new york, new york {part 2}

in case you missed part 1 you can find it {HERE}.  i added an extra special pic on there for you.

so wednesday.  we should have left for home that afternoon.  we knew we couldn't leave so we slept.  slept in and then finally decided not to waste the day {even though it would cost more money to do something}.  riding the shuttle, the airtran, the train & the subway all adds up.  but i am so glad we adventured.  it was unbelievably worth it.

we rode from new jersey to new york.  it was warmer than monday, that was nice.  we started at ny penn station {of course} and had made up our mind to walk 30 blocks up to central park & see what there was to see.  i don't know what part of town we were in as we strolled, we saw so many things.  we went to a ribbon store.  it was awesome and filled {literally filled} with card catalogs.  i couldn't believe it.  i wanted them desperately to ask me if i wanted to just take one since i was visiting.  big ones, little ones, utter perfection. 

then, speaking of card catalogs, we found the manhattan library {i think that's what it said} so we thought..it must be "awesome inside, let's go!"  not awesome.  it looked just like a kentucky public library.  boo.  once we stepped out of the burning inferno that was the lib, what do my wandering eyes spy?  why, it is the new york public library directly across the street in all her glory. 

the place is absolutely breathtaking.  marble everywhere.  intricate, detailed, massive.  it was so incredible.  all i kept thinking was, what if someone had their wedding reception here?  it was gorgeous.  even the ceiling was amazing, rich wood perfectly carved or covered in a gigantic mural. 

and what could make this better? it is the last day of their exhibit 'three faiths'.  it was a collection of all their art, artifacts, books, etc. that related to islam, judaism & christianity.  there were old bibles, scrolls, etchings and so much information about each of the three monotheistic religions. it was overwhelming. 

 

{this is a scroll of esther}
it was a bit dark within the exhibit to take very many shots but believe me...it was amazing 

the history of it all...gosh.  we literally could have walked around for hours upon hours in that place.  we decided that we needed to keep moving {instead of study every fact} if we had any hope of getting to central park before dark, which we all know from home alone II is necessary or bad things can happen to you.  before we left we wandered into a scriptorium where they were teaching people the art of penning scripture.  we were too late to join in but it was so neat to see.  we scooted through the rest of the enormous building taking non-flash pictures and scoping the place out.  someone told me that's where ghostbuster's was filmed.  treat!

so like i said...movin' it so we can get to the park.  both of our phones are dead and we are in a giant city, alone.  we don't even know the time.  who's got a watch anymore?  we stop into best buy to recharge.  julie's cousin had given her a heads up that sometimes, on the day of, broadway shows will have a lottery for tickets that you can get for greatly discounted prices.  we had no idea how it worked, so once our phones we charged {just enough} we gave the gershwin theatre a call to see what the skinny was.  they said, you must be here by 6 to participate in the wicked lottery and that tickets would be $26.50, and i think that's all the info we had.  we were thrilled!  that's so cheap.  it was uhh..about 5:38 and the theatre was about 10 blocks away.  we walked as fast as our little legs could carry us.  we tried to keep up with a really tall man to keep his pace. we made it and there were people everywhere.  so much for our little underground secret. 

everyone is waiting outside so we wait outside too. then i see two couples go in and out of the front door.  i follow to see what happens there.  good thing! that's where you sign up.  we put our names and number of tickets we want {two for both}. he says, "be here at six with cash."  jules, and i look at each other..."uhh we've got no cash."  YIKES!  the nice man responds "you've got 4 minutes, run!" as he looks at his watch {apparently people do have them}.  julie literally sprints to the atm on the corner of the block and back with minutes to spare.  she's so fast.  then they come out and start calling names.  there's over 100 people there and we have no idea how many people they will end up calling or what kind of seats you get if you win.  we were clueless.  3rd name, jen brzinski!  that's me!  yay!  we're in!  and we've got cash.  we get in line behind #1 & #2 called.  behind us was the sweetest korean guy who'd been in the country for 5 months.  he kept saying, "i am such a lucky guy!" it was awesome!  come to find out we got front row seats and they only called 9 names.  uh, lucky?  YES! wicked lucky!  {i'm sorry i had to}

{little fun fact: the last woman called was linda brzinski!  9 people out of 100+ and you got 2 brzinski's?  what are the chances?}

we had about an hour and a half to kill so we wanted to eat before the show (it is a long show).  i asked a man working at gershwin for advice on where to go and he {who i thought said his name was dream, it wasn't} sent us to just the right place.  i wish i could tell you where so you could go yourself.  it was just like an little irish pub nearby but it was yummy, good & close.  all the things we needed.

the show was amazing.  the set & costumes were crazy & fun, they were extremely talented folks.  strong voices, humor, the whole deal.  it was incredible to get to go. when we got shoo-ed out of there we made our way over to serendipity. 

{sidenote: jules asked a couple to take this pic for us & then they asked us to do the same.  while taking their pic jules said to the man "man,you're tall.  {weird pause} well, taller than a girl."  baaahahhaa what's that mean?}

you know from the movie, serendipity.  they close at midnight and it was about 11:30 when we left so we were hustling once again.  i think we saw central park, sort of.  we also peered in the windows of fao schwarz {no toy stores are open at midnight of course}.  we made it to the coffee shop / dessert shop at quarter til and they let us come in.  jules got a retro oreo something or other which was really like an oreo milkshake, but very good, and i got mint frozen hot chocolate.  it was giant and i would 100% recommend it.  {and they had really great cold water.  i know that sounds stupid...but it was the best of the week}. mmm, i wish i could have some more frozen hot chocolate right this second.

it really was an amazing, adventure-filled day.  four forms of transportation later we arrived at our hotel around 2:30a i think.  we slept {of course}.  we were supposed to fly out of thursday but then found that we had been bumped to friday.  we didn't want to spend any money so we knew we were meant for a day stuck inside the hotel.  we woke up, ate our bundle of free waffles and back and uh....maybe came back and slept some more.  maybe until....uhh 2.  don't judge!  we ordered pizza in, packed up, did some work on the hotel computers & watched home alone, how fitting.

needless to say, we made it home finally, 3 or 4 cancelled flights and a lot of fun later.  jules, thanks for taking me along with you.  i'm really glad that we're friends & co-workers.  what an awesome deal.