A bigger town called New York City

On Friday, after we woke up, Ryan and I had our free breakfast down at the hotel buffet. It was REALLY good! We could make our own waffles, have French toast and eggs, but sadly we would only make it that one morning (getting up at 11am is a big deal, especially when you're still on west coast time). We headed out into the city to do some shopping! I had planned to get Ryan a watch, but had been unable to make up my mind, which turned out to be a good thing since I would totally have picked the wrong thing.

Our hotel was in a great location so we could just walk over to 5th where the shopping was located! We moseyed down the street until we popped into a location where Ryan could browse watches of interest! He finally fell in love with one of them! I was pretty happy! I also spotted a great watch, but unfortunately it turned out to be over 6,000 dollars! The woman told me I could get on a payment plan. I wonder if that includes some kind of 5K discount?! We walked over to FAO Schwartz the store where Tom Hanks dances on the keyboard on the ground and plays music. I'm pretty sure it's not the same one though, it seemed smaller. Ryan and I have this massive Patrick the Pup (6 feet long) from there. But we found many other variants of them here.

There was the Patrick the Pup (and Penelope of course) beanbag.

The Patrick the Pup rocking horse!!!

Remember Raggedy Anne and Raggedy Andy?!?

Smooches!

Two kids playing with the trains

Ryan with his toy-sized sports car

A little New York City and a big kid :)

When we walked outside we found ourselves in the big plaza where the people had waited for the Apple iPhone to come out! We didn't get a chance to go inside, but we recognized the big square glass with the apple sign hanging in it. I decided it was an ideal situation to grab a chair and re-enact that guy sitting there all sweaty and gross after a week in the hot humidity without a shower! I borrowed a chair and sat down, and as soon as Ryan snapped a picture, a security guard was there to tell me I could not take the chair from the plaza area. It actually worked out quite conveniently since he then took it from me and put it back up on the plaza, so I didn't have to do it myself! No lugging in that weather is fine with me !:)

We then had plans to meet up with GlennChris, the Columbia student who had paid us a visit in the winter. He is currently working down on the Columbia main campus with Harmen Bussemaker. We weren't hungry but thought it would be great to go meet him. In our cab ride over there was a GPS screen that mapped our route! Crazy right?!

I had a bit of something to eat at a Mediterranean restaurant, before we headed into the Columbia campus to look around. It's small (everything is compared to Stanford, and UCSD as well), but quite pretty. It has a great courtyard and these gorgeous old buildings. I have to say the charm on the east coast really lies in that they have this great old style of architecture. But it's also sort of crummy in that way, since it's pretty old inside as well sometimes!

GlennChris told us about the various places, showed us his lab, as well as the gym! It turns out he cannot use the main campus gym as a medical school student, but we still got to take a short tour. We had to leave behind "something valuable" to guarantee we would not work out. We weren't quite sure how that would stop anything, but he left his ID anyways. We did play around a little with the basketball we found, so hopefully they won't be too upset!

Columbia courtyard (under construction).

Ryan is definitely not used to the heat here!

The bookstore is run by Barnes and Noble!

The whole place was interesting. It is built above ground, but below the courtyard (which is built above ground level). So it is the equivalent of having a courtyard on the 4th floor, and all floors below it are a gym. The track is indoors and built on a balcony, it's quite an interesting concept. With a gym area below (where I attempted to throw a basket and failed terribly). There is also a pool another floor down, and yet another floor below with aerobics studios! It's pretty crazy!

They also were holding summer camps, just like at Stanford and Brown (where I hear them all day)! The schools bring in money by hosting high school students over summer. It makes sense since parents love to send their kids to high-profile schools, probably in hopes it will improve their chances of getting in. UCSD and Pepperdine both host Nike Tennis Camps. I guess that's what is done at less high-profile schools!

In any case, these students were sitting in a racquetball court watching television (see above)! I'm not sure if this is what the parents intended when they spent whatever amount of money on an Ivy League summer program! The students at Brown seem to be doing better, since they at least are in a computer lab for a portion of the day, but I did hear the girls come out to talk about shopping and coloring their hair for the afternoon activity (there is a pretty popular mall in Providence that my cousin used to drive to)!

After touring Columbia, we headed back to the hotel room where I got to work on my midterm. I had been up pretty late the night before (until 4 am) waiting to get my midterm and take it, but it turned out it was not being emailed to me, but it was actually posted online. I of course did not notice this until my instructor emailed me that it had been up since 8pm Eastern time)! Ryan had the document printed for me and then I took the exam. I even wrote it using the pen from the hotel! Then we had the hotel fax it to Ryan's e-fax at home, which was then emailed to him, and then forwarded to me, so I could send it to my TA! What an ordeal!!!

