Now you're in New York...

Once again, I've seriously procrastinated in blogging. Upon realizing I needed to start things up AGAIN, I was having a hard time thinking of things to blog about. Finally, I remembered something painfully obvious - my first visit to New York City. I know most people have been there before, but I was so thrilled to be able to visit, and I still am! So, starting after my two sisters and I got on a bus to New York City...

I was on the bus, sitting with my sister who had never been to New York City, either. We wanted to sit together on the way there so that we could experience the excitement of seeing New York City for the first time together (corny sounding, but fun). The bus ride had been somewhat interesting in the beginning, but the further we traveled, the less eye-catching the scenery became. Eventually, there was nothing to look at but the highway, small patches of barren ground and forest trees (the latter not as pretty as it sounds), so I decided to read a book so I could have something else to look at. Eventually, things became interesting again when we entered into a part of New Jersey (I think that's where it was; it could've been in New York state) where there were various factories for well-known stores and companies lining the right side of the highway. The one that stood out to me the most and got me excited was the Canon Service Center Factory, as I love and only use Canon cameras ;-) Unfortunately, that interesting area of factories was gone as quick as it came. Back to the same unchanging, indistinctive sights, I returned to my book. There came a point, though, when I became a bit tired of reading, so I put my book down...just at the right time. In a few minutes, I happened to turn my head and glance out the window opposite my side of the bus, and my heart jumped when I saw what appeared to be a distant, blue, and very small silhouette of the Chrysler building. I knew that's what it was; unless I was bored and hallucinating, or there was a little place in New Jersey that was trying to copy New York City, it couldn't have been anything else. I excitedly told my sister that I thought I just saw the Chrysler building. She paid careful attention to me, and then said, very slowly seriously, after a long pause, "...was the top of it shining?"...it took me a second to get what she meant, then I realized she was referring to my favorite line from the movie Annie ("I want this place to shine like the top of the Chrysler building!!"), and we both laughed. We both started to try and see if we could find the silhouettes of New York City again, and sure enough, we did, and were struck by the realization that it was actually a real place. I felt (and still feel) so silly to be so excited because a city I'd heard so much about was real, but it was, truly, a wonderful feeling. Closer and closer, the buildings were no longer distant and blue, but clear, grand and big. As soon as we got caught up in what felt like never-ending traffic on the highway, just outside the city, I knew for sure that we were in New York.

Our bus drove into the city, and even though it was a double-decker bus, I couldn't see anywhere near the tops of the buildings. We had arrived. We got off around a place called Penn Station, and made our (very long) way to Times Square through narrow, busy sidewalks full of old stores, street vendors trying to sell bubbles, and the loudest car honking I've ever heard in my life. It was awkward and at times a bit scary, but I couldn't help but laugh and embrace the chaos as I made my way through. We stopped and had some delightful, genuine New York pizza at a family-owned place called Abitino's, then we arrived in the depths of Times Square, which, very weirdly, didn't feel as big as I imagined it, but was definitely more fun! There's so much to look at; video screens with commercials and ads vying for your attention every which way, theaters showing famous broadway musicals, and countless other things I can't even remember.

We stopped in Hard Rock Cafe where we got to see suits that the Beatles once wore and an awesome wall made of guitars, then on our way to Rockefeller Center, we stopped and watched a wonderful Scottish parade filled with people in plaid and the sounds of bagpipes, then we finally arrived at one of my favorite things of the day, the GE Building, otherwise known as the NBC Studios, or 30 Rock! (heard of the NBC show of the same name? That's the building ;-) We went inside to the NBC store where they sell all sorts of merchandise related to NBC shows, and other shows NBC occasionally airs. We were all amused looking at the T-shirts, mugs, bobbleheads and other things that promoted our favorite NBC shows, and there were countless things I would have LOVED to buy; however, I was there to buy one specific thing that is scarcely available in the US, and strangely, doesn't have anything to do with NBC that I know of. I was told that they sold three Doctor Who shirts (in a nutshell, Doctor Who is a British sci-fi show, my all-time favorite show, and the best show in the world, period), and I was SO excited to get one, as I've never come across any Doctor Who-related merchandise before. So, I left the NBC store very happy (still on the lookout for Tina Fey, of course), watched everyone ice skating out front, and was exceedingly happy.

Nearing the end of the day, my sisters and I went walking around, visited the store Anthropologie, made our way to sit on a bench at the edge of Central Park and rest, then got a quick dinner/dessert at Starbucks. We knew it was time to make our way back to the bus, so we began our final walking journey. Unexpectedly, we walked by the Empire State building on the way there, which was quite wonderful and exciting! I snapped my last few pictures of the day, then we finally boarded the bus and started our way home.

I didn't expect it, but leaving felt somewhat sad. As we were driving further and further away from the city, I was beginning to see more and more of it; we were even able to see the statue of liberty off in the distance, which, to my surprise, looked smaller than I ever thought! I already missed New York City. When I got in my bed that night and fell asleep, I even started dreaming that I was *still* walking through New York with my sisters, and then I woke when my legs started "walking" uncontrollably in my sleep ;-) I still miss the city, and I hope I can go visit again. It was such a delightful, fabulous day, and I'm so glad I could experience it with my sisters!

Oh, and of course, I have pictures from the adventure on Flickr! ;-)