NYC Day 4 (Part I) Chinatown & Little Italy

Garret, Matthew, and Alissa woke early to try to nab tickets to SNL but were thwarted by subway construction and detours. So we were forced to turn back home.

After getting our beauty sleep in we took the metro to Canal Street and walked the streets of Chinatown. Some of the highlights were the knockoff markets, the streets packed full of Chinese shops, the old Chinese men playing traditional Chinese instruments and checkers in peaceful Columbus Park. The park that wasn’t always so serine though, it was once one of the most dangerous in the USA and portrayed in the film Gangs of New York.

Matthew and Alissa challenged Rick, Barb, and Garret to some real Chinese food. So for lunch we found a tiny, rundown restaurant in Chinatown with the front window full of dishes ready to serve and packed full of old Chinese men. There were no deep fried items here folks just strange sea food, unrecognizable meats, and prepared Chinese vegetables. Rick and Garret left half their plates but Barb actually finished hers!!! Way to go Mom!

We went for old aged oolong tea at Nah Wah Tea Parlour, it hasn’t changed much since it opened a long, long time ago.

After tea we toured the Buddhist temple and read all of our fortunes- Alissa had the best outlook out of all of us…

Wonder if bad luck is genetic!

We walked from Chinatown to Little Italy. The smell of pasta and cheese filled the air and we unanimously decided to stop for a bottle of Italian wine and drink it in the sun under the umbrella. An old tinted Buick in pristine condition slowly rolled down the street with classical music blaring from inside… it felt like we were in a scene from The Godfather.

NYC Day 3 (Part III) Times Square at Dusk

NYC Day 3 (Part II)- Dead Bodies, Naked Bodies & Deep Fried Pickles

Garret was on a mission to find the famous Wall Street Charging Bull Statue, we found it. It didn’t take Matt long to strike another ridiculous pose.

After finding the bull we decided to go down to the South Street Seaport to catch an exhibition of real dead bodies titled “Bodies”. Garret and Matthew brushed up on their anatomy on the cadavers in poses shooting a basketball, throwing a foot ball, and so on. Our favourite was the circulatory system of blood vessels with everything else removed… very cool.

We got out of the bodies exhibit and realized that we didn’t have much time before the free line at MoMa opened (every Friday at 4:00PM). We had our first taste of New York Street Food by the Seaport then caught the subway to the Modern Museum of Art vowing to come back and spend more time on the South Street Seaport later in our trip.

The free line at MoMa almost wrapped around the whole building but surprisingly at 4:00PM they let everyone inside. When we got in we understood why- this was an very big gallery.

The art gallery is amazing there is definitely something for everyone. We saw Picassos, Renorirs, Whorhals, Gauguins, one of the most beautiful Cezannes we have ever seen, even the famous Stary Night by Monet. The exhibition of William Kentridge titled Five Themes, whom none of us have ever hear of, had awesome charcoal stop motion movies that touched on difficult themes. The Tim Burton exhibition was very cool and displayed costumes, prototypes, and story boards from all of his famous films.

There was much buzz around town about Marina Abramovic’s exhibition: the Artist is Present. Rightly so. Behind the veil of seemingly lewd displays of self-mutilation and uncensored nudity, her exhibition is a shimmer of brilliant light and clarity that pushes the viewer into the present moment only to transcend the experience of viewing art from the outside by jolting them into the present, to be apart of it. In her pieces Abramovic delves deep into the human psyche like a Zen monk in unwavering mediation. The longest performance piece attempted by Abramovic was taking place live. Those in the audience were allowed to sit on a chair across from Abramovic and quietly stare at her (click on this link to go live to the performance during daily museum hours).

The ability to be apart of her art rather than just observe it was especially apparent in the piece where a naked woman and man stood facing each other and you had to squeeze between them. Inevitably forced to choose to face either the naked man or woman and incidentally rubbing up against them. Or the piece where a naked woman is suspended from the wall on the seat of a bicycle and is trying to hold her hands up in the air for as long as possible. Her eyes search the room focusing on those viewing, trying to absorb the energy from the audience members, making eye contact with those who silently transmit their energy to her cause.

Hands down the most brilliant work we’ve ever seen. Period.

