New York Report: Part 1
It’s a loooong trip review, you might get lost bored. But I want to write everything down so that I can remember this most fabulous trip in details as much as possible. Feel free to skip and only look at the pics. I've posted a bunch on Flickr already but reposting some here, especially the ones with my fellow LJ fangirls for most are friends only on Flickr.
Warning: May contain *squeeee*-ing, definitely a huge amount of happiness, much love for The Gale and fangirlyness. ;)
Day 1
Arrival
We both had travelled pretty much all day long and we were so tired, yet so excited. When I was in the bus the night before I kept telling myself than in less than 48 hours I would see HIM, and every time I would grin stupidly. Of happiness and of "shit, is that truly happening?" You bet it is.
I went to wait for The Berry at JFK, and I need to mention that the subway station you need to stop at to get there is none other than HOWARD beach. Just saying. That trip had fate written all over it. Finally my Berry arrived and it just felt right immediately, you know. No awkwardness, weirdness or anything you might feel when meeting someone for the first time. It was like I was meeting a friend I just haven’t seen for a very long time. We got to the hostel aaaall the way up Manhattan (128th st!), left our luggage in our room (luggages are the worst part of travelling grrr) and went back aaall the way down to Times Square to walk around a bit and enjoy our first night in town.
Times Square. So shiny! It was quite foggy that day as you can see (or actually can't see).
The Christmas Tree at the Rockefeller Center.
Angels in front of the tree. Pretty.
Introduction to Gale
Then come the silly part really. We were to see the show on Saturday afternoon, and I don’t know why in our little? fangirls heads we didn’t even actually plan on trying seeing him before. Huh? I know. So we’re walking around, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue... and finally we stop at some deli place to grab something to eat. When... we turn around (and smile, and this is when I knew why Debbie calls you Sunshine) and see The Clock. The Clock with The Time. (No shit) It was around 9 p.m. so I ask Elz when the play usually ends because well... we’re pretty close, maybe we could get there and wish he would come out, out of the theatre at least that is.
So obviously we do walk to the theatre and there Elz prove me she had some kind of Gale!dar going on because she immediately noticed him going out of the theatre at the same time we were arriving. It was... weird. Surreal. I can’t possibly remember what I thought, what I felt. I don’t think anything was working anymore in my body for a brief moment. How many times did we watched him on TV, on movie, interviews... but always through a screen, and there he is, right HERE, in the flesh, before our eyes (and our- eeeeyes.) (nope, I won't be getting tired of that line any time soon :P)
The main thing I’ll remember about that moment is when we were standing in front of the theatre, away from the main crowd, and after finishing signing autographs he left right in our direction. He was walking straight toward us. It probably lasted about 2 seconds in the actual world, but in my mind it was like the whole world just stopped turning (seriously, that sounds so fangirlish I know but it did felt like it) and that brief moment lasted ages. All I could manage to think was holy pork chop HE’s coming right here, do we move, do we just randomly jump on him, what do I do, what do I do? I didn’t do anything, I just stayed there frozen to the ground and he finally turned to go toward 47th St. That was an... interesting way to be introduced to The Gale. Intense, definitely.
This night we returned to the hostel in a very, very happy mood. I think this is when we made our very fangirly voice post. Wait, they were all fangirly anyway.
Day 2
The Big Day!
But first, let's note that it was insanely hot for january. Proof:
He's wearing a shirt. In january. Wtf.
We arrived at the theatre earlier hoping we might get to see him going inside the theatre, but I remember us thinking we were probably too late, it was something like 1:30 already. Anyway, we just sat down and waited, Elz focusing on 47th St, me on 46th St (we’re so efficient omg). And that’s when it happened, when HE came along. I wish I had any talents as a writer, had the right words to describe what it might feel like when he’s there, when you see him, when you’re in his presence. I wish I also had the words to describe him; I have so many things to say yet so little way to do so.
He finally arrived, and yet another thing that made this trip incredibly perfect and had me thinking The Berry is my lucky charm, he seemed to hesitate as to which way of that fountain (was it a fountain though? Whatever, right.) he should take, which one seems to have the less fangirls? A little group of people had just taken seat there a moment ago, and that was lucky for us, he decided to choose our side. *makes little grin à la Justin in 512 when he gets to have his flowers* It was a matter of seconds again, he kept his eyes facing the ground (and our shoes... my poor poor shoes oooh), but yet it was intense all the same, after all it’s HIM! I could get a quick glimpse of his eyes and...yeah see I seriously lack of vocabulary, there’s something about his eyes I can’t describe. It’s said eyes are the windows of the soul, or something, and there’s so much in his eyes, so much depth, that just looking at him makes the whole saying true.
