Mike & Adrienne's Travels (etc.)

Our Next Project

2007-12-19T21:17:00.001-08:00

Our next project
Originally uploaded by MikeBladon

There are sure to be plenty of blog posts (and potentially podcasts) regarding the move and renovations of our new house. January 15th - 26 days and counting!

Seattle Roadtrip

2007-09-18T18:36:00.001-07:00

IMG_1855.jpg
Originally uploaded by MikeBladon

We had an amazing time on our Seattle Road Trip.
Spokane
Dave Matthews @ The Gorge
Cle Elum, Wa
Seattle, Wa
Seattle, Wa
Seattle, Wa

instead of blogging it though, this time we decided to just podcast from the road. Check out our podcast at:
http://www.supermunchpodcast.com
subscribe in iTunes
RSS Feed

SuperMunch Podcast

2007-08-27T22:17:00.001-07:00

Photo 170.jpg
Originally uploaded by MikeBladon

For a long time we've been talking about starting a podcast and the day has finally arrived!

We had a bang up first episode featuring a couple of restaurant reviews, introductions to the show, ourselves and our plans for the coming road trip (not to mention hot air ballooning!).

Stay tuned at the end for a performance by Juno Winning artist David Usher! Adrienne will (hopefully) be interviewing him after his October 11th concert in Calgary for which we just got tickets.

Subscribe to our podcast in itunes:
Get the raw XML feed

That's HOT!

Countdown to DMB!!

2007-08-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

So the countdown to out trip is on...we leave in just a few days on our road trip which is great. We will be driving down to Spokane and spend the night there. Then the next day is our wonderful concert that we are really looking forward too!! Dave Matthews will put on an amazing show - it will be super!

Then we will spend a few days in Seattle and thanks to lots of friends giving us some great advice on where to go - we should have plenty to do :)

More updates to come, we can't wait!

"Trip" to Home Depot

2007-08-18T17:38:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by MikeBladon

Last weekend Adrienne and I painted the bedroom and are really pleased with the results!

Today Adrienne is out of town but I painted the bathroom and I love the change.

12 Days to our Seattle Road Trip!

NYC Photos at last

2007-08-10T22:37:00.001-07:00

photos on the floor.jpg
Originally uploaded by MikeBladon

Just in time for our trip to Seattle, we're finally putting our New York photos into albums! Then we can move on to the back-log of Emerald Lake photos and clear the queue before we hit the road again.

Roadtrip '07

2007-08-06T00:46:00.000-07:00

We’ve started gearing up for our next trip: Seattle / Gorge Amphitheatre. It started out as a trip to see Dave Matthews Band at the Gorge in Washington State and we decided to add in a few days in Seattle and turn the whole thing into a round-trip road journey.

We booked our hotel last night and are really happy about staying at the Hotel Vintage Park, which is in downtown Seattle and looks really nice!

Emerald Lake

2007-07-12T17:58:00.001-07:00

We went to Emerald Lake Lodge for our anniversary. Lots of photos on flickr.

We made it home!

2007-05-14T17:51:00.001-07:00

Adrienne-and-I-at-Letterman.jpg
Originally uploaded by MikeBladon.

Now that it's all over it seems like it went by so fast! We're back - I for one am feeling rather sleep deprived but doing well. My interview today went great and it sounds like a great job so I hope I get it. Now that I'm home I was able to check out the Letterman show from the night we were there and there's a few frames where you can see us.

So, I know it's quite lame but I had to post a picture.

Last Night NYC

2007-05-12T23:33:00.000-07:00

Well - it's our last night in New York for a while. Adrienne is sound asleep, but I can't sleep tonight so I thought I might as well catch up the blog of the past few days' activities. We haven't really been taking many pictures so you'll have to put up with my descriptions.

On Friday we went back up to the West Side of Central Park, - (Central Park West & 81st Street) to go to the Museum of Natural History and the Planetarium and also to do a little exploring in the neighborhood. We found an excellent restaurant called North West on Columbus avenue just north of 81st, where we had the best waiter either of us could remember, and excellent meals. We sampled some European beers and had coffee to finish off. The beer was poured in the most ceremonious way imaginable and was quite excellent and unique; everything we had was definitely worth the price.

