The City That Never Sleeps

I can see why people love and hate this city.

Entertainment: superb Broadway shows (probably best part of our trip). We actually saw 3 while we were there, the best was Wicked. Being the consummate planner, I pre-ordered tickets months ago for the 4 of us, 3rd and 5th rows!! It was to be the Wednesday night at 7pm. So we rush through dinner that day and was one of the first in line at the theater, only to be told that our tickets were for YESTERDAY. WHAT!!! It was true, looking at our tickets in hand, they were for Tuesday. I was completely devastated, even looking back now, how could I have made such a big mistake!! We were ushered to the side lines and told to wait for an hour and that there might be backrow seats. Long story short, we were able to see the show, but from the very back. The show was spectacular, we bought the CD. Lesson learned.

We also saw the Lion King - great costume and sets. On another day, we bought half price tickets to Rent, not that impressive at all, but we did get to see Tamara Gray who was in it (she was in season 1 of American Idol).

Timolyn got us tickets to see a live taping of Conan O'Brien. I was skeptical at first, but it was actually quite enjoyable, I would recommend it. The guy's a mad genuis of sorts I think. Valedictorian, Harvard Grad, Simpsons writer, etc. And the taping is actually at 5pm, not midnight. Stephen yell out that we were from Canada, to which the warm-up guy complimented him on his politeness in raising his hand first.

Dinning: Our first night there, we had a really weird Korean restaurant experience. I'm always use to really nice and friendly Korean people, but these guys were strange and rude. When asked if we suppose to wrap a certain item in the lettuce leaves, the waiter shook his head, laughed out loud and walked away. Too bad our friend Joe wasn't there. It was even a Lonely Planet recommendation. Other than that, we ate most at deli's and pizza places...the real New York experience. Waiters there don't seem to know that when you're still looking at the menu, it means you're NOT ready to order yet.

Another favorite of mine was vendors: 25cent bananas, roasted chestnuts...how convenient.

Grand Central Station food court is sooo good!

Shopping: What can I say, it was great!! And what a good time to shop with the Canadian dollar doing so well. I spend a whole day in Soho boutiques. I bought 2 very nice pieces at BCBG, the sales lady actually walked around the whole store to choose outfits for me. You would have loved it Melody. We managed to just be under the maximum amount you can claim without paying duty.

Sites: United Nations, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Grand Central Station, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art (I don't think I'm a museum person), World Trade Center site (not much to see), the New York Stock Exchange (there is no sun in the financial district because the buildings are so tall), the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square at night.

The Air: People in New York must die younger from all the second hand smoke and subway exhaust, and general smog. The only time we breathed fresh air was the hour we walked in Central Park.

New York City, worth seeing once in your life; but I'm glad I live in Canada.