Ah, yes, the most memorable event of this summer was my trip to New York City!
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The two people I have to thank are Cynthia and Donald Murphy who were so kind to invite me over to their home and show me around the city. I had never been to New York before, and I had never been on the East Coast of the US, so as you can imagine I was super excited just at the thought that I was going to fly over there!
It all started one sunny morning on July 13 in Sofia. To make the day more 'significant', July 13 had to be a Friday. If I were superstitious I would probably refuse to get on the plane, but I wasn't even thinking about that... The only thing lurking in my mind was the fact that I was on my way to NYC and that life was perfect at that moment. I was flying with the Czech airlines, so we made a stop at Prague for one hour before heading over the ocean. I love flying, so I didn't have any issues with the long flight time or the occasional turbulence; the only source of minor annoyance was the very talkative old Bulgarian lady sitting next to me. She made sure that I didn't have a lot of time 'alone with my thoughts' by constantly telling me her life story, how poor she was, why she's flying over to the States, how the Bulgarian government is horrible, and so on, and so on. That set aside, I had a lovely trip and, although I had managed to refrain from freaking out (in a good way) from all the pre-NY adrenaline that was running through my veins during the flight, I could not contain the final burst of emotion that came over me once I saw a glimpse of New York City as we approached JFK airport... My eyes were glistening and I had a big grin on my face.
Minutes later, we landed. Going through customs and passport control was quick and easy. I hadn't been to the US in 8 years. I was shocked and amused at the same time when I saw how many precautions the US government had taken before admitting foreigners into the country... Fingerprints, mug shots (haha, almost), extra security - I felt like I was a convict or something.
I guess I didn't look suspicious, so my trip through passport control was quick and painless. I walked out into the visitors' area where Cynthia greeted me. I was so happy to see her again! A few moments later, we were off to Manhattan.
The drive was fairly long, but it gave us a good chance of catching up. As we kept getting closer to Manhattan, my excitement grew even more... and then I saw the skyscrapers! Wow, they were impressive, even from a distance. Of course I had seen many movies set in New York so I had an idea of where I was going, yet the actual sight of those super tall structures was absolutely amazing!
Cynthia and Don's apartment was located on a street right between Fifth Avenue and Madison Ave., and across 5th Ave. there was the beautiful Central Park. Everything was incredible! When I walked into the apartment, I was not surprised that it was gorgeous - Cynthia has a great taste for classy interiors! I had my own cozy room with a soft bed and a bathroom. I loved it! Of course I wasn't going to unpack right away... However, I did need a shower after the long flight. Once that was done, Cynthia and I went for a walk in Central Park.
The park was beautiful. It was clean and everything was green! The weather was also perfect, sunny and warm... We saw Balto's statue (that was a special moment for me because I had seen the animated movie about Balto a million times and now I finally saw him for real), Belvedere Castle (which had a gorgeous view and a little Turtle pond in front of it), Bethesda Terrace, the Lake, the Pond, the Boat House restaurant (where we would have dinner one of the following evenings), and various sports fields and foresty areas.
We came back home and prepared to go out for dinner. I had already taken a few steps on 5th Ave. when we walked to the park, but it was not until dinner that I got a more thorough tour of the avenue. As you can imagine, I loved that too! There were people everywhere and it was noisy, yet so alive! We made our first stop at Rockefeller center. This was where we had dinner, at the Sea Grill restaurant. After dinner, we did something which reminded me of going up the Eiffel tower in Paris: we climbed up to the top of one of the buildings on Rockefeller Plaza and had a breathtaking view of nighttime New York. The entire city was lit up; we saw all the famous sights from up high. We were lucky to have gone up to the Top of the Rock (as that view-point was called) on such a clear night. After the elevated sightseeing, we walked back home in the cool evening and went to sleep. I didn't feel very jet-lagged, but how could I when I was in a new, super exciting place?! ... I closed my eyes and went into my first deep NY sleep...
