Before I went there, I wondered how Manhattan could possibly work. There are 1.5 million people living in Manhattan, which works out to 46,000 people per square kilometre. Compare that with Edmonton, which is 1500 people per square kilometre (in fact, the wikipedia article on Edmonton compares it with New York for population density). During a weekday, the population in Manhattan swells by 1.3 million people to 2.8 million as people come from the New York metropolitan area to go to work. That means more people than the entire population of Edmonton need to commute into Manhattan every day. How can that possibly work? If there is a stall on the Whitemud in Edmonton it seems like the whole city comes to a stop.
New York, and New Yorkers, seem to be infinitely adaptable. They've had to make their system work every day, and so every day they make it work. Somehow, everything that needs to be done gets done. I shudder to think of how many police officers, transit workers, garbage men, and others are working behind the scenes to keep everything going.
Every day we saw examples of this adaptability. You can buy just about anything on the street. I was amazed to see vendors pushing their hot dog or pretzel or peanut carts down the street in the middle of rush hour traffic. People just find a way around them and they find a place to sell their stuff. On sunny and hot days the vendors put away their ties and pull out their sunglasses. On especially hot days people gather by the tour bus stops with a few cases of Poland springs water, some ice, and a cooler and sell cold water to tourists for $1 by throwing it to the upper deck of the double-decker bus. On rainy days you can buy an umbrella on any street corner for $3.
Our cabbie to the airport said you can't slow down because you feel like you may miss something. The Empire State building started excavation January 22, 1930 and was finished March 1, 1931. The tallest building in the world was completed in 16 months - if you blinked, you could have missed it. Along with 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler building, New York got the three tallest buildings in the world started and completed within three years.
Evidence of change, on a massive scale, was everywhere. Construction and renovations are happening non-stop. Across the street from our hotel, a new development is coming up. In 2006, Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, a group of 110 buildings, that have housed veterans and other low-income residents since 1947, was sold for $5.4 billion. They are now privately owned properties and can charge high Manhattan rates. The lease on the hotel we stayed at is coming up for renewal. If it is not renewed, then doubtless the hotel will disappear to be replaced by some kind of development.
And there was plenty of anecdotal evidence we heard about, too. All of our tour guides talked about local businesses being replaced by franchises, and gas station owners not making enough money to make it worth their while. Alan told me he noticed there were less poor people in Manhattan than when he last visited ten years ago. And Toscha told us that she thought her area of Brooklyn was starting to attract more middle class people into slightly more affordable townhouses. So anecdotally it seems the tired, the poor and the huddled masses are slowly being forced further and further away as the prices in Manhattan escalate to ever more ridiculous levels.
Underneath all the skyscrapers and subways is Manhattan schist: a rock formation that is well-suited to anchoring the borough of Manhattan. Whatever changes happen on the surface, the foundation of New York will remain in place, strong and immovable.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
The Trip Back Home
We woke up at 3:00 am in order to catch our 6:30 am flight at LaGuardia. We weren't taking any chances on delays. Driving through New York at 4:00 am, there was still traffic and people awake. The garbage trucks were out. All-night delis and grocery stores had people working at them. Our cabbie was talkative. He told us in New York you can't slow down because you feel like you may miss something.
When we got to LaGuardia most ticket counters were already open except for Air Canada. Despite about 10 people in line, they didn't show up until 5:00 am. After that we went through security, then got some breakfast, and off to our gate to wait. As it turns out our plane had an equipment problem so the flight was canceled. Sigh. So we went to line up to see an agent to find another way back to Edmonton. Originally we were going from LaGuardia to Montreal, then on to Edmonton. He got us on to an 8:30 flight to Toronto, then on to Edmonton.
The only good news was that we were bumped into business class for both flights. We've never flown in business class before so that was a great treat. The room was nice but I was a little amazed at the little perks you get: free newspapers, a nice meal, and there's one flight attendant who's pretty much devoted to the twelve or so people, offering you things repeatedly. Although the attendant did wake me up by spilling some water on me.
In Toronto our flight was once again delayed by equipment problems. Heidi bought some lunch and then got into a rousing fight with Olga, who was mad at us because we were sitting in her restaurant with outside food. By this time we were tired and cranky and ready to be home. Sophie slept for 2.5 hours of the Toronto-Edmonton flight.
We finally got back to our house about 4:00 pm Wednesday. After eating some beef barley soup left at our house by my dad (served in foam bowls with plastic spoons), we all headed to bed for some much-needed rest. By 7:00 we were all sleeping and woke up the next morning at about 7:00 am.
When we got to LaGuardia most ticket counters were already open except for Air Canada. Despite about 10 people in line, they didn't show up until 5:00 am. After that we went through security, then got some breakfast, and off to our gate to wait. As it turns out our plane had an equipment problem so the flight was canceled. Sigh. So we went to line up to see an agent to find another way back to Edmonton. Originally we were going from LaGuardia to Montreal, then on to Edmonton. He got us on to an 8:30 flight to Toronto, then on to Edmonton.
The only good news was that we were bumped into business class for both flights. We've never flown in business class before so that was a great treat. The room was nice but I was a little amazed at the little perks you get: free newspapers, a nice meal, and there's one flight attendant who's pretty much devoted to the twelve or so people, offering you things repeatedly. Although the attendant did wake me up by spilling some water on me.
In Toronto our flight was once again delayed by equipment problems. Heidi bought some lunch and then got into a rousing fight with Olga, who was mad at us because we were sitting in her restaurant with outside food. By this time we were tired and cranky and ready to be home. Sophie slept for 2.5 hours of the Toronto-Edmonton flight.
We finally got back to our house about 4:00 pm Wednesday. After eating some beef barley soup left at our house by my dad (served in foam bowls with plastic spoons), we all headed to bed for some much-needed rest. By 7:00 we were all sleeping and woke up the next morning at about 7:00 am.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Miscellany
- Air plane ticket to New York: $137
- Cab ride from LaGuardia: $40
- Single night stay in New York hotel: $275
- Subway ticket to Coney Island: $2
- Seeing a mannequin outside a haunted house attraction that is simultaneously simulating projectile vomiting AND projectile diarrhea: priceless
Here are some more things that I meant to blog, but forgot to in the proper place when they happened:
- Heidi "popped" sometime during this trip. She is now obviously pregnant-looking.
- Below the door on every fire truck in New York is a list of names. Every truck has a different list of names. These are the names of the 400+ firefighters who were the first responders on 9/11 and who died.
- When we passed the Metropolitan Opera House, the flag outside was at half-mast because Pavorotti had died the night before. Some of his biggest shows were at the Met.
- Every restaurant in New York city has Heimlich maneuver instructions on the wall.
- All the curbs in New York have metal protecting them. I assume this is to protect them from all the traffic.
- When we visited my brother in Brooklyn, we saw some people sitting on stoops or chairs in front of their brownstones or apartments. I guess they do really do that.
- While we were by the Indian restaurant, I saw a magazine store selling Mob Candy. I'd never seen it before.
- Outside of every building there are instructions for firefighters on where various connections are located. Apparently "siamese" connections are quite common.
- Walking down the street can be like smoking a cigarette. Although not everybody smokes, the concentration of people is pretty high and the odds are that at least one or two people will be smoking.
- Honking is an important form of communication.
- Heidi and I gradually learned how much toilet paper the toilet in our room could take before becoming plugged.
- Supposedly you can buy used polar bear toys on e-bay (according to the sign in central park zoo) although I can't find them.
And on the Eighth Day...
...we rested. It was a quiet morning. Juli, Alan and Malachi left at 9:30. Sophie and I were sleeping so we missed saying goodbye. We had an extremely mellow morning of getting some breakfast and slowly getting ready. On TV it was blanket coverage of the September 11 memorial at ground zero. At about 11:00 we headed out into the rainy day to do some last shopping at Macy's and the Manhattan Mall.
After our rainy walk we shopped for a short time in Macy's without buying anything. The Manhattan Mall was next. It's basically just the same as any kind of mall, it's just located in the middle of Manhattan not far from the Empire State building. We didn't find anything we wanted to buy, but decided to eat lunch in the food court there.