We enjoyed the planetarium show (narrated by Robert Redford) about space collisions and then explored the museum 'til close. We're both surprised how early things shut down here, for a city that supposedly "never sleeps" it seems odd that a major museum should close at 5:45pm and Sak's Fifth Avenue (our next stop) closed at 8pm. After the shopping stop at Sak's we sat in front of Rockefeller Center a little while and then decided in favor of a relaxing evening out and went to see "The Ex" at the movie theatre near our hotel - it was a good time.

Today we went to Canal Street for a different kind of shopping experience; "knock offs"! Where you can buy a beautiful "Cartier" watch with "diamonds" for a mere $50, and if you don't want it the price miraculously drops. I only bought a $5 cell phone case which was my second personal purchase of the entire trip, big spender. The first were pint glasses from Chelsea Brewery. Adrienne bought a necklace and a bag - neither of them sporting any fake brand names, just nice stuff. The necklace is a Tiffany style and the bag is a D&G copy but Adrienne asked for one without the D&G tag. It's lime green with gold circles, pretty nice actually - and a great price.

We decided not to risk discovering anything new in the China Town dining arena so we did what Jarod would do - we went to Subway - very original.

Tonight we did some more shopping, went to Macy's to buy me some underwear since I mis-packed and had run out this morning and then to Victoria Secret, then to H&M and the Sketchers store.

All told on this trip I have bought a couple of glasses ($5 each), a cell phone case ($5), and 3 pairs of underwear ($55). I must say I'm amazed at how budget friendly the trip has been. We got a ton of use out of our Metro Cards ($24 for 7 days unlimited travel) and our CityPasses. Anything that wasn't covered by that had very reasonable prices. Since we didn't partake of any particularly up-scale dinners we didn't spend much more on food than we might have at home!

Adrienne and I have had an amazing time, I'd say it has been a great experience for us - you can really get to know someone in a different way by traveling with them, particularly since this has been our first big trip together.

I'm looking forward to going home, I have a job interview tomorrow (Monday) that I'm looking forward to and have to prepare for on the plane.

- Michael

Fish, bodies and photos galore...

2007-05-10T23:24:00.001-07:00

DSC_0038.jpg
Originally uploaded by MikeBladon.

Today our plan was to head south so we did. We got off at the last stop on the subway line at the World Trade Centre. The site was pretty big, however we both wish it was still up - it must have been an amazing site to see and it filled the sky. Today there was lots of construction being done for the new buildings and I hope that it will look great when it is all done.

Then we sat in a public park for a little while as we had a stop for some water. It is great to see how much green space there is here - including many public parks. We were able to see some snowbird-like planes as well - Mike mentioned that there were some sort of air show around here.

After this short stop, we proceeded to Wall Street where we saw the Stock Exchange, Trump Tower etc. What a great place with lots of small roads and some great old side streets. Police and security are everywhere - all for some added security. Mike and I feel really safe walking around here, no complaints at all, so that is great. Today I have been asked to take picture of 3 people which is quite surprising - I wouldn't have thought that that would have happened in NYC :) People are really friendly here.

Then we kept going to the South Street Seaport where we looked at some boats and were we had a little lunch, It reminded us a lot about eau claire, thought of course at a greater scale. There are many sea taxis and mini-cruised deporting and arriving, it is a very busy place. There are lots of helicopters as well - I hope at some point they were carrying Mr Trump!

Then we kept on walking to see the Brooklyn Bridge, which is followed by the Manhattan Bridge and another bride as well. Lots of very expensive parking along the way is available - most at almost $7 for the first 30 minutes...ouch! Calgary parking doesn't seem so bad now right? Then we kept walking and saw lots of people fishing in the sea. This is not something that I would expect to see, but we did see a catch - the fish was pretty big as well surprisingly.

Then we saw a section of the bike path around the river taped off, and it was closed off by police for a crime scene investigation. I saw the SUV of the medical examiner leave the scene....I will have to check out the newspapers tomorrow to see what was going on.

We then took another subway home, and stopped at Penn Station - our usual stop, however we took a different exit. This exit led us to the old Penn Station where all of the rail trains connect. It was great to see all of the old architecture down there. There was a group of musicians playing which was great as well.

