NYC

I had a whole post ready to go on my first day in NYC, but I decided to delete it and start anew. More Twitterish than expository – me and Allison did so much, that I really feel that I can't describe it all without writing a complete volume of books. Not that everything I did was interesting; rather, our time was spent in constant motion with few respites for tired legs and blistered feet.

Tuesday 5/27

1:30 Got to the chateau VC, unpacked, relaxed.
2:00 Walked around the corner to a mediocre Mediterranean restaurant
2:45 Walked into Central Park, rolled around on the grass, griped.
3:00 Entered the Guggenheim and caught the last day of Cai Guo-Qiang's amazing and incendiary (rimshot!) show.
6:00 Went to Union Square, ate mediocre but delicious and filling Mexican food
8:00 Wandered around, went into The Strand and walked out with some Mailer and Sam Harris
10:00 Went back to the CVC, passed-out

Wednesday 5/28

7:30 Woke up, had breakfast with our hosts, went for a run along Riverside Park
9:00 Woke up Allison, got ready to go out
10:00 Out the door, walked through Central Park to the Whitney Museum of American Art for the Whitney Biennial
1:00 Left the Whitney a bit disappointed by said art, went back to the house for lunch
2:30 Went downtown to Times Square to brave the unwashed masses, discovered the beauty and deliciousness of Mr. Softee
5:00 Hung out around Rockefeller Center, bravely resisting the Mr. Softee truck parked on the corner
5:02 Broke down and bought some more Mr. Softee, I think chocolate.
5:03 Felt guilty, but yet, incredibly happy.
5:04 Jogged in place and hassled Allison in an effort to burn off some more calories in anticipation of further tastes of Mr. Softee later in the evening.
6:30 Met with Nate and Heather from Allison's program in order to see an exhibition of one of Allison's professor's work
7:30 Realized that we had the date wrong, went for dinner at a mediocre Cuban restaurant in Greenwich Village.
9:00 Ate some GROM gelato in Washington Square Park
11:00 Walked around for a while, went home

5/29 Thursday
7:30 Woke up, ran, hung out with the hosts
9:00 Allison finally got out of the bed and got herself together
10:00 Maintenance guys came and fixed a window, hung out for a bit
11:00 Off to Chelsea for an afternoon of gawking in galleries – saw some bad work, saw some good work, ate more Mr. Softee.
4:00 Walked around Wall Street, then went to Battery Park where we watched the sun start to set, marveled at some skateboarders and peered in the WTC hole
7:00 Got lost on our way to meet Allison's ex-roommate from undergraduate days for dinner in the LES. Got Mr. Softee afterward.

5/30 Friday
8:30 Woke up, ran
9:30 Got out of the house, went for a walk with Allison for a while in Central Park
11:00 Ate a light lunch of guacamole, bread and apples
12:00 Took the train back downtown to the International Center of Photography and saw some amazing work, especially that of
4:00 Went to MoMA for Free Fridays, almost got kicked out of the sculpture garden for freestyle walking on a rail
5:30 Met with Nate and Heather again, ate in some cafeteria 'cause we were dying of hunger
6:00 Went to the Southport Sea Festival to see Wire, one of my favorite bands, play an absolutely explosive set for FREE.
9:00 Met up with Allison's ex, George, who took us to Brooklyn to a bar called Enid's. Got completely lost on the way, but we entertained ourselves by freestyle walking on various shrubs, planters, and chains. "90& of survey respondents say that Enid's is the next street...Oh, should've listened to the other 10%" Had a few, freestyle walked on some more planters; ate some awesome pizza. George and I caused trouble at a party and then Allison dragged me home to Manhattan.
2:30 Passed out exhausted

5/31 Saturday
9:00 Woke up, didn't run
10:00 Got Allison up for a walk to the New Wave Cafe for an awesome brunch – I had a Greek omelette.
11:00 Walked around Central Park for the last time and I complained about my coccyx and the topography of the rock we were sitting upon
11:30 Bought some bagels at H.H., cleaned up our room, packed-up and hailed a cab to Laguardia
5:00 Got back to Chicago, ate dinner and bought groceries.

I'll go more into detail later, but this is more a placeholder just so I can remember how we spent the past couple of days terrorizing NYC to the best of our abilities. To all that live there: you have an amazing city.