Fairytale of New York

Just because Sunday was my last full day in New York, did not mean it was any more relaxed or less action-packed. NYF and I started the day with a brisk walk through Central Park to the zoo where we made it just in time to see the feeding of the penguins.

The night before NYF was telling me about how much he enjoys museums and architecture because he loves the amazing history of it all. I get inspired by nature, whether that is when I am lost in a forest or staring into the eyes of another creature. I watched the penguins hop around and swim by. Sometimes they would swim right up to me and I'd just stand there completely captivated. NYF knew the penguins were something I'd want to do, but I don't know if he understood or could understand how much I love to watch animals.

We saw sea lions, monkeys and polar bears--oh my! I wish that I had had batteries for my camera to take pictures. The bears were beautiful and the sea lions were playful and smart. Had it been a lazy and sunny afternoon I could have stayed all day.

After leaving the park, NYF lead us to 5th Ave. We passed the Apple store and then NYF headed for the line up to get into FAO Schwartz.

Stuffed animals of all shapes, sizes and kinds lined the floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Your birthday present is in there," NYF said.

The line moved quickly and so we soon found ourselves inside the over-sized toy box. I put my hands out to touch everything soft and furry.

Somewhere in the middle of the store, NYF guided me to the left. He pointed to a small, red beaked, stuffed penguin and said, "that."

I picked it up and immediately checked the tag to see if it said what kind of penguin it was (I had never heard of a red-beaked one before). It didn't say, but it did give a name, "Peggy." I loved it.

"You want it?" NYF asked.

With my eyes wide open I nodded and gave an emphatic, "yes." I carried the little bird close to me all around the rest of the store.

We went upstairs where they had the Lego and Playmobile sections and then found ourselves in the crowd around the big floor piano. A petite and perky blonde girl, and a much taller guy were preparing to give a performance.

They girl addressed the crowd to get everyone in a cheering and shouting mood. She asked everyone who was proud of where they were from to put their hands up. I put mine up. Then she went around asking where those people were from.

"Winnipeg!" I said when she got to me.

"Connecticut's here! That's awesome!" she said back.

NYF and I immediately looked at each other and laughed.

After the toy store we decided to check out POP Burger. I was immediately enticed by it because it was emitting loud music. Inside the small store, the walls are covered in wood paneling and Andy Warhol prints. I placed my order for the two, bite sized POP burgers, a large cup of onion rings, and a Diet Coke.

Don't be fooled, just because this is a swanky burger place does not mean they have an elite level of staff. The guy taking my order was a bit of a space case.

"Name?" he asked me.

"Jill."

I guess I have some serious kind of accent because apparently New York was not understanding me that day. When I got my receipt the name printed at the top was "GIL".

I laughed and turned to NYF. "Look, I'm Gil from Connecticut!" I came to New York only for a weekend, but I was leaving with a whole new identity.

I asked NYF if this is where posh parents took their kids for lunch after shopping with them at FAO Schwartz.

"No, this is for tourists."

I looked over at an expensive-looking family in the back. I had just assumed they were locals, but I suppose it was entirely possible they were just in for the weekend and showing their kids the local hot spots. Who knows. That's New York.

After lunch we made our way down 5th Ave. The sidewalks were packed with masses of people who all seemed to be moving against us. After having spent a few days negotiating the crowds I was finding I enjoyed the sport of getting through them. I'd search out a clear path and zip to the front at the intersections to gain a few positions. I didn't even look to make sure I hadn't lost NYF because I knew he was close by, and sure enough, at the few clearings we'd meet up again and then the race was back on.

We walked to Bryant Park, which we had checked out the day before, where we were hopefully going to go skating. I was super excited about this.

When we finally got inside, we rented skates and a cubby to put our stuff in. The guy handed NYF and I the same blue plastic skates. I looked at mine and then looked at his. Yup, figure skates.

"What are these?" NYF asked, looking at the spikes coming out of his blades.

"These are figure skates," I said. I looked around and noticed that most men were wearing the same thing, and even some men were wearing authentic men's figure skates that they had actually gone to the store and purchased.

NYF had a lot of questions. "What do you use these for?"

"Jumps and spins and stuff."

"How do you skate with these things?"

"I don't know, I just do."

The rink was small to begin with. I mean, it had to be smaller than an outdoor hockey rink at a community centre. And it was packed with tourists and New Yorkers and one Maple Leafs fan (much to the chagrin of NYF, a true Habs fan) who, on the whole, didn't really know how to skate. Now, I'm not much of a skater myself. I can only go in one direction and I cannot stop. At home I would stick out as a beginner, but here, I like to think I looked pretty darn good.

