New York City Day Three

I woke up early around 8:00am to catch the live coverage of the marathon on tv.  I slept pretty good considering my incident the night before.  I saw some snaps of my friend in full marathon gear and it seemed everything was going according to schedule.  I was surprised to know that the men’s kickoff was around 10am.  That was pretty late to me!  Oh well.  Once the race went off I decided to go down the street to Leo’s Bagels and get myself a bagel with lox and cream cheese.  I can’t believe I waited so long to get one.

I ordered online to save some time but everything seemed unorganized.  There was a line out the door.  I waited in the meantime because it wasn’t too long.  What a mistake!  The line moved so slowly.  I figured I had nowhere to go anyways since my friend just started the race.  He had told me earlier that he expected to finish no more than 4 hours.  I calculated my time in meeting him at Central Park around 2pm.

I finally got my bagel and coffee and ran back to my hotel room to pack my things.  I checked out on time and left my luggage there.  I decided to walk around some more to kill time.  I ended up in Tribeca and went towards the Oculus Station when I decided to walk through Soho again.  I had downloaded the marathon app and looked up my friend’s time.  To my amazement---he had already crossed the finish line!  Oh my goodness!  I can’t believe he had finished so soon!

I jumped in the metro and headed towards Central Park.  He had warned me that you needed tickets to be around the finish line area, and since I didn’t have any, we decided to meet back at his hotel if we didn’t see each other.  I was upset with myself that I had not come down sooner.  It was exciting watching the runners make the last stretch.  The area was filled with bands playing music and people cheering everyone on!  I was inspired by their spirit.

Eventually I got back on the metro and headed back to my friend’s hotel in Times Square.  Sure enough, he was back in his room.  We talked about the race and he explained that he had ran much earlier than 10am.  He did great too!  3:12:57!  According to him that was the best time he’s ever done!  I was so proud of him.

His roommate who also ran the race eventually met us in the hotel.  I was amazed that the two of them came so far away to do this marathon.  He was excited as well.  In the end my friend grew hungry and I helped him get up since he was now cramping.  We walked over to the same restaurant we ate last night.  I ordered a plate full of meatballs and it was delish.  We ended the night with me walking him back to his room.  I had to take off to catch my flight.  I was pretty sure he was going to pass out soon.  As for me, the nerves kicked in when I was making my way to the airport.  I decided to take the metro line but opted not to wait on the bus service.  I ordered an uber instead and the traffic heading towards the airport was jammed packed.  Luckily I didn’t have to go very far.  I was also relieved my flight was smooth on my way to Chicago.  I was tired when I got in.  We landed around 11:30pm and I still had to take the train back home.  What a trip!

New York City Day Two

I had the scare of my life at my hotel room.  Someone knocked on my door at 3am!  I must have jumped out of my bed.  I asked “Who is it?” and heard a mumble at the door, but then I yelled back “Ummm.  I think YOU got the WRONG ROOM!”  I heard another mumble and then complete silence.  By the time I got the nerve to check the peep hole, he was gone.  Talk about a New York moment!  I was scared shitless!

In the morning I slept in later than I wanted to, mostly because of the door incident.  I didn’t realize that my friend had already messaged me that he was waiting for me by Battery Island.  I jumped in the shower and got ready as fast as I could.  Apparently he was waiting for me at a Starbucks, but I ended up at the wrong one.  I felt bad because I knew he had been waiting for a while.  I jumped in an Uber to save time heading to the other Starbucks.  Luckily it was the right one and we went over to the ticket booth to purchase our ferry tickets.  It was set to sail in 15 minutes!  Whew!

I grabbed some coffee and we found a spot outside on the boat.  Obviously I was getting anxious again.  I had to sit down when it took off, but I did manage some courage to get up once in a while to take some pictures once the Statue of Liberty was closer.  My friend was at the end of the boat snapping pictures himself.

We docked and then walked over but found out the hard way that we couldn’t get to the Statue.  We had to purchase tickets online and it was sold out.  So much for that.  At that point we took some pictures surrounding Lady Liberty and went back on the boat to head to Ellis Island. 

Ellis Island was very informative!  We spent hours there, learning about how the United States came about.  They also included where most of the migrants settled in the U.S.  We even watched a short movie about the conditions the boats were in for traveling to the New World.  It put a lot of things into perspective for me, especially since my family came from Guatemala.  

