The City That Never Sleeps

                    In the evening I decided it was the right time to show Times Square. I know, I know, it doesn't seem that special after you spend in the city more than a month.

                    But admit it, the first time you were coming to NYC, unless you've lived here your whole life, you were picturing Times Square full of lights, taxis and people rushing around.                     So I didn't think my aunt was an exclusion, and I brought her to the most touristy spot in NYC on her first night. But, even though you eventually get used to this view, the first impression is always "WOW!"                     And I cant even explain how much I love when people actually get excited about the places I take them.   When we were sitting on the  red  stairs, I saw my aunt's eyes, I noticed how bright they were. I don't know if they were that bright from the surrounding light or from the happiness and excitement. Whatever the answer was, it made me happy. 

                    "We have so much to see!' I kept talking and explaining what we were going to do in a few next days. 'Not sure though, if we have enough time to do everything. I wish there were just 5 more hours in one day!'                    'Well...' - my aunt replied. 'It the city that never sleeps, so how about we follow its craziness, save this time and win't sleep?'                    My aunt actually just actually offered to spend a sleepless night in NYC, Dang, this girl catches up with the craziness of the place pretty fast! As I'm always up for the craziest ideas my friends have, this seemed even pretty normal and legit.                    However, I've never seen the city in such light. Walking down Broadway, we saw drunk old men leaving gentleman's clubs (I have no clue how these places are absolutely invisible in daylight), unreasonably laughing frat boys, girls wearing clothes, main purpose of which was to get your attention. All of this was a different city, I've never seen before. And I was glad to be just a member of audience and not a participant. 
                    4 AM. Coffee shop. The guy there is smiling and looking right into my eyes trying to find the reason of such an early/late visiting. Yeah... who will even think that there are crazy visitors like us.                    

 5.10 AM. Time to get a train to the ferry. We're on subway, laughing and hal-sleeping. I still can't find the reason, why we were that tired! I think it's the poisonous night vibes of the city.                     When we got to the ferry, I spent most of the time sleeping. I swear, I couldn't just open my eyes. People looked at us like something was wrong with us, but come on, they saw much weirder staff in this city!                     But at this point we couldn't just go to the ferry and leave. Of course, we went to see Wall Street Bull.

                     7 AM. "Hey!" - My aunt says, "it's Today Show time now, right? I actually want to see how it's made." It was her only chance to see it, as later it would be weekend. Of course, we went there.                     Looking at everything that was happening there I was just smiling as I knew, that's what I want to do. I could see everything filmed and shot, and at the same time see how it appeared on TV screens in the entire country. The excitement and inspiration I got that morning is very significant. It's just always great to know what you want to do, It;s even better to see that it's happening right by your side, and it's absolutely terrific to know that you'll be able to reach this if you work hard in a couple of years. 
                    

My aunt got sort of infected by my excitement. We were smiling and basically bouncing around seeing the working process around us, At about 9 we left, and finally made it to bed. 

Lupsik in the city. Part 1.

The next few days I spent reviewing my knowledge about the city. I know I haven’t spent that much time in there, but I’ve seen some cool things here, so I was excited to become a guide for my aunt who was coming to visit NYC and me for 4 days. Do I really need to tell you I was excited? I was just pumped.

First of all, I was about to see my aunt, who is not just a relative for me, but a great friend. Secondly, I got a chance to show the city of my dreams to someone I really valued and loved. 4 amazing days of sunshine, butterflies, rainbows and ponies were marked as “Lupsik (this is my aunt’s nickname I gave her as a kid) is coming to the city!”

I called Nick to ask if he’s available on the day my aunt was coming. I just realized at this point that we haven’t talked since we went to the Luna Park. That got me kind of nervous. As it’s been 5 days. Not that I’m the type of girl who can be the overly attached girlfriend, I just always need to know that my friends and family are fine. I don’t need to talk or spend time with them. As soon as I know they’re alright, I’m well too.

I called, and after long 5 beeps the girls’ voice said: “Hi!”

-          “Um, hi. Who is that?”

-          “Vicky”

-          “Whoops, I’m sorry.”

I was surprised, but not that much. I was just happy the person is safe and not dead. And this was, to be honest, the only thing I was worried about. So, apparently, this was the end of my abnormally perfect summer fling.  You have to admit, I’m definitely not a romantic kind of person.

But how happy and excited I was about my aunt visiting! In the very morning I rode to the airport. I think this is the first time for to come pick someone up from the airport. Usually, I’m the one who people drop and pick up there. After chilling there for a while, I saw the sign that finally changed from “In the air” to “Landed.”

Whenever you wait for something the minutes go by slower than hours. I was looking through the glass to see if she was coming.

Isn't she pretty?

“Lindik!” – it was so weird to hear this voice I knew my whole life that close and not on Skype where I’ve been hearing it for the past few months. We hugged, and I knew, my family, even though it was just a part of it, was here, with me. I don’t usually miss anybody that much in everyday life, but whenever I finally get to meet people I’m always so happy and it gets very hard to believe I’ve lived without them by my side for that long.

Lupsik told me that she followed the first trip suggestion for NYC properly – she listened to “New York, New York” while the plane was landing. On AirTrain we were talking non-stop, or maybe I was, because, you know, Linda loves talking.

Yep, our waitress spilled coffee.
After working in serving business,
I don't blame her :D

I felt kind of bad, because the first real NYC thing my aunt saw was the rat in subway. But I knew, it’s going to be ok as New York City has so much to show, that the rats are really not a big deal. And, it’s good, from some point, as the rats run away only from the soaking ship. NYC, though, was the strongest and the most powerful ship, I’ve ever been to.

We started our cruise right away from the very bottom of Manhattan – SoHo. I just didn’t feel like Times Square our first stop, as it’s too much of a tourist cliché. We walked down the streets, going to shops and looking at the cute little (relatively) buildings which are not very usual for the city.

After that I told my aunt that while our visit, she has to try three things, which, in my opinion, you have to try in this city: pizza, cheese cake, bagel and Central Park hot dog.

The first food-spot I showed to my aunt was “Fanelli Café.” I’ve never been there before, but I know that, if the place is Zagat rated, it’s going to be great. Yelp results were right that the service wasn’t that great, the only waitress working was trying to serve the entire place by herself which made her pretty grumpy.

However, it didn’t ruin the experience. The place was just wonderful with the atmosphere of old America. And the cheesecake? It was amazing! Absolutely, totally, completely AMAZING! The coffee went well with it, and this hour at “Fanelli Café” stayed in my head as a remarkable food experience I will never forget.