Friday,
Nivaldo and Rachel worked so I slept in a bit and then went to Rachel's work to meet
Nivaldo for lunch with Rachel as our server. Before I headed to the subway I took a picture of the apartment I had started calling "home". They live in the basement of this house (you can see the top half of their door to the right of the main house door).
After eating my scrumptious "Shrimp Chop Chop" at Rock Center Cafe we headed toward what we thought was the Empire State Building but it ended up being the Chrysler building. The Chrysler building had a beautifully painted and low-lit lobby. We found our way to the Empire State Building even though we had decided to ride to the top of the Rockefeller Center later at night.
Here's a picture with the Empire State Building and below is the front of the Grand Central Station. I was happy to be able to see it because somehow the last time we went through it we didn't come out the front so I hadn't see it yet.
Continuing alongside the honking mess of taxis and thundering slap of sandals, we came across the New York Public Library. I've never been in a castle, but this building feels close to one. They had marble stairs and artifacts from centuries ago. In this room, many students and adults were looking down, studying hard and we had our necks cranked back in old wooden pews looking up. In another room, the walls were lined with portraits of American politicians painted by amazing artists in the 18
th century. Although the room was bare and empty of any furniture, it was filled with
everyone's awe of the paintings.
To be kind to ourselves, we shared a delicious Chocolate Souffle at Rachel's old restaurant, and then went home to rest our feet and watch some more Friends. We got a little more dolled up to go to the top of the Rockefeller center. It's a different feeling when you get dressed up to go to New York City than in the northwest. Going somewhere on the subway is less private and fun than driving a car but once you get there it's a whole other world. When you step up onto the cracked cement sidewalk, there's nowhere in the northwest that makes you feel so small. So surrounded. Trying to look up at the top of the buildings is almost impossible without falling backwards first. I bet most people take in the sights of the skyscrapers once and then are forced to scurry along with the rest of the crowds for the rest of the duration they're in the city. I was fortunate to ride the elevator up at least 70 floors to see how expansive New York City really is. The room used to walk from one side of the building has multiple lights that usually can sense where people are and follow them but that feature wasn't working while I was there. From the top of this building almost as tall as the Empire State Building, people can enjoy a 360 degree view of the lights. The sites of the Brooklyn Bridge, Empire State Building, Chrysler building, the water, and the relatively dark spot that was Central Park solidified the memories I had created in one week in the city.
After eating my scrumptious "Shrimp Chop Chop" at Rock Center Cafe we headed toward what we thought was the Empire State Building but it ended up being the Chrysler building. The Chrysler building had a beautifully painted and low-lit lobby. We found our way to the Empire State Building even though we had decided to ride to the top of the Rockefeller Center later at night.
Here's a picture with the Empire State Building and below is the front of the Grand Central Station. I was happy to be able to see it because somehow the last time we went through it we didn't come out the front so I hadn't see it yet.
To be kind to ourselves, we shared a delicious Chocolate Souffle at Rachel's old restaurant, and then went home to rest our feet and watch some more Friends. We got a little more dolled up to go to the top of the Rockefeller center. It's a different feeling when you get dressed up to go to New York City than in the northwest. Going somewhere on the subway is less private and fun than driving a car but once you get there it's a whole other world. When you step up onto the cracked cement sidewalk, there's nowhere in the northwest that makes you feel so small. So surrounded. Trying to look up at the top of the buildings is almost impossible without falling backwards first. I bet most people take in the sights of the skyscrapers once and then are forced to scurry along with the rest of the crowds for the rest of the duration they're in the city. I was fortunate to ride the elevator up at least 70 floors to see how expansive New York City really is. The room used to walk from one side of the building has multiple lights that usually can sense where people are and follow them but that feature wasn't working while I was there. From the top of this building almost as tall as the Empire State Building, people can enjoy a 360 degree view of the lights. The sites of the Brooklyn Bridge, Empire State Building, Chrysler building, the water, and the relatively dark spot that was Central Park solidified the memories I had created in one week in the city.