Afterwards, we headed back to the boat and discussed what to do next.  By this time, it was 2pm and we were getting hungry.  We decided on Italian food and a fellow passenger suggested we head to the Upper East side.  I yelped a couple of restaurants, but we decided to check again once we arrived in the neighborhood to get a better idea on where to go.

We settled on Via Della Pace restaurant and luckily there weren’t too many people inside.  We were taken care of right away.  My friend enjoyed his pasta and mine was absolutely delish!  I ate the whole bowl!  We knew we weren’t too far from Soho and my friend needed to purchase some headphones for the marathon.  We found the Apple store and while he spoke to a sales rep, I had the opportunity to charge my phone.  I was having the worst luck with my phone the whole time I was there.  I needed to charge it constantly.  I hardly used the data!  Sometimes taking photos drained my phone.  It was becoming a nuisance.  The sales rep suggested for me to purchase a new battery, but I figured I would do this when I got back to Chicago.

My friend decided on some earphones, but he still needed a sweatband for his forehead for the race.  We found a Nike store and looked around.  I didn’t realize how many people were at Soho!  There were so many tourists shopping around.  My friend was surprised I wasn’t shopping myself, but I wanted to make sure he got what he needed for the marathon.

We headed back to his hotel in Times Square to rest up for a bit.  His roommate was there and he was getting his things together for the marathon.  Unfortunately, it was Daylight Savings weekend, and the time was going to change at 2am.  They had to get up at 4am to get ready and have a marathon breakfast buffet the hotel was hosting.  Then their charter bus was going to head out at 6am to Staten Island. 

My friend got his things ready for the marathon as well.  He then grew hungry again (since we had the pasta early afternoon).  He knew he had to sleep early tonight, so we headed to Mamma Mia pizzeria down the street from his hotel.  We ordered a margaritha pizza to share and then called it a night.  I went back to my hotel but since I wasn’t doing the race myself, I took time to walk into some souvenir shops along the way.  I also got a chance to pass by Radio City Music Hall.  Their Christmas Tree was already up!

New York City Day One (part 2)

I figured I could knock out some sight-seeing since I’ve never been in the Financial District before.  I wanted to find the infamous “Charging Bull’, but instead went down a street and found the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall.  It was then when I realized more and more people were coming out of nowhere.  Since it was after 12pm, I started to feel frustrated about my hotel room.  My friend was messaging me on when we could meet up, but I told him the situation I was facing.  I kept on sight-seeing.

I eventually found the Charging Bull and the Fearless Girl statues.  At this point my phone was acting up again.  Since I took some pictures I needed to charge it up again.  I walked back to my hotel, hoping my room would be ready, but again, no luck.  I sat in the lobby charging my phone and then went for a walk again to kill some more time.  I found a Century 21 and did some window shopping but I was getting delirious.  It was now 2pm and my room was still not ready.  My friend was getting impatient, and so was I.  I finally got some relief when the hotel told me over the phone that they had my room ready!  I ran over there as fast as I could!

Once I checked in, I showered up.  I was getting a migraine, and decided to lay down for 15 minutes until the Advil kicked in.  Then I jumped back up and got dressed.  It was now after 3pm and I haven’t started my day!  I told my friend I was on my way to meet him in Times Square and off I went.

By now, New York had a ton of tourists.  It was nearing rush hour and I was getting worried I would have to fight off the crowd to get to where my friend was located.  Unfortunately, his hotel was in Times Square.  Luckily I found the right hotel (apparently there are two of the same chain in Times Square) and we decided to get a bite to eat.  By now I was STARVING.  I knew we weren’t too far from the Moxy Hotel.  A friend had recommended the Magic Hour rooftop, and since the weather was cooperating, we decided to take a chance and check it out.  Since it was barely 5pm, there was a small crowd inside, and we ordered some drinks and appetizers to start our night.  I was still pretty sleepy, but the music was getting me in a good mood.  Once we finished up, my friend confessed to me that he really wanted to go to a jazz club in New York.  I started googling some spots and we chose the Birdland Theater.

