#i saw a total of 5 pride flags! i didn’t even go that far around the city!

[maeo-png]

i really need to stop doomscrolling before pride month

[lindoig4]

Iceland - all in one long post

(It is now Saturday 24 August and we are in St Johns, Newfoundland, and before I wade into Iceland, I thought I would summarise the birds we have identified so far.  Some we have seen in more than one place, so the number of discrete species we have seen is still less than 100 – 99 in fact. But by country, my  count currently stands at 138, made up of 36 in the US; 4 when we were in Montreal and a further 11 here, making it 15 for Canada; 9 in Oslo and 21 more in Svalbard making 30 for Norway, 20 in Greenland and 10 in the Denmark Strait – so possibly 30 for Denmark, depending on how we define it and 27 for Iceland.  I don’t intend canvassing international relations or interpreting the Law of the Sea so it is up to you to define Greenland, the Denmark Strait and international waters however you choose – I decline to enter into any dispute on the issue.)

Now back to wonderful Iceland.

We arrived early in the morning after a pretty wild day and night at sea and we were probably happy enough to be on land again.  Not because of the rocking and rolling, but because we were a bit overloaded with all we had experienced on the expeditions and felt that anything else would likely be more of the same.  The only thing we hadn’t seen that would have been nice was more whales, specifically belugas and narwhals, but we can’t have everything – or at least, we have been told so.

On the other hand, our expectations of Iceland left us a little cold (so to speak) but we were wonderfully wrong!  We disembarked at 9am and were bussed to a stop just down the hill from our hotel. Not sure why they couldn’t drop us off as we went past, but it was only a couple of hundred metres back up the hill lugging our luggage.  (There is a reason it is called Luggage.)

We spent most of the day in our room but went out to the supermarket and had a drink on the way back. I spent some time dashing in and out of the hotel into the garden at the back chasing a bird that kept calling every now and then, but I never found it.  I eventually discovered that an identical sound came from a squeaky lift the was right next to where I thought the mythical bird was calling!

In the late afternoon, we went to the hotel bar for a 2 for 1 drink Happy Hour and fell into conversation with two local women almost our age and we had a really wonderful hour or so with them.  They were both lovely intelligent women and it was a complete pleasure to share our respective thoughts with a wonderful couple of locals.

We then went to a Vietnamese restaurant we had sussed out whilst shopping and it was a big disappointment.  Very ordinary food in pretty scungy surroundings for about $90 Oz with no drinks!

We went on two tours whilst in Reykjavik.  I clearly recall being taught in high school that there is no green in Greenland and no ice in Iceland.  But like many of the gems imparted to naive teenagers at school, both are entirely wrong.

We saw a lot of green in Greenland - no towering forests or endless savannahs but plenty of green ground-cover in lots of places.  Similarly, in Iceland, there is not a lot of summer snow, but they play few winter sports because everything is blanketed in snow, inhibiting outdoor sports, even if competitors and spectators were able to attend snowbound venues (which they aren’t!)

But Iceland is certainly spectacular in summer.  As I said, we went on two wonderful tours (thank you Nice Tours), but a few observations first.

Iceland has fewer than 350,000 residents (and 3,000,000 summer tourists each year), over two-thirds of them living in Reykjavik.  Most of the others are farmers and their small beautiful farms are a picture of neatness, looking like they sweep the hills and comb the grass before the tourists arrive each morning.  They desperately want more residents (their unemployment rate is effectively zero) and despite some resentment about the changes brought about to accommodate us, they are heavily dependent on tourism as their biggest contributor to GDP.

They have virtually unlimited geothermal energy and squander it outrageously.  Similarly, water is abundant and profligacy is considered absurd.  The geothermal water powers some of their electricity needs and is then returned to the earth or used to heat every building in the country.  The rest of their energy comes from hydro plants.  Even some small collectives of farmers agree to install a small power plant to provide for their own needs and feed the surplus into the already overloaded grid.  The only other fuel source appears to be imported petroleum at a little over $A2 a litre.

The hot water contains a bit of a cocktail of harmless minerals but smells a bit, so is used for showers and heating and the cold meltwater for most other things.

In the winter, some parts of the country are virtually inaccessible and the roads in those areas are atrocious but nearer Reykjavík, they are quite good - and the city itself is very modern-looking.  No high-rises because they have plenty of room, but there are a few 5 or 6 level buildings.