I wrote a bit about the play in the previous post so I’ll skip that part.
First encounter with The Gale!
After the play we got our very first encounter with him. My Gale. Saying we were stressed is an understatement. This is so weird when you think about it, how a person can make you feel so excited yet stressed, how you completely lose your mind and have actually difficulties thinking in their presence. Anyway we didn’t faint or pass out or anything, for which I’m incredibly proud of. I managed to talk to him, ask him to sign a playbill for my best friend Lucie first, to which he replied “French right?”. YES! Then he signed one for me, I had a little trouble spelling my name for a second though, you’re standing right next to Gale Harold and you have to remember the pronunciation of letters in a foreign language, try that.
First hug!
Then comes the moment when my mouth just worked without my mind agreeing first, nor even thinking, but you know what I’m so fucking proud of my mouth for suddenly having some desire of its own. I really didn’t think at that moment, it just came out, I quickly brought Elz closer and asked him if we could get a hug. Pretty please say yes. He did say YES. *fans self* The trouble is I pretty much have no recollection of that precious moment, it was probably too much for my mind to handle, I remember the whole encounter before but I can't exactly remember the moment I was in his arms. In. His. Arms. Which is sad in a way but since we got to hug him twice *GRINS* I have the souvenirs of the next one. Wheeee.
Angry!Gale
This is also the day we got not only to meet him for the first time, meet a very nice and adorable Gale, but also meet a very pissed off Gale. Both are a very, very sexy sight. There was this guy taking pictures, even though the security guard had warned people, as we would hear him say so every nights, that no pictures of mister Gale Howard Harold were allowed. You can't blame someone for trying though. And even though I was a bit pissed at the guy for pissing off The Gale, I was glad he pissed off The Gale, if that makes any sense.
When he signs for people he's a bit bent over to talk to people, and it seems like he just doesn't stand completely straight, as if he was trying not to bring too much attention to himself somehow (which is a lost cause my dear Gale when you see how stunning you look, short or not there's no way one can not notice you). When he saw a flash, he just stood pretty quickly, he was much taller suddenly, and looking at his eyes you could tell that mister Harold wasn't pleased, at all. He argued a bit with the guy, telling him not to take photographs and to delete the ones he took I believe (you can't possibly expect me to recall the whole conversation when you're standing next to a incredibly sexy pissed off Gale Harold). The guy argued back, and this is when Gale delivered that now famous - for us! - line: "What about my feelings?". Right?! WHAT ABOUT HIS FEELINGS YOU LITTLE SHIT! Then all the fangirls started beating the shit out of that guy. Maybe not. That could have been a possibility though.
It ruined a little the whole atmosphere and the moment, but we saw him pissed and that was one very, very sexy pissed off Gale. We saw him not pissed the following days so it doesn't matter that much anyway.
LJ encounters
This is the day we met Katie cuemypulse, and her friend, Hannah I believe? We also met sexy_pumpkin when we got back to the theater on the evening to see him again.
I love that our common obsession passion brought us all together, you get there to meet him but it also gives you the opportunity to meet all those other wonderful fangirls and *squee* with them all. Having no fellow QaF fans amongst my "real life" friends in Montreal, it's such a wonderful feeling to actually be able to talk about all this and share this with people who know exactly what you mean and how you feel. And to whom you can start saying things such as You know, you may think you know... and that will end up the sentence for you. XD Or people with whom you can keep on quoting some lines of the show and that will totally understand and reply with another one. *sigh*
Brooklyn Bridge
Before going back to the theater in the evening, we enjoyed a very pleasant walk along the Brooklyn Bridge and in the Financial District:
Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge
I love that picture and especially Elz's expression there. We have WE'VE JUST MET GALE HAROLD AND BEEN HUGGED BY HIM written all accross our forehead.
I love that bridge
Liberty Avenue Street
The NY stock Exchange buidling. Americans seem to love their flag, can you tell?
We ended up our very, very wonderful day at Emmett's lol, where we had a nice cocktail and a most pleasant chat about him and the show and well, how HAPPY we were. :D This whole trip was so full of happiness, we would wake up every morning and tell each other how happy we were, then repeat it several times on our way to the subway station and well pretty much all day long in fact. That's such a great feeling, crazy how a single human being can induce so much happiness.