After the exhibition we went to Manhattan’s top rated brewpub, Heartland Brewery for beer and appys. The beer was good but not as interesting as the deep fired pickles!

NYC Day 3 (Part I)- The Financial District

We woke early and did the free Staten Island Ferry thing and saw the mini statue of Liberty (the Ghostbusters movie sure made it seem bigger than it really is!).

After Going to Staten Island (and almost losing Alissa) and then back we cruised around FiDi. It was a mighty powerful feeling being dwarfed by massive skyscrapers all round. To us this is one of the quintessential feelings of being in a big city- we love this feeling.

We passed the New York Stock Exchange and walked down Wall Street. Matt goofed around next to the George Washington statue in front of the Federal Hall National Memorial. After peaking inside at some very historical pieces we made our way to the very out of place, Trinity Church.

NYC Day 2 - All Over the Map

Today we were all over the frickin’ map.

First we tried to get some tickets to David Letterman, but we were turned away after being put on a list for the next few days. Barb went home to man the phones for a call to the show that never came. Garret toured us around Union Square. We picked up a coffee nearby and drank it under the Lincon statue.

Garret decided he wanted to catch the Phily vs. New Jersey game so we went to Times Square to hunt some tickets down. We ended up finding some at Macy’s of all places. The banter by the three old black ladies behind the counter was priceless. According to Garret they would be only out done by the crude chants of hockey fans later that evening. “Suck My Balls” and “Kovol-choke” were some of the most memorable at the game.

Alissa, Matthew, and Barb went for a stroll in Greenwich before deciding on a place for dinner. With a mix bag of locals young and old we decided to take our chances with the Greenwich Village Bistro. The bar stools were all occupied by happy drunks, there was a senior in a wheel chair playing checkers in the middle of the place, and a mother and her toddler in the far corner. As soon as we sat down a man pushed a piano though the front door and immediately began playing. An old drunk lady whisked Barb out of her seat on to the dance floor. We decided to escape the action a bit and go out onto the patio afterall it was a beautiful evening and it looked right onto the action on Father Demo Square.

The food wasn’t the greatest. Matt had the marinated tofu in orange vinaigrette and greens, Alissa the mussels and fries, and Barb the mesculin with goat cheese truffle salad. Matt’s was the best of the three. The beer menu was much better than the food though.

After dinner we headed to the famous historical Village Vanguard to take in some serious jazz. The place was exactly how you’d picture a old jazz club. The music put us into a trance. Wonderful second day!

NYC: Our First Day in the Big Apple

We are experienced travelers. Within just minutes of landing in LaGuardia Airport we had 2 week transit passes and were busin’ it to the subway line. The bus traveled down streets lined with identical conjoined brick houses with every second house or so adorning the stars and stripes mounted above the front door. We jumped off the bus and on the E line to Rick & Barbs pad at Chelsea.

The family toured us around on ‘Rick’s Rapid tour of Greenwich Village’- a brisk walking of the hood. It was exciting but not nearly as exciting as the paparazzi scrum, the Times Square bomb attempt, Broadway musicals, live jazz shows, a robbery at knife point, and theft of high end goods that we would soon experience in NYC!

Chillin' At The Falls In Goldstream Provincial Park

After hiking the path along the stream for a while we got to the falls. It isn't a large waterfall but the pool of water it dumps into and the surrounding area are peaceful. We took our time absorbing such beauty sitting on rocks and logs lodged up on the shore. The mist from the falls made the air around us seem so fresh and pure.

The path we took back to the car took us through old growth rainforest and along a marsh- a staging ground for the orchorstra of croaking frogs celebrating spring.

The next day Rhea and Ryan headed back to Regina- we had a great time with them and felt closer as a family in the end.

Days later, looking back at the time we spent together one question still remained in our heads...

Why does Rhea have such constitutionally weak ankles???

Hiking Goldstream Provincial Park

The last big outing with the family was to Goldstream Provincial Park just 20 minutes outside Victoria. We followed the running water up the trial. The sound of trickling water throughout the hike set the tranquil mood. We all wondered what this site would look and feel like during the annual salmon run- bald eagles feasting on the helpless salmon, tourists creating even more of a frenzy?