One time, when I was in New York. . .

So I made it back from a four day weekend in New York City all in one piece. I went with three other gi rls from my ward. We left our kids and husbands at home so we could have a fun gi rls getaway. And Boy, was it fun!

We left on Friday morning and got to New York around noon. We took a taxi (because we are wussys) from the airport to Manhattan. You can tell how inexperienced a travelers I am because when I was in the taxi, I kept thinking, "Wow, I am in a NYC taxi!" That was excitement in itself. Our hotel was right in the middle of Timesquare- the Marriott Marquis- and boy was it nice! We stayed on the 35 floor, and it had a great view of New York City. So the first day, we walked around Timesquare, visiting a couple of the shops and eating dinner. It was cold! We were pretty bundled up, and we looked forward to getting into any store, even just for a moment to get warm again. We went back to our hotel to rest of a bit (we were with two pregnant ladies) and then we got ready to go to our Broadway show. We saw Wicked and it was incredible. Its the story behind wizard of oz- the story was okay, but it was mostly the singing and the set that impressed the heck out of me.

The next day we went to SOHO, which is the known for its shopping, and we went to a bunch of different stores. We went by way of Subway, which people had warned us before was stinky and an unfun way to travel, but I didn't think so- it was fun and easy. We got off the subway in China town, which was probably the scariest section of New York that I saw. There were tons of street vendors that came right up in your personal space to try to get you to buy their stuff. One of my friends wanted to buy some fake purses- apparently china town is the place to buy imitation everything! Its illegal to sell the fake purses, so when we found someone selling the fake purses, we had to follow him several blocks onto an off the beat road and into a scary building. Most of my friends are pretty well traveled so they weren't so concerned that we were following a stranger, who hardly spoke English, into a building that had a bolt on the door. I made it half way up the first flight of stairs, when I just got too scared to keep going. One of my friends agreed to wait with my on the street while the other two gi rls kept going up the stairs. The building was about 15 stories high, and my friends said they went almost to the top (these were the two pregnant gir ls!) So I waited outside, planning on what I was going to do if they didn't come down- I was imagining them being boxed up and shipped to some foreign land where they would be sold into a harem or something. But they came out with their fake purses all in one piece. I didn't do any shopping in SOHO, so I was the one waiting in the dressing room, to tell all my friends if I liked what they were trying on or not. That's always tricky-I don't like it! One of my friends just has such a different style than me.

After SOHO, we were going to go to the Met, but we stopped at our hotel to drop off our bags, and decided to rest (again, two pregnant ladies) and we got stuck there-enjoying the warm room! We made a quick trip to the New York Library (a beautiful building) and Grand Central Station. We decided to go to the Met the next day, and to try to get into another Broadway play that night. We stood in a line, where you could buy tickets half priced for that day. So we went to Beauty and the Beast. It was okay- I probably would have said it was incredible if I hadn't seen wicked the day before. Wicked made Beauty and the Beast look like a college play, but it was still good on its own.

The next day we went to the Met. It was cool, but I don't know much about art history, so I was done a bit earlier than the other two. The Met is on the upper east side, and the neighborhood was beautiful! Its what I imagined New York living to be like- like You've Got Mail. I really enjoyed that part of town and we ate at a really yummy cafe. We walked through Central park which was also very beautiful. If I lived in New York, that's where I would live (if I was a millionaire, that is!) That night we went to the top (top meaning to the observatory) floor of the Empire State Building. It was a beautiful view and just incredible to see that many buildings!!

ON our last day, we went downtown to see the statue of liberty. This was definitely the most spiritual part of the trip. As we approached the statue on our ferry, history hit me. It was amazing that I was watching it in real life (see what a cheesy tourist I am). Afterwards, we stopped at ground zero- there is a little fence that is a memorial- with pictures, the time line of Sept 11, and the name of those who died. It was hard to be there in person, to see all around us, where the buildings are so obviously missing.

We made a quick visit to Little Italy on our way back to the hotel so we could get something to eat. Little Italy was quiet festive, but we didn't have much time to look around. We had to hurry to get back to our hotel and leave. We wanted to take an earlier flight so that we could get home at a decent time and . . .We were so tired of being out in the cold!

We had a great time, not only seeing New York City, but also being with the gir ls. We all learned a lot about each other, and we even discovered that one of the gir ls was pregnant- she was trying to hide it but everything she did was suspicious- going pee three times a night, eating saltines in the morning! So we finally got her to confess! All three of the gir ls have done so much more traveling than me. They were always starting stories- Once, when I was in London. . . Once when I was in Cambodia. . . Once, when I was in Argentina. . .And basically all I could say was, once when I was in Pasc0. . .But now, I can start all my stories. . Once, when I was in New York. . .!!!