I LOVE NEW YORK!!!!

Our first glimpse of the city after landing at LaGuardia. 

Niki had arranged for a car to pick us up.  The driver was dressed in an all
white Hindu-type suit; he had a very long beard and an embroidered cap. 
You don't see folks dressed like that in Glenwood, IA, or Laurie, MO, so
this was our first introduction to the many cultures that make up the city.

Sorry to make you turn your neck, but my rotation attempt didn't work.
Anyway, this is Niki's abode.  She and two room mates have all three
floors.  She lives somewhere in Brooklyn.  As many times as we drove
to and from her house, I don't think I could get to it on my own.

This is Pam calling home to let the rest of her family know that we made
it safe and sound. Niki doesn't get off work until 7:00, so we arrived a
little before she did. She had left the keys in the mail box.

Most of their furniture has come from "stoop sales" or from feebies set
out on the curb for anyone to take.  I would love that!  That would be
more fun than garage sales!

This was my bedroom.  It was also the kitchen!  I had visitors at all
hours of the night, but it was kind of fun.  Some of the visitors never
saw me standing!  I would just roll over to chat with them and then
go back to sleep.  Niki's roommate, Max, was on a strange schedule,
as he prepared his dinner anywhere between 11:00 pm and 1:30 am. 
We would visit while he cooked.  The first night, he brought some friends
home with him and they partied in the kitchen (my bedroom).  I was so
tired, I didn't bother to talk to them that night.  I just slept right through it. 
I am sure they got a kick out of my snoring.  :-)

Pam slept upstairs in Niki's room and Niki took the couch
in the living room, so we all had nice, comfy places to sleep.
I think mine was the most fun.

 
Our first night was spent in Brooklyn Heights along the Promenade. 
We had a wonderful Italian meal at this neat little sidewalk cafe.
It was such a beautiful night and the lights of Manhattan almost took
our breath away.  It was awesome.  (We saw our first and only rat
that night.)

Pam and Niki on a park bench in the Promenade.

Here are Pam and Niki at the Gershwin Theater Sunday afternoon. 
My son, Rob, did a very nice thing for us ladies.  He bought us
tickets to see WICKED.  It was such a fun and cute show.  That
was definitely one of the highlights of our entire trip.  Our seats
were in the third row, so we could even see the spit flying from
the performer's mouths.  What a fun afternoon.  Another dream
come true for both Pam and I.

Lo and behold, when we left the theater and walked a half block or so,
we ended up right on Times Square!   People, taxis, bright lights, noise,
commercial ads plastered everywhere, etc., etc., but I LOVED  it. 
Wowsers!  What energy and excitement.  People from all over the world,
cram jammed everywhere,  It was sooooo cool!

Pam and I are both big David Letterman fans, so we were really
tickled to see his theater, the Hello Deli, and the building where
he tosses things from the top floor just to see how they splat.

One of the fun things along Broadway were the purse vendors.  We
checked out each and every one of them.

See the red on hanging on the right front corner?  That one is now mine.  :-)

We ate at Letterman's favorite pizza place Sunday night -- Angelo's. 
It is on the main floor of the Sullivan Theater where he tapes his
show.  Niki said it was one of the best pizzas she had ever had!

I don't know what this guy's deal is.  He apparently just sits in this
parking space on Broadway and uses his car as his office.  He had
his computer running, a bouquet or two of flowers, and seemed to
not even notice the thousands and thousands of people who were
looking at him.  Weird.

I could not believe the amount of garbage in NYC!  There are
apparently no alleys for storing the trash, so it all goes out in front
of the store or whatever, right on the sidewalk.  It is everywhere! 
No wonder they say there are four rats to each person in the city!

There are so many other fun things to look at, I guess you kind of
become oblivious to all the garbage.

Pam has had an extremely rough time for the last few months, so
walking was not an easy thing for her to do.  It was pretty essential
to being there and seeing things, but there were times she
just had to sit down and catch her breath.  That's what she was
doing when these last two photos were taken.  She was having a
glass of lemonade at Maxie's.  We then joined her for a piece of
cheesecake for only $8.95 a slice.  Yikes.

She was a real trooper, though, and very brave to have even
tackled the trip after all she has been through.

This is Bart, Niki's "main squeeze."  He is not a native, but he has
been in NYC for several years.  He builds things for special events.  For
example, if Victoria's Secret, Inc., is having a fashion show, they will call
Bart to build the runway.  He has a cool warehouse/loft type living space
where he works and lives.  It is one of those places like you see in movies.
That is one of my favorite things about Manhattan, just about everywhere
you look and everything you see, you have seen in some movie or TV show.
Again ... it is sooo cool!

We sort of lost Monday since it poured down rain all day.  So, Bart took
some time off and we all went to lunch together.  (That's my new red purse
on the table.)  We then went to see Hairspray, the movie.  There was such
a line to the theater on Broadway where Hairspray was playing that
we thought we should check it out.  It was so-so.  We were very glad we
had chosen Wicked instead.

I found the retail world in NYC very interesting.  There is mile after mile of
little "mom and pop" stores, intermingled with a McDonalds, Target, etc.,
every now and then.  There are lots of restaurants with various ethnic cuisines
and lots of food stores.  The unique part about ther food stores is that you
cannot buy all of your groceries in one spot.  You go to a produce store for
your produce, a meat store for your meat, a bakery for your breads, etc., etc.   
No big supermarkets like we have around here.  You can only buy as much
as you can carry as very few people have their own cars. 

The traffic is terrible and so is the price of parking, thus, cabs, subways,
trains, buses, etc., are the way people get from place to place.  Cabs can
add a great deal to the cost of your evening.  (They charge by the minute,
so if you get stuck in traffic, you can really get screwed!)  We figured at
last $50.00 (and sometimes more) just to get to and from Manhattan from
Brooklyn. We usually hired a car, as they charge by the trip, not the mile
or minute. The Subway is cheaper, but Pam didn't do so well with all the
walking and steps they required; besides, they are dark and dirty and you
can't see where you are.

On the rainy night, after the movie, we went out for Mexican food with
Bart and Niki's roommate, Mara, and NIki's friend, Robin.  I will introduce
Robin in Part 2.  She is quite a character.

Well, that gives you an idea of our first three days ... Saturday, Sunday and
Monday.  I think I will stop there and put the next three on a separate (Part 2)
Blog so this doesn't get so big that those of you with dial up connections cannot
get it open!

I hope I am sharing this so that my enthusiasm for the city comes through.
I thought it was a wonderful place.  Sure, up close you see the trash,
graffiti, disrepair, filth, etc., etc., but all that just added to the ambiance
for me.  From a distance, it is magnificent! 

I am too old to live there now, but I can sure understand why Niki
wanted to be there and why she is enjoying it so much.  My sites were
always set on California when I was a kid; I never gave the East coast
a thought.  I never made it to California either, but knowing what I know
now, I would definitely have added the Big Apple to my dream places to live.

I'll be back in a day or two with Part B.  I hope all is well with each of you

Take care.

Love,
Judy and Jerry

Comments

[Carolyn from California]

Loved the pictures but loved, loved the red bag.

[Zanny]

Nice pictures. I too love the energy of NYC. Niki's new squeeze looks pretty nice. Hope to meet him someday. Looking forward to part two!

[Stacy Page]

Judy,
Very cool pictures. it all looks so wonderful. I have always wanted to go to New York. It all looks so exciting compared to where I am in Texas. Boring!!!You are becoming quite the world traveller. Love ya-Stacy

[Sharon from CA]

Judy, you are as starstruck with "the city" as I think I would be. How great that you could visit with Niki as your guide! Can't wait for part 2!