NYC - Days 2 & 3
So…LJ is being a bitch right now and won’t let me on. And I’m slightly bored for the next ten or so minutes while my parents nap.
Yesterday morning, we got up and went out for breakfast, where we stopped at a small café called Bagel Stix and ate some seriously delicious bagels. Then we walked down 9th Avenue, just for a change of scenery. Let’s just say it was fairly different from 5th, although it wasn’t bad.
And then we caught the subway for the first time, and rode it down to Ground Zero. Two things: 1) the subway system is confusing as hell, albeit very interesting and frequently entertaining, and 2) Ground Zero is a lot quieter than the rest of the city. It was a bit sobering, to say the least. Although they’re doing a lot of construction on it right now, so it wasn’t quite as serene as I’d thought it would be. Hell, it’s New York - is anything here ever serene? Lol.
But we rode the subway back to Times Square, where we ate lunch at the Hard Rock Café - which is underground. No kidding. Everything here is either built up or down - not across. The food was good, though, and I got a t-shirt. And we went in the four-story Toys R Us store in Times Square. Which had a full-size, working ferris wheel inside it. I kid not. XD I so wanted to ride it, but we left before I could.
Then we came back to the room to rest for an hour or so. Yeah, my parents are old. Lol. But then we headed off to fifth avenue, which was great. Best part? The massive, three-story Disney store. God, that was amazing. Half of it was Pirates of the Caribbean stuff, too, with enough Beauty and the Beast stuff to make me happy. And then we went to Trump Tower, which was gorgeous. And then the Apple Store. Which is probably the best store we’ve been in so far. It’s exactly like the store here, but…about three times the size. Oh - and it’s underground. Totally underground, except for the big all-glass cube where you get in an elevator that takes you down to the actual store. Awesome-tastic.
Then we went to FAO Schwarz, a huge three-story toy store behind the Apple Store. It had a café, a motion simulator ride, life-sized lego characters…including Chewbacca. Lmao. Then we got McDonalds for dinner (I swear, you can throw a quarter here and you’ll hit either a McDonalds or a Burger King…though you’ll probably hit a taxi or a Lincoln Town Car first - they’re everywhere). And then came back to the hotel to eat and to get ready for Beauty and the Beast. Which we took our first taxi to. Dear god - I could never drive in this city. But it’s fun to ride in a taxi.
LKSGdfgllkdg! It was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Different from what I expected, and yet it was the same, too. The costumes, the songs, the dancing, the sets…gah. It was beautiful. Anneliese van der Pol was a good Belle - not the greatest, but she was good. And the yellow gown was gorgeous. The whole theater let out a huge sigh when she appeared in the dress. And her voice was really good, too - as was her dancing. But the best song, by far, was “Be Our Guest.” They brought out a whole new set for it, and all the costumes were perfect. And the whole song ended with giant champagne bottles spraying “champagne” across the stage, before several cannon-things shot streamers and confetti into the audience with a big bang. And did I mention that Lumiere was my hero? Because he totally stole the show. The actor, John Tartaglia did an amazing accent, and he just rocked the character. He and Cogsworth were great together, too. And the Beast was…gah. Steve Blanchard’s singing voice is just hot, though he isn’t unattractive, either. And his interpretation of Beast was very quiet, yet he roared well, and I loved the way he climbed all over the stage. And the ballroom scene…absolutely lovely. They were amazing together. And I just wanted to hug him when he got all vulnerable and sad during that scene. And Gaston was awesome, too, and the actor was the understudy, though you’d have never known. He was hilarious, and rocked his character almost as much as Lumiere did. But the transformation scene…so pretty. I know they used wires to lift him up, but…damn. It looked way too complicated to be possible. And then we waited outside the stage door before Anneliese finally came out and started signing autographs, which was pretty cool, too. She’s pretty damn tiny in person, though, which surprised me. And I got a bunch of BatB souvenirs…two t-shirts, a big program-thing, two keychains, and an “enchanted rose”…lol. And a bunch of pictures of the theatre, and a couple of Anneliese signing autographs. Twas an amazing night.