Day 3
As pretty much every day during this week, we took it easy in the morning; let ourselves get some good rest to be top shape and ready to pace up and down the streets of Manhattan. We went to the Whole Food Market on Union Square because hello, having breakfast while looking at the Empire State Building and the life going on on 14th St through the window is quite awesome. I could sit there all day long just to watch people, they’re all meta-fascinating in their own way, you know. Plus the food at the Whole Food Market is ten kind of amazing. They need to open a store in Montreal. Maybe not, or I might just stop cooking.
Next we stopped at The Strand bookstore to try and see if we could get our hands on Ayn’s Rand The Fountainhead but no such luck. Gale already bought them all! ;) We’ve been so lucky during that whole trip that I won’t complain for one little no luck for once hey. We got our hands on it later on anyway.
Central Park
We then spent quite a long time walking around in Central Park, visiting Strawberry Fields with the Imagine Mosaic and then just enjoying what has to be one of the most beautiful and pleasant park I’ve ever set a foot in. It’s not only the area itself but the life you find there, people walking around, being peaceful and enjoying the moment, people dancing, skating, playing music. There’s such a speshul and pleasant atmosphere floating around.
Strawberry Fields, the Imagine mosaic
Enjoying the winter sun
We are so happy for us. It's true, we are.
That park is so beautiful
The Doc Martens anecdote
That would also be the day when my in-serious-need-of-a-makeover-beloved-Docs were spotted by that man in the street polishing shoes; he saw them and started shouting something like “omg look at those Docs! I want to do them! Come on!”. Me: turning probably ten shades of red and trying to get myself and my Docs away fast. It’s just that the thought of sitting there and having someone working at my feet really embarrasses me. So my poor Docs are still in need of serious intensive care, but I love them just the way they are. Later in the week someone made the very same comment on the street. That’s the kind of little anecdote I like to remember, that’s so random I love it.
Broken hearted
We sort of made an unforgivable fangirls mistake (alright, I’m being a little over dramatic here) when we did not checked prior of our trip the schedule for SLS. That night, as we would keep on doing every single night for the upcoming week, we got to the theatre past 9pm to try and get a glimpse of The Gale. The thing is, there was only a show in the afternoon that day, so imagine our confusion when there was not a single soul waiting outside the theatre for the man, nor the usual security guy. Our hearts? Broken. Our souls, devastated. We had been seeing the man for the first time something like 48 hours ago, and yet we missed him already. Even more considering the fact we knew there wouldn’t be any play the next day.
That has to be the day we walked to The Apple Store and realized why it was so hard to find an internet café in this town. Why would you pay to use internet when you just have to get to this store and a ton of pretty-ful shiny computers are just waiting for you to try them, for free?! *hugs dear Apple store*
Day 4
paddies day!
We had the very nice opportunity to meet with whom I’d consider one of the most beloved person in the fandom. :) We had such a great time. She’s such a nice and interesting person; it was a pleasure to meet her. I loved the fact that we would all talk about Gale, QaF, fandom… sure we always do so, but online, and I find it so amazing to being able to interact the same way with “real” people as I mentinned earlier. Being in a café and just joking about Gale’s speshulness and how Randy would kill you if you call him Justin is priceless. Gale needs to do some play again so we can have this kind of fangirls gathering again, I’ll miss it so much until then!
We walked around a bit in the neighbourhood and Gio suggested we enter that funky looking store. That whole trip is the proof that everything happens for a reason seriously. That's when Elz saw The Hat:
We had quite a good laugh about how this was Gale’s hat and how the one bearing a gun would be perfect for Randy. After some joking around we finally decided to do iiiit, getting the hat for Mister Howard as a joke, hoping he would actually get a kick out of it. It was very funny while we were in the store and during the whole week actually, picturing his face when we would hand it to him and he would see the leaf. It wasn’t quite that funny, try stressful and embarrassing!, when it was time to offer it though. I should talk about it later.
