The big N Y C {last part}

I really hate when I say stuff like ”I will finish this post tomorrow” and then BOOM, two weeks later and guess what? Still no post. It’s not really that I am lazy….but it’s mostly that. And I do do a lot of things…but mostly, just lazy. I apologize for that. New York, finale. Haha. This last post will be short and I am going to speak mostly (wow, do I overuse this word or what?) about the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Yellow Cabs and the Yellow Cabs drivers, the people and the 5th avenue and some people I met while in New York. And OF COURSE, my favorite place ever. (suspense music) So if none of those things interest you, go to the search box or the tags and look up some other post! Or email me suggesting something! :) No prob! Here it goes: First. Yellow cabs and drivers. Why would I choose to talk about the cabs? Because since I was a kid, I wanted to ride in one. Simple as that. You know how it goes: you are in a hurry, you need a cab, you whistle. THERE. Just like that, 23424524 taxis show up right in front of you. And it’s awesome. It might not seem or sound like such a big deal, but you gotta admit, it is very impressive. Besides, when I write about my Greece trip, and compare NYC to Mykonos, you’ll understand me. Anyways. The drivers. Not a single American cab driver, at least I didn’t get to see any. They’re all foreigners with a really strong accent and sometimes they’re not all that happy. Scratch that, they might be happy but they’re quite moody. And I do not say that as a bad thing. I am moody myself. I tend to get along and have fun with those kind of people, because the end up making clever little remarks and comments. So, all I had to say about the Yellow Cab Co. was that. That’s all. Ride one. Be happy. Second. 5th Ave. Why not? It’s amazing. If you like shopping OR just walk around to see the city, watch people, window shop…I like the first option, of course. Haha. Little known fact about moi: I do not like to match my socks. I actually cannot stand to do so. Why am i telling you this? WELL, because there is this ADORABLE store at the 5th ave. called LittleMissMatched. The name says it all, right? But yeah. Things like that is what makes me happy. Look at it this way: there are all sorts of weird people in the World and NYC knows a LOT of them. :) Haha. These are mine :) yay!

Anyways. There are tons of amazing stores, and for everyone, not only for those who had 234525 dollars to spend. I didn’t. But there are cool places, nice little shops, fun people…

The MET.   If you like museus, this is obviously and definitely a must-go. I was so amazed by it all, the place, the expositions, everything. Very clean, organized, complete. I went sort of crazy. I love the part with all the statues, and those old rooms (ya know!?) haha. So, I will just post some pics of it, but my advice is GO. GO GO GO. If you have the chance. If not, I’ll leave a sneak peak :)

Here are their hours and prices:

Hours

Tuesday–Thursday: 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.* Friday and Saturday: 9:30 a.m.–9:00 p.m.* Sunday: 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.*Closed Monday (except Met Holiday Mondays), Thanksgiving Day, December 25, and January 1

Admission

Fee includes same-day admission to the Main Building and The Cloisters museum and gardens. There is no extra charge for entrance to special exhibitions.

Recommended
Adults	$25
Seniors (65 and older)	$17
Students	$12*
Members (Join Now)	Free
Children under 12 (accompanied by an adult)	Free

See, for lazy people like me, I took the time to COPY and PASTE it. haha.

It is very worth the visit.

(The pictures will be in the end of my post with all the other or else I can’t format this post right, ugh!)

Quick little story TIME!

My mom went for a walk by herself and I decided to do the same. I was carrying a doggy bag with a slice of pizza I couldn’t finish and I was going to give it to some homeless person. I then saw this cute jewelry  store and went inside. I bought a couple things and on my way out, this guy who looked like Johnny Depp asked for my number. We then proceeded to text all day long and we’re friends till this day :) which I find very exciting because he is from Nepal and has a lot of cool things to share with me :)

Other group of people I met was in front of the Rockefeller Center. They were a group of adorable boys (well, I am human…) playing the guitar and singing. I fell in love for a few moments, and took all my BrazilianNESS and sat next to them to take a picture. haha. Oh, me.

And, the best part. My two favorite spots in the city. First, Strand bookstore. It’s an old bookstore on Broadway street. Their slogan is ”18 MILES OF BOOKS” and being the bookworm that I am, I was very anxious to go check it out. I first saw the name STRAND when I was walking around Central Park, where they have a small kiosk with amazing classic books for a very good price. Then I asked the guy who was selling the books where the actual store was. I immediately went to the place. Very excited and craving new books. The place is quite old, but AGAIN, I mean this in the best of ways since I enjoy ”old stuff”. It’s a nice place, very comfortable and full of BOOKS. The smell of books mesmerized me. You know, that smell? But yeah. Then I looked around. My mom said I looked like a kid at a toy store. I felt like I was, too. They have all books you can possible imagine! It was like…some sort of heaven. At least for me.