We headed back to the hotel. It was still raining. We were definitely feeling the effects of 7 days straight of constant walking and subway rides. Heidi had a nap while Sophie and I just read and watched some Clifford. My brother decided to head here straight after school and we played with the Nerf gun with Sophie. After Toscha arrived we went to Ocha, once again, for dinner and once again it was great.
Once dinner was over, we bid farewell to Jon and Toscha. We'll see them next at Christmas. Back at the hotel Sophie decided we were the cat family and crawled up the stairs to our room, before crawling into bed for sleep. Tomorrow we go home, a little sad but also looking forward to seeing what's happened to our kitchen.
After our rainy walk we shopped for a short time in Macy's without buying anything. The Manhattan Mall was next. It's basically just the same as any kind of mall, it's just located in the middle of Manhattan not far from the Empire State building. We didn't find anything we wanted to buy, but decided to eat lunch in the food court there.
We headed back to the hotel. It was still raining. We were definitely feeling the effects of 7 days straight of constant walking and subway rides. Heidi had a nap while Sophie and I just read and watched some Clifford. My brother decided to head here straight after school and we played with the Nerf gun with Sophie. After Toscha arrived we went to Ocha, once again, for dinner and once again it was great.
Once dinner was over, we bid farewell to Jon and Toscha. We'll see them next at Christmas. Back at the hotel Sophie decided we were the cat family and crawled up the stairs to our room, before crawling into bed for sleep. Tomorrow we go home, a little sad but also looking forward to seeing what's happened to our kitchen.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Empire State Building, Madame Tussaud's, and Oprah Ruins Our Trip
This morning we did something a little different. While Alan looked after Malachi and I looked after Sophie, Juli and Heidi went to the Virgin megastore in Times Square (musicals and musical soundtracks were on special) and then to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Alan said that wax figures creep him out so he didn't want to go. Heidi said that the wax museum was great and Juli enjoyed herself also with some karaoke.
As for Sophie and I, we chilled for a bit before checking out the Quicksilver and Toys R Us stores in Times Square. Once again Toys R Us was a giant tourist trap. They take your photo about 3 times in it and prints are only $13 each. Sophie wanted to ride the ferris wheel that's in there and when I saw it was $4 I agreed. Only problem was the lady said I had to ride with her so therefore $8. Sigh. Well she had a good time anyway and really enjoyed meeting Geoffrey the giraffe at Toys R Us. She couldn't wait to tell her mom all about it.
We went back to the hotel to wait for Heidi and Juli to return. We played with a nerf gun that I bought at Toys R Us, we invented several games for it, then watched Scooby Doo. When Heidi and Juli returned they took the kids to Central Park. Heidi took several photos of the place where John Lennon was shot at the Dakota as well as the Strawberry Fields in Central Park.
Alan and I walked to Madison Square Gardens to go on a tour. At least, that was the plan until we got there and realized that motherfreakin' Oprah Winfrey was filming her show there today. The place was a madhouse and tours were not offered. Disappointed, we headed for some authentic New York pizza at a place called Tony's. It was delicious thin-crust stuff. We got inside at the perfect time as a downpour started as we were ordering our slices. After the rain stopped we decided to walk to the Empire State building which was relatively close.
On the way we stopped at a comic book store to check it out. They had a TON of comics including an adult section in the back.
The Empire State building was under renovation, just like almost every other attraction/landmark/building in New York. Outside the building they warned us it was cloudy and that visibility was less than a mile (about 5 blocks) and that there were NO refunds. Alan and I had to run a gauntlet of confusing velvet ropes in order to get to the 86th floor:
After that we headed down, doing a reverse velvet-rope maze all the way. Then we walked back to the hotel and phoned to see where Heidi and Juli were. We all decided to rest a bit before heading out for supper.
We took the subway to Strand Bookstore, a giant new/used bookstore in the East Village, E. 12 street and Broadway. It boasts "18 Miles of Books." I should add there is a lot more than 18 miles in there. I had difficulty negotiating since there were quite a few books on the floor in the aisles between shelves, as well as on the shelves themselves. The shelves go quite high also and stepladders are placed randomly throughout. All in all great, inexpensive selection and a great store but difficult to navigate with a 2 year old on your back. We found a Clifford movie for Sophie, some parenting books, and I found a movie called "Ninja Squad" which I hope will be good. I'm a ninja fan but kind of on the fence about squads. We'll see I guess.
After leaving Strand we decided Indian was the way to go for dinner and headed to E. 6 Street between 1st and 2nd avenues where we found Haveli. Dinner was delicious and reasonably priced. Sophie and I explored the restaurant as she was tired and restless. She liked the silver peacock and the wooden elephant that were in there. There was an incident in the restroom (Daddy's fault) with the end result that Sophie's pants were unwearable. I dressed her in my Oilers t-shirt, which reached to her ankles. She had to be careful not to trip on it or flash anyone.
At last after a long day it was time to take the subway home. Heidi and I bought our passes from the automated machine. The machine next to it was unavailable because a drunk guy was leaning on it and refused to move. The station platform was extremely hot and uncomfortable. After talking to one of the subway workers we switched platforms and got on a different train to wait. We had to wait for a while but at least the a/c in the car was working. By this time we were all soaked. The heat is bad enough but New York is pretty humid too. After a short ride we were back at the hotel. Sophie decided it would be best to sleep in the Oilers t-shirt. She's a pretty die-hard Oilers fan.
As for Sophie and I, we chilled for a bit before checking out the Quicksilver and Toys R Us stores in Times Square. Once again Toys R Us was a giant tourist trap. They take your photo about 3 times in it and prints are only $13 each. Sophie wanted to ride the ferris wheel that's in there and when I saw it was $4 I agreed. Only problem was the lady said I had to ride with her so therefore $8. Sigh. Well she had a good time anyway and really enjoyed meeting Geoffrey the giraffe at Toys R Us. She couldn't wait to tell her mom all about it.
We went back to the hotel to wait for Heidi and Juli to return. We played with a nerf gun that I bought at Toys R Us, we invented several games for it, then watched Scooby Doo. When Heidi and Juli returned they took the kids to Central Park. Heidi took several photos of the place where John Lennon was shot at the Dakota as well as the Strawberry Fields in Central Park.
Alan and I walked to Madison Square Gardens to go on a tour. At least, that was the plan until we got there and realized that motherfreakin' Oprah Winfrey was filming her show there today. The place was a madhouse and tours were not offered. Disappointed, we headed for some authentic New York pizza at a place called Tony's. It was delicious thin-crust stuff. We got inside at the perfect time as a downpour started as we were ordering our slices. After the rain stopped we decided to walk to the Empire State building which was relatively close.
On the way we stopped at a comic book store to check it out. They had a TON of comics including an adult section in the back.
The Empire State building was under renovation, just like almost every other attraction/landmark/building in New York. Outside the building they warned us it was cloudy and that visibility was less than a mile (about 5 blocks) and that there were NO refunds. Alan and I had to run a gauntlet of confusing velvet ropes in order to get to the 86th floor:
- take an escalator to the 2nd floor (under renovation)
- walk through a maze of velvet ropes to buy tickets. There were people handing us brochures for various other offers (audio tour, sky tour)
- walk through another velvet rope maze from the place you buy tickets to the area where people with tickets go
- ride the elevator to the 80th floor
- navigate another velvet-rope maze with a "personalized photo" offer in it
- ride another elevator to the 86th floor observation deck
- navigate one more velvet-rope maze to get outside onto the actual deck
After that we headed down, doing a reverse velvet-rope maze all the way. Then we walked back to the hotel and phoned to see where Heidi and Juli were. We all decided to rest a bit before heading out for supper.
We took the subway to Strand Bookstore, a giant new/used bookstore in the East Village, E. 12 street and Broadway. It boasts "18 Miles of Books." I should add there is a lot more than 18 miles in there. I had difficulty negotiating since there were quite a few books on the floor in the aisles between shelves, as well as on the shelves themselves. The shelves go quite high also and stepladders are placed randomly throughout. All in all great, inexpensive selection and a great store but difficult to navigate with a 2 year old on your back. We found a Clifford movie for Sophie, some parenting books, and I found a movie called "Ninja Squad" which I hope will be good. I'm a ninja fan but kind of on the fence about squads. We'll see I guess.