This evening we went to the Chelsea Piers for a dinner at their brewery and then went for some golfing at a multi-level driving range. It is amazing to see that the sports complex and the brewery was all built on some old ship piers. It was quite impressive the size of those buildings. There are driving ranges, skating rinks, courts, gyms etc. What a place. The location is absolutely beautiful just by the shore. Here are some pictures of us golfing :)

I better get to bed now as Mike has fallen asleep as I was composing this blog. Tomorrow we will likely get to some more museums and perhaps a little cruise!

Until later - Adrienne

Encounters with L.Lo

2007-05-10T22:12:00.001-07:00

IMG_0917.jpg
Originally uploaded by MikeBladon.

So right now we owe you all two days of blogs since we have been so busy closing out places at 12am and 2am :)

Yesterday we started out at Macy's trying to find a watch for me. Macy's claims to be the world's largest store with 8 stories. It is two 8 story buildings joined together - the Mens and the Womens which makes lots of sense. There are two Starbucks in it, a McDonalds, Ben & Jerry's and many more food stores. What a busy place - yesterday was a one day sale which meant tons more people were there, service was hard to get, and we had no success finding anything. There were lots of different brands than in Calgary which was nice - however the styles are unique as well.

Then we went to see a Dave Letterman show taping! What a production that is. It is in the Ed Sullivan theatre on Broadway and it was easy to find, just the other side of the street of the subway station. The guests were Lindsay Lohan, Tom Dreesan (comedian) and the musical guests The 'Kooks'. We were in the theatre for about 1:10 which was longer than expected. It was interesting to see that they are still writing and editing the show during the taping and all of the commercial breaks. He only had one section where he did 3 takes and that was great to see. The theatre setting is very intimate and it was great being able to see the show. The band is great and they really got the crowd going. I would recommend a live show taping to anyone - it is great to see behind the scenes. Dave Letterman is shown on CBS which is also host to Survivor - and they had the road closed for parking beside the studio since they were doing the Fiji Season Finale Taping during that day. The theatre is also just around the corner from Hello Deli which we unfortunatly didn't make it too, but it looked great there.

After the taping we strolled down to Times Square to get a different view during the day time. The street is still just as busy, and we even managed to make it to several stores. I bought a few things at Loft (a dress and a shirt) and a great ring by swatch.

Along the strop there are lots of 'Gentlemen's Clubs' as well we noticed, not something that we ventured into.

A funny thing that we saw was a mini NYPD truck which reminded me of an ice-cream truck! It seemed so small and ineffective, however I guess that it must work! We also saw lots of police on horseback which is a great idea. Those horses are so well behaved with all of the noise and lights.

We went back to Macy's in the evening to see if there was anything for Mike, however again no success, the store is overwhelming and you really have to be in a shopping mood for that - not the case for us last night.

We closed the day off with a visit to the Empire State Building and how impressive is that. It is really breath-taking - I realize that it sounds cliched, however that is exactly what it is. It was a wonderfully clear night with no clouds and beautiful weather. You can still hear some of the cars and city street noises, however it is quite breezy up there and my hair was always messy! We went up to the 86th floor outside observatory which was part of our CityPass, and that is all outside. The building is so impressive having being built in the 1930s. We stayed until 2 am, the last ones on the building, the last ones in the elevator - it was great! There are many pictures that were taken so check out a few!

Empire State Bldg.

2007-05-10T09:12:00.001-07:00

DSC_0008.jpg
Originally uploaded by MikeBladon.

No blog post last night because we were at the top of the Empire State Building until closing at 2am - we took lots of interesting pictures which are on flickR now. This afternoon we're going to check out the financial district/Wall St. and SOHO. Possibly head over to Chelsea Piers later in the afternoon too.

Lots of blogging to come!

Day 4: SOLO

2007-05-08T22:08:00.001-07:00

DSC_0186.jpg
Originally uploaded by MikeBladon.

