"Ahmed asked if I like the music"-Day 4 in New York

Our final day in New York. After the final breakfast at Evergreen's, Minna shopped Hershey's chocolate store for souvenirs. Then we decided to head to Harlem because Topi wanted to visit the place. I asked the front desk in our hotel if it was safe (maybe I was stuck in the 70s when it wasn't safe for a white person to go to), and they assured us that it was safe during the day time. We went to catch the subway, and we waited and waited...after a rat sighting, the train finally came and we were squished like sardines due to Yankees' game later that day. The train was full of fans. We rode the train to 125th street and got off. There was absolutely nothing to see in Harlem. So we walked towards the Central Park. There we had to say our farewells because Minna's plane back to Finland left a little while later. Topi went with Minna. Topi was headed to Philadelphia for another month. I walked across to the other side of Central Park because I wanted to visit the Guggenheim Museum. Once I got there, there was a HUGE line of people for the tickets. I only lined up for the bathroom, and decided to bag the museum. Took a couple of pictures and kept walking.


The beautiful design of Frank Lloyd Wright.


I wonder if the roof leaks?


Inside of the Guggenheim Museum.

Metropolitan Museum of Art. Wanted to go in, but there were 4 bus loads of people and then some, so I decided to just walk by.

I decided to walk all the way back to the hotel. The whole length of Central Park. Have you ever done that? My walk ended up being 6 miles.

I quickly gathered my things at the hotel and got a cab to JFK. I'm not usually critical of people, but when I encounter rude people, I can't stand it. My cab driver, Ahmed, was Middle Eastern. When he drove to the curb, he glanced at me and after asking to pop the trunk I had to hoist my own luggage to the trunk. Aha! A woman hater, I see. Buddy, your tip just went down! When I sat down, he made it very clear to me that I had to pay the toll and his tip at the end of the trip. I said:"Ok". He had to repeat himself with a LOUD voice (actually yelled at me) "MY TIP IS NOT INCLUDED". I yelled back at him:"I UNDERSTAND, THANK YOU!" See, I have manners, I said Thank You. The trip started. Uneventful until he turned up the Middle Eastern music. When he started singing, I closed my eyes and imagined myself taken away to Casbah in Iraq. There I was sitting in my veil, tapping my finger to this jerk's singing. And then it happened. He asked me if I liked the music. What do you answer a rude cab driver who clearly has a bad day. I said:"Yes, very much so. Your singing is exceptional!" He smiled and turned up the volume, both radio and his singing. I couldn't wait for this trip to end. I was thinking that there was no hand-kissing in the end. And so it wasn't. I think my massaging his Middle Eastern ego got him off his butt because he got my luggage out of the trunk. At farewell, I told him to keep singing.

When our flight left JFK, we were informed by the captain that there might be some turbulence in Denver area. What he failed to mention was that there were actually 3 tornados in the area earlier in the day. I didn't find this out until I looked out the window and witnessed the most amazing lightning storm ever that lasted about an hour, while we took the detour around it. We arrived safely to Salt Lake, and I didn't sleep a wink. Did you think I would?

It was so great to visit with Minna and Topi, and get to know what she had been up to since 1983. Those relationships that we make when we are young are so precious and priceless. We will do this again when Minna's daughter Maija graduates from high school in 8 years. That time we will visit the other coast.

Miles walked: 7

"At the end of the day, you need Patrick"-Day 3 in New York

We woke up to blue skies and temperature in the upper 70s. Happy day! No umbrellas needed today. Our plan today was to hop on the subway and ride it to Battery Park and then walk across the Brooklyn bridge. Our plans changed when we took a wrong subway line, and ended up in Brooklyn first. No sweat.

Today we would:
-Walk across Brooklyn Bridge
-Walk to Ground Zero
-Walk to Battery Park
-Take the Ferry over to Staten Island
-Walk around at Staten Island
-Walk to Wall Street
-Walk to Chinatown
-Walk to Little Italy, SoHo and NoHo.
-End up in Union Square
-Take a cab back to the hotel


At the base of the Brooklyn Bridge


Manhattan Bridge


A park between Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, on the Brooklyn side.

Minna on the Brooklyn Bridge (1.8 miles)

Scenery to the Midtown Manhattan

Getting some ice-cream and cooling off at Ground Zero

Lady Liberty still greets the visitors.

Never seen anything like this.

