slackerness...

Written in June 2011-
I didn't do a very good job of keeping a blog while in Ireland... I didn't have the most reliable internet service, but still, it's no excuse! Even though I'm 8 months post trip, I think I'm going to come back & give the details of the trip. Sure, it probably won't contain the nuances it would've had I written it months ago, but it'll be better now than in another year. So here goes... it may not all be in this post, but this will be a start.

On Saturday February 6, 2010 I departed D/FW airport for JFK in NYC. Mom was in San Francisco & dad had music practice so Deirdre took me to the airport. I had my suitcase & carry-on & a messenger bag. I got to NYC earlier than expected by almost an hour... I got my suitcase then found the place to call the shuttle service. JFK has a layout that I would imagine would be hard if you only drove to the airport every so often. I think there were 8 terminals & there were pick up lanes & thru lanes & entrances & exits. Maybe if you lived there & had gone occasionally since you were young it wouldnt' be so bad. DFW is easy enough to get turned around in & it's only got 5 terminals, 3 on one side of the toll road & 2 on the other. Anyway, the shuttle picked me up & we went & gathered more people (I was the 1st one on & there were 2 people, a driver & trainee). I was dropped off at the Wellington Hotel & got my room. It was a small room but had the essentials- a bed, toilet & shower. I setteled in & then went & walked around for a bit. I found I was a block south of Carnegie Hall, 3 blocks S of Central Park, a couple blocks north of Times Square & 2 blocks east of Broadway. I found a Thai restaurant & had dinner- tom ka gai & pra ram (peanut chicken). I even ate the mushrooms in my soup! haha It was a delicious meal & then I headed back to my room & settled in for the evening.

On Sunday, I slept in & then got up & got some lunch at a diner on the corner of the block my hotel was one. I had a club sandwich & fries... I asked for ranch for my fries, but they didn't have any! Must be more of a southern thing. I walked up to Central Park & watched the ice skaters & carriages. Took lots of pics of ponds & bridges. Glad i didn't find any dead bodies a la svu. I ended up with blisters on my heels so found a drug store (RiteAid?) and got some bandaids & a power converter. Then I went back to the hotel fixed my feet up & got ready for my first Broadway show... Wicked! I went down toward Times Square & over to Broadway & found the Gershwin Theater. I had to wait in the lobby (where I bought a program) before they opened the stairs to enter then had to wait upstairs before they actually opened the theater. I used my time wisely by finding the bathroom. Wicked was AWESOME!
On Monday, I wandered up to FAO Schwartz & around the store. They had Muppet Whatnots & I really wanted to get one, but I wasn't going to do that when I was traveling across the ocean that night!