There are NO trees away from the city, although a few farmers have attempted to grow some without a lot of success.  But around Reykjavík, there are plenty of trees due to a concerted effort to provide some windbreaks for a few clicks around.  I went for a walk this morning and found it very hard going, but apparently, the wind has been known to blow many people over, even to blow cell phones out of their hands (Shock, horror!).  People stay indoors during the worst of the wind.

It is a very expensive place to live.  We paid over $A85 for a very crummy meal at a Greasy Joe Chinese restaurant a couple of nights ago (our second expensive meal out) and even the supermarket gives rise to a few nasty shocks.  One interesting point is that it costs more to build a house here than its sale price so a lot of people build their own rather than buy something that costs more than they could sell it for.

Having said all of that, Iceland is a wonderfully beautiful place with heaps of great things to see and do.  It is very progressive.  They had a National Pride Parade on the day we arrived and the whole city was decked out with rainbow flags and paraphernalia. The whole city seemed involved in celebrating the march and its participants.  They are a very inclusive society and I found some of their more progressive ideas a little surprising - in a very good way.

Our tours were brilliant. Although we didn’t have any great expectations of the country before we arrived, I now wish we could just squeeze another month or so into our visit.

Golden Circle Tour

This is one of the more popular one-day tours and the scenery is amazing.  (Most tours are multi-day and many are about 11 days and circumnavigate the island on their version of our Highway 1, although it is a little more rustic than ours in the north.).  Rugged mountains, massive volcanic lava-fields, giant glaciers, thousands of waterfalls, wonderful wildlife (mainly birds) and miniature flora – simply superb.  There are far more Icelandic horses than Icelanders - a unique breed that will remain pure because no other horses are allowed in, including any local horses that leave the country to compete in events - they are not allowed back in under any conditions!  The sheep run free and have right of way on the road and all look very healthy: fat and woolly.  There are cattle here, but they are mainly kept indoors - as are all the sheep in the colder months.

We visited the world’s second largest geyser (after Yellowstone) and watched it shoot almost 40 metres skywards every 5 to 8 minutes.  It is the Geysir Strokkur and is source of word ‘geyser’ worldwide.  We were careful to stay upwind, but some people got very wet trying to get the perfect selfie.  There are numerous hot springs around and we saw plenty of thermal activity as we ate our packed lunch and walked to and from our bus. (I am tired of typing ‘spectacular’ so please just insert it once or twice in each paragraph. If any needs me to, I will provide a few hundred copies of spectacular, beautiful, amazing, astounding, wonderful, awesome, mindboggling, fantastic, fabulous – even fantabulous if you must - and any other superlatives you wish and you can just copy and paste them into each sentence or clause as you prefer – because they are all highly appropriate!)

We went to an awesome volcanic crater, obviously inactive, but huge, very steep-sided with a beautiful lake inside.  We walked right around the ridge and photographed it from many angles.  It was very windy and getting close to the rim was quite scary at times.

And what a spectacular waterfall Gulifoss was!  It is fuelled by meltwater but totally awesome - mind-bogglingly so but still not Iceland’s biggest!  The volume of water cascading down was truly (insert several superlatives here) but this was after a veritable drought - the driest period they have had for years.  The water is funnelled into a huge canyon, way below anything we could see, but in a normal year, the volume is so huge, it fills the canyon!  When I finally get some pics posted, you might imagine why it defies description.

We called in at a working farm for an icecream.  Icelanders are the world’s most voracious consumers of icecream and we stopped at a couple of other places later in the day to avoid our guide suffering withdrawal symptoms.

Another stop was at the site of the world’s oldest parliament, dating to the 9th century.  The tribes in the area decided that they needed more order in their community so elected a leader each 3 years and presented him with all their disputes and issues requiring resolution.  He was given one day to think about them all and then stood on this particular rocky outcrop and addressed the assembled throng with his binding decisions the following day.  It is now a UN World Heritage site and our guide was able to fill out a bit of history about it.  Perhaps more significantly though is that the rock is on the very edge of the North American tectonic plate.  We walked through an amazingly impressive fissure to get to the rock and it was a sobering thought that we were on such prehistorically significant ground.  There is 6 kilometres between this and the nearby Eurasian plate at this point, with this distance growing by about 2.5 cm a year.  At some point in the future a cataclysmic rupture is bound to happen right where we stood.

