our trip, part three (of three): NYC

I NO HEART NYC!!

After being jetlagged and grumpy, we arrived into NYC. It was literally a thousand degrees, taking into account the humidity factor, and we thought we'd died and gone to hell. Justin's cousin Chris (bless his little heart) had taken care of booking a hotel for us, which we were glad to not have to mess with. He got us a double bed, single room on 77th street, not too far away from stuff but not close enough to cost us our arms. What we ended up with, however, is a different story. We had a room with two twin beds, one sink, and we shared a shower and toilet with three other rooms. Essentially we paid $150 for a hostel. Oh, and the AC barely worked. Okay, we got to be light-hearted about that one, shrug it off, say "eh, that's NYC for ya!" and chuckle a bit. We showered and tried to take naps, but as we had been out of the country for a week + we had phone calls to make. That, and we were organizing meeting up with our two friends that happened to be in the city.
This is me and the Beck monster, a friend from Michigan who is now attending NYU. She took us to the village to a fun Mexican restaurant hailed for their margaritas. It was a swell time.

*Later that same night* Becky and Natalie, a friend from Colorado in NYC on a grant for travelling teachers!!
Can you tell Justin is SUPER THRILLED to be hanging out with three girls? We got the tour around to the important spots, including Times Square. Justin and I were exhausted by this point, so we split off from the group to head back to our hostel. NOT BEFORE WE GOT TO TRY OUR LUCK AT THE SUBWAY! It didn't like us, apparently, because it took us an hour and a half to get back to the hostel. We were tired, pissed off, and grumpy by the time we got back; needless to say, we slept soundly.

Day 2
Justin had been to NYC before and got the tour from cousin Chris, so Justin told me we could see whatever I wanted. All I wanted to see were the statue of liberty and the Guggenheim. Once we finally rolled out of bed and had breakfast, it was already early afternoon and the lines for the statue were outrageous. So we settled for, rather than going up in the lady, a ferry trip around her.
It was really a nice ferry ride.
After that we were starving, so we made it to 5th Avenue, where we had some killer pizza and window shopped. I figured by this point that I wouldn't have the time wanted to spend in the Guggenheim, so I settled for The Empire State Building instead. The lines were surprisingly not long and fast moving, so we got to the top in good time. I was doing well until Justin asked me if I could feel the building swaying back and forth, and I was instantly sick. We left immediately.
After that it was nearly 5pm, so we headed to the train station to get tickets to head to Greenwich, where Justin's other cousin Ryan and wife Julie reside in a mansion. We made it up there around 7. They barbecued and we went through, I think, 6 bottles of wine, so not much to report from that, as it is all lost in my subconscious.
The happy couple.
In fact, we were so worn out by the preceding travels that we didn't even go back into NYC. We spent a relaxing two days with them, barbecuing each night and catching up. They are incredibly fun and hospitable people, and it was a perfect way to end our vacation!!

So there you have it, all three parts.
(I can't believe I nearly forgot about this last leg)