Around the East Village
Fangirls gathering! That would be me, Elz and Gio. :D
Staten Island Ferry
Paddies had to leave for the airport so we said goodbye and kept on walking around a bit then, seeing how fast the sun was getting down, rushed to the Staten Island Ferry station to try and get the ferry to see the sunset from there. Lucky. Fucking lucky I tell you. When we arrived they were already boarding and it didn’t take very long for the ferry to leave the dock. I don’t know why I came back to Montreal without Elz you know, who would abandon their most efficient lucky charm?! The view of the sunset, its reflection on the water and on the building of the financial district, the silhouette of the Statue of Liberty away and the birds surrounding the boat… beeyouteefool. So beautiful this could probably be classified as a Galesome moment *nods*.
Washington Square Arch (and the Empire State in the back)
Sunset from the ferry
View of the Financial District from the boat
The Statue
Manhattan from afar
Lights of Manhattan on our way back
Greenwich Village
Back in Manhattan we headed to Greenwich Village, so this year I could finally take a pic of the GAY STREET sign *giggles*. We tried to find some coffee shop to get warmer (after the unusual temperatures of the previous Saturday the weather was starting to finally get to its senses and come back to a normal January one), and I learned that borrowing a guide from 2004 is not a good idea at all for that city since cafés or other places seem to disappear from one year to the other. But we finally found a nice place where we stayed, I don’t know, hours. It was such a wonderful evening. I love Elz so fucking much. She’s fascinating… in a meta-fascinating kind of way, you know? And once you start talking it’s like, you start talking (you know). It was such a speshul evening, I absolutely loved listening to you, your thoughts, your beliefs, and it was amazing how at ease I was feeling and how I could share what I wouldn’t usually share like that. You’re so made of Gael Howard and I love you so very much. :)
Forget about 5th avenue, I want to move there and have Gay Street in my mail adress.
Our dorm
We went back to the hostel finally and took advantage of the fact no one was back in the room yet to take a few pictures and videos.
It was quite a spacious room compared to the one I shared with my friends last year, and it's only 15$ (so you can spend 10 days in the city for the price of one night in a regular hotel moo ha ha). I LOVE hostels. We met that Japanese guy with whom we had a very nice chat. That's what I love most about backpackers places, you get to meet and interact with people coming from all over the world, you get to share your culture and your travel experiences, it can really teach you a lot in the end.
The Teddy Bear. There was also this guy sharing our dorm, that we never got to properly meet. Every night we would come back to the room and he wouldn't be there, and when we'd leave in the morning, he would always be still fast asleep. However we got to meet his teddy bear with whom he shared his bed every night, the bear secured tightly in his arms. That's... pretty unusual. For someone to be bringing his teddy bear in a hostel for one thing, and to see this tough guy sleeping with this little white fluffy thing. Huh, interesting.
Because we HAD to try it on and have much fun with our finding soon to be Gale property hehe. It turns out the hat is quite small, and we're not sure it even fit him, but it's not like we were expecting him to actually wear it. Well we truly hope he does and we one day end up seeing pictures of him wearing it (I would die of major happiness if this was to happen), but it was more for the joke and the sake of offering him something really.
Day 5
The UN
We went to the United Nations building so that I could send some mails; they have a UN post office with UN stamps since it’s an international territory and not the US per se, so you have your mail sent from the UN and not the USA basically. I love that kind of things, I’m such a geek I know.
Flags of the countries members of the UN. I love flags.
The main buidling
Midtown
We then went to Grand Central, the amazingly beautiful New York Public Library, Brian Bryant Park, and down 5th avenue to go see the Flatiron Building.
The Chrysler buidling on our way to Grand Central
Grand Central. I'm pleased with the way the picture turned out, how I managed to keep it still enough not to have a blurry result but catch the movement of people walking around the hall.
NY public library
You set foot in that beautiful hall and you want to study seriously
Ice skating at Bryant Park
The Flatiron Building
SLS & The Gale, take 2
It was almost 72 long, hard, hours (sometimes... deep into the night) since we’ve last seen Mr Harold, talk about major withdrawal there. So to make us feel much (much!!) better, we decided not only to go to the theatre waiting for him to come out, but to get to see the play again. Why not, they have half price student fares, it would be too bad not to take advantage of it, at least I paid my ISIC for something. We got good seats, much closer than the previous ones to begin with, and we were on the left side, so not far from him when he would deliver the last line.
That evening we had such a pleasant encounter with him again, that's the night I felt like we really meet him, the true him, we had more time to talk to him and connect with him and see how incredibly nice and adorable the man is. I could have left the city that night and still be the happiest person on earth for having talked to him like this. Luckily there were more days to our trip and more faaaabulous encounters waiting for us!