Then it was on the Eurasian tectonic plate, but with no fanfare or obvious geological features to mark it - but then, after the grandeur of the other side, it would be hard to match anyway.  We spent much of the rest of the day in Eurasia - no passport required!

A truly fantastic tour and overloaded with historical, geological and simply grandeural(??) overload, we ate bread rolls and supped on Aquavit in our room at night.

Monday was a rest day, soaking in some of the previous day’s experience, washing, blogging, Happy Houring and finally eating at an extraordinarily sub-ordinary Chinese café at great expense at night.

 Snaefellsnes Peninsula Tour

But next day was the Snaefellsnes Peninsula Tour: perhaps even more spectacular than the Golden Circle Tour.  The giant glacier atop the mountain was distant, but omnipresent even at 200km distance.  We saw dozens/scores of waterfalls (fosses in Icelandic), cascading down the mountains from the interior snowmelt and creating hundreds of crystal-clear creeks and rivers.  At one time, some locals sent a sample of the river water to an international laboratory to see what minerals it contained.  Receiving no response, they contacted the lab to enquire as to progress with the testing - only to be ridiculed by the analysers for wasting their time sending obviously distilled water for testing!  Did I say crystal clear!?

We explored one wonderfully picturesque foss and associated lake close up - pics will eventually be posted.  Just across the road from this great waterfall is a mountain that was historically assumed to be rather nondescript until a photo of it was unexpectedly voted one of the world’s ten most iconic mountains and a tourism cavalcade ensued.  The mountain has featured in quite a lot of films, but alas, I don’t recall which.  Maybe my photos will prompt some memories.

We had a superb fish lunch at a restaurant where our guide knew the chef.  He seemed to know a lot of people, but had worked in a small local hotel with this chef - recently returned to Iceland as chef at a 3 Michelin hat restaurant in Europe.  The food was excellent and because at least 10 of us agreed to purchase the fish special, we got it at half price: much closer to what we would pay for a similar meal in Oz.

We walked along the cliff from a charming tiny enclosed fishing harbour, past some awe-inspiring sink-holes too scary to get close enough to see the bottom, past a delightful bird-encrusted lake, past more cliffs filled mainly with nesting gulls, lava caves and blowholes, a fantastic rocky arch to a lookout with more caves, more nesting kittiwakes and a mass of hexagonal basaltic columns formed by the lava cooling more slowly.  To add spectacle to amazing wonder, the columns were not straight, but twisted and bent in line with the strata being formed at the time.  A geology lesson in itself!

Then on the way back to our little bus, we passed a man-made stone structure representing a monument to a local troll.  Icelanders are very superstitious and many still believe in good and bad trolls and other forces that seem quite alien to us.  Most of the island’s roads were built about 100 years ago when superstition was even more rife and many roads take unexpected detours to avoid crossing evil troll-infested sites (or to proceed through beneficent troll areas), much like our sacred sites in Australia only more so.  And many people still ascribe or predict events to the beneficial or vengeful actions of trolls - and act accordingly, doing good things or avoiding bad omens just to be on the safe side.

We visited a beach made of black pebbles and vicious looking lava outcrops.  It was surrounded by a lava field, mostly covered with wonderful soft silvery-green moss and lichens.  After the lave cools, dust is blown in and microscopic lichen, fungus and algae start to grow, followed a few millennia later by the mosses that continue to break down the lava into what eventually becomes arable land - if it is not then covered by more lava or a glacier.

It was a long tour, almost 12 hours of utter wonder.  We had walked several delightful kilometres and climbed quite a few steps and were quite tired by the time we reached our hotel so just ate what was in the fridge and went to bed, weary but still buzzing with the excitement of all we had seen. For me, a little bonus was the improved variety and number of birds we saw along the way, many of which we had been able to view with surprising clarity.

Our last day in Iceland was almost an anticlimax.  I went for a long walk around Reykjavik in the morning.  Heather’s ankle that she broke a couple of years ago was too sore to accompany me and we just reviewed photos, wrote stuff, repacked and had a Happy Hour in preparation for the long trip to St Johns on the morrow.

But given the chance, we would be back in Iceland with a campervan for a month or more perhaps risking the shoulder period to see the best of the whole island in all sorts of weather.  It is definitely a place that should be on everyone’s Bucket List and even after being here, it is still on ours!

[so-tellmedarling]

the problems with toxic relationships

disclaimer: I am 100% not an expert. My toxic relationship was not that bad, i was not abused or anything like that, unlike a lot of toxic relationships. I am not pretending to know what you are/were going through. This is just my personal experience with a toxic relationship. 

