New York City, Day 2: and I will walk 500 miles..

Today I was well rested and Rachael and I decided we were going to spend this day separately. I started off walking to Grand Central Station to admire it's beauty and architecture and to catch the subway to the East Village. Unfortunately for me as an early riser there was nothing open except a few cafes, but that was ok for me. The beautiful stores were barred up and the weather was dreary but there was not a soul on the streets - a very rare sight I would assume. I decided to sit at a little cafe and watch the neighborhood come to life, before heading to the Staten Island Ferry.

(Scenes of the East Village in the morning)

The Ferry was a wonderful experience. I saw the lady of the harbor in all her glory (and behind many heads of tourists) and even got chilly from the cold Atlantic breeze. It was fun to people watch as well... an array of multi-ethnic families all behaving differently. Parents and children, lovers, friends. I sometimes wonder if NYC realizes how lucky it is to have such diversity.


I stopped off in Greenwich Village, walking past the NYU campus and stopping in The Strand (a supposed 18 miles of books, five stories tall). I kept to the first floor, browsing the section about New York City history. I went away with a book on the history of the Subway Transit and a book about the Yankee Stadium for my father. On my way to Union Square to head back to Uptown, I barely missed getting poured on again. Beat ya this time weather!

(Mini cupcakes from Baked by Melissa!)

I tried my first meal from a street vendor - a falafal salad (which was much more unhealthy than it sounds...). I then strolled up to Central Park. It is breathtakingly beautiful this time of year... a gorgeous vast park with hills, trees, with a cityscape backdrop like distant mountains. I began to understand the draw of this city a bit more. People put up with their tiny overpriced apartments because with a slide of your metro card you're minutes away from parks, beaches, entertainment, and any sort of food you're in the mood for. This day in Central Park there were numerous baseball games, Frisbee tournaments, lovers napping in the shade almost completely hidden from all the others.

I went back to get ready for a concert my friend Ben, who's been living in the city for almost a year, invited me to. The Donnas, Pat Benatar, and Blondie would play at Brighton Park for free! I took the Q train to Coney Island and the park was completely packed with people young and old, people sporting full out 80s attire, and families picnicking. The Donnas played only a short set, making sure to get their hit in. Pat Benetar blew us away... she still had that gruff voice of hers. So awesome! We listened to Blondie but after standing for hours, Ben and I decided to head out before the crowd dispersed. It was so surreal waiting at the station watching the lights of the Coney Island amusement park as Blondie echoed through the trees.

We decided we were not ready to end the night and went to Planet Rose, a karaoke place in the Village. The place was tiny and thin and packed with people. In the back were Zebra print couches and leopard print carpet. I had promised that I would sing Pat Benatar if Ben did as well, so we signed up and to our amusement an amazing singer wearing Ben's same hat had signed up for his SAME song earlier. Awkward! Ben got up there and just over-performed and people were much more entertained. I was in my 'own little world' when singing my song, high-kicking and cracking people up. Can you guess the song I chose? LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD (the song that seems to follow me around on my vacations). Everyone was happy and carefree, the bartender even bought me a shot of Old Crow, which I can now say is only decent IN mixed drinks, not as a shot, yuck.
Ben and I separated ways on the subway. Fun times...

VIDEOS:
Ben and I singing on the way back to the subway after Karaoke

and just for the hell of it...