Goodbye to New York, Hello Texas!

The end of one adventure, the start of another. I am currently in Dallas, Texas, and it is insanely hot. Right now it's 101 fahrenheit outside, or 39 degrees celsius. I love it though, what puts me off is the airconditioning everywhere is set to so cold that you'll freeze stepping inside, I guess it takes some getting used to. Mary Grace lives in a beautiful neighbourhood, in a big house, and I have my own backhouse in their back yard. They (Mary Grace and Ann Elise) picked me up at the airport, and I met Jeff (Mary Grace's boyfriend) and Taz (her Pomeranian, he's a retard, but adorable). Before I went to sleep, we drove out to the country club where Mary Grace and Ann Elise's families are members and had dinner there.

Dallas is very different from New York. Very. I spent my last day in NY alone, cause Mary Grace had to go back to Dallas a day earlier than me. I left early yesterday, so last day of actually doing anything was Monday. I was up at 7 am. and headed off to the Empire State Building early to beat the lines that tend to be hours long. They open at 8, and I was there five minutes before and was able to head right up to the 86th floor. The ticket was $15, but it was worth it, I was up there for almost an hour photographing the most amazing view I've ever seen. In addition to New York, on a clear day, you can also see New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut as well. Amazing. Then I went to Central Park and just walked around for 3 hours, just getting lost. By far the best way to see the park. I spent a good deal of that time photographing squirrels.

Afterwards I took a cab to Washington Square, and took a walk around the popular areas West Village, SoHo and Greenwich Village, where you'll find a lot of art galleries, trendy shops, and not so trendy shops. Especially Bleecker street is interesting. Worth seeing, but I wish I had more time, and feet that weren't that sore. I kind of wanted to see some sort of show my last night, but I didn't get tickets to Letterman or Jon Stewart, and Broadway tickets were either sold out or ridiculously expensive. And since I didn't know what I'd like to see off-Broadway, I decided I'd go see a comedy show. They sell tickets on Times Square, and I paid $15 for a 3 hour show (actually 36, they charged me 21 dollars for two bottles of beer!). The show was at Dangerfield's on the Upper East Side, an old pub where famous comedians, such as Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and Jim Carrey, have performed. It was a good waste of time, it was funny, the five acts ranged from OK to hilarious.

It was almost midnight when it ended, I just went back to the hotel, tried to shove my chaos back into my suitcases and get some sleep. Yesterday was all travel, and kind of emotional. kind of sad to leave New york, but also so excited to go to Dallas to stay with Mary Grace and meeting everybody. And so far it's great, I love it here, like a second home. And everyone's so nice. Except Ann Elise's chihuahua Bowzer, he's evil.

Some New York favourites: Central Park, Circle Line boat cruise, the guide on the Circle Line boat cruise, Can't-say-no sundae at Serendipity, the view from Empire State Building, Strawberry Banana Smoothie at Starbucks, how proud people are of their city, and how awestruck the tourists are.

So much to do...

...so little time.

Dinner at Serendipity yesterday was great, but the dessert was absolutely awesome. "Can't-say-no" sundaes, the size of your head. Dangerously delicious, but we were so stuffed on the way home that we had to get a cab back to the hotel, and watched Law and Order till we fell asleep. Today was the only day we didn't have anything planned in the morning, so we slept till 10.30, which felt great. Then we went to Starbucks for coffee and breakfast, and headed off to Central Park, to just walk around and enjoy the nice weather (the rain and thunder that was promised yesterday didn't start before late, and had this morning made way for a clear, sunny sky). We ate lunch by the lake, and headed off for our 3 hour Sex and the City bus tour. It was an OK way to waste time, but I wouldn't recommend it as a way to see the city, or if you're not a huge fan of the show. But we got to do some cool stuff, like having Cosmos in Steve and Aidan's bar, visit the sex-shop where you could buy "the rabbit", and we got cupcakes at the famous Magnolia Bakery. Interesting enough, but the cupcakes were definitely the best part.

Afterwards we headed off to dinner, and today I went traditional New York style: New York pizza. Greasy, thin crusted, sloppy pizza. It was awesome.

This is Mary Grace's last night in New York with me, she flies back to Dallas in the morning, so tomorrow I'm on my own. Not that I haven't got plenty of stuff to do. Empire State Building is first on the list tomorrow. After that I'll play it by ear, maybe check out Central Park some more, which I think is my favourite part of the city. More photos coming up tomorrow.

Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Norway

3rd day in New York, and I am just beginning to grasp how long it would take me to really get to know this city. I guess I just have to settle for the typical touristy things, which is OK for a first-time visit.

Dinner yesterday was awesome, and after all the walking, two glasses of Riesling had me giggling halfway through our pasta/pizza meal. We went to bed early, to get up at 7.30 this morning for the 3 hour boat tour of New York. Which was the best spent 35 dollars ever, by the way. It was a fantastic way to see the diversity of the city, and the guide was hilarious, but not in an obnoxious way. The weather was great, and with a cold Budweiser in one hand and my camera in the other I was in heaven.

Afterward we made our second attempt to relocate ourselves through the means of public transportation, (we took the subway yesterday, which was crowded, and a big disappointment compared to the oh, so fantastic metrosystem in Barcelona), this time by bus. Mary Grace had to explain the more than slightly annoyed busdriver that she obviously wasn't from here, and failed to insert the metrocard correctly. Twice. We finally arrived at the Museum of Natural History, which would have been a much better experience if: a) it was less crowded, b) the batteries on my camera weren't flat, c) our feet weren't so sore. But definitely worth a visit. Today I learned for the umpteenth time that high heels are not to be worn sightseeing. Unless you're on a Sex and the City tour bus, which we will be tomorrow.