After leaving Strand we decided Indian was the way to go for dinner and headed to E. 6 Street between 1st and 2nd avenues where we found Haveli. Dinner was delicious and reasonably priced. Sophie and I explored the restaurant as she was tired and restless. She liked the silver peacock and the wooden elephant that were in there. There was an incident in the restroom (Daddy's fault) with the end result that Sophie's pants were unwearable. I dressed her in my Oilers t-shirt, which reached to her ankles. She had to be careful not to trip on it or flash anyone.
At last after a long day it was time to take the subway home. Heidi and I bought our passes from the automated machine. The machine next to it was unavailable because a drunk guy was leaning on it and refused to move. The station platform was extremely hot and uncomfortable. After talking to one of the subway workers we switched platforms and got on a different train to wait. We had to wait for a while but at least the a/c in the car was working. By this time we were all soaked. The heat is bad enough but New York is pretty humid too. After a short ride we were back at the hotel. Sophie decided it would be best to sleep in the Oilers t-shirt. She's a pretty die-hard Oilers fan.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Trip to Brooklyn
Today we decided to meet Jon and Toscha in Brooklyn so headed out after breakfast to the subway in Times Square. Luckily for us the Naked Cowboy was in Times Square this morning, so we took some pictures before heading down to the subway. After making sure all bladders were in optimum subway-traveling condition, we boarded the 2 train at the Times Square station.
Just like yesterday, our trip into Brooklyn let us see a different types of people aside from the tourists and the business people we had gotten used to in Manhattan. We got off on Franklin Avenue and phoned Jon to get directions to his place. We had no idea where we were and describing what we could see didn't help Jon much since he's not that familiar with the area yet either. Eventually he came and met us on the street after we walked down Franklin, past Lincoln and St. John's.
Jon and Toscha gave us a tour of their place which is the top level of a brownstone house in Brooklyn. It's pretty neat and reasonable (for New York) they get it for about $1600/month. It was bigger than I thought it would be and if the rest of it gets finished like the floor and bathroom it'll be really nice. Jon and Toscha are in the process of moving in so hopefully they get all that straightened pretty quick.
We went to a place called Saje for lunch. Sundays they have a jazz trio playing there so we felt pretty bohemian sitting in a cafe eating lunch, listening to some live jazz. Sophie enjoyed her bagel with jelly and I had a delicious turkey & brie sandwich. Heidi had some banana pancakes. This was probably the cheapest meal we've had here, and Toscha said it was pretty expensive for the area. I think we've been eating in too many tourist areas. :)
On the walk to the Brooklyn children's museum, Toscha and Jon explained about their living arrangements - they are renting from someone who is renovating the brownstone, and the neighbour who they first stayed with (Krista) also owns her brownstone and is improving it for rental. Toscha gave the opinion that the area seems to be gentrifying although my impression was that this gentrification wasn't happening at a fast enough rate to make Heidi feel completely comfortable in the area.
When we got to the Brooklyn children's museum it was closed to the disappointment of all. They shut it September 3 so we missed it only by a few days. They let us go in to use the bathroom and when we were leaving Sophie wanted to go run in some of the tunnels that she could see so I know that she would have had a great time there. Instead we walked back to the Parkway to take the subway to the Brooklyn Museum. On the way we passed a Jewish school that seemed to be in session (today is a Sunday).
Walking down the Parkway we passed a Jewish bride and groom getting their photos taken on the picturesque tree-lined sidewalk that runs adjacent to the parkway. As we passed Sophie said that she could see a princess named Cinderella. I'm not sure if they could hear but to me they seemed to be speaking Hebrew anyway.
Back on the subway for three stops and then into the Brooklyn museum. Sophie's favorite part was the "dancing fountains" which we visited before and after our visit. Inside the museum they had art from all over the world, including African, Egyptian and your more classical (European) art. Upstairs they had some modern pieces which were non-traditional art, such as arrangements of everyday objects. Sophie got in big trouble from a grumpy guard when she touched some plates that were part of some installation.
Jon and Toscha helped us get back onto the correct subway at the museum station. We took the 3 back to Manhattan this time in a nice, new air-conditioned car. Getting off at Times Square I headed back to the hotel while Heidi went to Gap Maternity to get some clothes for herself. After that we went to dinner with Alan, Juli and Malachi at a Japanese restaurant called Ocha. The sushi was fantastic and Heidi got a vegetarian sushi dish which she loved.
I overheard the concierge at the hotel taking (or rather not taking) reservations at the Broadway Inn here...it seems that the lease is up and may not be renewed. They are not taking any reservations past October 15 in case it is not. If that is the case then this hotel may be replaced by condominiums which would be pretty sad.
Just like yesterday, our trip into Brooklyn let us see a different types of people aside from the tourists and the business people we had gotten used to in Manhattan. We got off on Franklin Avenue and phoned Jon to get directions to his place. We had no idea where we were and describing what we could see didn't help Jon much since he's not that familiar with the area yet either. Eventually he came and met us on the street after we walked down Franklin, past Lincoln and St. John's.
Jon and Toscha gave us a tour of their place which is the top level of a brownstone house in Brooklyn. It's pretty neat and reasonable (for New York) they get it for about $1600/month. It was bigger than I thought it would be and if the rest of it gets finished like the floor and bathroom it'll be really nice. Jon and Toscha are in the process of moving in so hopefully they get all that straightened pretty quick.
We went to a place called Saje for lunch. Sundays they have a jazz trio playing there so we felt pretty bohemian sitting in a cafe eating lunch, listening to some live jazz. Sophie enjoyed her bagel with jelly and I had a delicious turkey & brie sandwich. Heidi had some banana pancakes. This was probably the cheapest meal we've had here, and Toscha said it was pretty expensive for the area. I think we've been eating in too many tourist areas. :)
On the walk to the Brooklyn children's museum, Toscha and Jon explained about their living arrangements - they are renting from someone who is renovating the brownstone, and the neighbour who they first stayed with (Krista) also owns her brownstone and is improving it for rental. Toscha gave the opinion that the area seems to be gentrifying although my impression was that this gentrification wasn't happening at a fast enough rate to make Heidi feel completely comfortable in the area.
When we got to the Brooklyn children's museum it was closed to the disappointment of all. They shut it September 3 so we missed it only by a few days. They let us go in to use the bathroom and when we were leaving Sophie wanted to go run in some of the tunnels that she could see so I know that she would have had a great time there. Instead we walked back to the Parkway to take the subway to the Brooklyn Museum. On the way we passed a Jewish school that seemed to be in session (today is a Sunday).
Walking down the Parkway we passed a Jewish bride and groom getting their photos taken on the picturesque tree-lined sidewalk that runs adjacent to the parkway. As we passed Sophie said that she could see a princess named Cinderella. I'm not sure if they could hear but to me they seemed to be speaking Hebrew anyway.
Back on the subway for three stops and then into the Brooklyn museum. Sophie's favorite part was the "dancing fountains" which we visited before and after our visit. Inside the museum they had art from all over the world, including African, Egyptian and your more classical (European) art. Upstairs they had some modern pieces which were non-traditional art, such as arrangements of everyday objects. Sophie got in big trouble from a grumpy guard when she touched some plates that were part of some installation.
Jon and Toscha helped us get back onto the correct subway at the museum station. We took the 3 back to Manhattan this time in a nice, new air-conditioned car. Getting off at Times Square I headed back to the hotel while Heidi went to Gap Maternity to get some clothes for herself. After that we went to dinner with Alan, Juli and Malachi at a Japanese restaurant called Ocha. The sushi was fantastic and Heidi got a vegetarian sushi dish which she loved.
I overheard the concierge at the hotel taking (or rather not taking) reservations at the Broadway Inn here...it seems that the lease is up and may not be renewed. They are not taking any reservations past October 15 in case it is not. If that is the case then this hotel may be replaced by condominiums which would be pretty sad.
Coney Island, Baby
Today we went to Coney Island with Juli, Alan and Malachi. In order to get there we needed to take the subway, so we walked from our hotel to the station for our first trip on New York's subway system. We bought tickets from the automated machine and headed down to the platform level to wait for the D train to Coney Island.