The next day, Cynthia, Donald, and I went on a tour of Lower Manhattan. Don was our tour guide who knew everything about everything around us. We walked down Wall Street, walked on Broadway, saw the World Financial Center and Ground Zero, and naturally went to Battery Park as all true tourists would do. We saw Lady Liberty from a distance and skipped the whole boat ride to the island because it was packed with people who waited in line for the boat. I didn't want to go up close to the statue anyway - I had seen that way too many times in movies and photos. We also went down to the Fulton fish market and the Lower Manhattan Piers where we had lunch in a place called Pier 17 - tasty seafood with a lovely view of the famous Brooklyn Bridge. After walking some more, Cynthia and I got tired because we weren't wearing the best shoes for long walks. We all headed home after lunch for a short rest and to prepare for another special evening.
The agenda for the night was dinner at an Italian restaurant and then a show on Broadway - the Lion King! Dinner was amazing, as was the dessert :) When we finished our meals at A Voce, we went to Times Square where we looked for the Minskoff Theater. There it was, among all other shiny lights and billboards, a huge advertisement of the Lion King. I had wanted to see that show for so long, but I never did that in London... so now, I was thrilled that I was going to watch the show on Broadway in the company of two wonderful friends! The musical was awe-inspiring: everything, from costumes to backgrounds, was done to perfection! Even for someone who doesn't like the actual story about Simba and his friends, it would be worth going just to see the astonishing costumes and to feel the lively atmosphere in the theater. I was overcome with joy! When the show was over, we walked out on a really crowded Times Square. It was beautiful, though, with all the lights and colors and banners and signs glimmering in the night. We took a cab home and went to bed, putting yet another unforgettable day behind us.
Sunday was our 'Central Park Day'. We all went for a power walk in the park in the morning, had a quick lunch at a local restaurant, after which Don had to leave the state on a business trip. Cynthia and I were left alone for the rest of the day and the following day. I wanted to visit a museum, so we decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art - which also happens to be in Central Park. The Met was quite large and it took us a while to walk through part of it. We saw art from different ages and of different cultures - and our walk was a bit random since every time we tried to find a certain wing of the museum, we looked at the map, followed the directions on it, and got completely lost. We did see American, Greek, Roman, Pacific, Asian, and Modern Art, some furniture design, some installations, as well as some special exhibitions. Our cultural experience was long and exhausting, but worth it. We went back home to change, then headed back to (can you guess?) Central Park! What awaited us was a more Italian experience: a gondola ride in one of the park's lakes.
Andreas, our gondolier, took us on a short tour of the lake, during which he told us more about the surrounding area and sang Italian classic songs too! We saw the Dakota building where John Lennon lived and was shot, learned that the statue at Bethesda Terrace was one of the first public statues made by a woman, and observed some birds and turtles in the lake. After the gondola ride, we had dinner in the restaurant overlooking the lake - the Boat House. This was our girls' night out and we definitely enjoyed it!
Monday was the official tour guide day. Cynthia had arranged for a tour with a real guide for a change. The guide's name was Dick Swarn, and he was a happy and highly communicative man. He was in love with NY, especially Manhattan. We started the tour on 5th Ave., and walked around for hours, covering major points of interest such as: the NY Library, Grand Central Terminal, Brooklyn Bridge (we walked along the bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan - that was beautiful), Chinatown, Little Italy, Soho and more. The walk was definitely long, yet rewarding. We had dinner at a French restaurant in Soho afterwards and had another lovely evening.
The next morning was short - the day was divided into New York during the first half and driving to Vermont during the second half of the day. In the morning, I did a bit of shopping at a bookstore near the apartment... Coming back to the apartment was significant only in that I was alone, walking down Park Avenue, feeling like a true New Yorker - haha, only I'm not a true New Yorker. Yet at that moment, during the 10 minutes I walked for, I knew that NYC felt right. I can easily picture myself living there at some point in time :) Mom wasn't too happy when I told her that... oh well... I saw New York and I fell in love with it instantly and completely!
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Coming up... A peaceful paradise - Vermont.
London Adventures
One of many skyscrapers.
Times Square during the day.
Cynthia and I in front of the Minskoff theater.
Crowded Times Square at night.
Cynthia, Don, and I
Empire State Building and Night-time New York
A single NYCab
Wall Street
Cynthia and I
The gondola ride in Central Park
