Sorry it has taken us so long to finish our blog. Troy and I got home a week ago from last Saturday and life has not slowed down since, but going back to New York first. Troy wrote about the last couple of days and I'm going to try to decipher his writing and get them up!
8-27-10
We woke up at 6AM because a very loud group of people were talking right next to us. I had slept relatively well, but Natalie had not. We used the internet and blogged a bit. Then we boarded our plane. We had a five plus hour flight, but it was only two hours later because of the time difference. Our flight was uneventful and I watched "The Day the Earth Stood Still." We landed without incident and we were back in the U.S.
Customs at JFK were awesome! It didn't take more than five minutes but took 30 to get our bags. We went to the bathroom, each taking turns to freshen up. Then we checked with out airline if we could check our bags in early and the answer was a resounding "No." I asked how early we could check our bags in and they said two hours before departure. That meant 4AM. We left the terminal after calling Uncle Jim. He was already on the train into the city. We had to meet him in an hour so we set off to find the airport train. The train took us to terminal 4 where we checked our bags. Once there, we stood behind a guy with a bunch of bags to check. As he opened each one for the security check the items got more and more bizarre. In one suitcase he had a giant silver platter shoved between rags and other items. At some point you either need to get bigger bags or not take so much shit. We checked our bags for one day and the outrageous costs of New York began to pile up! $27 to store two bags. Natalie was upset about it. I told her to relax and get used to being gouged. So we got back on the airport train and took it to the Jamaica station to catch the E train to 53rd and 5th Avenue where we would walk to FAO Schwarz to meet Jim. Getting through the station was really easy. On the train we witnessed the most diverse group of people on the face of the earth. We got off the train and once outside we realized that unless the sun was directly overhead, it wasn't going to get too hot. We walked up 6th Ave to 54th and turned right passing Central Park and The Plaza Hotel. Then we saw FAO. Now the question was how to find Jim.
This turned out to be no problem considering everything we had gone through. We found Jim right in front of FAO waiting for us. We greeted each other with hug and handshakes. Then we walked through FAO Schwarz and went to the big piano. We then left the store to walk along 5th Avenue and all the shops. We went into St. Patrick's Cathedral for the second time this trip. The first being in Dublin. We walked past Abercrombie and Fitch, H&M and other major retailers who just had to have a shop on 5th Ave. Jim mentioned something about Bed Bugs running rampant in New York. I thought nothing of it. We then went to Rockefeller Center and saw the place where they make the ice rink in winter. We went through the rink and saw the NBC Studios signs. It was art deco style and very glamorous. Then we walked to Broadway and saw all the theaters in the "Theater District." We had a slice in a New York pizza place. Natalie got her slice and went to put parmesan on her pizza when the top came off, covering her slice in about a pound of cheese. I couldn't help but laugh. I used her pizza to put parmesan on my two slices. The pizza was good but the root beer was amazing! When Nat found out that I got root beer she was jealous because she forgot that we were back in America. So she drank some of mine. After pizza we went to Times Square which reminded me of Vegas with all the lights and flashing signs. It really is a unique place, but not much to do but say you went there. From there we hopped on a train to China Town. All the weird things we saw in China Town were making me hungry. From Chia Town we walked under the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge to the newly developed wharf and then to Wall Street where Mary works. We got the grand tour of Mary's office and saw a view of the East River from a board room that also overlooked the helicopter pad where Obama lands when he comes to visit New York. Mary finished her work and we walked past the stock exchange to go to dinner. We ate at an Irish pub that no longer had music. The food was okay. We hugged goodbye to JIm and Mary at Grand Central and walked down the street to our stop. We started talking bout what we would do with our leftovers and Nat suggested we give them to a homeless person. It didn't take long to find a one and I approached him and asked if he wanted some food. He said yes and we gave him the box. I was happy that he was happy and Nat was happy so I complimented her. As usual, she tried to give me all the credit, but I insisted that it was her idea. When we finally got back to terminal 4 we paid for our bags and took the train to terminal 7 where our flight was. It was then that a rude airport employee told us to go back to 4 to wait. We did and found a place where both Nat and I could sleep next to each other. I called my parents and she called hers. In 5 hours we will be checking into our flight.
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