There are many different subway lines (1-9, A,C,D,F etc.) so we had to check carefully to make sure we were getting on the right train. The station itself was quite hot and we were pretty uncomfortable waiting. But the train car itself was air conditioned so we were comfortable. D train is semi-express through Manhattan and then makes regular stops in Brooklyn. It crosses over the Manhattan bridge. We didn't make it very far before Sophie had to pee. With that taken care of, we settled in for the ride to Coney Island, which is the end of the line.
Coney Island was almost deserted. We were surprised considering it was a Saturday. It's definitely showing it's age, although the rides and attractions are in relatively good repair. Some of the vendors/attractions were shuttered and closed. Apparently this is the last year that Astroland will be open. Next year it will be replaced by luxury condominiums. I'm pretty sure that I know what some of our tour guides would think of that.
We ate at the famous Nathan's hot dogs. As usual a famous New York eatery lived up to its reputation as the hot dogs and corn on the cob was delicious. The lineup took us about a half hour to get through.
After lunch we took Sophie for a few kiddie rides while Alan rode the Cyclone in Astroland. In front of a haunted house-type ride we saw one of the most disgusting displays. A mannequin was on hands and knees over a toilet, and was projectile vomiting and had projectile diarrhea (really they were both just water). It was pretty classy. When we passed some bumper cars there was a recorded voice entreating us to come in and "bump our asses off." So that was some cool local character.
Speaking of local character, at Coney Island and in the subway we got to see and meet some New Yorkers from Brooklyn. They weren't as uniformly dressed or as straight-laced as the people in Manhattan. On the subway Sophie made friends with Elizabeth, Shae and Christina. Christina crossed herself as the subway crossed a giant cemetery in Brooklyn. Elizabeth told us that Manhattan is crazy but Brooklyn is mellow. She said that New York is a place for young people, not old people, because of the fast pace.
We returned to our hotel for a quick rest before heading out to the Hershey's store and M&M's store in Times Square. Those are both really touristy. We got some chocolates and headed to ninth avenue (Hell's Kitchen) where there are a bunch of really great, non-chain restaurants. We ate at an Italian place. Sophie had a nap during most of dinner. We sat next to a couple from Ohio. It was delicious.
After dinner Jon and Toscha came over and we got some more Junior's cheesecake. :)
There are many different subway lines (1-9, A,C,D,F etc.) so we had to check carefully to make sure we were getting on the right train. The station itself was quite hot and we were pretty uncomfortable waiting. But the train car itself was air conditioned so we were comfortable. D train is semi-express through Manhattan and then makes regular stops in Brooklyn. It crosses over the Manhattan bridge. We didn't make it very far before Sophie had to pee. With that taken care of, we settled in for the ride to Coney Island, which is the end of the line.
Coney Island was almost deserted. We were surprised considering it was a Saturday. It's definitely showing it's age, although the rides and attractions are in relatively good repair. Some of the vendors/attractions were shuttered and closed. Apparently this is the last year that Astroland will be open. Next year it will be replaced by luxury condominiums. I'm pretty sure that I know what some of our tour guides would think of that.
We ate at the famous Nathan's hot dogs. As usual a famous New York eatery lived up to its reputation as the hot dogs and corn on the cob was delicious. The lineup took us about a half hour to get through.
After lunch we took Sophie for a few kiddie rides while Alan rode the Cyclone in Astroland. In front of a haunted house-type ride we saw one of the most disgusting displays. A mannequin was on hands and knees over a toilet, and was projectile vomiting and had projectile diarrhea (really they were both just water). It was pretty classy. When we passed some bumper cars there was a recorded voice entreating us to come in and "bump our asses off." So that was some cool local character.
Speaking of local character, at Coney Island and in the subway we got to see and meet some New Yorkers from Brooklyn. They weren't as uniformly dressed or as straight-laced as the people in Manhattan. On the subway Sophie made friends with Elizabeth, Shae and Christina. Christina crossed herself as the subway crossed a giant cemetery in Brooklyn. Elizabeth told us that Manhattan is crazy but Brooklyn is mellow. She said that New York is a place for young people, not old people, because of the fast pace.
We returned to our hotel for a quick rest before heading out to the Hershey's store and M&M's store in Times Square. Those are both really touristy. We got some chocolates and headed to ninth avenue (Hell's Kitchen) where there are a bunch of really great, non-chain restaurants. We ate at an Italian place. Sophie had a nap during most of dinner. We sat next to a couple from Ohio. It was delicious.
After dinner Jon and Toscha came over and we got some more Junior's cheesecake. :)
Friday, September 7, 2007
Shopping, Shopping, Shopping
Today Juli and Alan were feeling pretty wiped out, so they decided to chill out around Times Square, resting in their room and eating close by. We got back on the Downtown Loop at Times Square to do some shopping outside of the main "touristy" areas.
We got off in Soho (and learned that SoHo stands for South of Houston, and Tribeca stands for the Triangle Below Canal Street) right in front of the Quicksilver store. We headed down the street towards Canal Street stopping in stores that looked interesting.
Canal Street was crazy. When we got there all kinds of people were trying to sell us DVDs of current movies like Superbad and the Simpsons Movie. And of course there were the requisite handbags and watches and all kinds of other toys and things for sale by many, many street vendors. It didn't take Heidi long to start to feel claustrophobic so we quickly headed back the way we came.
We stopped at the Yellow Rat Bastard store which was pretty cool. We saw some neat Paul Frank designs for Sophie but not in her size. The guy at the YRB store directed us to the Paul Frank store, which took us into little Italy. We bought Sophie a monkey hoodie (with monkey ears on the hood) which she absolutely loved and insisted on wearing immediately. Along with her pink converse high-tops she was looking pretty cool.
We also went to Bloomingdales when we got closer to where the bus had let us off. To me it looked like the same stuff that you could buy in other stores in Soho, but just marked up to like $275. In the basement (the men's sections) were some of the GAYEST salesmen and customers that I had ever seen. These guys were flaming. One guy was walking around with a small dog in his little over-the-shoulder bag. Heidi bought herself some beauty supplies from Bloomingdales and left proudly with her little brown bag.
After that we got back on the tour bus and off for a brief stop at the South Street Seaport. We tooled around briefly and checked out the mall that is located there. Then it was back on the tour bus and off again at Rockefeller Plaza. We took a few pictures there and checked out the NBC store. Heidi bought a hat for her father from someone who was raising money for a soup kitchen.
We walked to Macy's from Rockefeller. We had to walk by Bryant Park where fashion week is in full swing. People were waiting outside the entrance to the big tent hoping for a glimpse of someone famous.
Macy's was of course absolutely gigantic, but aside from that, pretty unremarkable. To us it just seemed like a regular department store writ large. Writ very, very large. Also at this point we were getting pretty tired and wanted to head back to the hotel to rest a bit. Sophie had a snack in the hotel room by licking the salt off of potato chips.
For dinner we headed to Junior's which is famous for its cheesecake. The dinner filled us up but of course we all had to have dessert and once again a New York restaurant lived up to its billing. The cheesecake was delicious - creamy, smooth and tasted great. We had to quickly leave so that Juli and Heidi could make it to the Broadway musical Rent which was at 8 o'clock. That left me to put Sophie to bed which was uneventful except for when she bit her tongue while eating an apple.
We got off in Soho (and learned that SoHo stands for South of Houston, and Tribeca stands for the Triangle Below Canal Street) right in front of the Quicksilver store. We headed down the street towards Canal Street stopping in stores that looked interesting.
Canal Street was crazy. When we got there all kinds of people were trying to sell us DVDs of current movies like Superbad and the Simpsons Movie. And of course there were the requisite handbags and watches and all kinds of other toys and things for sale by many, many street vendors. It didn't take Heidi long to start to feel claustrophobic so we quickly headed back the way we came.
We stopped at the Yellow Rat Bastard store which was pretty cool. We saw some neat Paul Frank designs for Sophie but not in her size. The guy at the YRB store directed us to the Paul Frank store, which took us into little Italy. We bought Sophie a monkey hoodie (with monkey ears on the hood) which she absolutely loved and insisted on wearing immediately. Along with her pink converse high-tops she was looking pretty cool.
