Living Room. I had just heard her perform with Alix Olsen at The Clearwater Festival in Croton On Hudson, NY the previous weekend. It was a good time had by all. Lori met her college friend James there and we had a lot of fun. James was immediately someone as silly as we are. We eventually made our way to another bar - a latino bar just down the street. I had a few of my normal drinks...but then I got some spanish tequila drink with a sugar cane stuck in it. I was fine until I had that! I was soooooo loopy on that! The tequila actually became another voice in my head and it was telling me evil things to do. James and I were freestylin' on some sweet rhymes from the Catholic church mistlette! Afterwards, we decided to take a cab to the Path and get on home via Hoboken after some breakfast.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1199230800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1199230800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingirl/6/1199230800/tpod.html Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:58:22 -0400 Adventures in New York City!

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New York, New York, United States

After our 2008 celebrations, at about 3am we decide to head towards the train station to get the last train for "the evening" instead of going to the after-party. My feet were tired! So we go, and I snap more fun pictures of the city. When we arrive at Penn Station, I try snapping some pictures of us, because what is cooler than subway pics, really? A man with a heavy accent steps in and takes our picture. He asserts that he is a photographer. Of course, we're always mindful of the situation, but we strike up a conversation with this young-ish subway-ite. Since we only had about 20 minutes until our train departure, we asked him if he'd like to come along for some coffee.
We climb the steps with our new friend and find that french bread place and sit down. And although it was just 15 minutes, our conversation was quite deep. We find out that he is originally from Israel and 30 (he looked way older than 30). He was quite prophetic in his discussions, talking about his life and principles. He was saying that when in love situations, that he is generous, and people should be - one should say what is in one's heart. It's like a circle (Popular adage is appropriate here: The love you give is equal to the love you make). In life, one should go with what feels good intuitively even if that means leaving other things that were previously prepared. We said goodnight to our Israeli friend (even got his phone number), he would be in the area for a couple days (or a couple weeks - he wasn't sure) and ran off to catch our train.
NJ Transit late at night (or early) is pretty damn funny. People are usually loud, funny, and silly. I got in a conversation about hockey with some canadians next to me. I love canadians because they talk so passionately about their hockey (among other things that I love them for). I was trying to help out a girl on the train needing a taxi (I had a few numbers in my cell phone because I come prepared!).
I get home at about 6am. My parents aren't at home at this time (in Florida) and so it's just me and sis. I get some sleep before Grandma calls at about 10:30 confirming that me and sis will go down to her house for New Years Day dinner. She says "Come 4, 5:00" So I said, "Ok, Grandma" (Thinking to myself that it'll definitely be 5:00). I sleep until about 3:30 pm when I get frantic text messages from sis around 4:00 "Where are you??? Grandma is expecting you!!!" I was planning for 5:00! Apparently, they were talking 4:00 instead. Now, something to keep in mind - the previous evening my sister was stupid and told my grandmother that I was going to Times Square for New Years! You just don't tell Grandma this - cause, it's not true anyway! I wouldn't go to Times Square - that would be dumb! So, I get to Grandma's on time (my time) and she's bustin on me "Where have you been??? This is what you get for staying out all night!!!" I'm very lethargic and pretty much layin my head on my sister the whole evening. Hehe.

But fun was had by all in my favorite city!!
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