This is my last post on New York! The last couple days were pretty chill compared to the days before.
We went to Grand Central Station and caught the train to Harrison so that I could visit the fabulous family I was a nanny for 5 years ago. It was so crazy to see how much they have grown up and to hear about their lives and what they have done and what they are up to. They are all doing really well which makes me happy :0) I am glad that we still remain in contact, even if it isn't super often. Mike was really excited to see the new Apple Store in Grand Central Station. Too bad it was opening 4 days after we left :0/ We went back to the apartment and hung out with everyone and then we went to the lighting of the Christmas lights in Central park. It wasn't as big of a celebration as we were told it was going to be and it is definitely a family friendly thing - not a group of single people with no kids thing. Anyway, it was still fun to at least see what it was all about. And it was a very pretty night. Afterwards we split up and did our own things for the night. Mike and I walked around and looked at all the Christmas lights and festivities. More pictures of that can be found here. After we went to a pizzeria that came highly recommended - John's Pizzeria. It was AWFUL. The only thing I liked was this photo - which I actually love. Awesome perception of the city.
Anyway, we got garlic knots and a Hawaiian pizza. Our waiter was there to take our order and the he didn't come back to our table the rest of the night. Seriously. He walked past us about ten times which the final time I was able to flag him down to ask for our bill. But he didn't check on the order, to make sure it was correct or that it was okay, he didn't refill our water, nothing! He would walk past us to the big screen TV that was at the bar and watch the game or text. Trust me, it was about ten feet away from us and I could watch him the whole time. It was lame. It was like $35 for that lousy lousy meal (one pizza, garlic knots and no service). Grrrrr.
Everyone in the group thankfully loves the Carmel Apple Spice drinks from Starbucks so Monday morning we headed to the nearest shop.
We walked around New York for a while and just enjoyed looking at the sky line and all the things that make it different from Utah. The traffic, the buildings, the people, the fashion, the weather. It was so much fun to try and take it all in through every sense; seeing, smelling, feeling, touching and yes, tasting :0).
We walked around Central Park
And decided to watch "the Three Bears Christmas" show at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater. Totally for kids, but oh well, we watched it too.
After the show we walked to Belvedere Tower, it's one place I remember from my first visit to NY in 2004. Quite the view from the tower huh? It was erected in 1869 as a lookout (how awesome is that) but is now the home of the New York Meteorological Observatory (still pretty neat). It was a really fun visit and who knows which way this train is headed, maybe I will be back to NY, maybe I won't. Guess we will wait and see what happens in the future :0)
People were constantly telling me, "New York City is magical at Christmas-time." In different ways but the same thing over and over. Honestly, I think any city turns magic during the Christmas season because Christmas itself is a magical season; however, I did love visiting New York and seeing all their lights and decorations celebrating the holiday. I loved that their Salvation Army bell ringers had music playing and danced as they collected money, they didn't do that when I came back to Utah. It was a beautiful Christmas in NYC and here are some pictures of what we saw specific to Christmas :0)
There was more but I kinda didn't take pictures of everything ;0)
Saturday we went to Battery Park and saw the Statue of Liberty (didn't take the ferry to the Island because the line was ridiculously long), visited Central Park, ate pizza at Sbarro's, road the Subway every place possible, including, back to Times Square where we saw the famous New Years Ball.
After riding around in the Subway for a really long time we went back to the apartment and hung out for a couple of hours. That was really nice after such a crazy morning where we literally ran place to place trying to see and do everything that was on our list. When nothing worked out, we gave up and headed back to the apartment to watch some TV. Probably the best thing we could have done for ourselves.
We walked to the Seinfeld restaurant. This isn't the soup kitchen, this is just the "Restaurant" sign that they show on the show. Not incredibly amazing but it was fun. The neighborhood where this restaurant sits is really nice so we enjoyed walking around and pretending like we are New Yorkers :).