In the next episode! My Wifey joins us, we meet him again, we meet more fellow LJ fangirls and we live the city as the happiest fangirls ever.
Warning: May contain *squeeee*-ing, definitely a huge amount of happiness, much love for The Gale and fangirlyness. ;)
Day 1
Arrival
We both had travelled pretty much all day long and we were so tired, yet so excited. When I was in the bus the night before I kept telling myself than in less than 48 hours I would see HIM, and every time I would grin stupidly. Of happiness and of "shit, is that truly happening?" You bet it is.
I went to wait for The Berry at JFK, and I need to mention that the subway station you need to stop at to get there is none other than HOWARD beach. Just saying. That trip had fate written all over it. Finally my Berry arrived and it just felt right immediately, you know. No awkwardness, weirdness or anything you might feel when meeting someone for the first time. It was like I was meeting a friend I just haven’t seen for a very long time. We got to the hostel aaaall the way up Manhattan (128th st!), left our luggage in our room (luggages are the worst part of travelling grrr) and went back aaall the way down to Times Square to walk around a bit and enjoy our first night in town.
Times Square. So shiny! It was quite foggy that day as you can see (or actually can't see).
The Christmas Tree at the Rockefeller Center.
Angels in front of the tree. Pretty.
Introduction to Gale
Then come the silly part really. We were to see the show on Saturday afternoon, and I don’t know why in our little? fangirls heads we didn’t even actually plan on trying seeing him before. Huh? I know. So we’re walking around, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue... and finally we stop at some deli place to grab something to eat. When... we turn around (and smile, and this is when I knew why Debbie calls you Sunshine) and see The Clock. The Clock with The Time. (No shit) It was around 9 p.m. so I ask Elz when the play usually ends because well... we’re pretty close, maybe we could get there and wish he would come out, out of the theatre at least that is.
So obviously we do walk to the theatre and there Elz prove me she had some kind of Gale!dar going on because she immediately noticed him going out of the theatre at the same time we were arriving. It was... weird. Surreal. I can’t possibly remember what I thought, what I felt. I don’t think anything was working anymore in my body for a brief moment. How many times did we watched him on TV, on movie, interviews... but always through a screen, and there he is, right HERE, in the flesh, before our eyes (and our- eeeeyes.) (nope, I won't be getting tired of that line any time soon :P)
The main thing I’ll remember about that moment is when we were standing in front of the theatre, away from the main crowd, and after finishing signing autographs he left right in our direction. He was walking straight toward us. It probably lasted about 2 seconds in the actual world, but in my mind it was like the whole world just stopped turning (seriously, that sounds so fangirlish I know but it did felt like it) and that brief moment lasted ages. All I could manage to think was holy pork chop HE’s coming right here, do we move, do we just randomly jump on him, what do I do, what do I do? I didn’t do anything, I just stayed there frozen to the ground and he finally turned to go toward 47th St. That was an... interesting way to be introduced to The Gale. Intense, definitely.
This night we returned to the hostel in a very, very happy mood. I think this is when we made our very fangirly voice post. Wait, they were all fangirly anyway.
Day 2
The Big Day!
But first, let's note that it was insanely hot for january. Proof:
He's wearing a shirt. In january. Wtf.
We arrived at the theatre earlier hoping we might get to see him going inside the theatre, but I remember us thinking we were probably too late, it was something like 1:30 already. Anyway, we just sat down and waited, Elz focusing on 47th St, me on 46th St (we’re so efficient omg). And that’s when it happened, when HE came along. I wish I had any talents as a writer, had the right words to describe what it might feel like when he’s there, when you see him, when you’re in his presence. I wish I also had the words to describe him; I have so many things to say yet so little way to do so.
He finally arrived, and yet another thing that made this trip incredibly perfect and had me thinking The Berry is my lucky charm, he seemed to hesitate as to which way of that fountain (was it a fountain though? Whatever, right.) he should take, which one seems to have the less fangirls? A little group of people had just taken seat there a moment ago, and that was lucky for us, he decided to choose our side. *makes little grin à la Justin in 512 when he gets to have his flowers* It was a matter of seconds again, he kept his eyes facing the ground (and our shoes... my poor poor shoes oooh), but yet it was intense all the same, after all it’s HIM! I could get a quick glimpse of his eyes and...yeah see I seriously lack of vocabulary, there’s something about his eyes I can’t describe. It’s said eyes are the windows of the soul, or something, and there’s so much in his eyes, so much depth, that just looking at him makes the whole saying true.