After my midterm we went to dinner at Sparks for Ryan's birthday! This is a steakhouse famous for its food and having a mobster shot dead int he doorway! It was quite an experience. Really old inside, with very serious waiters who really knew their stuff. Ryan's parents had ordered him a delicious wine, and two desserts! It was a really great dinner! We both enjoyed it.

I decided since we were at a steakhouse in New York city it would be a sin to order seafood, so I actually ate *gasp* some beef, and Ryan ordered a Filet mignon, which was the size of the largest steak I've ever seen! I'm serious! I think it was over a pound! To top it all off Ryan ordered lobster tail and shrimp, on top of the side orders of baked potato and creamed spinach! It was truly an insane amount of food!

I have adopted a new tactic as well to avoid eating too much, which is putting half of my food on someone else's plate, usually Ryan. So in the end he had this overwhelming amount of food in front of him, which no one could possibly eat. Even so, with both of us totally stuffed, we managed to demolish most of the dessert! Ryan had planned for us to go to the top of the Peninsula hotel after and have a drink, but we were both so full and exhausted, that we just headed home and went to sleep instead!!!!

It was a truly lovely dinner!! Doesn't the dessert look so good?!?!?

Can you believe we demolished that, too!??!

The next day we woke up just before noon, and met GlennChris on 5th to go to the park. We had lunch with his friend Leon at a cute little place called Mangia. I'm pretty sure I have seen it on Sex and the City. You get your food like at a cafeteria then sit down and eat it. It had a fish tank that GlennChris said must be saltwater since the fish are so colorful! I think he tasted the water while I wasn't looking! The food was good, but way too much, so I brought what I had left to Jennie, another Columbia student I had met during interviews, over at Central Park.

Ryan being silly and acting the part of host with Leon

Initially we had a Sarah moment where GlennChris thought he had seen Jennie, and I with my bad eyesight had no clue. So I called her name twice, the second time she turned around, and I eagerly waved at her. It turned out it wasn't Jennie at all, and GlennChris claims I had simply shouted so loud that everyone turned around! We found Jennie, and we also met her sister, Cheryl, and began wandering through the park.

GlennChris had said I would be able to give Jennie the food, and that if I did not offer she would eventually ask. I just gave it to her instead, but it was funny because she ate it while we were climbing on the rocks (see picture right)! The entire I time I was afraid of falling, and she was hopping around and eating! She was telling me about her cloning-woes and how she had recently spilled Ethidium Bromide on her hand. Her first week at Columbia she had touched some virus that causes cancer. She's pretty funny with how she is prone to accidents in the lab!

Cheryl and Ryan waiting for me to climb the rocks!!

Ryan showing off his climbing skills!

We walked through what seemed like a lot of the park, but it turned out we barely scratched the surface. The park is pretty varied. There are a few bodies of water (like above) with these amazing views, and there is also this super forested region that is in the center with hills. When you are walking through it there are way fewer people and you can't tell you're in the city at all! It's completely sheltered from the sounds of the city, but also devoid of people, which I find strange, since this does seem like the only way to get away. GlennChris tells me people just love the city, so I guess those people who don't feel that way probably do not come to the park to get away.

There are these fields of grass that are completely covered in people, you can't seem to walk an inch without stepping onto someone. Jennie and I both find it exceedingly strange! Not only that, but there were areas that were not covered in people that way, I am convinced people go there to be discovered! There are also tons of spots for getting popcorn, pretzels, and refreshments!

It was super hot so I felt like a Popsicle (I really wanted Pinkberry since I know they have the notoriously Rat-infested ones in New York City). I opted for a Spongebob one (which just looked scary) and I eventually dripped on my white jeans!! GlennChris suggested I ask Jennie and Cheryl if they had a Tide stick, which I guess I proceeded to shout out. Some woman passing by told me she had one, and started showing me how to use it (since I had no clue). I wanted Ryan to take a picture, since this was some random woman using a tide stick on my thigh, but I think at this point she realized both GlennChris and I thought it was a little strange and allowed me to use it myself.

Ultimately she told me it wasn't working and she was shocked, since that was never the case. Which made me terribly happy about eating it! We walked around some more, through sites that I had seen in movies!It was very exciting! I can see the appeal of Central Park, but I still could not live in this city. I'm not sure if it's the heat and humidity, the smells, or the dirtiness around me, but I feel pretty disgusting after some time there. The park makes me feel a bit better, but I still would feel the need to get away!

I'm pretty sure I've seen this bridge in almost every movie, and there are always musicians in those shots too!

A carnival with the pretty view in the back!

We finally got out of the park and had discussed going to the Met, but Ryan and I were a bit tired by then. We walked by it, but at this point I was so excited about Pinkberry, everyone gave in and we walked over! YAY! Pinkberry in NYC! It was tiny (even tinier than the others). And again it felt dirty, but I scarfed it down! We then walked down to the hotel.