This will be my first solo post since we got here. Adrienne wasn’t up for our usual midnight snack so I’m wandering the streets of New York alone tonight. Or, more accurately, the lobby hallways of the New Yorker hotel – close enough. I’m having a grilled cheese sandwich, strawberry yogurt and a decaf coffee – and I just officially became someone who blogs about what he eats. Enough of that – except to note that I paid as much for a tiny yogurt cup as I usually pay for a big tub of it in Calgary. We’ll have to take a few extras at tomorrow morning’s free breakfast and keep them in the ice bucket.

Today we again started out with breakfast in the Sky Lounge at the hotel (39th floor), Adrienne brought her camera to snap some views. We don’t quite have these views from our room, but our view isn’t bad either.

Then we went to Grand Central Station to explore and have lunch before heading up to the Guggenheim. We really enjoyed seeing it, the scale is amazing – it wasn’t as hard to navigate as we thought it would be either – because there are signs EVERYWHERE. The signs are great too because they’re usually not just the regular kind of sign you’d expect to see, they are individual metal letters on the marble (I think it’s marble) walls. Very classy, much classier than the usual subway station.

The Chrysler building is nearby – actually that’s where we walked out of when we got off the subway to make our way to Grand Central in the first place. It looks more impressive from far away of course – as most things here do… but here’s the close-up.

When we got off the ‘6’ train (yeah, J-Lo’s train) at Lexington and 86th an older very classy lady came up and asked if we needed directions. I said no thanks (we knew where we were going), but Adrienne said yes – so she gave us very nice (and accurate) directions to the Guggenheim and advised me not to be bashful because no one can find their way around this city – “unless you can figure out those maps”. It was cute. The museum is on the east side of Central Park, which is quite a nice, dense residential area. Parking is pretty tough – bumper to bumper – check out the picture. We stopped for a coffee on the way and enjoyed the walk of just a few blocks. Most everything we’ve wanted to do/see has been within a couple blocks of a subway station. We don’t even have to cross a street to get into the Penn Station/34 St. subway from our hotel.

Neither of us was especially impressed by the Guggenheim exhibits – although the building itself was very interesting – unfortunately the exterior façade is under restoration so we couldn’t really appreciate it fully. We did have fun walking around and talking though regardless of the exhibits. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside… and so here are our pictures:

We left and walked up Central Park to The Met – which was much larger and a beautiful building…

It would take a lot longer than the 90 minutes we had before closing to fully appreciate The Met. We didn’t get to see even half of the exhibits so we just wandered around – mostly enjoying the modernism and sculptures. We tried to get to the famous roof garden but they were setting up for a party. We were enjoying it but in the end we figured it was basically the same as any other museum we’ve been to.

It was 5:15 when we left, we sat on the steps outside for about 15 minutes resting our legs and then walked up … to find something to eat. We found a little convenience store with a deli and a great sandwich menu and we each bought a BLT, some freshly squeezed orange juice (surprisingly readily available in the city) and a black and white cookie. We walked back over to Central Park to sit on a bench and eat it. Truly a great way to enjoy an afternoon snack!

Then we walked back to the subway and took it back to the hotel. By the time we got here it was 7:30 and we stayed in for a very relaxing evening. I didn’t even leave until 12:30 for my midnight snack.

I better pay up and go upstairs to bed so I can keep up with Adrienen tomorrow.

Goodnight,
Mike

PS: To date we have 820 photos of the trip.

Shopping and Dining in New York

2007-05-07T19:55:00.001-07:00

DSC_0122.jpg
Originally uploaded by MikeBladon.

We decided to do some exploring/shopping today, but we started out with a free breakfast at the hotel (complaining pays off, again). Breakfast was quite good and then we took the subway uptown to Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street near Rockafeller Center. We went in the NBA store and posed with a life-sized bobble-head of Shaq. The NBA store is HUGE - three floors with every piece of NBA merchandise/memorabelia imaginable - plus free basketball game (we don't know what it's called, the one where the balls keep coming and you just take as many shots as you can for 40 seconds).

Adrienne bought a nice t-shirt at the store and then we went to Rockafeller Center, taking lots of pictures on the way.

We didn't go up to the 'Top of the Rock' observation deck although we may do that some day while we're here - more likely we'll go up to the top of the Empire State Building though instead - we took some great pictures of that last night on our way to dinner at a place called...