My relationship was a long time coming. I had known him for 10 years, we had flirted, held hands, and almost dated, but it didn’t work out because I lived far away and we were freaking 14. 

Fast forward to the couple weeks before I turned 21. I was in his sisters wedding, one of my best friends. The whole weekend we flirted, and we even went on a “double date” with my sister and her husband. I leave, we text everyday, then he brings up the idea of a date, very casually. For the next 6 months, we “talked.” We were never official, i was travelling with my family for half of that time, so I was on the other side of the country. Even when I came home, he was 4 hours away. I had my doubts about him that I dismissed as nerves, that should have been my first red flag. I should have gone with my gut and ended it then, but I didn’t. His sleep schedule was messed up, and no matter how many times I asked him to do better, he wouldn’t. He would come home from work at around 4 in the afternoon and promptly fall asleep for several hours. He would wake up around 8, eat something, then go back to sleep until around 10 or 11 and stay up until probably 1 in the morning. This left us no time to talk. Several times he would text me when he got home and I would go to call him minutes later and he would be asleep, red flag number 2. 

One of the worst things about all of this is that I didn’t realize most of the red flags until I was out of the relationship. I broke up with him 2 years ago,and I am still realizing things that were messed up. 

Red flag number 3, he loved to argue. Not yell, but he loved a heated debate. I did not. He once argued with my best friend about a movie he had never seen. I think he just liked hearing himself talk. 

Red flag number 4, he never listened to me. He would talk for hours, then ask me a question, I would answer and he would talk more. He never remembered things I said. My work schedule was so easy to remember, 1-6 Mon.-Fri. Easy right? He would text me on like a Thursday and ask if I was working...whereas for me, I tried to remember his work schedule so I would know when he was free. I knew he didn’t work Wednesdays. I knew when he got off work most days. 

Red flag number 5, we almost broke up before we did. I was unsure about him again. We got into an argument over something, and we decided to take a break. I ended up crying to my mom and realizing I didn’t want to take a break. We called and talked it out. He planned on visiting later that month to take me on a real date. 

Red flag number 6, I had to plan the date. I know you are probably thinking, just because you’re a girl, doesn’t mean you can’t plan dates. No, I totally agree, and I would loveee to plan a fun date! But I think whoever asked to go on a date, should plan the first date. He didn’t take initiative, and I had to plan it. 

Red flag number 7, he had no drive. He was totally fine with working in fast food forever and living with his parents. He told me he could afford to move out, but it was too much work, so he didn’t. He failed nursing school and didn’t have another plan. 

Red flag number 8, he acted like he was better than everyone else. He was pretty smart, so he though he knew more than most people, hence the arguing. 

Red flag number 9, he didn’t appreciate me. I didn’t realize this until recently, but he didn’t act like I was the best thing he had. I don’t mean to sound egotistical. But shouldn’t you think your SO is like the best thing ever? Like, I can’t believe I am with this amazing person? He did not act like that...He more or less acted like it was his right to date me. I deserve to feel wanted. When we were younger and he found out I liked him too, he was amazed that I would like him. This time, he wasn’t. He also didn’t compliment me that often, I had to basically ask for it. And had to ask him to hold my hand on our date. 

Red flag number 10, something he said reiterates number 9, but honestly it is so fucked up, it needed it’s own number. For months, he had complained to me about how he wanted to leave his church and find a different one, because there were some issues there. I encouraged him to find a new one, but again, it was too much work. Whenever we almost called it quits, but didn’t, he told me if we had he would have found another church just so he could find a girlfriend.  Yes, you read that right. And yes, I still dated him after that. I broke up with him a month later. It didn’t really occur to me what he said until several weeks later. I was just too caught up in what was happening. 

You see, I felt like I wasn’t going to find anyone else. I felt like if I can’t get this guy who has been in love with me for 10 years, then who can I get? I figured that was as good as it was going to get. When we were younger, he thought I was the most amazing person in the world, I thought he still thought that. But I guess getting me was too easy for him. I agreed to go out with him so easily, he had me where he wanted me. He made me feel wanted. At my friends wedding, him and another guy were fighting over me. I felt wanted. He took pride in knowing that he won. He won the fight, he won the argument, he won me. I settled into a relationship I thought I needed to be in. It had been leading up to this point for years, and when it was finally here, it wasn’t what I thought. 

