New York City Trip 2008

If you read my last post you may wonder what I actually did on my trip. Sine this was my second trip to New York I mostly have already seen the main stuff (the Statue of Liberty, the Met, Times Square, Ground Zero, etc.) I was only missing a few important things.  So in my trip I went to those places and some other places out off the beaten path.

I arrived on Monday afternoon to JFK, it is a nice airport but it takes a lot of time to get to Manhattan due to the high traffic. I checked into my hotel and went to grab dinner at the Empire Diner, it was very good. On Tuesday morning I want to pickup the tickets for the baseball game and checked out the New Yankee Stadium, it is a beauty!Later that day took the 2-hour sightseeing tour of Circle Line, it was OK but far from wonderful, maybe for some first-timer in New York could be good. To end the day, I visited Brooklyn’s Grimaldi’s Pizzeria. Who doesn’t loves pizza, and the pizza in New York is the best I have ever tasted (so far) and Grimaldi’s is one of the top spots in town.

Moving on to Wednesday. In the morning I spent 3+ hours visiting the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), they have some cool art in there. Lunch at the obliged Kat’z Delicatessen, pastrami sandwich. The rest of the day was reserved for the Yankees. Oh my gosh, what a experience that was, definitely one of the best experiences of my life! Since you board the a 4 train packed with fans to The Stadium to the last out of the evening, everything was memorable. The first pitch was made in space aboard the International Space Station. My seats were a little above behind and to the right of the home plate. The Yankees pounded the sox 15-9 in a 4:10 hour game.

Thursday. Grab a doughnut at the Doughnut Plant. Later I visited the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens to see the Cherry Blossoms. Then I went to The New Museum in The Bowery, it is nice but feels like just an art gallery. My lunch for the day was at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park, lovely and delicious place between the trees in the park. Finishing the day was the second Yankees game, seats in the Bleachers. It was a pity that the Yankees lost.

On Friday morning I visited the Upper West Side (H&H Bagels, Zabar’s, and some of the area around them) and Central Park. In Central Park I visited Strawberry Fields, rented a bike and drove the 6+ miles circuit, and rested some in Sheep’s Meadow. In the afternoon went to do some shopping in the 5th Avenue Area. In the evening went to The Blue Note in the Village to enjoy some Jazz.

The last day in the morning went to Chelsea Market, and old Nabisco factory where the Oreo cookie was invented and now it is transformed into a food market and offices. Finished my shopping and packed my things for my flight back to Mexico.

Here are some photos of the trip, hope you liked this post :)

 

PD. Sorry for the LOOOONG delay for this post, no excuses this time. Sorry.

New York City Trip 2008, Part 0

Last month I made a trip to New York City. I really like New York because you have a great amount of things to do, to see, to eat, etc... It was my second trip to NYC and I'll write some posts and upload some photos about it :)

The idea for this trip surged from my wish to see the Yankees play in the Yankee Stadium before they tear it down later this year. It has always been kind of a dream of mine to do that. So after thinking a lot about it I made up my mind to do it. So when the Yankees tickets for this season were made available I was able to buy tickets for two games at The Stadium against the Red Sox! I was so excited, the greatest rivalry of baseball.

So I've made my trip plan (flights, hotel reservations, etc.) around this two games (April 16 and 17).

On the next posts I'll write about the trip itself...

--
Quote of the Day:
It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust
--Samuel Johnson

Yankees, here I come

I have my tickets for the Yankees vs Boston games on April.

I am so, so happy!!

There's Going to Be a Ballpark There, from: Bats - Baseball - New York Times Blog

As I have mentioned before, the Yankee Stadium is scheduled to death. As this baseball season evolves with it's ups and downs for the Yankees there is a looming shadow over the Yankee Stadium, the construction cranes of the new stadium.

I found this post at the Bats Baseball Blog from the New York Times. This post remembers a song from Frank Sinatra called "There Used to be a Ballpark" that reflects on how we will feel in the future when there is no more "The House that Ruth Built". How does someone looking for the tons of memories from the Yankee history would feel like? How can future fathers tell their sons "look over there, that is the home plate that Joe DiMaggio used to bat in"?

I'll leave you with a picture of the construction of the new stadium (click on the picture to go to the post at the New York Times).

 

In the shadow of Yankee Stadium, construction on the team’s new ballpark is underway. (Ruby Washington/The New York Times).

Link to There's Going to Be a Ballpark There - Bats - Baseball - New York Times Blog

Baseball is ON!

Winter is long gone (although in some parts it refuses to leave, see Cleveland last week). April has come and with that the start of the baseball season. Between April and October each team faces a 162-game regular season plus, if they can, the post-season games.

It is too early and I am not that knowledgeable to make predictions about who will go to the post-season and to the World Series, less who is winning it. But I do really hope that my favorite team, the New York Yankees make their way to the postseason and, maybe, win the World Series.

For almost any team a 6 year drought of World Championship can be seen as reasonable time, but for the Yankees (26 times World Champions) it is an eternity! Besides, it would be so cool that the Yankees win a World Series now that the Yankee Stadium has it days counted (see 2008 MLB All*Star Game @ Yankee Stadium (not yet confirmed)).

Although I love baseball and enjoy watching the games, it is difficult (near impossible) to watch every a single baseball game out there. I mean just consider watching 162 games of your team, plus the Home Run Derby, the All*Star Game, and all the postseason (must-see games). I will try to see the most Yankees games that I can and others interesting from other teams, at least one game per week.

2008 MLB All*Star Game @ Yankee Stadium (not yet confirmed)

The Baseball Cathedral, a.k.a. the House that Babe Built, a.k.a "The Stadium", a.k.a. Yankee Stadium is agonizing. And by agonizing I mean that it will be enjoying it's last two seasons in 2007 and 2008 (unless a miracle happens and saves the almost 84 year old stadium). In 2009 Opening day will be played on the "New" Yankee Stadium, just across the street from the Yankee Stadium on the Bronx, NY.

As reported by ESPN.com and some other sources over "the nets" Yankee Stadium has a good chance of hosting the mid-summer baseball classic, the All*Star Game. It is a very exciting news, it will be a great farewell to the most famous stadium in baseball.

If this rumor is confirmed it will mean one thing, start planning and saving up for a visit to the Big Apple on July 2008. I mean, I "must" go to that game.

Under a Cardinal-Red sky...

After a 24 years the Saint Louis Cardinals are the 2006 World Champions. Never favorites in the post-season they battled against the tide to play a great World Series. The so called atomic ant, x-factor or the squirrel, David Eckstein is the MVP of the series, who always plays at 110%.

I specially loved game 4 full of emotion.

I loved a sign on the stadium that said:

Hey "Experts", Tigers in how many?

As a New York Yankees fan I am very pleased with the result, let's just say that is the price of eliminating the Yankees.

St. Louis Cardinals Website