Tonight we're having dinner at Serendipity, which is famous for it's frozen hot chocolate. Yum.

There were 312 photos on my cameras from my first 2,5 days in New York, so you'll have to do with a random selection (there are more on facebook). Enjoy! :)

Big, bigger, New York

I landed at JFK 6.30pm yesterday. Which meant it was already 12.30am to me. It took me 2 hours to get to the hotel, including a pretty scary bus ride, a good wait, and another bus ride. My first impression was the smell, it smells of french fries and exhaust. But in a good way. The second, was the size of things. It's enormous! The buildings, the crowd, the lines.. I checked in to the Millennium Broadway around 9, and met Mary Grace shortly after. So weird, haven't seen her in 6 months, and it feels so natural to hang out again. She's awesome. Feeling too hyped up to go to bed, we went looking for a late night snack, and just took a walk around Times Square. I ended up going to bed somewhere around 11.30, which would be 5.30am in Norway, but that got me synchronized to local time, and that's good, the jetlag's not going to be a problem.

Got up at 8 this morning, to go to Ellis Island and see the Statue of Liberty. On the way we saw Ground Zero. Not that you could see much, but that was emotional. We eventually found our way to Battery Park where they sell the tickets for the ferry. The lines seemed endless, but shortened surprisingly fast. When we got to the booth, it turns out there was a 1 hour wait for the ferry, and no possibility of entering the statue; the crown tour tickets were sold out until September(!). So we decided we'd skip that, and rather go on a 3 hour cruise around the whole of Manhattan tomorrow. After that we headed off for lunch, walked along Hudson river, overestimated our walkability and ended up taking a cab. Then we went to Central Park, and took a 20 minute carriage ride through the park. Not the best way to experience the park, but definitely a welcome relaxation for tired feet. While uptown we stopped by Dylan's Candy Bar, a gigantic candy store that gives Charlie's chocolate factory a fair competition.

Right now we're back at the hotel, getting ready for dinner at Ventro Trattoria, a recommended Italian place in the Meatpacking district. Pictures are coming up later, possibly tomorrow. New York is fantastic, no place like it. And the weather is great, though we're expecting some rain tomorrow evening. Too bad we're in New York, and there's no place to go shop, or any museums or shows to go to. Haha, I love it!

Tomorrow!

On Sunday, I quit my job. At 7am I was done. No more flipping burgers and serving hot dogs, no more cleaning toilets and floors. It's an absolutely amazing feeling. On Monday, my dad, my sister and I packed a lot of my stuff and went to Trondheim. We carried it all up to the 3rd floor and into my tiny appartment. Then, we went to IKEA. I looove IKEA. Now, all I'm missing is a sofa, a TV, and I wouldn't mind some extra space, but other than that, my new home is starting to become just that; a tiny home.

I go to America tomorrow. HAHAHA, TOMORROW!! I can't believe it. I'm packing, and as usual I'm packing way too much, but I'm almost ready for 4 incredible weeks. In New York I'm staying here: Millennium Broadway Hotel New York

Anticipation and God

In 17 days I'll be in New York. In the mean time I'm trying to do whatever I can to get the days to go by faster. Like going to the AC/DC concert (which was abslutely awesome, hats off to 60-year-olds who can rock like that), or spending a day with my sister in Oslo, or going to my friend's cabin for a couple of days, playing basketball, or going out. Anything to forget about the countdown that is constantly in the back of my head. I even, in a moment of insanity, started reading the bible. I am without a doubt in my mind an atheist. But I think I should at least know what it is I'm not believing in, so last week I started skimming through the old testament. I quickly discovered my prejudices were all justified; it is absolutely ridiculous. I've given up for now, if I'm going to be reading fairytales I'll be reading some more interesting ones. I actually shouldn't be reading at all, I should be packing. Since I finished the Twilight saga, there's been a hole in my schedule, so I should have plenty of time. But my room is barely visible through all the cardboard boxes and the mess that is produced by my failing to organize, so I'm just gonna have to pray it will all be magically sorted out. If I slice a sheep open and burn it, maybe God will help me out.

Wow, 15 minutes less until I head off to the US.

Today's thought provoker:
Genesis 3:3 "but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

Lost online part 1

American Dreamz is on TV and I'm not watching it. Not because it's a bad film (well, it is actually), or because there's nothing interesting on TV (Lord of War, a really good film, is on the other channel), or because I've seen it before. No, the reason why I'm not watching Hugh Grant do one of his less memorable roles is because I've done it again; I got lost on the Internet. Ever experienced that? When you're just reading an article, linking to another one that mentions something interesting, so you google that, ending up on some blog without any idea of how you got there, but you just... can't... stop... reading...? Yeah, I do that, a lot. Today I ended up in a quite familiar place though, I've been there before. It has given me hours and hours of childlike joy. Overheardinnewyork.com. Random conversations overheard in one of the worlds most versatile cities, written down and gathered on the web for our pleasure and to satisfy my slightly eccentric interest in human behaviour and interaction. Three random favourites of today, I am sure there will be more:

Tween #1: You wanna abort this conversation?
Tween #2: What? Why?
Tween #1: Because we're arguing whether 'haha' or 'l-o-l' is funnier than 'l-m-a-o.'

Hobo: Hey, can you spare 20 cents?
Girl: Sorry
Hobo: Okay, 30 cents...40 cents...50 cents, but that's my final offer.

Thug kid: When are you having that damn baby?
Pregnant: I was due last week and I want a C-section but the doctor said we shouldn't do it yet.
Thug kid: I'ma call that doctor tomorrow and tell him to take that nigga out.