si hay alguna duda: argentina 100%

Monday, bloody monday!

Big Bite from the Big Apple - Day 8

We woke up not really early and walked around central park and stuff just hanging out and making some time. Since we didn't have the pass, there is not much we could do.

Except for hanging out and doing nothing for hours.  Then we went to JFK, spend some time there. 5 hours to be exact. And then we took the first flight to AMS to keep on waiting, until finally on sunday we took the flight back to Lisbon !!!

I AM SO HAPPY I AM HOME !!! :)

Big Bite from the Big Apple - Day 7

Last really full day in New York and we still don't have anything planned our figure out.

It worked for the first Sunday, why not do it again?

So we took the 101 bus with this extremely nice bus driver as opposed to the 103 extremely rude driver we got next. He clearly had a by far better days than anyone else in this entire world.  So we went to Chinatown (an estimated population of 90,000 to 100,000 people, Manhattan's Chinatown is also one of the oldest ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia, consisting primarily of Cantonese and Min-speaking residents, although there is now some Mandarin speakers)


Then we keep on walking through Little Italy is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York City, once known for its large population of Italians. Today the neighborhood of Little Italy consists of Italian stores and restaurants. A LOT of restaurants.... This is supposed to b
e the inspiration for Don Corleone from the GodFather. Not sure in which regards, since the landmarks were mostly covered with Tourists... lots and lots of them. That the full population of the Chinese inhabitants. It is like they are completely taking over Little Italy....




Then we went by bus to 6th and 23rd. We wanted to have one of this best of best New York pizza slices. Then we went all the way to 1st and 10th because Grimaldi's was supposed to be one of the best pizza slices that there is supposed to be. it was either this or Lombardi's, but we couldn't remember where it was.... Only we arrived and it was closed... they just had closed it for renovation. So the manager Jimmy send us back to 6th and 20th to eat there.  To hear that we came all the way from Houston street, he was impressed. So we got to the other place, eat dinner and met Jimmy on the way out and talked a bit. he took care of the pizza and the guy at the counter  took care of the rest of it so we paid nothing at lunch. This is one of the 6 slizes... the pizza was HUGE and soo, sooooooo good !

By that time it was almost 6 pm and the idea was to go to the Empire State Building to see the sunset. AMAZING! I took like a million pictures. So bad that i had to change the 16 GB card i had for the pictures.

Big Bite from the Big Apple - Day 6

As good and great it was day before with the + temperatures, today it was motherfucking cold. When i say cold its -10 degrees at the peak of the day.

MOTHERFUCKING COLD!!!

As for the rest of the day, we spend it in shopping centres and Grand Central.  and cafes... many of them... all of them.

It was hell to get home... we wanted to have have a salad, but queues were insane everywhere. But it was cold, so we headed back home....

Big Bite from the Big Apple - Day 5

We were really early birds. REALLY, REALLY.

Partially that happened , that yesterday we waited over 2 hours until we were able to use the bathroom at all. So we got up extremely early, i barely got some sleep



Today the Ellis Island Immigration Museum is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and is under the care of the National Parks Service.

It is a place where visitors can spend hours learning about Ellis Island's history before, during, and after its use as America's immigration station. The museum also tells the stories of why so many people immigrated to America and what became of them after they arrived. Ellis Island has become a place where families and individuals celebrate and honor those family members who made the arduous journey to a new life in America.

It was something truly amazing. Imagine the suffering, and hearing the peoples journey in the audio system .... one cant help to choke up and shed a few tears.


The most impressive part was the great hall where they were checked one last time before they could officially inter the US soil. you can still feel the atmosphere and just imagining what it used to be ... its though ...

In 1886, The Statue of Liberty Monument was a given to the United States from France to celebrate the friendship the two endured during the American Revolution. The Statue of Liberty has over the years has symbolized the freedom and the democracy of the United States. Ellis Island was transferred into the National Park Service in 1965 and became part of the Statue of Liberty Monument.

President Ronald Reagan wanted to restore the Statue of Liberty in 1982. Fundraising for an $87 million dollar restoration of the Statue of Liberty would take place between the National Park Service and Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. In 1984, the United Nations declared the Statue of Liberty as a World Heritage Site, and the completion of the restoration of the Statue was complete on July 5th, 1986, which celebrated her centennial.

     

And then we went to the Crown. Sadly weather-wise it sucked but it was amazing to be up there. We had about 30 minutes up there all by ourselves, which is good for a tiny space like that.... there are 154 steps from the pedestal to the crown, about 20 stories high, ot that bad, but quite high...

