Back from Vacation

Getting back from vacation made me lazy apparently, since it has been a little while since I have posted (a week?). Lets see if I can do an update…

The third to the last day of our vacation was spent mostly walking around Manhattan. Nothing super special. We went to Bloomingdales and Tiffany’s. I felt that it was a waste of time actually. It was ridiculous. I can not imagine spending that kind money on that stuff. Maybe jewelry, but Bloomingdales really didn’t even have better quality, and all of the stuff is nondurable goods. The cheapest thing that I saw was a small scarf for $100. They had iPod cases that cost as much as the iPod itself! About the only other interesting thing that we did that day was go to the location where the Manhattan Resturant of the Mind is located in the Dark Tower books by Stephen King. There was nothing there, but it was still very cool.

I really tried hard not to piss off Bionca with my complaining about it. I still carry a bit of the punk attitude. I don’t like excess, and especially conspicuous consumption. It amazes me that people will choose to pay more for something just because it has a certain label on it (assuming comparable quality). That is not to say that I won’t buy expensive items, just that I refuse to pay more because it is one brand over another. None of my clothes bear a brand-name on them, and none will. If someone wants me to advertise for them, they had better be paying me for it.

The second to the last day that I was in NYC we got up early to see the Today show. It was a bit cold and Bionca, my wife (I have decided to stop the anonymity thing) just couldn’t get going, and we wound up not seeing it. Instead we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That was really amazing. We started with a highlights tour, and it was a great way to start since it allowed us to see some important pieces in the collection, and we also got a feeling for what was there and could go back and see the stuff that we missed. My favorite, by far, was this sculpture called the Burghers of Calais by Rodin. (Pics still to come). The sculpture itself is amazing, but I loved the story behind it. Without knowing the story (you can read it on the link), you still can get the gist of what is taking place. Shock and terror are in their every angle and expression, but so is resolution and bravery. It displays true bravery. These men know that they are about to die, and are terrified, and yet they still walk on to their fate. This is an agonizing journey, but they are supported by each other, and yet they are still alone in their misery. Beautiful.

We went though the museum, and planned on going to see Wicked after. I wanted to get there early, since I was not sure exactly where it was . Bionca took a more relaxed approach. Amazingly enough, we find the place and get there by 5:30. Unfortunately, they were already calling the names of the people that won the chance to buy the rush tickets. Apparently on Tuesday they start the show at 7pm, and the rush line starts at 4:30. We tried to see if there were any tickets available, but alas there were not. Not this trip anyway. We are still thinking of going to the one in Tampa, though we were not impressed with the preview that we saw in the movie theaters.

We tried to see if there were any other shows playing, but there wasn’t any good ones that we wanted to see at TKTS, so instead we just went to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for dinner. (Touristy, I know but what the hell.) Actually, the food was good, and I would recommend it if you are in the mood for shrimp.

The last day, January 18, we were worried that we wouldn’t be able to get out on time. The weather report was that wind gusts were supposed to be about 60 mph! Our flight was at 11am from LGA. I called Spirit airlines to check on the status of the flight, and they said that it was delayed until like 2. The woman I spoke with said that I wouldn’t have to worry about getting there early. Since there was a bad storm rolling in, and we didn’t have great rain gear, I made the push to head out anyway. Bionca wanted to wait at first, but when I described how miserable it would be to get on the plane cold and wet she relented. On the way there it was really crowded getting on to the subway. Apparently the bridges were closed so that was the only way off the island. It really sucked carrying a wheeled bag, a day bag and a laptop thorough that crowd. It started raining, but luckily we didn’t have to stay out in it long. When we got to the airport (at about 10 a.m.) the lady at the ticket counter said that the flight was on time, and we were very glad that we got there early; however when we got to the gate we found that the first lady was right. We didn’t leave until then, which meant that we had to hang out in the airport for 4 hours. It was long and boring. Luckily I had downloaded Final Fantasy 3 and Zelda onto the PDA that my job bought for me.

Okay, this is getting long, and I will continue tomorrow.