The first couple months were great. He was sweet and kind. He said lovely things to me. But once he knew I wasn’t going anywhere, he showed who he truly was. He became someone who didn’t appreciate me, and just saw me as someone to be with. 

All of this to say, notice red flags before it’s too late!! Don’t be stuck in a shitty relationship just because you don’t think you will find better, you will!!! If they treat you like shit, leave them, they don’t deserve you.  Actively pay attention for red flags, it could save you. I know my situation could have been a lot worse, but please, learn from my mistakes. Don’t settle, and trust your gut!!!!!!!!

[the-rainbow-shaka-brah]

(I have no idea how to title this because well, this post is going to get kinda personal)

Life is Strange saved my life. Now I know what you're thinking, how could a video game save someone's life. Well, here's the thing... it's not just a game... it's an experience, one that got me back on the right path in life.

 Before I found Life is Strange I was very depressed, like... dark thoughts depressed and... I remember searching through Jacksepticeye's playlist collection at 2 o'clock in the morning for something to watch and finding three 2 hour videos about a game I had never heard of and frankly had no interest in. I figured I'd just watch it until I was bored out of my mind and eventually fell asleep, but what I found was amazing. 

I was hooked on Doctor Who at the time and loved anything that had to do with time travel, so when I first saw our shy cliche hipster protagonist... I felt...connected, like... I had something in common with this character. And sure enough, Max and I share a lot of the same fear, we're both talkative and quiet all at the same time. And we had one person in life... that after years apart, opened our hearts. Unfortunately, I realized my true feeling too late and we haven’t spoken in almost 3 years.

Anyways, I watch all the videos (Chrysalis- Chaos Theory) and immediately fell in love. I didn't start out shipping Pricefield, because well, homosexuality was still kinda new to me. I grew up with... I don't want to say homophobic but yeah, parents who didn't really teach or tell me anything about girls liking girls and boys liking boys. But by the time I played Episode 5: Polarized and watched Max and Chloe kiss... like... kiss for reals, it didn't seem weird. It felt so natural and normal and...oddly comforting.

I started to think why that was.

Let's just say the game made me look at my whole life and re-evaluate it. I saw that throughout my whole life... I've liked both boys and girls. 

The realization was shocking and frankly, it scared me absolutely shitless.

So I hid my discovery for months, unsure how to... tell my parents that I was... well, what ever I was.

When I finally came out, my mom was...shocked I guess, she didn't really have a reaction and neither did my dad. They both said not to think too much about it, that I shouldn't rush into decisions like that. While writing this right now, I realized that... They didn't want me to be the way I am... and that sucks because come on... parents always tell you never to be ashamed of who you are.

I struggled for a whole year, forced to keep my newfound identity a secret. My parents closeted me and that's so not right. I became depressed to the point where I started thinking about my life’s worth, and if it was really worth anything. I made the mistake of telling my parents and they, of course, said that if I was having those thoughts they’d send me away to a medical facility or something. So I lied and said that I simply meant I felt like I was losing sight of what I wanted to do with my life. They believed me and the matter was dropped. So I continued to suffer in silence. 

 So, I guess as a coping mechanism, I started writing my fears into my Life is Strange fan fiction and well, it helped... a lot. I started talking to the kind people over at LifeisStrangeFans.com and found so much support, people who accept and are okay with who I am.

As of March 23, 2017, I came out to the rest of my family as Bisexual, everyone is... well struggling with it. My mother seems to be the one struggling the most, even comparing having my pride flag hanging up on the wall to having a swastika up. I don't understand her and she doesn't understand me, maybe we're not meant to, but I hope someday in the future we can settle our differences and become the strong family we once were.

The rest of my family though... shit, don’t even get me started. My grandparents were devastated and completely denied my sexuality, and I haven’t really heard from them since. My uncle dissed me on Facebook and... not even bothering to say my name (if he was trying not to out me I get that but saying “At least you were raised right” to my friend is hella fucked up).

Life is Strange has been there for me, the game has given me a wonderful fandom that hungers for new content and I'm glad I'm able to contribute.  

I started writing Life is Strange Fan fiction in 2016, shortly after the Episode 5 finale. I, like many, was greatly disappointed in the “Sacrifice Arcadia Bay” ending so, I set out to make it better. In its earliest variation, my first fan fiction “The Calm Before The Storm” [Which is currently being rewritten (again)] was only 7 chapters long. Now, almost a year later, it’s complete, coming in at a total of 78 chapters. Wowser. I’ve grown as a person since then, mentally and emotionally.

