Our Experience In New York

"Start spreading the news..I'm leaving today..I want to be apart of it..New York, New York..These vagabond shoes are longing for stray...Right through the very heart of it...New York, New York...I want to wake up in a city that doesn't sleep...and find that I'm king of the hill...top of the heap...These little town blues are melting away...I'll make a brand new start of it in good 'ol New York...If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere...It's up to you New York, New York." -Frank

Well, we did it.  We did it ALL.  I am completely shocked that we actually did everything we wanted to do while in New York.  In fact, we did way more than we planned on doing and every night we came home we both just took off our shoes and crippled around our apartment in pain until we went to bed and did walked the same way that next morning.  Our feet killed each night after painting the town.

So here is where we start.  This is where our apartment was.  You see, we wanted to get the feel that we lived in the city during our stay, so we opted out of the hotel experience and rented some guys apartment in the heart of the Greenwich Village.  

The green arrow is where the apartment was

It was an old pre-war walk up building and we were on the fifth floor.  Yup that is five floors to walk up each night after already beat from pounding the pavement of the city.

And the hallways in the building (and the stairwells) were tiny!

We had to lug all our luggage up five flights of stairs when we first got there and it sucked.

Here is what we saw out the window of our lovely apartment

Brittany sitting on the incredibly charming steps of a classic row home in Greenwich Village

Streets of SOHO, which was my favorite neighborhood of them ALL!

The streets of SOHO are made of these full-of-character bricks that over time have warn deep holes in the roads that add to the character of the neighborhood.

Brittany in SOHO

Rockefeller Center in Mid-town

Ice rink at Rockefeller Plaza, the blue light fountain is exactly where the famous x-mas tree is

Incredible artwork is all over the Rockefeller Center, it resembles the progressiveness the nation was experiencing during the time the center was designed and built

Me standing next to the actual model that was used to present the design to the Rockefellers

Oh and hugs are free in the plaza if you dare get close to these creepy scientologist protesters

Brittany at "Top of the Rock" looking North, Central Park can be seen in background

Check out these condos that over look Central Park! Stunning.

Looking South toward lower Manhattan and Empire State Building

This is the cutest kid we saw while waiting for the subway at Rockefeller Center. He's adorable.

Brittany standing out front of Grand Central Station with my favorite building behind  

Aghhhh "I lika"

Grand Central with Metlife (formally PanAm building) It straddles Park Ave

Inside the impressive grand hall of Grand Central

Here we sit at the center of the universe "Times Square"

Before leaving San Diego, we won tickets to The Late Show with David Letterman

In line to enter the theater to see the show

We saw Ellen Pompeo, Jay Z and Mary J. Blige.  I snapped this pic of Mary leaving the Ed Sullivan theater after the show.

Streets of Mid-Town

Brittany giving this old lady some change.  Brittany is such a sweet person eh?

Modern urbanism of Mid-Town

A bridal photo shoot in Mid-Town

CHINA TOWN

Wedding in China Town

China Town streetscape

Brooklyn Bridge close up

Check out how the wooden planks for the pedestrian walk were all cut uneven.

Awesome huh?

Ground ZERO

Temporary memorial wall of the events of 911

Plans for the reconstruction of the WTC complex with the reflecting pools of the two towers

Construction of the WTC site

Funky colors on the floor of the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art)

Dinner at the fancy french restaurant "Pastis" many stars (including us haha) often are spotted at this restaurant in the hip meatpacking district

"So that's what it looks like under the streets of Manhattan!"

Lion King! An amazing show with excellent dramatic costumes.

The view from the theater was incredible.

As the sun was setting I snapped this shot of a water tower on one of the islands in the river

We had an amazing time in New York

And happy to be back in San Diego!

If interested, you can see all the pics taken on our trip at our .mac gallery

click here

Overall my impression of New York is amazing.  I love it.  Being in the city, I kept thinking of an analogy of how to explain the city and I found the perfect one:  

New York is like sports turf and let me explain.  Sports turf is a type of astro turf that is part fake grass and part real grass.  Real grass is planted in the ground before the fake astro turf is laid down, over time the real grass grows up through the astro turf to make it sports turf.

New York City is like Sports Turf in that new modern ways of transportation, and architecture is growing up through the old Industrial Revolution style buildings.

Even the grid is like sports turf: The tip of Manhattan is the oldest part, therefore the streets are very narrow.  Streets have names (i.e. Canal Street, Spring Street, Nassua Street) and are not connected to an overall grid.  As you move north up the island the city adopts a grid with Broadway bisecting the grid on an angle throughout the whole island.

Fantastic, nothing more needs to be said.