The Guggenheim "Today the Guggenheim Museum in New York is one of the most famous contemporary art showcases in the world. It is not just the art that is outstanding; the building itself continues to attract art lovers and architects from all over the world. Visitors stand before the Guggenheim Museum in amazement. In his effort to join architecture and nature, (Frank Lloyd) Wright designed a building that is organic right down to its basic structure, which resembles a snail shell." One of the things that we were most excited to see in NYC was the Guggenheim museum. It was in one of my books as one of the top 100 "must see" places in the world. It did not disappoint. The architecture of the Guggenheim is very unique and if you have seen Mr. Popper's Penguins, you may remember the Guggenheim as the place the penguins followed him to when they crashed his business party and slid down the circular walkway. :0) In addition to being unique and fun it is a very pretty design. I found this website on the Guggenheim history, it's a short read with a bunch of fantastic pictures I really loved. "Inside, a ramp spirals upward along the walls, creating a space that gives the impression of being open on all sides. Exhibitions begin on the top floor and follow the ramp down. Visitors' visual perspective is constantly changed and refined as they move around the space, providing them with what is literally a new "point of view" with every step..." The artwork we saw at the Guggenheim was by Maurizio Cattelan (displayed November 4, 2011 - January 22, 2012). This retrospective survey brings together virtually everything the artist Maurizio Cattelan has produced since 1989, and presents the works en masse, strung haphazardly from the oculus of the Guggenheim’s rotunda. Some people in our group thought that the artwork was morbid, but others enjoyed it and felt like it was a modge podge of history and life - some morbid, some mundane. I like the Guggenheim website for the information it gives on Maurizio Cattelan and his artwork. They say, "Although an ironic humor threads much of his work, a profound meditation on mortality forms the core of Cattelan’s practice. His recurring use of taxidermy, which presents a state of apparent life premised on actual death, is particularly apt for exploring this thematic concern. Perhaps the most poignant of his anthropomorphic animal scenes is Bidibidobidiboo (1996), in which a despairing squirrel has committed suicide in his grimy kitchen. Death stalks the artist’s psyche and creeps into all manifestations of his production. With All (2007), he created what he described as a “monument to death,” a sculpture that would commemorate its unrelenting presence. Derived from ubiquitous media imagery of fallen bodies, and carved from traditional marble, the nine shrouded figures appear as victims of some unnamed trauma, silently recalling the unconscionable realities of our present-day world."
After visiting the Guggenheim we hailed a taxi and went to the Lincoln Center for the Saturday night showing of the Nutcracker ballet. The taxi pulled off to the side of the road, next to another line of taxi's that were parked along the curb, to let us out. We paid him, and me being on the passenger side closest to the sidewalk opened my door to get out. At that moment a biker just happened to choose to ride through the line of parked Taxi's. You can guess what happened. My Taxi door hit the biker and sent him/her flailing onto the hood of the Taxi next to us, parked along side the curb. I was shocked and didn't know what to do. It was a spot-on hit. I have never been "the vehicle" in a bike accident before, usually I am the biker. All the Taxi drivers started yelling at the biker and the biker brushed themselves off, grabbed their bike and moved quickly on their way. I sat there for a couple more seconds, stunned at what had just happened and then got out and headed towards the theater.
In summary, this video is what happened, except me getting out of the Taxi is the Gazelle.
Bikers, Word of warning: Don't ride on the wrong side of the street, between two rows of parked Taxi cars. Bad things are bound to happen.
After the string of bad luck that had accompanied the day, we decided that we should make sure we were in the right spot. Just our luck the Taxi would drop us off at somewhere other than the Lincoln Center. Well, imagine our surprise when we ask someone, "Is this the Lincoln Center where the Nutcracker Ballet is playing?" and their response is, "No, this is the New York City Opera." GREAT. :0/
Thankfully the Lincoln Center and the Opera House are side by side. So we had made it! The Nutcracker was pretty amazing. We had front row seats on the mezzanine and really enjoyed the dancers and the orchestra. I was amazed at the talent of the ballet dancers and so impressed with the things that they can do on the very tips of their toes. The main dancer is from Utah, which was a fun fact, and at one point she was drug across the stage while on one foot/toe the entire time. WOW! It was amazing. All 9 of Us - The Girls: Amanda Dillehay, Me, Kjersten Evans, Shara Reimann, and Angela Hoskisson
The Guys: Mike Teagle, Mike Layton, Rusty Greiner, and Todd Wiese,
which I actually love. Awesome perception of the city.
Anyway, we got garlic knots and a Hawaiian pizza. Our waiter was there to take our order and the he didn't come back to our table the rest of the night. Seriously. He walked past us about ten times which the final time I was able to flag him down to ask for our bill. But he didn't check on the order, to make sure it was correct or that it was okay, he didn't refill our water, nothing! He would walk past us to the big screen TV that was at the bar and watch the game or text. Trust me, it was about ten feet away from us and I could watch him the whole time. It was lame. It was like $35 for that lousy lousy meal (one pizza, garlic knots and no service). Grrrrr. 
Everyone in the group thankfully loves the Carmel Apple Spice drinks from Starbucks so Monday morning we headed to the nearest shop.
We walked around New York for a while and just enjoyed looking at the sky line and all the things that make it different from Utah. The traffic, the buildings, the people, the fashion, the weather. It was so much fun to try and take it all in through every sense; seeing, smelling, feeling, touching and yes, tasting :0).
We walked around Central Park
And decided to watch "the Three Bears Christmas" show at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater. Totally for kids, but oh well, we watched it too.
It was erected in 1869 as a lookout (how awesome is that) but is now the home of the New York Meteorological Observatory (still pretty neat).