And now….today. Very long day. It started at about six this morning, when we got up to go to the set of the Today show right next to Rockefeller Center. God, was it crazy. But…great. And we got lucky - the “musical guests” were Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis - I nearly died. Jordin’s been my favorite on Idol for weeks, and to see her live…gah. And at one point, I was maybe five feet away from her - so close to getting her autograph, since she was willing to pose with people and sign whatever you put in front of her. Yeah…it was amazing. And my father, Mr. Patience, had gone back to the room…since me and my mom ended up waiting in the crowd for over two hours. So he saw us on TV. XD
But after that, we went back to that Bagel Stix place for breakfast. Then we took a taxi to the Empire State Building. Damn. Stunning. 86 floors up…and my ears popped in the elevator that took us from the second floor to the 80th in less than thirty seconds. And we had a nifty electronic guide thing that talked to us about what we were seeing. And we bought a picture that they took of us, with the Empire State building “photoshopped” in behind us…on a green screen, which looks especially lovely, since I wore a green shirt. I win. ^^
Macy’s was after that. All nine floors of it. Yeah - nine. And each floor was the size of a normal department store floor, if not bigger. And the escalators up to floors 7-9 were wooden…the original ones, apparently. Then we came back to the hotel, where my parents rested. And then we went to dinner at Applebees on Broadway, right next to Times Square. Then we attempted to ride the subway to the Circle Line cruise that goes around Manhattan. But…we fail, and didn’t read the addresses that were written on the brochures and our tickets. And we ended up riding a very…interesting subway out all the way across the river to Brooklyn. Then we went back one stop, and realized it was still the wrong place - we were at Pier 17, and…it went out from 83. Oops much? Lmao. But we didn’t have time to get there at that point, so we just rode back to Times Square and walked part of Fifth Avenue again on our way back to the hotel.
And…here I am, with just one day left. Eventful? Slightly. But…I <3 this city. It takes some getting used to, but…there’s never a dull moment. And we’ll leave tomorrow, still without doing everything we wanted to do. Like…I want to see Spamalot, Wicked, Phantom, and possibly Mary Poppins, Les Miserables, and…yeah. You get the point.
But…yeah. If you read all that…damn, you must be incredibly bored. And you get a cookie. No, seriously. I’ll figure out to how to make it happen. How about a New York baker’s dozen? lol
Yesterday morning, we got up and went out for breakfast, where we stopped at a small café called Bagel Stix and ate some seriously delicious bagels. Then we walked down 9th Avenue, just for a change of scenery. Let’s just say it was fairly different from 5th, although it wasn’t bad.
And then we caught the subway for the first time, and rode it down to Ground Zero. Two things: 1) the subway system is confusing as hell, albeit very interesting and frequently entertaining, and 2) Ground Zero is a lot quieter than the rest of the city. It was a bit sobering, to say the least. Although they’re doing a lot of construction on it right now, so it wasn’t quite as serene as I’d thought it would be. Hell, it’s New York - is anything here ever serene? Lol.
But we rode the subway back to Times Square, where we ate lunch at the Hard Rock Café - which is underground. No kidding. Everything here is either built up or down - not across. The food was good, though, and I got a t-shirt. And we went in the four-story Toys R Us store in Times Square. Which had a full-size, working ferris wheel inside it. I kid not. XD I so wanted to ride it, but we left before I could.
Then we came back to the room to rest for an hour or so. Yeah, my parents are old. Lol. But then we headed off to fifth avenue, which was great. Best part? The massive, three-story Disney store. God, that was amazing. Half of it was Pirates of the Caribbean stuff, too, with enough Beauty and the Beast stuff to make me happy. And then we went to Trump Tower, which was gorgeous. And then the Apple Store. Which is probably the best store we’ve been in so far. It’s exactly like the store here, but…about three times the size. Oh - and it’s underground. Totally underground, except for the big all-glass cube where you get in an elevator that takes you down to the actual store. Awesome-tastic.
Then we went to FAO Schwarz, a huge three-story toy store behind the Apple Store. It had a café, a motion simulator ride, life-sized lego characters…including Chewbacca. Lmao. Then we got McDonalds for dinner (I swear, you can throw a quarter here and you’ll hit either a McDonalds or a Burger King…though you’ll probably hit a taxi or a Lincoln Town Car first - they’re everywhere). And then came back to the hotel to eat and to get ready for Beauty and the Beast. Which we took our first taxi to. Dear god - I could never drive in this city. But it’s fun to ride in a taxi.