Then I got a basket and….went crazy. I think I got 15+ books. All kinds of books, too: poems, mafia boos, romances, thrillers…And as if that wasn’t enough, I also got this tote bag, my favorite bag btw, and a few other souveniers. Then, to my surprise, they told me they SHIPPED TO BRAZIL!!!! YAAAAY! Amazing. I then chose a few books to bring with me and shipped a few others. One month later, I got them all and it was a magnificent moment, I must say.

I sooo wish we had Strand in Brasil :( Oh well. A girl can dream.

NEXT.

The Blue Note Jazz Club. I really enjoy listening to Jazz, so when my Uncle suggested we went there, I quickly called to make a table reservation. I was with my mommmmy and her friend :)
The club is very Jazz-y. Kind of dark, a bit chilly, but you feel great when you’re inside it. The atmosphere is very pleasant. They also have a good menu with a lot of options to choose from. I got chicken wings because, well, I love chicken? And something to drink but I can’t remember what…I am not 21 but I think I ordered something with alcohol, not quite sure haha.
Our table was for 4 people so the waiter asked if a lady could sit with us. She was considerably older than my mom and her friend, and she seemed to be a jazz lover, and more than that, she liked the woman who was playing that night. So it was very enjoyable talking to her. She told us how she used to go there with her husband, who had recently passed away, and it was heart breaking–although awesome, at the same time. We spent all night chatting and laughing, enjoying the amazing music, piano, sax, everything. It was a perfect evening and for those who love jazz, if you haven’t yet heard of the place, go to the website, youtube it, etc. I intend on going back there as soon as possible.

So, to end this post about one of the most amazing cities in the World, some videos and photos :)

I miss you, NY :)

 CLICKKKKKKK

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I ♥ NY

And who doesn’t? Seriously!
I mean, even people who has never been to the place, loves it somehow. Even if it’s just because of F•R•I•E•N•D•S, or some other fun sitcom.

The thing is…once you get there, you’re completely mesmerized. Now, whenever one of my new yorker friends is all bragging about how he is awesome for living there, I don’t even argue anymore. Because, you know…I’d brag too, if I lived in the big NYC. (And mark my words: I will live there one day.)

I think that it’s time to talk about the Times Square.  A lot of the people I know from NY don’t get why I’m so in love with it. Mostly because you know, when you live at a certain place, you end up not paying attention to all the touristic stuff. It’s just background, just normal everyday places. But it doesn’t mean it’s not amazing.

When you first step foot  there, you get this feeling…it’s like no other. All those lights, all those people…it fills your heart with some sort of feeling I have not yet been able to describe.
It’s silly, I know. But I think I might be a little bit like a child, who gets excited with lights and colorful things…

It’s not just that. There are a lot of cool stores, restaurantes, theaters, movie theaters….so on and so on.

AND advertising. As an Advertising major, I can tell you, that is paradise. All explendid ads, too.

Anyways, enough with the geeky advertising talk.
I believe that what made me so hypnotized was probably the crowd. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves so much! Whether they were shopping or just hanging out with family/friends, they were happy. Again, why wouldn’t they be? When you’re there, you feel so small but not in a bad way. It’s a bit like when you’re looking at an extremely starry sky. Or the ocean. You feel tiny tiny tiny. And it’s not bad because that only means that you are a part of a huge thing. And that makes us feel comfortable.

I can’t just talk about the Times Square but I swear to {insert god here} I would love to.
So please, bear with me while I vent about all the amazing things I saw there, and then I’ll make a new post about the rest of the other amazing things in the Big Apple.

While my mom and I were walking, we saw this crowd gathering in a circle to watch some sort of street performance. It was a group of very strong guys who were basically jumping around and entertaining everyone. It sounds simple but it was actually a lot of fun. I am talking about this specially because of what happened. They were picking people from the crowd to use in their …performance? And I guess they couldn’t do that, because a cop came by and told them to stop. I guess it was because the guy was jumping over people. haha. The cool thing, though, was that the cop was so nice. He, very politely, asked them to finish their show and move on. It was a nice gesture, and if you know any countries where the cops can get a bit extreme, you will understand what I mean.