We also went to Bloomingdales when we got closer to where the bus had let us off. To me it looked like the same stuff that you could buy in other stores in Soho, but just marked up to like $275. In the basement (the men's sections) were some of the GAYEST salesmen and customers that I had ever seen. These guys were flaming. One guy was walking around with a small dog in his little over-the-shoulder bag. Heidi bought herself some beauty supplies from Bloomingdales and left proudly with her little brown bag.
After that we got back on the tour bus and off for a brief stop at the South Street Seaport. We tooled around briefly and checked out the mall that is located there. Then it was back on the tour bus and off again at Rockefeller Plaza. We took a few pictures there and checked out the NBC store. Heidi bought a hat for her father from someone who was raising money for a soup kitchen.
We walked to Macy's from Rockefeller. We had to walk by Bryant Park where fashion week is in full swing. People were waiting outside the entrance to the big tent hoping for a glimpse of someone famous.
Macy's was of course absolutely gigantic, but aside from that, pretty unremarkable. To us it just seemed like a regular department store writ large. Writ very, very large. Also at this point we were getting pretty tired and wanted to head back to the hotel to rest a bit. Sophie had a snack in the hotel room by licking the salt off of potato chips.
For dinner we headed to Junior's which is famous for its cheesecake. The dinner filled us up but of course we all had to have dessert and once again a New York restaurant lived up to its billing. The cheesecake was delicious - creamy, smooth and tasted great. We had to quickly leave so that Juli and Heidi could make it to the Broadway musical Rent which was at 8 o'clock. That left me to put Sophie to bed which was uneventful except for when she bit her tongue while eating an apple.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Uptown Loop Tour, Central Park Zoo and Brush with Celebrity
This morning we woke up and went on the Uptown Tour. This turned out to be rather boring and we hadn't adequately planned ahead to get off at some stops for the various museums that are on the loop route. We really should have taken advantage of it. The most interesting part was when we passed the Dakota where John Lennon was shot. Right across the street, in Central Park, is an "Imagine" exhibit that we hope to visit. When we had about as much as we could take of the bus tour, we got off at the stop for the Central Park Zoo.
The Central Park Zoo is actually not that large although it has some impressive animals in it, the most notable being a polar bear. Sophie really liked watching him swim back and forth in the water. He got himself into a particular repetitive rhythm - first swimming from one wall on his back, then diving under to the other wall, then repeating the lap again. I'm not sure how comfortable he could be in New York in the summer. Maybe that's why he spends all his time in the water.
At 11:30 the handlers in the zoo feed the sea lions and this was a pretty exciting event for Sophie. I'd say about 100-150 kids were gathered around the tank to watch the sea lions. It makes you realize how many people there are in New York to see such a large crowd gathered on a Thursday morning. One thing that we noticed was that there seemed to be a lot of nannies with kids in tow at the zoo. The trainers had the sea lions do some tricks and fed them fish. Sophie got the most excited when they would jump in the water and she started shouting for them to jump in.
After we had toured the zoo we headed under 65th street to the children's zoo/petting zoo. Sophie enjoyed feeding the goats and lambs and we got some great photos of that. While we were in the children's zoo Heidi mistook a woman next to her for me, and grabbed her elbow, then quickly realized that the woman was Jennifer Garner, visiting the zoo with her daughter Violet. She was wearing big sunglasses, jeans, sneakers and a white T-shirt. She looked pretty normal. We didn't ask for autographs or take any photos since we thought that she would just want to visit the zoo with her little girl in peace.
We got back on the Uptown Tour but only went one or two stops before we got off to get something to eat. We ended up at the Brooklyn Diner, which served some delicious food that seemed pretty authentically New York to us. The burger I had won the NY Times best burger award. The bathrooms were in a weird spot, they were located across the plaza in some trailers. Space is at a premium in New York.
Next we headed to FAO Schwarz, which is a giant toy store. We told Sophie she could pick anything she wanted from the store. Most things in the store are actually quite expensive but we managed to distract her from a $55 stuffed lamb with a smaller stuffed dog instead. She also had a great time running on the piano keyboard on the floor - similar to the scene from Big with Tom Hanks.
After FAO Schwarz we headed to the Apple store right in front of it. The Apple store is quite distinctive and has a neat design, it's hard to describe without seeing it. There's a giant empty glass cube with a single white apple logo in it. You enter the cube and take a spiral staircase down to the store itself. Besides being distinctive, the Apple store was also extremely crowded so we didn't stay long. I wanted to check out the new iPods but they didn't seem to have any, although I saw one woman with a new nano in her hands.
After that we headed back to the hotel and rested for a bit before heading, once again, on the bus for the Nightime Loop. This was kind of lame since essentially they just drive you from Times Square over the Manhattan bridge to Brooklyn to take pictures of the New York skyline at night. It was still neat to see. Once again our guide was very good, he told us all about the trial of John Gotti.
After only two days here, some general observations. First of all we feel completely safe here. I remember when my grandparents went to New York, probably back in the 1980's sometime, and they told stories about how the doormen told them to hide their cash and never flash their credit cards in public. In the areas we've visited we've seen policemen everywhere in their distinctive uniforms and blue and white cars. Since 9/11 they are now required to patrol the entrances to most public areas, including bridges, 24 hours a day. We've even seen some of the other vehicles the police have, such as these three-wheeled scooter things and NYPD tow trucks. The traffic enforcement cars are completely black and look totally bad-ass.
New Yorkers have been so far extremely friendly and polite when we ask directions. One woman who saw me looking up and down the street asked me what I was looking for. When I told her I was looking for a Duane Reade (drugstore chain) she pointed me in the right direction immediately. It was cool to walk back from the Apple store in the middle of rush hour. There were so many cars and people everywhere. I think at that time every person we saw was talking on a cell phone, probably to another person walking down the street somewhere else.
We haven't seen many homeless people at all. Yesterday we saw one at St. Paul's Chapel, who fished Heidi's unfinished salad out of the garbage and started to eat it. That was kind of sad. But the only others we've seen was a guy with two cats in a shopping cart and a disabled man holding his hat out. I think that this has to do more with the areas we've visited so far - if we were more adventurous we'd probably see more.
New York is also changing way more than I thought it would be. You'd think they'd be finished it by now! All the bus guides that we've had bemoan the rise of the "fast food" and "chain" establishments, as the "greedy landlords" raise the rents that force the mom and pop stores out. So they've advised us to seek out different places to eat and avoid places like the Olive Garden. Our guide tonight told us that even the projects to the north of the Manhattan bridge in Brooklyn are all being converted to condominiums for sale. Gas station owners who can't make any money sell their land to convert to condos too. Entire neighborhoods are also changing, as rents and other economic forces move entire groups of people out. It's all very interesting and we're looking forward to the rest of our trip!
The Central Park Zoo is actually not that large although it has some impressive animals in it, the most notable being a polar bear. Sophie really liked watching him swim back and forth in the water. He got himself into a particular repetitive rhythm - first swimming from one wall on his back, then diving under to the other wall, then repeating the lap again. I'm not sure how comfortable he could be in New York in the summer. Maybe that's why he spends all his time in the water.
At 11:30 the handlers in the zoo feed the sea lions and this was a pretty exciting event for Sophie. I'd say about 100-150 kids were gathered around the tank to watch the sea lions. It makes you realize how many people there are in New York to see such a large crowd gathered on a Thursday morning. One thing that we noticed was that there seemed to be a lot of nannies with kids in tow at the zoo. The trainers had the sea lions do some tricks and fed them fish. Sophie got the most excited when they would jump in the water and she started shouting for them to jump in.
After we had toured the zoo we headed under 65th street to the children's zoo/petting zoo. Sophie enjoyed feeding the goats and lambs and we got some great photos of that. While we were in the children's zoo Heidi mistook a woman next to her for me, and grabbed her elbow, then quickly realized that the woman was Jennifer Garner, visiting the zoo with her daughter Violet. She was wearing big sunglasses, jeans, sneakers and a white T-shirt. She looked pretty normal. We didn't ask for autographs or take any photos since we thought that she would just want to visit the zoo with her little girl in peace.
We got back on the Uptown Tour but only went one or two stops before we got off to get something to eat. We ended up at the Brooklyn Diner, which served some delicious food that seemed pretty authentically New York to us. The burger I had won the NY Times best burger award. The bathrooms were in a weird spot, they were located across the plaza in some trailers. Space is at a premium in New York.
