More from New York

I have a confession to make.  I have been avoiding this blog for a week, even though I still have lots to say and even though I really do love writing it.  That’s weird, right?   I would want to sit down and start a post telling you about all the great things I saw on my last trip, (finishing off the post I started in Naming New York ) but then I would open YouTube or Pinterest instead, or watch a movie or pick up a book, pretty much anything to avoid productivity.  I’ve also managed to avoid laundry and vacuuming through these same tactics.   But I think it’s about time for me to wrap up this little brain break I’ve given myself and get back to seeing how much I can accomplish in my day instead of how little.  Do you know the feeling – have you ever had a chance to just let yourself be a blob for a while?  (Not counting any times prior to your 23rd birthday!  I remember lots of us choosing to be brainless at times before the full pressures of adulthood kicked in!)

So here we go.  I think I’ll still start off with something easy, though, and keep this to a pretty simple recounting of the time I had in New York with my girls last week.

Four childhood friends from a small town are set loose in a big city where they discover new adventures and new things about each other.    If you didn’t read that last sentence in an exaggerated movie-trailer-narrative voice then please go back and read it again the way it was meant.  Or skip it entirely – lines that cheesy aren’t meant to be taken seriously!!    But actually….  that pretty much sums up my 5 days in New York.    The four childhood friends are myself and 3 of my cousins that I grew up with, and we really did keep busy with exploring for the entire trip.

We’re not always so elegant…  That photo was just before the one Broadway show we were able to see.  And side note – go see Cirque Du Soleil PARAMOUR if you ever get the chance.  I loved it sooooo much!!  I think my exuberance to see the show must have caught the attention of Karma, because when we arrived at the theatre to pick up our tickets, (cheapest ones available and at the top back of the room) we were given an upgrade and watched the show from nearly the best seats in the house!  Made my night!!

Another highlight was going to Yankee Stadium to watch a baseball game, again made even better when our team won! Go Jays!  We had jokingly wondered before if it would be a problem cheering for the visiting team, but when we got to the stadium we saw almost as many Toronto fans as there were for the Yankees.   It was incredible to sit out in the sunshine with about 37,400 or so other people and cheer on the teams.  

On a day that was slightly less hot and sunny, we chose to be a little more active than we had been previously so we found some bicycles to rent and cruised our way through Central Park.  I still find it amazing that a park so big can be in the middle of 8.5 million people… and there were times where it felt like we were the only ones there!  Beautiful!  As we were making our way through the park, Julie saw signs leading to a castle in the park so we made our way to go see it.  Now, the part that I really want to convey other than the fact that an almost secret mini castle exists, is the fun coincidence that this is Belvedere Castle.   If you’ve been reading my other posts, you may remember that I was just at Belvedere Palace in Poland with two other friends.   Unless I was just the only one that hadn’t realized Belvedere was a major global name, this seems an unlikely parallelism.  Not that I’m reading anything into it – I doubt the universe is trying to get me to drink more Belvedere Vodka! – but it’s made me smile none the less.

Other things we did during our days there:  Ate a lot of ice cream.  Gawked at the crowds in Times Square.  Walked through SoHo and countless other communities.  Shopped on 5th Ave.  Saw the Statue of Liberty.  Took a moment to reflect at the 9/11 Memorial site.  Rode the subway.  Noticed two rats.  Marvelled at the Brooklyn Bridge.  Gossiped together while getting pedicures.  Laughed at the “Pretty Lady Discount” we were offered by creative vendors.  Took a ton of pictures of the four of us together.  Further cemented our bond as friends for life.