LKSGdfgllkdg! It was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Different from what I expected, and yet it was the same, too. The costumes, the songs, the dancing, the sets…gah. It was beautiful. Anneliese van der Pol was a good Belle - not the greatest, but she was good. And the yellow gown was gorgeous. The whole theater let out a huge sigh when she appeared in the dress. And her voice was really good, too - as was her dancing. But the best song, by far, was “Be Our Guest.” They brought out a whole new set for it, and all the costumes were perfect. And the whole song ended with giant champagne bottles spraying “champagne” across the stage, before several cannon-things shot streamers and confetti into the audience with a big bang. And did I mention that Lumiere was my hero? Because he totally stole the show. The actor, John Tartaglia did an amazing accent, and he just rocked the character. He and Cogsworth were great together, too. And the Beast was…gah. Steve Blanchard’s singing voice is just hot, though he isn’t unattractive, either. And his interpretation of Beast was very quiet, yet he roared well, and I loved the way he climbed all over the stage. And the ballroom scene…absolutely lovely. They were amazing together. And I just wanted to hug him when he got all vulnerable and sad during that scene. And Gaston was awesome, too, and the actor was the understudy, though you’d have never known. He was hilarious, and rocked his character almost as much as Lumiere did. But the transformation scene…so pretty. I know they used wires to lift him up, but…damn. It looked way too complicated to be possible. And then we waited outside the stage door before Anneliese finally came out and started signing autographs, which was pretty cool, too. She’s pretty damn tiny in person, though, which surprised me. And I got a bunch of BatB souvenirs…two t-shirts, a big program-thing, two keychains, and an “enchanted rose”…lol. And a bunch of pictures of the theatre, and a couple of Anneliese signing autographs. Twas an amazing night.
And now….today. Very long day. It started at about six this morning, when we got up to go to the set of the Today show right next to Rockefeller Center. God, was it crazy. But…great. And we got lucky - the “musical guests” were Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis - I nearly died. Jordin’s been my favorite on Idol for weeks, and to see her live…gah. And at one point, I was maybe five feet away from her - so close to getting her autograph, since she was willing to pose with people and sign whatever you put in front of her. Yeah…it was amazing. And my father, Mr. Patience, had gone back to the room…since me and my mom ended up waiting in the crowd for over two hours. So he saw us on TV. XD
But after that, we went back to that Bagel Stix place for breakfast. Then we took a taxi to the Empire State Building. Damn. Stunning. 86 floors up…and my ears popped in the elevator that took us from the second floor to the 80th in less than thirty seconds. And we had a nifty electronic guide thing that talked to us about what we were seeing. And we bought a picture that they took of us, with the Empire State building “photoshopped” in behind us…on a green screen, which looks especially lovely, since I wore a green shirt. I win. ^^
Macy’s was after that. All nine floors of it. Yeah - nine. And each floor was the size of a normal department store floor, if not bigger. And the escalators up to floors 7-9 were wooden…the original ones, apparently. Then we came back to the hotel, where my parents rested. And then we went to dinner at Applebees on Broadway, right next to Times Square. Then we attempted to ride the subway to the Circle Line cruise that goes around Manhattan. But…we fail, and didn’t read the addresses that were written on the brochures and our tickets. And we ended up riding a very…interesting subway out all the way across the river to Brooklyn. Then we went back one stop, and realized it was still the wrong place - we were at Pier 17, and…it went out from 83. Oops much? Lmao. But we didn’t have time to get there at that point, so we just rode back to Times Square and walked part of Fifth Avenue again on our way back to the hotel.
And…here I am, with just one day left. Eventful? Slightly. But…I <3 this city. It takes some getting used to, but…there’s never a dull moment. And we’ll leave tomorrow, still without doing everything we wanted to do. Like…I want to see Spamalot, Wicked, Phantom, and possibly Mary Poppins, Les Miserables, and…yeah. You get the point.
But…yeah. If you read all that…damn, you must be incredibly bored. And you get a cookie. No, seriously. I’ll figure out to how to make it happen. How about a New York baker’s dozen? lol