Next we headed to FAO Schwarz, which is a giant toy store. We told Sophie she could pick anything she wanted from the store. Most things in the store are actually quite expensive but we managed to distract her from a $55 stuffed lamb with a smaller stuffed dog instead. She also had a great time running on the piano keyboard on the floor - similar to the scene from Big with Tom Hanks.
After FAO Schwarz we headed to the Apple store right in front of it. The Apple store is quite distinctive and has a neat design, it's hard to describe without seeing it. There's a giant empty glass cube with a single white apple logo in it. You enter the cube and take a spiral staircase down to the store itself. Besides being distinctive, the Apple store was also extremely crowded so we didn't stay long. I wanted to check out the new iPods but they didn't seem to have any, although I saw one woman with a new nano in her hands.
After that we headed back to the hotel and rested for a bit before heading, once again, on the bus for the Nightime Loop. This was kind of lame since essentially they just drive you from Times Square over the Manhattan bridge to Brooklyn to take pictures of the New York skyline at night. It was still neat to see. Once again our guide was very good, he told us all about the trial of John Gotti.
After only two days here, some general observations. First of all we feel completely safe here. I remember when my grandparents went to New York, probably back in the 1980's sometime, and they told stories about how the doormen told them to hide their cash and never flash their credit cards in public. In the areas we've visited we've seen policemen everywhere in their distinctive uniforms and blue and white cars. Since 9/11 they are now required to patrol the entrances to most public areas, including bridges, 24 hours a day. We've even seen some of the other vehicles the police have, such as these three-wheeled scooter things and NYPD tow trucks. The traffic enforcement cars are completely black and look totally bad-ass.
New Yorkers have been so far extremely friendly and polite when we ask directions. One woman who saw me looking up and down the street asked me what I was looking for. When I told her I was looking for a Duane Reade (drugstore chain) she pointed me in the right direction immediately. It was cool to walk back from the Apple store in the middle of rush hour. There were so many cars and people everywhere. I think at that time every person we saw was talking on a cell phone, probably to another person walking down the street somewhere else.
We haven't seen many homeless people at all. Yesterday we saw one at St. Paul's Chapel, who fished Heidi's unfinished salad out of the garbage and started to eat it. That was kind of sad. But the only others we've seen was a guy with two cats in a shopping cart and a disabled man holding his hat out. I think that this has to do more with the areas we've visited so far - if we were more adventurous we'd probably see more.
New York is also changing way more than I thought it would be. You'd think they'd be finished it by now! All the bus guides that we've had bemoan the rise of the "fast food" and "chain" establishments, as the "greedy landlords" raise the rents that force the mom and pop stores out. So they've advised us to seek out different places to eat and avoid places like the Olive Garden. Our guide tonight told us that even the projects to the north of the Manhattan bridge in Brooklyn are all being converted to condominiums for sale. Gas station owners who can't make any money sell their land to convert to condos too. Entire neighborhoods are also changing, as rents and other economic forces move entire groups of people out. It's all very interesting and we're looking forward to the rest of our trip!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
First Day in New York: Downtown Loop Tour
We woke up at 8:45 New York time...which meant we all got almost 12 hours sleep. Although you can hear quite a bit of honking from outside after a while you tune it out (and obviously we did). We met Juli and Alan for breakfast and then started our day. One unusual thing about our hotel is that you give them your room key when you leave, and then ask for it when you come back. I've never seen that before in any hotel that I've stayed at.
Today we went on the Downtown Loop tour, which is a bus tour of Manhattan. The bus is a double decker bus, although typically nobody sits on the lower level unless it's really crowded because you can't see anything. You're not allowed to stand up during the tour because there are street signs and street lights that are so low they would literally knock you out if you were to stand up at the wrong time. The buses are also really cool because they are "on-off:" you can get off at a point of interest, take some pictures or whatever, and then get back on a later bus to rejoin the tour.
We met the bus at Times Square and got some good seats on top. The guide explained some things about Times Square, which we had already seen, and then we got to see the Macy's store, which is absolutely gigantic. It's the biggest store in the world, eleven floors of shopping. Our guide, Alex, told us that Wednesdays are 70% off days at Macy's. The next stop was Madison Square Gardens, which is a lot bigger complex than I thought it would be. It's actually a couple of buildings.
Right by a bar called The Bitter End, Sophie stuck her feet through the railing of the top level of the bus. When Heidi went to pull her feet back through, one of her shoes fell off and onto the street. Lucky for us Juli was extremely vocal in letting the guide know what happened and we got the bus stopped 2 or 3 blocks later. Then I got to run back to retrieve the shoe. Everyone applauded when I got back to the bus.
There are a few things I've noticed so far about New York. One is that most of the buildings are really old compared to ones you would see in Edmonton. You can tell our hotel is a building that was built a long time ago, based on the outside and how small the hallways are and how steep the stairs are. I imagine that this is how most buildings in New York are since New York itself is so old.
Another thing is that there is so much construction everywhere. I thought there was a lot of construction going on in Edmonton but New York makes that look like small potatoes. I guess it is. Every street you drive down, there is part of it blocked off by a cement mixer or crane or you can see that renovations are being done. Outside my hotel window I can see that The Platinum condominiums are going up. The amount of construction going on is immense.
Which brings me to the first stop we made on our bus tour - ground zero, the site of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. There's really nothing to see there, just an empty hole where massive buildings used to be. There is some information at the site about what they are planning to build there - it wasn't really clear to us if they have decided what will be built or not, there seemed to be some competing ideas. Heidi asked an officer of the New York Port Authority for his opinion. He told her he thought that a memorial, tastefully done, would be best.
We bought some lunch at a deli and went to St. Paul's Chapel - right across the street from ground zero - to eat it. Behind the chapel is a graveyard with benches which is where we ate. Most of the tombstones in there date from 1700 or 1800 or so, which was cool to see. Sophie spent her time chasing pigeons and finding rocks and sticks to put into my pockets. When she wasn't looking I'd put them back onto the ground. A few times she put rocks in my pocket that I had taken out before.
Heidi and Juli went inside St. Paul's Chapel and learned some cool things. St. Paul's is where the firefighters who were helping with the rescue/cleanup effort stayed after 9/11. There were also pictures of the mementos people had left on the railings of the chapel yard, and badges from various fire departments around the world. They learned about a very old sycamore tree that was damaged by debris from the World Trade Center. It fell over right onto one of the paths in the cemetery without damaging any of the ancient tombstones, so a bronze sculpture was made out of its roots.
We got back on the bus after lunch for only one stop, since we wanted to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. On the walk to the ferry we saw what looked like a damaged, spherical sculpture. Heidi was the first one to recognize it as the sphere sculpture, signifying world peace, that had been located in front of the World Trade Center. We saw by the plaque in front of the sculpture that Heidi was right.
It was quite a sight to see the very famous Statue of Liberty growing bigger and bigger as we got closer and closer to Liberty Island, via the ferry. Sophie recognized it right away - she had seen a replica of it while going through customs in Toronto. Once on Liberty Island we walked around the statue and took several pictures. There were quite a few people there. Sophie amused herself by pointing at random people and saying "That's Poopy McGee!" We also got some pictures of Manhattan. The Statue of Liberty looks cool in person - I didn't realize her right heel is off the ground. It doesn't look like she sustained any long-term damage from when the X-Men battled Magneto there either. We didn't go into the statue since we were getting tired and we weren't allowed to take our various child-care related paraphernalia into the statue, which meant one of us would have to stay behind. Instead we left for Ellis Island.
Ellis Island had several immigration-related displays. We got to see how many Ukrainians live in the US (not many - 650,000) and Heidi looked up Moen in the Ellis Island immigration database. She found who she thought was her great-grandfather. We then got back on the ferry for the ride back to Battery Park in New York.
By now we were all really tired so finishing the Downtown Loop was an excellent way to finish the day. Both Sophie and Malakai fell asleep. We went through the East Village and learned all about tenement buildings, why they were built and how small they were (and still are). We got to see various apartment high-rises as we got closer to the United Nations, including the Trump Tower where Derek Jeter lives. The tour guide told us about how much it costs to rent some of these places and it's pretty incredible. Our guide also told us about a man who blew up his brownstone house (there are laws against renovating/tearing down houses because they are historical) to get even with his ex-wife, who was going to get it. Before he blew it up, it was worth $2 million. After it was worth $5 million because now it was an empty lot in Manhattan. Manhattan must be worth trillions. Nothing much was going on at the UN when we passed - all 192 flagpoles were empty.