Algeria Pizza a.k.a. Amadeus Pizza, a.k.a. Ray's at the Garden, a.k.a. Ray's Pizza - we're not sure what it was called but it's open 24 hours and a very interesting place to go at 12:30 on a Sunday night/Monday morning. We got to observe garbage collection - a couple of garbage trucks came down either side of the street and parallel parked next to the piles of about 40 garbage bags in front of each building. They were gone in a flash. Then we say a little bit of a domestic argument in which a "crazy" woman threw the keys to her boyfriend's double-parked car down the street and stormed off. The car just sat there with the alarm going off for the while time we ate our dinner and looked out the window. We had a pretty good meal, the portions here are hugh - a 'HUGE' BBQ chicken salad, a 'HUGE' slice of pizza and two orders of spaghetti. We had enough left over to have for lunch today.

But I digress :), back to today. NBC is at Rockafeller centre - got some pictures over there - some familiar shots of '30 Rock'. Went to see the NBC store too, what a collection of stuff from all sorts of TV shows from Friends, to The Office, to The Apprentice. One of the highlights of the store was the 'Dwight Bobble-head' from The Office - Mike held back and didn't take out his credit card though we may be back to visit after the Dave Letterman taping ;). We did take a picture too - which is below. Another highlight was seeing an NBC logo filled with $9/lb M&Ms, also pictured below.

After Rockafeller center we wandered around the Fifth Avenue shopping district and of course we had to pay a visit to 'Tiffany and Co.', what a place - home of a $189,500 ring - that was the most expensive single thing we saw a price on but there were definitely other things that would have cost more - with the prices not showing. We also stopped into the Disney Store - where you can buy a $5000 hand painted picture of 'Jack Sparrow' in Pirates of the Caribbean. Again, the credit card remained stowed on this item. There were ONLY three floors in this store so we were pretty disappointed ;). We also passed the biggest 'Build a Bear' workshop in the world - it was empty.

We know at least one fashion blogger who would have been thrilled to see Tiffany, NikeTown, Tourneau, Montblanc, Dior, Chanel, Jil Sander, YSL, LV, Prada, Abercrombie & Fitch, Club Monaco, Piaget, Bulgari, Burberry and Mikimoto from one street corner - well you might need a mirror to see around a corner but you get the idea. The picture is of Adrienne across from Tourneau.

We also went into Niketown and visited all five stories, it occupies an entire building of course - as most of the shops do. No purchases there, which was amazing considering the shoe selection (I'm writing that for Denyse).

Then we went to 'Home Sweet Home', the Apple Store on 5th Avenue. This is the underground one where you enter into a glass cube with an Apple Logo, Mike was quite giddy, remarking 'What other computer company would do something this cool?'. It's easy to see why they are doing so well these days though. We tried (although not very hard) to find and HDTV adapter for the MacBook but didn't find it and there were way too many people at the 'Genius Bars' to talk to anyone about getting new wrist rests so we just looked and left, but it was fun.

Note to Steve Jobs - the duct tape on the floor at the entrance of the cube is NOT COOL ... seriously, disappointed. Happy about the $104 a share stock price though so we'll call it even. There's a really cool glass elevator there which Adrienne tells me is just like the one in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (yes, the one with Johnny Depp) - and there were four security guards outside the cube - one on each corner. When we rode up the elevator a guy in it with us said "Wow - I feel Mad Futuristic in this".

Then we walked over to F.A.O. Schwarz which is just across the way - there you could buy the ugliest $2220 doll either of us had ever seen, or perhaps you were looking for a life-sized stuffed pony or sheep? Yeah, we have those too. We did find some cute, normal sized, stuff bears though but they weren't cute enough. We're discerning shoppers with limited bag-space after all and the Donald Trump bobble-head Mike bought for his mom likes his breathing space. And now for a random picture of a really cool window display ad in the Sony Store for Spider Man 3. Incidentally, last week was officially Return of Spiderman week in NYC.

After that we just had a nice healthy snack at Europa Cafe and took the subway back to the hotel for some relaxation (read: nap). We rode the subway in the height of rush hour and Mike almost fell down the first time it took off and he had nothing to hold on to. It really wasn't any worse than experiences we've had on the C-Train in Calgary though. Still the best transportation deal in town.