In my newest fic #NoFilter, I deal with much darker topics than in my original “fluff fest” of a fan fic. For one, I wrote both Max and Chloe to have dark pasts, full of pain and hurt. Thankfully, most of the things they experianced have not happened to me, but some of them have. (spoilers) Both Max and Chloe are suicidal (Max being passive, Chloe being semi-agressive), and that’s something I’m still, to this day,  dealing with. This story is my therapy, this game has been my therapy. This game means everything to me... it’s basically the reason I’m still here writing this today

I don’t want to sound all self centered or anything, but I highly recomened reading said fics. Here’s the link (if anyone has even read this far) if you’re interested.

“The Calm Before The Storm”: 

Wattpad

FanFic.Net

“#NoFilter”

Wattpad

FanFic.net     (This one’s hard to read at first cause I was still getting used to using this site but it gets better around Chapter 10)

So... thanks to anyone who read this... i don’t have a lot of people to vent to nowadays... 

[cebeavers]

New York City & Coney Island 2009

June 20, 2009 New York Photos | Coney Island Photos

Though I had wanted to wake up earlier and get into the city earlier, Saturday wasn’t quite as early as I’d planned for. But Matt and I did wake up and head out around 9:00 am to be greeted by gloom, clouds, and precipitation. The drive from Pottstown to Trenton was just over an hour. I was trying to pay attention as I would be driving most of the same roads to Jackson, NJ for Six Flags a few days later, but the roads were very confusing. And expensive with all of the tolls.

We finally arrived at the train stop in Trenton and met up with Bubba and Steff. Once we got our tickets, we headed out to the already waiting train, which left at 11:40 am. I had this totally stereotypical vision of what riding on a train into the city would be like. For some reason, maybe because my last real exposure to NYC was in the early 80’s, I always imagine transportation and such into the city as being straight out of the 80’s. Surprisingly, I what I had envisioned in my mind was SO close to what it was actually like. It was scary how close it matched what I imagined.

But the train ride in was a lot of fun. I hadn’t been on a real train in a long time, and don’t remember the conductor actually coming and collecting tickets the last time I was on Amtrak. After a little more than an hour, we arrived at Penn Station. Our first stop was the closest restroom. It was old and run down, and very typical of what I imagined NYC’s public restrooms to be like. I also had my first weird New York moment. I was waiting for a stall to open, and eventually a door opened to a stall beside me and a short middle aged woman came running out and hurried out of the restrooms. There was a line for the Women’s room, but I’m not sure I’d have done that…

Anyways, we headed up topside, and as we did, Bubba mentioned we were right under Madison Square Garden. I walked just inside the Garden’s arena just to say I’d been there, and then we headed out side so I could take some pictures. MSG is very close to the Empire State Building, and that was our first destination of the day. Sure, it was gloomy and foggy, but I really wanted to head to the top.

Once we arrived we headed into the lobby and were told it was a 40 minute wait. Well, the wait times were incorrect because we just bypassed all of the queues since no one was in line. In about 20 minutes (counting the time I spent in the gift shop), we were heading up to the 86th floor’s outdoor observation deck.

The views were…Cloudy. I’m sure on a nice day they’re really spectacular, and you could see a decent distance. I did manage to see the Statue of Liberty from a distance, as well as Manhattan in the distance. I took a lot of pictures, but mostly of closer buildings since the fog covered a lot of the other buildings. I had an umbrella (ella ella) and was really thankful I did as it rained off and on for our duration at the top. I would have loved to have stayed up longer, but the weather wasn’t cooperating and there were lots of other things I wanted to do, so after about 30 minutes, we headed back down, stopping at another gift shop so I could buy some stuff.

Lunch was had next at a small Italian eatery right across the street from the ESB. It was actually really good, too, and so typically New York. Bubba wanted to go to CRUMBS bakery, and I wanted to see Times Square, so we walked, first up a block the wrong way, then over and down towards CRUMBS Bakery, which was thankfully on the way to Times Square. We headed by Grant Park, stopping off for a cupcake at the bakery that was delicious.