We headed back to our hotel which was about 30 blocks away! Jennie was talking about the cupcake place the whole time. She's pretty funny! A little eating machine! She's so tiny but she can definitely pack it in!!! I guess with all that walking I understand! Ryan managed to get us upgraded to a nice room near the top! It had a pretty nice view from some angles, but mostly it was much bigger!

We spent some time there relaxing before heading down to Little Italy for dinner where we met with Cindy (another girl from the visits who went to Columbia). We had some great italian at a restaurant that had a cockroach crawling in and out of a vent. Which was strange since we had just see a really massive on on the subway earlier! I had also had some mystery liquid drip on my in the subway! GROSS!

GlennChris and Ryan making "rainbow eyes" on the subway...a good way to get my mind off of the 10 pound cockroach!

After dinner we were all super full, but craved ice cream. I looked on in envy as Cindy had some delicious chocolate Gelato in a cone from a place she had specifically pointed out before dinner. They even had chocolate dipped cones! I was dying but so full I couldn't have it! I was so hungry at dinner from all that walking I just ate everything in sight and left no room for the dessert!!

We headed over to Bleecker street, which is (I guess) in the East Village. We stopped by an ATM (since as I had been warned by my mom and aunt that many places in New York City are cash only) and saw a statue of Mayor Laguardia. None of us had an idea he was a mayor, let alone a person. The statue of him is pretty funny, and we independently confirmed that he was pretty tubby, and that he must have been a fun guy since he was okay with having this statue erected!

We went to a little bar that was down in a pseudo basement (you can see we are below the ground level in the picture at the right) with tiled ceilings. It was famous for having many beers on tap. Ryan, GlennChris and Cheryl enjoyed the beers, while Cindy and I opted for non-beer beverages, and Jennie opted out of alcohol all together. We sat around acting goofy until it got pretty late (bars close at 4 am which GlennChris had guaranteed would be the time we leave to get food...but alas that did not happen)!

While we were standing outside there was a really drunk guy who was having trouble walking. I couldn't quite figure out if he was joking our really so drunk, so I was watching him. I guess they are not kidding when they say you should not make eye contact with New Yorkers, because he came up to my face and yelled at me "What are you looking at you ***"!

I of course started laughing, but another guy and his girlfriend came up and were very concerned (they were natives too)!! The guy continued down the street, and as the good Samaritans pointed out, he ended up getting punched in the face further down. They assumed he had said something similar to the wrong guy, or his girlfriend!!! Pretty crazy!!!!!!!

Imitating crow's feet and GlennChris's old facial hairstyle.

Ryan introduces the Mohawk.

Ryan and I headed back in a cab and slept in nicely the next morning and just took it easy. We had lunch, headed over to the Met briefly, then went to dinner at the Waldorf Astoria, right down the street. After dinner I was on a mission for chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone! We walked down to where we thought Rockefeller center was, but couldn't find it. Ryan pointed out the Empire State Building which was about 15 blocks down the street we were on, so we decided to walk there.

It was pretty fun! It started to rain a little, but it was so hot and humid that we welcomed it! We happened by an ice cream place and got double chocolate chunk ice cream on a home made waffle cone (I think the cone actually beat Cindy's)! Ryan and I ate every last bit of it, and waited in line at the Empire State. I have to admit that elevator is really scary! It shakes a bit and goes about 5 floors/second, and everyone sits silently.

At the 80th floor the windows were covered, and they were definitely re-doing parts of the building (although we think the windows were covered to stop people from taking pictures before). We walked up the 6 flights to the 86th floor (picture above), and went outside. The temperature was lovely. It wasn't cold, so we didn't need jackets, and it was drizzlin ever so slightly. The view was amazing at night, we could see all the lights! It was quite pretty!

After we rode down we walked back to the hotel and sat in the bar for a half an hour before going to sleep. Like all good things, our vacation also had to come to an end. We rode the subway down to the Penn train station and ate at the stage deli. After that Ryan took me to the train and I was pretty sad to go! Even though it's only 10 days I really miss him!

View from above!

Ryan at the Empire State Building

Me at the Empire State Building

Ryan looking out our window.

One last glance!

I took a cab back to the Bowen house (I could not brave that big hill in the other direction, especially because I was in a rush to catch Ryan before he got on his plane-since I cannot text from the phone). I relaxed in my room a bit then decided sitting downstairs would cheer me up. I saw Peter and Reese and Marcelo (who was telling everyone to take me out to "cheer this girl up"). We talked about what to order for our big poker night. Now it's super late and I'm blogging in our living room and watching the Golden Girls on TV until Ryan gets off of his plane! Goodnight!!!!