We're entrenched in the habit of dining after midnight - right now we're at a place called the Tick Tock Diner, which is open 24 hours a day. We finished our sandwiches and are just soaking in what you might call the "ambiance" right now. Every few minutes we see the water in our glasses rumble a la Jurassic Park as the subway goes by underneath at Penn Station 34th Street.

We saw someone get pulled over outside, hopefully not for honking because that would be a $350 penalty in some parts - not like it stops anyone though. Hopefully we're in for a peaceful night on the 28th floor. We're planning an earlier start tomorrow and will get to bed right after we make some plans for the day.

That's pretty much it for now - all the best to you :).

- Adrienne & Michael

Sunday in Central Park

2007-05-06T17:27:00.001-07:00

NYC-Mike1 - 258.jpg
Originally uploaded by MikeBladon.

Day 2 is going great! We had lunch at a little cafe near the hotel and took some extra chicken/turkey wraps with us to Central Park. We bought MetroCards for the Subway and then had a little adventure finding our way to the park. First we got on the wrong train - so it started off in the right direction but then turned - but we noticed and only went one stop in the wrong direction. Then we got on a train going the correct direction but it was an express train so it went well past the park and we had to backtrack again. We learned how the subways work though and it's a great way to get around. MetroCard is a must have, 7 days unlimited rides for $24!

Then we stopped at a little street festival/market on Central Park West & 81st Street by the Museum of Natural History and Adrienne bought a really nice necklace from a vendor and we gawked at some swanky co-ops :). I could get used to living around there.

Then we crossed the street into Central Park and spent about an hour wandering around getting oriented before we stopped for our picnic from the cafe. Then we walked around for about 4 more hours(!!) checking out as much of the park as we possibly could. At one point we took the subway a couple of stop south so we could see Strawberry Fields and 'The Mall'. At 'The Mall' is where we saw the guy with the pimpin'est bike ever and Adrienne got a picture with him, which is above.

This is Adrienne on The Mall.

A duck came right up to us at the fountain north of The Mall and we got some great close-up pictures of him, here's one.

- Mike, and now some news from my lovely travel buddy.

We also grabbed a bit to eat from a little vendor in the park. Two frozen novelties, a hot dog, and some lemonade. Reasonable pricing as well, and it is well needed when walking around all day. The weather was really great today, not too warm, and not too cool - just right!

As Mike says the Subway is the best way to travel, very quick and efficient, much less stressful than yellow taxis! We saw a sign right across the street from Central Park saying 'No Honking, $350 fine' - and we even heard a few honks right after that - no NYPD around though!

Starbucks today was closed for a meeting - so we went to a 24-hr McDonalds for a quick coffee and bite to eat before heading out for dinner - which is now!
-Adrienne

Until later.....

More on the first day/night

2007-05-06T10:06:00.001-07:00

NYC-Adrienne - 44.jpg
Originally uploaded by MikeBladon.

We slept in and hung around the hotel this morning so I'm just going to post another picture from yesterday before we go buy metro passes and try to find our way up to Central Park.

Last night we walked up to Times Square to find a restaurant and ate at a place called Brooklyn Diner. The food was really excellent - the only weird thing was that the waiter had to move the table so that Adrienne could get to her chair because they have it packed so tight in there. It didn't feel crowded though.

There were lots of sirens last night so I'm glad we're on the 28th floor so it's a little quieter than it might be otherwise. It can't have been too loud if we both managed to sleep in so well! We need to find a place to buy a flat of water though, with all the walking I think I'm already getting dehydrated.

Lots of pics today, it's sunny and warm.

- Mike
---- and now a word from my traveling companion:

Last night was great, it was nice to be able to walk to Times Square - what an experience! There were so many people there walking around taking pictures, observing the signs and all of the lights. You would not want an apartment around there as well.

We went to see the 'M&M World' store. Three floors of anything with the M&M logo on it! There was chocolate, clothing, plates, pens, paper etc. You get the drift! You could purchase any colour of M&M candy you wanted! Aqua, pink, earth tones etc - all for $9 a pound! Ouch! Across the street there is the Hershey store as well, which was not at all comparable. They did have lots of Reece products though, pillows, handbags, T-shirts - I thought that I would buy some for Mike ;) Haha.