The tour finished with Rockefeller Plaza and Central Park - both places that we may return to. The tickets we bought also get us an Uptown Loop, Brooklyn Loop and Night Loop so we'll be seeing more of the city right away.
Overall the Downtown Loop convinced me that yes, it would be possible for Spiderman to swing his way around Manhattan. I always wondered if there was enough tall buildings for him to swing from, but in fact there are tons and tons of them. There are a few places where he'd have trouble around Madison Square Gardens and Central Park. It was also cool to see all the conical water towers that feature so prominently when he fights a villain, on top of many of the buildings in New York. Jon said that those used to be required on top of any building taller than 6 stories.
Today we went on the Downtown Loop tour, which is a bus tour of Manhattan. The bus is a double decker bus, although typically nobody sits on the lower level unless it's really crowded because you can't see anything. You're not allowed to stand up during the tour because there are street signs and street lights that are so low they would literally knock you out if you were to stand up at the wrong time. The buses are also really cool because they are "on-off:" you can get off at a point of interest, take some pictures or whatever, and then get back on a later bus to rejoin the tour.
We met the bus at Times Square and got some good seats on top. The guide explained some things about Times Square, which we had already seen, and then we got to see the Macy's store, which is absolutely gigantic. It's the biggest store in the world, eleven floors of shopping. Our guide, Alex, told us that Wednesdays are 70% off days at Macy's. The next stop was Madison Square Gardens, which is a lot bigger complex than I thought it would be. It's actually a couple of buildings.
Right by a bar called The Bitter End, Sophie stuck her feet through the railing of the top level of the bus. When Heidi went to pull her feet back through, one of her shoes fell off and onto the street. Lucky for us Juli was extremely vocal in letting the guide know what happened and we got the bus stopped 2 or 3 blocks later. Then I got to run back to retrieve the shoe. Everyone applauded when I got back to the bus.
There are a few things I've noticed so far about New York. One is that most of the buildings are really old compared to ones you would see in Edmonton. You can tell our hotel is a building that was built a long time ago, based on the outside and how small the hallways are and how steep the stairs are. I imagine that this is how most buildings in New York are since New York itself is so old.
Another thing is that there is so much construction everywhere. I thought there was a lot of construction going on in Edmonton but New York makes that look like small potatoes. I guess it is. Every street you drive down, there is part of it blocked off by a cement mixer or crane or you can see that renovations are being done. Outside my hotel window I can see that The Platinum condominiums are going up. The amount of construction going on is immense.
Which brings me to the first stop we made on our bus tour - ground zero, the site of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. There's really nothing to see there, just an empty hole where massive buildings used to be. There is some information at the site about what they are planning to build there - it wasn't really clear to us if they have decided what will be built or not, there seemed to be some competing ideas. Heidi asked an officer of the New York Port Authority for his opinion. He told her he thought that a memorial, tastefully done, would be best.
We bought some lunch at a deli and went to St. Paul's Chapel - right across the street from ground zero - to eat it. Behind the chapel is a graveyard with benches which is where we ate. Most of the tombstones in there date from 1700 or 1800 or so, which was cool to see. Sophie spent her time chasing pigeons and finding rocks and sticks to put into my pockets. When she wasn't looking I'd put them back onto the ground. A few times she put rocks in my pocket that I had taken out before.
Heidi and Juli went inside St. Paul's Chapel and learned some cool things. St. Paul's is where the firefighters who were helping with the rescue/cleanup effort stayed after 9/11. There were also pictures of the mementos people had left on the railings of the chapel yard, and badges from various fire departments around the world. They learned about a very old sycamore tree that was damaged by debris from the World Trade Center. It fell over right onto one of the paths in the cemetery without damaging any of the ancient tombstones, so a bronze sculpture was made out of its roots.
We got back on the bus after lunch for only one stop, since we wanted to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. On the walk to the ferry we saw what looked like a damaged, spherical sculpture. Heidi was the first one to recognize it as the sphere sculpture, signifying world peace, that had been located in front of the World Trade Center. We saw by the plaque in front of the sculpture that Heidi was right.
It was quite a sight to see the very famous Statue of Liberty growing bigger and bigger as we got closer and closer to Liberty Island, via the ferry. Sophie recognized it right away - she had seen a replica of it while going through customs in Toronto. Once on Liberty Island we walked around the statue and took several pictures. There were quite a few people there. Sophie amused herself by pointing at random people and saying "That's Poopy McGee!" We also got some pictures of Manhattan. The Statue of Liberty looks cool in person - I didn't realize her right heel is off the ground. It doesn't look like she sustained any long-term damage from when the X-Men battled Magneto there either. We didn't go into the statue since we were getting tired and we weren't allowed to take our various child-care related paraphernalia into the statue, which meant one of us would have to stay behind. Instead we left for Ellis Island.
Ellis Island had several immigration-related displays. We got to see how many Ukrainians live in the US (not many - 650,000) and Heidi looked up Moen in the Ellis Island immigration database. She found who she thought was her great-grandfather. We then got back on the ferry for the ride back to Battery Park in New York.
By now we were all really tired so finishing the Downtown Loop was an excellent way to finish the day. Both Sophie and Malakai fell asleep. We went through the East Village and learned all about tenement buildings, why they were built and how small they were (and still are). We got to see various apartment high-rises as we got closer to the United Nations, including the Trump Tower where Derek Jeter lives. The tour guide told us about how much it costs to rent some of these places and it's pretty incredible. Our guide also told us about a man who blew up his brownstone house (there are laws against renovating/tearing down houses because they are historical) to get even with his ex-wife, who was going to get it. Before he blew it up, it was worth $2 million. After it was worth $5 million because now it was an empty lot in Manhattan. Manhattan must be worth trillions. Nothing much was going on at the UN when we passed - all 192 flagpoles were empty.
The tour finished with Rockefeller Plaza and Central Park - both places that we may return to. The tickets we bought also get us an Uptown Loop, Brooklyn Loop and Night Loop so we'll be seeing more of the city right away.
Overall the Downtown Loop convinced me that yes, it would be possible for Spiderman to swing his way around Manhattan. I always wondered if there was enough tall buildings for him to swing from, but in fact there are tons and tons of them. There are a few places where he'd have trouble around Madison Square Gardens and Central Park. It was also cool to see all the conical water towers that feature so prominently when he fights a villain, on top of many of the buildings in New York. Jon said that those used to be required on top of any building taller than 6 stories.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Traveling to New York
Monday night we had a little trouble getting Sophie to sleep so Heidi ended up sleeping with Sophie in our bed. Since the guest bed is currently covered by kitchen china I had to sleep in Sophie's bed. A short time after that Heidi dumped Sophie with me and went back to sleep. Then I became uncomfortable and went to our bed - only to find that Heidi was missing, downstairs watching TV since she had insomnia.
When the alarm went off 3 am Tuesday I had no idea where I was or what was going on. Heidi got a grand total of 3 hours sleep. We got ourselves together, piled into the car, and left for the airport at 4 am. Sophie was raring to go.
The streets were deserted. I could have fired a cannon down 23 avenue without hitting anyone. It only took 10 minutes to get to the Park 'n Ride by the airport, where Sophie announced she had to go pee. Heidi and Sophie had to wait by the washroom for someone who seemed to be taking far too long...Heidi nicknamed him "Poopy McGee."
We got to the airport and on the plane without too much hassle. The trip to Toronto was uneventful, except for by fluke, "Poopy McGee" was on our flight. Sophie was excellent the whole trip, she got a little antsy towards the end, but that is to be expected for someone her age.
Going through customs in Toronto was a nightmare. Lucky for us the New Zealand Rifle Team was standing in line ahead of us. That really sped things up. Also there were many people, who were quite irate, who had already missed flights because of the big hold-up. There were two customs agents serving the line-up of 300 people, until 1 custom agent decided it was lunch time, and then progress slowed to an absolute crawl. Sophie fell asleep in Heidi's arms but woke up before we got to the front.