Truly, as soon as I took my first glide on the ice, I felt at home. Do you ever find yourself in one of those perfect moments when you feel both at total peace and yet totally full of glowing joy? That's about the best I can do to describe what I felt like out there. I don't know why or what it was, but that was my favourite New York moment that I want to relive again and again.

It wasn't too long after we first hit the ice that NYF fell. My first reaction was to call out, "Tooooooe Piiiick!" a la Moira Kelly in The Cutting Edge. But I cut myself off quickly when I remembered that NYF had never seen that movie before, and that he was probably really hurting and not finding the humour in the scene at all.

Once he picked himself up and we started going again I did my best to make him feel better by pointing out all the other guys he was better skater than. I pointed to this one burly black fellow who was clinging dearly to the girls he had propping him up under each arm.

We had to clear the ice for ten minutes or so while they ran the Zamboni over it. I had noticed a few guys wearing what had to be rental hockey skates and asked NYF if he wanted to see if he could trade his skates in for a pair. But he declined. I had to respect his determination and sense of adventure. Or maybe it was a twisted sense of pride. Regardless, it was admirable. Or dumb. One of those.

While we waited for the ice to be cleaned we sat, people watched and cleaned the snow off our our blades. I told NYF about the scene from The Cutting Edge and the whole premise of the movie. (If you are unfamiliar with it, a fault I will overlook, it's a movie about a prissy pairs figure skater who teams up with a former hockey player to get to the Olympics. Hilarity and romance ensue.)

"They start off hating each other," I explain to NYF.

"And then they fall in love?" NYF said.

"Yeah,"I nodded with a hopeless romantic sigh.

A tiny snowball hit my sleeve. I looked over at NYF who was busy looking everywhere but at me.

"Some punk-ass kids are throwing snowballs around here," I said with mock disdain.

"I know!" NYF played along. And right then I saw it, a little flicker of the wide-eyed, playful spirit I had met two years ago. That was probably my second favourite New York moment.

We skated around for a bit longer. It was just like being on the sidewalks--dodging the crowds and losing and finding each other again. Honestly, I was amazed I didn't fall down myself or take out any kids. It was probably the first time in the last two years that I didn't fall at least once.

Eventually, NYF admitted he was getting blisters and sounded like he was ready to move along. After a few more laps I took one last look at the park and the sky scrapers around me and left the ice. I could have stayed out there all day.

"Where are we going now?" I asked.

"The Empire State Building."

NYF suggested I stop in at the Walgreen's to pick up batteries for my camera. I figured I had already missed pictures of the penguins, polar bears, sea lions and skating, so what difference would it make that I'd miss out on a few shots of the city. I bought a pack anyway and we headed up.

The Empire State Building had two surprises for me. The first was the level of security. It was like going through the airport all over again. I had to take off my belt and toss my glass bottle of orange juice.

The second surprise was, I guess I didn't really have a concept of what you come to see at the Empire State Building. The last tall tower I went up was in Calgary and the viewing level was all closed in. I was not expecting that we would be able to step outside to take in the view. So when we got up there, NYF went right outside while I hurried to put my scarf, mitts and jacket back on.

The view was spectacular and I caught it just as the sun was going down. Sad as I am that I don't have pictures from the rest of the day, I am pretty happy with the ones I got that evening.

While on my trip I have to say that I noticed a lot of love around me. There were always people canoodling and getting lost in each other. I'm sure they miss out on a lot of great sights, so it's kind of a shame, really. You just can't go to New York distracted.

While taking some shots of the city and experiencing a windchill that really made me feel at home, I happened to glance behind me and witness a couple get engaged. Figuring that they were not really noticing anything going on around them at that point, I took a picture of them too. This is what love looks like:

I told NYF about it.

"Surrounded by all these tourists out in the cold?" He did not see the appeal. I imagine when he and the future Mrs. NYF get engaged, they will be riding elephants across the Serengeti or something and he will present her with an earth- and socially-friendly bamboo ring. I only hope that should I find myself agreeing to spend the rest of my natural life with someone, I will be some place where we are not so cold that there is a high risk of shaking fingers dropping the ring and watching it roll down a drain or something. That would be unfortunate.

We stood inside for a while, not saying anything and just looking out. This was my last official New York moment, my last night in New York. That weighed heavily on my mind for a bit. NYF was apparently caught up in watching a carabiner attached to a net getting whipped around by the wind. Well that's what he told me anyway.