We were in luck because a show was about to begin!  Lol  What are the odds?  We went downstairs and they sat us close to the stage.  A very entertaining singer came out and blew our minds away.  She did impersonations as well.  Everyone in the room had a great time.  She was also very funny.

Luckily my friend grew tired from his jet lag the day before.  Me on the other hand?  I was EXHAUSTED!!  I made my way back to my hotel.  We decided to meet up in the morning but I was glad we cut our night short.

New York City Day One (part 1)

As I mentioned earlier, I booked a trip to New York City to see my French friend run the marathon.  It was a last minute thing, but I’m glad I went in the end.  I was pretty nervous about it, too.  The last time I was in New York was 10 years ago.  I remember how tough this city could be.  I also remembered how I would get lost riding the NYC transit.  I was getting stressed out.

Along with Halloween Day being on an unexpected day itself, I really had one day to look over my carry on.  My flight was early in the morning on Friday.  Of course I had thoughts of over sleeping, but it was mostly because leading up to that day, I WASN’T getting much sleep.  My friend made me feel better when he called me Thursday night.  He had arrived from France a day earlier.  For the first time in two weeks, I got a excited about this trip.

I had scheduled an uber pick up around 3:45am-4:10am.  My flight was at 5:57am.  Not exactly 6am, but enough to make you question what time they were boarding.  I wanted to miss the rush hour morning commute so I figured if I arrive at the airport before 5am, I should be fine.  My alarm went off and everything happened so fast after that.  I do not think I ever went into a deep sleep.  I got up and washed up and then changed into my clothes.  I was hoping to sleep on the flight.

My uber showed up right on time.  They even send you a reminder, just in case.  I remember being in the uber and praying that there would be no traffic heading to the airport.  I just wanted this part to be over.

Luckily at the airport, I got through security in no time.  I remembered looking at the other passengers at our terminal.  Some of them looked excited for their trip.  I wished I could feel that way, I thought to myself.

Part of the contribution to my nerves was the weather.  I checked leading up to my trip, and it never changed.  Thunderstorms were in the forecast the entire day.  I grew angry when the pilot warned us early on.  “Well the first half of our flight should be smooth; but the second half won’t be.”  What the hell???  I wish pilots could have a sense of empathy for the ones who are scared shitless of flying!

Well, as it was predicted, the turbulence WAS BAD.  I decided to brave through this and not take anything because it was a short flight.  But I never got any sleep.  It was a long 30-40 minutes of pure hell but in the end, we landed safely.  My body was exhausted from being tensed up.

I loved that I had my carry-on luggage with me.  Once we landed I zoomed out of there.  I didn’t realize how many people were at LaGuardia!  It was a bit frustrating trying to navigate towards the exit.  I was stuck trying to figure out what “bus” line I was supposed to take that will lead me to the subway station at Roosevelt.  A nice gentleman pointed out to me that I was to get a ticket inside the airport before I get on the bus.  I saw the customer service counter with the line forming and got behind someone.  Once I figured out that I was to purchase a metro card I ran outside to see if I could catch my bus.  Not yet!  I still had to obtain some receipt.  Again, someone helped me figure that part out.  I had to insert my metro card in a machine to obtain my receipt.  Luckily the bus was still waiting.  I jumped on and tried to give the driver the receipt but she just told me to “go ahead” and move towards the back.  So much for that.

I arrived at the Roosevelt subway station and checked my Google maps to see where I was going.  So far so good.  I caught my train and felt relieved I was on my way.  Of course once I got off my stop I was lost.  I walked around for a bit and found a Starbucks.  I needed to charge my phone so I went inside and ordered a latte while I waited for my phone to charge.  

Believe it or not, the weather in New York was unseasonably warm.  It neared 70 degrees that day!  I had on layers since it was much colder in Chicago, but by now, I was sweating and getting frustrated I couldn’t find my hotel.  I jumped in a cab.  He drove me up to my hotel (which was a surprise to me).  I finally found it!  What a relief!

Well, not exactly.  Apparently, my room was not ready.  I was thrown off.  I wanted to shower and nap for a bit.  Since I did not have a room yet, they agreed to hold my luggage and encouraged me to come back later.  “So, in about two hours?”, I asked.  “We sold out completely last night.  Hopefully.”  That did not sound promising.