But then it was time to say bye bye Liberty !!

Big Bite from the Big Apple - Day 4

Feliz Cumpleaños a mi !

De manana cuando nos levantamos, la primera cosa que vi es lo siguiente, y pense que ayer era una las cosas mas raras pero andan por ahi muchisimas veces al dia!

El dia esta con tanto sol que nos estuvimos dando vueltas y no consegui evitar ver estes bilboards. Pasamos realmente el dia buscando (y encontrando ) camisetas

Y despues fuimos a unos tragos al HRC. Pense que iban a darme alguna coista, pero no, ya se habia visto.

y a la noche fuimo a ver a les mis..... AMAZING

One of the best birthday wishes

my first birthday gift

Big Bite from the Big Apple - Day 3

This morning weather was kind of sucky but since we had the tickets for the top of the Rock, we still had to go (no rescheduling could be done....) and it was pretty mazing to see this amazingly legendary billboard!! and right across form the street the even more legendary Radio City Music Hall.

The excitement begins on the ground floor and mezzanine with a dazzling Swarovski crystal chandelier and multi-media exhibit full of the rich history, art and architecture of Rockefeller Center. there is also a atep on one of our glass ceiling sky shuttles for a thrilling ride to the Top, where you will find three stories of spectacular views, including a stunning, open air, 360-degree view from the 70th Floor outdoor deck. In one word: AMAZING !!!

And we could see, not a lot, but it was pretty amazing !!

Que cosa mai linda !!

After that we went to the Garden. For an hour and a half we went in behind the scenes tour which was ama-zing !!!

After that we went to Times Square Garden... another amazing and overwhelming thing !!!

Surpriseeeee

Well I had to keep it a secret and i had promised, but now its official, my best friend its expecting a baby boy!!!

I am so excited for her, all i can do its cry !!!!!

my baby will have a baby !!!

Big Bite from the Big Apple - Day 2

First thought: Here we go !!!!

Early morning birds, off to Central Park, beautiful day, its sunny not really sooooo warm, we are still wearing gloves.

We were staying on 105th EAST, between 1st and 2nd so we had quite a journey to go to anywhere. So we walked and walked and well, walked all the way to Madison and 96th and had a nice little breakfast...
on the way out we saw the "west side" and we both laughed, both because its the "West Side Story" and because of Teddy West Side.



Anyhow we went on Central Park while far away it was all snowy, its a dirty snow "hasn't snowed in a while", stepped in poop, but we walked by the museums (Guggenheim and the legendary MET) all the way to 50th... and the driver told us exactly where to get off and where to walk ...

Because we were so tired and we didn't have any map at hand we stopped the first bus going downtown

We took the bus all the way to the the 9/11 memorial, in memory of the 3000 people killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center site and at the Pentagon, as well as the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993.  The Memorial’s twin reflecting pools are each nearly an acre in size and feature the largest manmade waterfalls in the North America. The pools sit within the footprints where the Twin Towers once stood. The names of every person who died in the 2001 and 1993 attacks are inscribed into bronze panels edging the Memorial pools, a powerful reminder of the largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil and the greatest single loss of rescue personnel in American history.

From there we walked to the Brooklyn Bridge, or at least we intended to... because all of a sudden there was like a huge invasion of man all dressed in black and long beards. And initially i thought there must be a catch, but there must have been a gathering of Orthodox Judaism probably because of the protest.
They were everywhere and so bad in numbers that we took a left where we had to take a right and back we were on Holland Tunnel route when we wanted to go to the other site... so we went and walked a LOT all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge and over all the way to the other side.

Last thing we did was to go to Grand Central so see a bit at night....

By that time we are sooo tired, we just wanted to go back ...

a good rest was in order....

Big Bite from the Big Apple - Day 1: AKA the travel day

A few months i discovered an amazing deal and i took an advantage.

So today i headed to the big apple...

Didn't get to sleep last night, we took Charlie to Vitor's place and then we hung out until 3 AM at Rachels house.

Check in was done before 3 AM, we took the first flight to Amsterdam at 5 AM, landing in Schiphol at 9 AM local time.

Security check & border control took forever, we needed to show proof of residence and so on, and all of that before boarding in ....

From there we took the delta flight and landed in JFK... in this "great country" as he lady in the PA announced it. After 2 more hours just standing in line to get clearance to enter in the US, finally we made it out of the Airport !!!

Off it goes to check out the Big Apple !!!

HERE WE GO !!!!!