New York, New York

We had an amazing time in New York. We were lucky enough to stay with a very gracious friend who lives in SOHO, and a bunch of mine and Evelyn's friends from Toronto came up for the week as well. Our first day, we walked around lower Manhattan being taken to all the best snack shops in town by our friend. It was delicious! I had a gourmet cupcake, hamburger, some Belgium-style pomme frites, a beef tongue taco, and cinnamon cheesecake pie. In the evening, we went to a Michelin-rated Japanes noodle house, which was also excellent.




The second day we walked through Central Park and ended at the Guggenheim. From the outside, I wasn't actually that impressed with the architecture. But once I started touring the gallery, it was really neat to go up six stories without any stairs and see snippets of the rest of the gallery displays through the open concept spiral. The featured artist was Kandinsky, which was excellent. He is known for colourful, abstract modern art.



In the evening, we went to see a musical called "In the Heights", which I really liked, and I am not a musical person. It was about Central American immigrants trying to get by in an upper Manhattan neighbourhood. After, we walked around times square and the Rockefeller Centre, and saw the giant Christmas tree from Home Alone 2.

The third day we went to the Museum of Natural History in the morning. I loved it, and could have spent the whole day there. We saw a lot of stuffed animals, some minerals, and a cloth made of gold spider silk that took 80 people five years to weave. I also learned about the peoples of Siberia. In the afternoon we went to the MOMA, where we saw Monet's waterlilies and an exhibit on Tim Burton. The permanent gallery was also interesting, but unfortunately I was too tired to appreciate it by the time we got to it. That evening was one of our friends birthday's so after a delicious dinner, we had a late night out on the town.




The last day, after getting up late, we went to the Bronx Zoo. It was a lot of fun too, but by the time we got there it we didn't have much time to see animals. That evening, I went to a long lost cousin's for dinner. It was fun finding out about him and his family. I also learned alot about my extended family, as he loves researching family history, and has tons of old photos and a family tree which he showed me.



On Friday, December 11th, we flew back to cold, cold Toronto in the morning. I can't say I actually want to be back, but its all right :-). I had a great trip, so shouldn't complain. Now, I have to find a place to live in Ottawa before moving there next year for work. The vacation was fun while it lasted. Thanks for reading!