NYF wanted to grab some Indian take-out food. He asked me what I like and how spicy I liked it. I had to admit that I had never had Indian food before. He ordered some chicken, some rice and some green soupy stuff that he told me was cheese and spinach.

When we got back to his place we ate picnic style on his bed. The food was good, but it made my stomach gurgle.

"Do you want to watch a movie?"

"Sounds good," I said.

We had watched my copy of Elf on Friday night (I think it was Friday), so he asked what else I had. I looked. I had Serendipity. Serendipity is one of my all time favourites but I had only bought a copy of it the week before. I was standing in line at Shoppers Drug Mart buying some hair product when something on the DVD carousel caught my eye. At first I thought it was The Cutting Edge, which I only have a VHS copy of, but it was even more perfect, dare I say, serendipitous, that it was not. It was only $9.99. I grabbed it and went to the next till to pay for it.

"I don't get this movie," the girl at the till said. "Everyone loves it, but I don't get it."

"Oh, it's really good. It's one of my favourites," I said.

"Well, what's it about?"

"It's about the idea that people are meant to be together and it shows all the things they go through and the path they take to get to that moment."

The girl was still not convinced. "But doesn't that happen to everyone?"

I suppose she had a point, but I was not happy to stand there any longer and let this naive and unaware young thing ruin my serendipity. I finished paying and quickly left.

While I had brought Serendipity along to watch on the plane or between planes, I did not think that it was the kind of thing that NYF would have any interest in watching.

"Do you want to watch it?" he asked.

"Do you want to watch it?

"Sure."

So we did. And we tried to pick out all the New York locations. NYF even laughed. Oddly, I enjoyed it less this time than I usually do.

After it ended I said, "I can't believe you didn't eject it after the first ten minutes."

"Guys have a certain level of tolerance for these things."

Then we watched his pick, When Harry Met Sally, which is of course a classic New York movie. I had never seen it all from start to finish and I always wanted to know if Harry and Sally ended up together. When they did, I wanted to throw my socks at the screen.

After that, NYF helped me figure out my bus and subway plans for my return to the airport. It looked easy enough but I was not excited about lugging that suitcase around again. Especially not down NYF's steep stairs.

The next morning I got up before NYF did. I tried to be quiet but every time I do that it seems that I am even more noisy. He woke up at one point and said good morning.

I had to leave his place by eight and I knew he usually got up around 7:30 to get ready for work. But he seemed to be sleeping in this morning so I lugged all my stuff out into the living room and did a double check to ensure I had everything. While going through the pockets of my bag I found my full package of batteries that I had packed. Of course.

I also saw the two other roommates that I had not met when I arrived on Thursday night. I nodded or said hello, but I didn't see the point in getting into introducing myself at this juncture of the trip. At about quarter to I was feeling antsy so I went and peeked into NYF's room.

He was sitting at his piano keyboard, playing something, and looked up with a surprised face. He stood up and we hugged in a courteous manner.

"Thanks for everything," I said.

"Thank you for coming," he said. "Have a safe voyage home."

In the moment, I nearly choked. No, good seeing you again? Hope you had fun? Hope you had a great birthday, this was great? Nope, just all the warmth and sentimentality of a border security guard, like he was reciting from a book titled Common Polite English Expressions to Use with People You Don't Really Like. All I could think was, wow, this must have been an awful five days for him. I must have been an absolutely dreadful pain for him to have around. This must be the end to a beautiful friendship. But later, when I was back home and far away from the magical, sparkly city, I thought about it again and saw it differently. As my grandmother would say, "it's sad, really", but it is what it is.

New York was a fabulous adventure. I am so happy I went and so happy about all the things I saw and did. I am proud that I rode the subway with only a few troubles and that I didn't fail trapeze school. I'd love to go back. I've been bitten.

This also marks the end of my story about NYF (All along I wished I could some how add in a T at the end and call him NYF-T, you know, like NIFF-TY. He would have hated that.) Somewhere around the last post I started to wonder if I should have made him such a feature character in the story, but it's really kind of hard to tell the whole adventure without including him. My impression of him is that he keeps things pretty close inside, which I understand and respect. At the same time though, this is my story and I have a journalist's view of things--nothing is off the record. That goes for me too. I believe that NYF has a caring heart and a beautiful spirit. I hope he did have some fun over the weekend (I'm pretty sure he did). I wish him all the best for his own New York adventure.

Thank you for reading. I hope you have a safe voyage through the Internet.

;)