Apparently it was Gay Pride Week or something, and they had a stage set up in Bryant Park with live music. Because of the rain, it wasn’t very crowded. Even though the music was terrible, we all walked over to get a glimpse of the performer and his horribly repetitious song. Dude put Daft Punk to shame in the repetition department. And the lyrics and dancing were awful. Grant Park was nice, though, and a few minutes later we were arriving at Times Square.

I’d stayed here with family back when I was 3 or 4 years old. It’s much different now, basically a huge tourist attraction with lights and LED screens and shops. We walked around as I took pictures and eventually headed to Toys Я Us. The goal was to ride the Ferris Wheel, but the line was really long. We did do some window shopping and I found some things that I’d eventually like to pick up elsewhere. After a bathroom break and looking around, we decided to head over to Coney Island, the 2nd main destination of the day.

It took a second to find the Subway station, but once we did we purchased our Metro card and hopped the train to Coney. This was my 2nd Subway credit. The ride to Coney Island was almost an hour, but it was neat. I like the trains on the NYC Metro better than D.C.’s but D.C.’s stations are nicer, and the lines are much easier to get around on. Granted, NYC is huge, so that was part of my ‘issue’ with it. Eventually, though we did arrive safe and sound at Coney Island, only to be greeted by a burst of pouring rain. Thankfully, it didn’t last long, and as we walked down the Ave., we realized we’d just missed The Mermaid Parade (thankfully). Our first stop on Coney Island was the Infamous Coney Island Cyclone (How Sweet it Is). Would I like it?

Coney Island Cyclone (#183)-No. Not even a little. I haven’t wanted to get off of a coaster as much as I did Cyclone in a long time. I had fully expected to continue to think of Psyclone (R.I.P.) as my least favorite of the Cyclone clones, but as it turns out, the Original is now at the bottom of my rankings. I had hoped that the rain would give me a crazy ride. I was leery of all the padding when getting into the back seat of the train. Going up the lift hill was exciting beyond belief, but then the first drop happened. Honestly, I don’t remember much about the layout or anything because I was trying to brace myself for all of the pain that was coming my way. My back and shoulders hurt, badly, after riding. Matt said it was running slow and poorly. He was spot on. He asked about a $5 re-ride, but I had had more than enough. Sad, a coaster I’d looked forward to for so long was so bad. I knew it was a possibility, though, so no anticipointment came from the Cyclone on this trip.

So after the Cyclone we walked thru the old Astroland area, now labeled ‘Dreamland’ with temporary signage and some temporary rides that looked rather fun. Had it been a nicer day and were I to be staying in NYC longer, I’d have gotten a wristband for Deno’s and Dreamland so that we could have ridden longer.

We circled around and went into Deno’s, heading straight to the Wonder Wheel. This was something else I was looking forward to riding. I’d done the version at Disneyland, which I enjoyed, even if the swinging cars were slightly unnerving. What would I think of the original?

Deno’s Wonder Wheel-Oh. My. Goodness. This is officially now one of my top 5 scariest rides ever. I was expecting something like the Sun Wheel at Disney. This was far scarier. First off, it’s so old. It isn’t even driven by tires, but gears, which was neat. I expected the ride to circle quote a few times once all of the cars were full, much like other Ferris Wheels do, but the Wonder Wheel only circles twice, and for that I’m thankful. Once the car started rolling forward I was a bit nervous, but when it started swinging out of control, I was scared to death and started screaming. And it just kept swinging. I was holding on tight. It was freaky as it swung up 90° as you’re in a cage sitting on a wooden bench. Every time it swung it scared me. Even as much as it frightened me, I’d pay $6 to ride it again, just not on this trip.

I asked if Spook-o-Rama was any good and was told no, so we walked to the front of Deno’s and out onto Surf Ave. I needed batteries for the Camera, so I stopped in a shop to get a few, then we walked down to Nathan’s so Bubba could get a hot dog and I could use the restroom. I don’t like hot dogs, but toyed with getting one from Nathan’s Famous for obvious reasons. Then I saw the price and the hot dogs and decided that I’d stick to not eating hot dogs.

We sat at some outdoor seating for a while so that Bubba could eat, then we walked back over to the boardwalk so that I could go out on the beach. Everyone else stayed on the boardwalk, but I walked out onto the sand and even put my feet (with shoes on) in the water. That’s 2 trips to the beach this year! As I was on the coastline, I could see a large tanker looking ship on the horizon. Then as I looked south, I could see a large cruise ship coming up the coaster that was pretty massive.