Well, I am going to post some videos of Times Square (I was there twice but my videos are all kind of all together so I don’t know which was which…) but first this cool website I found where you can watch webcams of the Times Square:

TIMES SQUARE WEBCAM

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!

silly haha

and i cried HAHAHA

sideways

He proposed!!!!!!!

the cool cops NYC (((VIDEO)))

NYC

Well, the days that followed we were just typical tourists. We shopped at the 5th Ave. Went to the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center etc.

The Empire State Building is, indeed, pretty cool. You can get one of those audio tour thingy while you walk around the building…I got one and even though I don’t normally, I ended up enjoying the stories and comments–that are narrated by this guy with a strong italian accent.
You pay $23 bucks to go up, and once you’re at the top, you have an amazing view of New York…everything is tiny but so beautiful. The yellow cabs, the people running to get to work, the tourists, the families having picnics at the parks…

And the Rockefeller Center is just as nice. You can also go to the top and you’ll have a view that is just as pretty. You pay $25 to go up to the top, but the cool thing is that besides the cool view of NYC, like you can get at the Empire State, at the Rockefeller you can get the view+see the Empire State and this really nice view of the Central Park. And there is no high ”fences” like the ones in the ESB. Instead, the ”walls” are made of glass and you can see everything. A bit scary, too. haha.

Rockerfeller Center USA Flags

I don’t mind doing all the touristic stuff, some of them end up being really fun. I did not go to the Statue of Liberty though, I’m not quite sure why, I just didn’t feel like it. But I saw it. That’s good enough for me. Haha. Next visit, maybe.

And,  a video to end this second post.

Worth listening to, Frank Sinatra ;)

Anyways, more of the Big Apple laterrrr.

New York, New York!

So the winner was…..New York!

And I’m secretly happy about it because NY was amazing. I mean, duuuh, it IS New York, what else would you expect?

I went to NYC because my mom was going to present a paper at this…well, thing for her job. Anyways. I went with her and her other speech therapist friend. :)

This was JUNE 2011

Going to New York with my mom was actually a big dream of ours. We are very close and we enjoy traveling together, but NY was the one place I dreamed of going and a place she already knew and loved. When the opportunity came for her to go present this paper, she thought it’d be an amazing idea to take me, with her.

It was.

We also went to Pennsylvania afterwards, but that’s another story :)

When we got to the Big Apple, I was in awe. I thought everything was so beautiful, and so much more awesome than in the movies. haha.
We stayed at this really pleasant and comfortable hotel  on the corner  the 45th and Madison: The Roosevelt Hotel.

We have a cousin in NY, he’s Brazilian, but has been leaving there for over 15 years now. My mom had stayed over his house a couple times in the city before, but I didn’t even know the guy till this trip.
So the first thing we did was (after chilling at the hotel, long trip. jet lag…) go out for some chicken wings and beers at a local bar our cousin Claudinho knew.
It was basically a college people kinda bar and legally I’m not even supposed to drink there, but he knew the waitress so, ya know! haha

Our first night was a success, we talked, got to catch up, laughed, ate great food..then me and my mom went back to the hotel.

I was on the internet looking up fun new things to do in NY and I saw ”Lady Gaga on Good Morning America @Central Park”. I actually do like her. I like her voice, my mom likes her voice. It’s not a matter of taste, here, so just shh :)

It was really early in the morning though, so we had to get some rest. I texted a whole bunch of people to try to get tickets, no luck. We woke up early and went anyways. Besides, it was summer, hot, beautiful out and we wanted to enjoy every second of our days.

My first time at the Central Park was very good. I could picture myself sitting under a tree, reading a book etc. It’s such a nice place.
I am NOT a morning person at ALL but I was happy (how could I not?)

So we started to see the crowd and figured it was probably because of the Good Morning America thing with GAGA.
We followed the crowd and yeap, that was it. People who didn’t have a ticket could watch from another side of the stage, a big screen kinda thing….It was great though.

Then after the concert we went to get some breakfast. Having lived in the US for a couple of years, I am a big fan of egg muffins, bacon, coffee and toast. And that was exactly was we got.

OKAY. I AM SORRY but I gotta continue this tomorrow. I had the longest day, I’m falling asleep on the keyboard and that’s not fair with any of you :) haha

(If anyone even reads this, anyways)

SO, more about the magical NEW YORK,

TOMORROW.