I wrote a bit about the play in the previous post so I’ll skip that part.
First encounter with The Gale!
After the play we got our very first encounter with him. My Gale. Saying we were stressed is an understatement. This is so weird when you think about it, how a person can make you feel so excited yet stressed, how you completely lose your mind and have actually difficulties thinking in their presence. Anyway we didn’t faint or pass out or anything, for which I’m incredibly proud of. I managed to talk to him, ask him to sign a playbill for my best friend Lucie first, to which he replied “French right?”. YES! Then he signed one for me, I had a little trouble spelling my name for a second though, you’re standing right next to Gale Harold and you have to remember the pronunciation of letters in a foreign language, try that.
First hug!
Then comes the moment when my mouth just worked without my mind agreeing first, nor even thinking, but you know what I’m so fucking proud of my mouth for suddenly having some desire of its own. I really didn’t think at that moment, it just came out, I quickly brought Elz closer and asked him if we could get a hug. Pretty please say yes. He did say YES. *fans self* The trouble is I pretty much have no recollection of that precious moment, it was probably too much for my mind to handle, I remember the whole encounter before but I can't exactly remember the moment I was in his arms. In. His. Arms. Which is sad in a way but since we got to hug him twice *GRINS* I have the souvenirs of the next one. Wheeee.
Angry!Gale
This is also the day we got not only to meet him for the first time, meet a very nice and adorable Gale, but also meet a very pissed off Gale. Both are a very, very sexy sight. There was this guy taking pictures, even though the security guard had warned people, as we would hear him say so every nights, that no pictures of mister Gale Howard Harold were allowed. You can't blame someone for trying though. And even though I was a bit pissed at the guy for pissing off The Gale, I was glad he pissed off The Gale, if that makes any sense.
When he signs for people he's a bit bent over to talk to people, and it seems like he just doesn't stand completely straight, as if he was trying not to bring too much attention to himself somehow (which is a lost cause my dear Gale when you see how stunning you look, short or not there's no way one can not notice you). When he saw a flash, he just stood pretty quickly, he was much taller suddenly, and looking at his eyes you could tell that mister Harold wasn't pleased, at all. He argued a bit with the guy, telling him not to take photographs and to delete the ones he took I believe (you can't possibly expect me to recall the whole conversation when you're standing next to a incredibly sexy pissed off Gale Harold). The guy argued back, and this is when Gale delivered that now famous - for us! - line: "What about my feelings?". Right?! WHAT ABOUT HIS FEELINGS YOU LITTLE SHIT! Then all the fangirls started beating the shit out of that guy. Maybe not. That could have been a possibility though.
It ruined a little the whole atmosphere and the moment, but we saw him pissed and that was one very, very sexy pissed off Gale. We saw him not pissed the following days so it doesn't matter that much anyway.
LJ encounters
This is the day we met Katie cuemypulse, and her friend, Hannah I believe? We also met sexy_pumpkin when we got back to the theater on the evening to see him again.
I love that our common obsession passion brought us all together, you get there to meet him but it also gives you the opportunity to meet all those other wonderful fangirls and *squee* with them all. Having no fellow QaF fans amongst my "real life" friends in Montreal, it's such a wonderful feeling to actually be able to talk about all this and share this with people who know exactly what you mean and how you feel. And to whom you can start saying things such as You know, you may think you know... and that will end up the sentence for you. XD Or people with whom you can keep on quoting some lines of the show and that will totally understand and reply with another one. *sigh*
Brooklyn Bridge
Before going back to the theater in the evening, we enjoyed a very pleasant walk along the Brooklyn Bridge and in the Financial District:
Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge
I love that picture and especially Elz's expression there. We have WE'VE JUST MET GALE HAROLD AND BEEN HUGGED BY HIM written all accross our forehead.
I love that bridge
Liberty Avenue Street
The NY stock Exchange buidling. Americans seem to love their flag, can you tell?
We ended up our very, very wonderful day at Emmett's lol, where we had a nice cocktail and a most pleasant chat about him and the show and well, how HAPPY we were. :D This whole trip was so full of happiness, we would wake up every morning and tell each other how happy we were, then repeat it several times on our way to the subway station and well pretty much all day long in fact. That's such a great feeling, crazy how a single human being can induce so much happiness.