While we were waiting to board in the waiting area Sophie tried to make friends with as many people as she could, including an African-American family, our stewardesses, and an older couple.
Standing behind us in line we noticed a guy with a Carolina Hurricanes hockey bag, and an NCAA "Frozen Four" 2001 over-the-shoulder bag. He also had a Saskatchewan hat on. I managed to see the tag on his bag read "Ryan Bayda."
The flight to New York was short although Sophie was starting to get extremely bored by the time we got close. I played a game where I hid regular objects (my watch, keys, lip balm) in the Air Canada barf bag and she got to "unwrap" her "presents." Then we put the Air Canada headphones over our eyes and pretended we were pirates.
There was some kind of SNAFU on the ground of LaGuardia, so we ended up circling around New York a few times before landing. This was an ideal situation for people who wanted to take pictures of New York, but not such an ideal situation for parents of a two-year old who really needed to pee. It only took about 15 minutes of circling, but 15 minutes as measured in toddler bladder failure time = an accident. Hopefully the stewardess who wouldn't let me take her to the washroom is the one who got to clean it up. Luckily Heidi is a very smart mommy who packed a change of clothes in the carry-on.
The first thing we noticed in LaGuardia was how many people were in the waiting area - it was many more people than you typically see in Edmonton. LaGuardia seems like an older building, there is no air conditioning, just giant fans everywhere. We got our bags without incident, although the carousel was not very well-marked.
We had pre-arranged for a cab/limo to pick us up and finding him turned out to be an interesting experience...we were told to watch for a car with a driver who would be waving a sign with our name on it out the window. There were quite a few cars with signs waving out the windows but at last we spotted ours. Our trip into town was exciting - we were finally in New York! - although not as scenic as we had hoped since the driver took some kind of tunnel.
As a nice surprise Toscha and Jon were waiting for us at the Broadway Inn, and Juli, Alan and Malakai showed up shortly after. Jon brought a map of all the subway lines in New York, and explained about the five boroughs - Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and Brooklyn. Once we had checked into our room and got everything straightened out, we all headed to Times Square, which is a two-minute walk from the hotel.
It was really cool to be in a famous place like Times Square. There were lots and lots of people around, but it wasn't as bad as we had expected. Even though there's lots of people it's still manageable. We took a few pictures of all the advertisements and buildings in the area. Jon pointed out one of the more famous ones - where the New Year's Eve ball drops down. He told us the building actually has no tenants since it earns enough money through advertising that it doesn't need any - crazy!
We decided to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. The food was OK but nothing to write home about. By this time Sophie had been up for a long time and was no longer listening to any of the requests that her tired parents were making. So for part of the meal Heidi took her upstairs to the merchandising section of the Hard Rock Cafe and for the end of the meal I took her into a different section of the restaurant where she climbed onto a giant red semi-circular cushion and danced to the loud music that was playing. She was having a great time.
After we finished eating we headed back to the hotel. Jon and Toscha headed back on the Subway because Jon had school the next day. We got back to our room and were all asleep by 9:30 New York time.
When the alarm went off 3 am Tuesday I had no idea where I was or what was going on. Heidi got a grand total of 3 hours sleep. We got ourselves together, piled into the car, and left for the airport at 4 am. Sophie was raring to go.
The streets were deserted. I could have fired a cannon down 23 avenue without hitting anyone. It only took 10 minutes to get to the Park 'n Ride by the airport, where Sophie announced she had to go pee. Heidi and Sophie had to wait by the washroom for someone who seemed to be taking far too long...Heidi nicknamed him "Poopy McGee."
We got to the airport and on the plane without too much hassle. The trip to Toronto was uneventful, except for by fluke, "Poopy McGee" was on our flight. Sophie was excellent the whole trip, she got a little antsy towards the end, but that is to be expected for someone her age.
Going through customs in Toronto was a nightmare. Lucky for us the New Zealand Rifle Team was standing in line ahead of us. That really sped things up. Also there were many people, who were quite irate, who had already missed flights because of the big hold-up. There were two customs agents serving the line-up of 300 people, until 1 custom agent decided it was lunch time, and then progress slowed to an absolute crawl. Sophie fell asleep in Heidi's arms but woke up before we got to the front.
While we were waiting to board in the waiting area Sophie tried to make friends with as many people as she could, including an African-American family, our stewardesses, and an older couple.
Standing behind us in line we noticed a guy with a Carolina Hurricanes hockey bag, and an NCAA "Frozen Four" 2001 over-the-shoulder bag. He also had a Saskatchewan hat on. I managed to see the tag on his bag read "Ryan Bayda."
The flight to New York was short although Sophie was starting to get extremely bored by the time we got close. I played a game where I hid regular objects (my watch, keys, lip balm) in the Air Canada barf bag and she got to "unwrap" her "presents." Then we put the Air Canada headphones over our eyes and pretended we were pirates.
There was some kind of SNAFU on the ground of LaGuardia, so we ended up circling around New York a few times before landing. This was an ideal situation for people who wanted to take pictures of New York, but not such an ideal situation for parents of a two-year old who really needed to pee. It only took about 15 minutes of circling, but 15 minutes as measured in toddler bladder failure time = an accident. Hopefully the stewardess who wouldn't let me take her to the washroom is the one who got to clean it up. Luckily Heidi is a very smart mommy who packed a change of clothes in the carry-on.
The first thing we noticed in LaGuardia was how many people were in the waiting area - it was many more people than you typically see in Edmonton. LaGuardia seems like an older building, there is no air conditioning, just giant fans everywhere. We got our bags without incident, although the carousel was not very well-marked.
We had pre-arranged for a cab/limo to pick us up and finding him turned out to be an interesting experience...we were told to watch for a car with a driver who would be waving a sign with our name on it out the window. There were quite a few cars with signs waving out the windows but at last we spotted ours. Our trip into town was exciting - we were finally in New York! - although not as scenic as we had hoped since the driver took some kind of tunnel.
As a nice surprise Toscha and Jon were waiting for us at the Broadway Inn, and Juli, Alan and Malakai showed up shortly after. Jon brought a map of all the subway lines in New York, and explained about the five boroughs - Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and Brooklyn. Once we had checked into our room and got everything straightened out, we all headed to Times Square, which is a two-minute walk from the hotel.
It was really cool to be in a famous place like Times Square. There were lots and lots of people around, but it wasn't as bad as we had expected. Even though there's lots of people it's still manageable. We took a few pictures of all the advertisements and buildings in the area. Jon pointed out one of the more famous ones - where the New Year's Eve ball drops down. He told us the building actually has no tenants since it earns enough money through advertising that it doesn't need any - crazy!
We decided to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. The food was OK but nothing to write home about. By this time Sophie had been up for a long time and was no longer listening to any of the requests that her tired parents were making. So for part of the meal Heidi took her upstairs to the merchandising section of the Hard Rock Cafe and for the end of the meal I took her into a different section of the restaurant where she climbed onto a giant red semi-circular cushion and danced to the loud music that was playing. She was having a great time.
After we finished eating we headed back to the hotel. Jon and Toscha headed back on the Subway because Jon had school the next day. We got back to our room and were all asleep by 9:30 New York time.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Today we pack for New York
Today we are packing for our New York trip.
We leave Edmonton International tomorrow at 5:50 in the morning. (Gah!) Final arrival at LaGuardia is 4:45. I think we're well prepared for our trip. We rented some new movies for Sophie, and we're taking the MacBook so she can watch them on the plane if she gets restless.
Neither of us have ever been to New York, so we are really looking forward to it.
We hope to update this diary with the MacBook (provided we get an Internet connection) and put our photos up too. And also we hope to link it through facebook.
Talk to you soon!
We leave Edmonton International tomorrow at 5:50 in the morning. (Gah!) Final arrival at LaGuardia is 4:45. I think we're well prepared for our trip. We rented some new movies for Sophie, and we're taking the MacBook so she can watch them on the plane if she gets restless.
Neither of us have ever been to New York, so we are really looking forward to it.
We hope to update this diary with the MacBook (provided we get an Internet connection) and put our photos up too. And also we hope to link it through facebook.
Talk to you soon!
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