After staring out at the ocean for a few minutes (something I could do for a few hours), I walked back to the boardwalk. We walked down the boardwalk and ran into more of the freaks from the Mermaid Parade. There were all kinds of freaks, clowns, mermaids, and what not everywhere, as well as press covering them and taking pictures. Matt wanted a quick bite to eat, and I toyed with getting my drink on, but alcohol was far too expensive.

Once we finished up at the food stand, we headed back up the boardwalk and out by the Cyclone, then over to the Metro Station to wait on the train. It was about a 45 minute ride back to where we were headed, but the question was, where were we headed? Bubba and Steff were heading back to Trenton because Bubba parked in a lot that closed at 11pm, but Matt and I were staying in the city a little longer. Eventually Bubba and Steff got off at Penn Station as we waited and got off later, heading topside on 5th Ave. where I needed a restroom. Matt suggested going into the Plaza, but as we approached, not sure if they still allowed the public to use their restrooms, I asked the doorman where the closest public restroom is, and he suggested the Apple Store across the street.

Now, this isn’t just any Apple Store, this is the glass box Apple Store that’s underground. We had decided to hit it up since we were there and see how busy it was since the iPhone 3G S had just been released. So we headed across the street and down the spiraling stairs to the Apple Store. After a quick bathroom break, we went over to play with the new iPhone. Yeah, the video and digital compasses are nice, but I’m not ready to go out and get a new one just yet, because mine still works just fine.

This was definitely larger than the other Apple Store I’d been in in D.C. And it was packed. I toyed with getting a new iPhone case, but decided against it (I got what I wanted later when I got home).

After spending time browsing, we headed topside. It was still slightly light out, so we walked over to Central Park. Yes, the park is huge, so we only really got one minute corner of it to look at. Matt wanted to see what the kiddy park looked like, so we walked over to the gates. It was nice, and I’d like to go back and spend some time there. The whole area we were in was very nice, even if it was getting dark. Such lush greenery and trees surrounded by huge skyscrapers made for an odd contrast.

We walked back out of Central Park and around a block or two until we ran into FAO Schwarz Toy Store. Sadly, it was closed, but at least I was able to see it. Then I suggested eating at a place called Pop Burger for dinner. I had a ‘Ghost Burger’ (It was vegetarian) and Matt had some real burgers. The food was good, the place was pretty nice and trendy, and the music was pretty hot. As we left, about 20 hot girls in 2 groups came walking by, heading out for the nite. Every one was at least a 9. You don’t see that everywhere.

Then we started to walk back to Times Square from the opposite end that we came from before. We saw an older gentleman and his ‘escort’ for the evening, which I pointed out to Matt. He didn’t think that was what was going on, but I could tell by the way she was dressed and the fact that she was at least 40 years younger than him that they weren’t together unless she was getting something out of the deal.

Finally we came to Times Square at nite. It was packed and the lights were really dazzling. I had to call the Piano Bar that we were heading to, Sweet Caroline’s, in order to get directions, but we finally made it. The show was supposed to start at 10:30 promptly, but it was starting just as we arrived at 10. It was nice, but nothing special as far as the looks of the place went. Crocodile Rocks in SC is way nicer inside. The players were really good, though, and lots of fun. I ended up getting a free drink AND they played both songs I requested.

It was different than its southern counterpart in that there was a lot more Hip Hop/Rap and Metal requested, along with the old piano standards present at both. In the south there was way more country being played. Around 12:30 we decided to leave since we still had to take the Metro to Penn Station and the train to Trenton was leaving at 1:40am. Once we got to the station, we made our way to the area we needed to be, but it was confusing and I was glad Matt was with me. There were lots of homeless people sleeping on the ground, that’s something I’m not used to.

As we sat on the steps to wait for our train to get its gate assignment, a group of young people behind us asked us to take their picture, so I did. They were really nice and we chatted a bit before the train finally got a gate. And at 1:40, just as promised, we were pulling out. I slept most of the way back to Trenton. Then there was another hour drive home that thankfully I didn’t have to drive.

All in all, I had a fun day. I do want to get back to NYC because there is a lot I still want to do, plus stuff I’d like to do again in nicer weather. However, the city came across as really dirty and skanky. I will say, though, that I was surprised at the attitudes of everyone I came across. Not one rude person all day. People said thank you and held doors open and were very nice, and these were the locals. Fun enough city, but I don’t think I’d ever want to live there.