Day 3
As pretty much every day during this week, we took it easy in the morning; let ourselves get some good rest to be top shape and ready to pace up and down the streets of Manhattan. We went to the Whole Food Market on Union Square because hello, having breakfast while looking at the Empire State Building and the life going on on 14th St through the window is quite awesome. I could sit there all day long just to watch people, they’re all meta-fascinating in their own way, you know. Plus the food at the Whole Food Market is ten kind of amazing. They need to open a store in Montreal. Maybe not, or I might just stop cooking.
Next we stopped at The Strand bookstore to try and see if we could get our hands on Ayn’s Rand The Fountainhead but no such luck. Gale already bought them all! ;) We’ve been so lucky during that whole trip that I won’t complain for one little no luck for once hey. We got our hands on it later on anyway.
Central Park
We then spent quite a long time walking around in Central Park, visiting Strawberry Fields with the Imagine Mosaic and then just enjoying what has to be one of the most beautiful and pleasant park I’ve ever set a foot in. It’s not only the area itself but the life you find there, people walking around, being peaceful and enjoying the moment, people dancing, skating, playing music. There’s such a speshul and pleasant atmosphere floating around.
Strawberry Fields, the Imagine mosaic
Enjoying the winter sun
We are so happy for us. It's true, we are.
That park is so beautiful
The Doc Martens anecdote
That would also be the day when my in-serious-need-of-a-makeover-beloved-Docs were spotted by that man in the street polishing shoes; he saw them and started shouting something like “omg look at those Docs! I want to do them! Come on!”. Me: turning probably ten shades of red and trying to get myself and my Docs away fast. It’s just that the thought of sitting there and having someone working at my feet really embarrasses me. So my poor Docs are still in need of serious intensive care, but I love them just the way they are. Later in the week someone made the very same comment on the street. That’s the kind of little anecdote I like to remember, that’s so random I love it.
Broken hearted
We sort of made an unforgivable fangirls mistake (alright, I’m being a little over dramatic here) when we did not checked prior of our trip the schedule for SLS. That night, as we would keep on doing every single night for the upcoming week, we got to the theatre past 9pm to try and get a glimpse of The Gale. The thing is, there was only a show in the afternoon that day, so imagine our confusion when there was not a single soul waiting outside the theatre for the man, nor the usual security guy. Our hearts? Broken. Our souls, devastated. We had been seeing the man for the first time something like 48 hours ago, and yet we missed him already. Even more considering the fact we knew there wouldn’t be any play the next day.
That has to be the day we walked to The Apple Store and realized why it was so hard to find an internet café in this town. Why would you pay to use internet when you just have to get to this store and a ton of pretty-ful shiny computers are just waiting for you to try them, for free?! *hugs dear Apple store*
Day 4
paddies day!
We had the very nice opportunity to meet with whom I’d consider one of the most beloved person in the fandom. :) We had such a great time. She’s such a nice and interesting person; it was a pleasure to meet her. I loved the fact that we would all talk about Gale, QaF, fandom… sure we always do so, but online, and I find it so amazing to being able to interact the same way with “real” people as I mentinned earlier. Being in a café and just joking about Gale’s speshulness and how Randy would kill you if you call him Justin is priceless. Gale needs to do some play again so we can have this kind of fangirls gathering again, I’ll miss it so much until then!
We walked around a bit in the neighbourhood and Gio suggested we enter that funky looking store. That whole trip is the proof that everything happens for a reason seriously. That's when Elz saw The Hat:
We had quite a good laugh about how this was Gale’s hat and how the one bearing a gun would be perfect for Randy. After some joking around we finally decided to do iiiit, getting the hat for Mister Howard as a joke, hoping he would actually get a kick out of it. It was very funny while we were in the store and during the whole week actually, picturing his face when we would hand it to him and he would see the leaf. It wasn’t quite that funny, try stressful and embarrassing!, when it was time to offer it though. I should talk about it later.
Around the East Village
Fangirls gathering! That would be me, Elz and Gio. :D
Staten Island Ferry
Paddies had to leave for the airport so we said goodbye and kept on walking around a bit then, seeing how fast the sun was getting down, rushed to the Staten Island Ferry station to try and get the ferry to see the sunset from there. Lucky. Fucking lucky I tell you. When we arrived they were already boarding and it didn’t take very long for the ferry to leave the dock. I don’t know why I came back to Montreal without Elz you know, who would abandon their most efficient lucky charm?! The view of the sunset, its reflection on the water and on the building of the financial district, the silhouette of the Statue of Liberty away and the birds surrounding the boat… beeyouteefool. So beautiful this could probably be classified as a Galesome moment *nods*.