Things are great, I am looking forward to getting to the Subway and seeing Central Park. We will try and stop at a deli and get a few things for a picnic over there. It is quite humid over here, so we are keeping hydrated!

Another blog to come soon!

- Adrienne

Upcoming Letterman Guests

2007-05-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

It looks like for the Letterman show we're seeing on Wednesday the guests will be one of these two sets:

Wednesday, May 9
Lindsay Lohan (Georgia Rule)
Comedian Tom Dreesen
The Kooks (CD, "Inside In/Inside Out")

Thursday, May 10
Dr. Phil (CBS Primetime Special, "Caged")
"Jungle" Jack Hanna

We've Arrived!

2007-05-05T16:25:00.001-07:00

NYC 2007 - 35.jpg
Originally uploaded by MikeBladon.

We've arrived safe and sound and checked into our hotel room, which is just that - as expected - a room. WIth a pretty good view though from the 28th floor facing west. I took some pictures out the window which are on flickr.

Adrienne is the perfect travel buddy and we're both having a great time. We had to wait a little while for our hotel room to be ready so we made the most of it by taking a stroll down West 34th Street to 5th Avenue and checked out the Flatiron building. We also partook of a "meal" at Burger King on and below 5th Avenue, where we could have also checked our email because they have computers there too.

We had a lot of time to kill thanks to all the transit time we made up by getting the most insane taxi driver in the city. Brave is an understatement, from La Guardia to midtown Manhattan took about 20 minutes tops. And what a ride :).

We're off to find supper! More pictures to come because we didn't download Adrienne's camera yet.

Photos

2007-05-04T10:40:00.001-07:00

Hi - I made a flickR badge to show off our NYC photos. So far the only one is the map, since we're not there yet... But soon!!!

In less than 24 hours we will be in the air!

2007-05-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

So it is less than 24 hours to go before our flight to NYC :) Things are great, I am getting really excited with all of our plans. So many things to do!

We have a short stopover in Ottawa and then it's off to NYC.

We have money, travel insurance, credit cards, I think that we are good to go!

More updates to come...we will keep you posted!

We're going to Letterman!

2007-05-02T16:44:00.001-07:00

NYC
Originally uploaded by 13badluck13.

It's official - I got the call today that we got two tickets to go see David Letterman filming on Wednesday - a week from today. Sweet!!! I added the theatre to our map.

Today's New York Factoid

2007-04-29T23:31:00.001-07:00

There are 468 subway stations in New York. Check my source.

One week to go!

2007-04-29T23:17:00.001-07:00

I just updated the map with some more places to visit. It's getting extremely close now and I can't wait.

In the meantime I'm on a different kind of vacation in Calgary and still having a great time :).

The countdown is on...

2007-04-29T16:01:00.000-07:00

So here is my first post for our trip to NYC - I am really excited! The things that I most look forward to are:

-spending some relaxing time with nothing to worry about!
-trying to see a live taping of a TV show
-museums and perhaps a broadway or concert
-picnic in Central Park
-golfing on Chelsea Piers

I am looking forward to the flight to New York City, hopefully having a good view of the city and trying to get ourselves oriented about the big city.

I have lots of things left to do when I get back from Ottawa, and I can't wait. I look forward to packing!

This trip for me marks the end of my time as a student, and the start to a new adventurous beginning :)

Our map

2007-04-24T14:15:00.001-07:00

Google Maps/My Maps
Originally uploaded by MikeBladon.

Here's a map (which is a work in progress) showing some of the places we're planning to visit in New York.

As you can see I've got a lot more planning to do(!!!)

Two Weeks to go!

2007-04-21T11:56:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the travel blog!

Two weeks from right now we'll be on a plane from Calgary, AB to New York City and we're very excited!

There's lots more planning to do but I'm lucky to already be on vacation from work so I'll do a lot of research this week.

Some of our top spots to visit are:
Central Park
Wicked (The Musical)
Trump International
The Metropolitan Opera
Museum of Modern Art
The Flatiron Building
Tons of shopping
Canal Street
...