Washington Square Arch (and the Empire State in the back)
Sunset from the ferry
View of the Financial District from the boat
The Statue
Manhattan from afar
Lights of Manhattan on our way back
Greenwich Village
Back in Manhattan we headed to Greenwich Village, so this year I could finally take a pic of the GAY STREET sign *giggles*. We tried to find some coffee shop to get warmer (after the unusual temperatures of the previous Saturday the weather was starting to finally get to its senses and come back to a normal January one), and I learned that borrowing a guide from 2004 is not a good idea at all for that city since cafés or other places seem to disappear from one year to the other. But we finally found a nice place where we stayed, I don’t know, hours. It was such a wonderful evening. I love Elz so fucking much. She’s fascinating… in a meta-fascinating kind of way, you know? And once you start talking it’s like, you start talking (you know). It was such a speshul evening, I absolutely loved listening to you, your thoughts, your beliefs, and it was amazing how at ease I was feeling and how I could share what I wouldn’t usually share like that. You’re so made of Gael Howard and I love you so very much. :)
Forget about 5th avenue, I want to move there and have Gay Street in my mail adress.
Our dorm
We went back to the hostel finally and took advantage of the fact no one was back in the room yet to take a few pictures and videos.
It was quite a spacious room compared to the one I shared with my friends last year, and it's only 15$ (so you can spend 10 days in the city for the price of one night in a regular hotel moo ha ha). I LOVE hostels. We met that Japanese guy with whom we had a very nice chat. That's what I love most about backpackers places, you get to meet and interact with people coming from all over the world, you get to share your culture and your travel experiences, it can really teach you a lot in the end.
The Teddy Bear. There was also this guy sharing our dorm, that we never got to properly meet. Every night we would come back to the room and he wouldn't be there, and when we'd leave in the morning, he would always be still fast asleep. However we got to meet his teddy bear with whom he shared his bed every night, the bear secured tightly in his arms. That's... pretty unusual. For someone to be bringing his teddy bear in a hostel for one thing, and to see this tough guy sleeping with this little white fluffy thing. Huh, interesting.
Because we HAD to try it on and have much fun with our finding soon to be Gale property hehe. It turns out the hat is quite small, and we're not sure it even fit him, but it's not like we were expecting him to actually wear it. Well we truly hope he does and we one day end up seeing pictures of him wearing it (I would die of major happiness if this was to happen), but it was more for the joke and the sake of offering him something really.
Day 5
The UN
We went to the United Nations building so that I could send some mails; they have a UN post office with UN stamps since it’s an international territory and not the US per se, so you have your mail sent from the UN and not the USA basically. I love that kind of things, I’m such a geek I know.
Flags of the countries members of the UN. I love flags.
The main buidling
Midtown
We then went to Grand Central, the amazingly beautiful New York Public Library, Brian Bryant Park, and down 5th avenue to go see the Flatiron Building.
The Chrysler buidling on our way to Grand Central
Grand Central. I'm pleased with the way the picture turned out, how I managed to keep it still enough not to have a blurry result but catch the movement of people walking around the hall.
NY public library
You set foot in that beautiful hall and you want to study seriously
Ice skating at Bryant Park
The Flatiron Building
SLS & The Gale, take 2
It was almost 72 long, hard, hours (sometimes... deep into the night) since we’ve last seen Mr Harold, talk about major withdrawal there. So to make us feel much (much!!) better, we decided not only to go to the theatre waiting for him to come out, but to get to see the play again. Why not, they have half price student fares, it would be too bad not to take advantage of it, at least I paid my ISIC for something. We got good seats, much closer than the previous ones to begin with, and we were on the left side, so not far from him when he would deliver the last line.
That evening we had such a pleasant encounter with him again, that's the night I felt like we really meet him, the true him, we had more time to talk to him and connect with him and see how incredibly nice and adorable the man is. I could have left the city that night and still be the happiest person on earth for having talked to him like this. Luckily there were more days to our trip and more faaaabulous encounters waiting for us!
In the next episode! My Wifey joins us, we meet him again, we meet more fellow LJ fangirls and we live the city as the happiest fangirls ever.