Minna and Topi on the Staten Island Ferry. It is free!

Wall Street.

The Battle of the Bands. There were two Chinese "bands" in this park in Chinatown. Both ladies in the bands sang beautiful Chinese ballads while the old women played cards and old men played...what else...Chinese Checkers, but not together. There was a clear separation between men and women.

"Can you hear me now?"

At the end of the night, we had dinner at Hollywood Grill. Topi decided to take the subway back to the hotel, while we women opted for a cab. Have you ever received a kiss on your hand from the cab driver? Yes, yes I did.

When we got to the hotel, our room key didn't work. We went down to the front desk 3 times until "Patrick" was called to help. This action that he did was almost like in the movies. He brought the "reader" to get the code for the door. After a while, and talking to us with the most horrendous English accent that nobody else was able to understand than Topi, he was able to unlock the door for us to spend the night in our beds. At the end of the day, you just need a little bit of Patrick to be happy again.

After we got into our room, the night was still young for Minna and Topi, so they decided to go visit the Rockefeller Center, but night for me was old so I went to bed.

Mileage walked: 8 miles.

"Me, Hoity-Toity?"-Day 2 in New York

Umbrellas in hand we walked to the Grand Central Station on Friday morning. It was raining like crazy. I was hoping that it wouldn't rain all day, but at night unfortunately we noticed that our wishes didn't come true. It.rained.all.day!

Amazing thing about the Train Station was that it was very quiet in the main hall, eventhough there were a ton of people. Did you know there is a Whispering Room? Next time when you go to NYC, go find it, but you need a friend to whisper things to. It is pretty fun.


The clock in the main hall.


Me and Minna.


Grand entrance to the terminal.

In the afternoon we decided to go to MoMa. And this is where hoity-toity (hienostelija, suomeksi) comes to play. I was texting Rod that we were at MoMa, and he texted me back:"What is MoMa". I couldn't believe that he didn't know what it was. I guess Business/Entrepreneurship majors don't study or care about art. I gave him a hard time and he simply texted me back saying: "you are a hoity-toity". I thought everyone knew what it was. Rod asked Katie and Steve if they knew, and they didn't know either. Well, I'll be! Maybe I'm just WAY too civilized for my own good. For those who are still in the dark, MoMa is Museum of Modern Art. Every night from 4-8 is a free entry to the museum and because we think that free is good, we went with other million people who thought the same thing.


Jackson Pollock

Andy Warhol

This is what we Finns call "Rätei ja Lumpui". This was literally a huge pile of cotton rags with mirrors, just in case you missed an angle, I guess.

Pablo Picasso

Minna posing as one of the models.

Piet Mondrian

Salvador Dali

Then we came to the "art" piece called "Fillette"-a little girl, and I thought, what the heck is a penis doing hanging from a hook from the ceiling...and it is called WHAT? I'm quite sure that is not art...just anatomy, maybe art anatomy.

After 4 hours of WALKING around the museum and the MoMa store, we were ready for some good food. We stopped by at Lindy's.

This "overstuffed chicken sandwich" is called Britney Spears. Topi said it was juicy like Britney herself. We ended the day with a slice of New York Cheesecake.


Mileage walked: felt like 1,000 but in reality probably only 5.

"Who you gonna call?"-Day 1 in New York City

Each morning we started our day with a hearty breakfast at the "Evergreen Restaurant" just across the street from our hotel. There we heard many languages spoken like Dutch, Finnish and Swedish. What are they all doing here?? From there we started walking the city. And did we ever walk! At the end of each post you will see the mileage. My feet are sore from even thinking about it.


Topi and Minna near Empire State Building.


New York City Public Library. No Ghostbusters seen there.


Ceiling of the library foyer. So beautiful.

Ceiling of the Reading Room in the library...like the Cystine Chapel.

Minna leaning against one of the many marble pillars inside the library.

Then it was lunch time and I called our friend Ali Williams to the rescue. She introduced us to Ressette's Restaurant just off of 5th Avenue and 45 Street. The pizzas were incredible. Mine was free because they messed up, so it was even more delicious. It was so great to see Ali. She seems so happy in NYC.

Ali didn't want to show her face, as you can tell.

Yet again, she did all she could to block the view of her.

Next stop was the St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue. We went inside to see this beautiful place and were in awe of its grandness.

Topi wanted to find this particular bridge at the Central Park. Luckily we saw it on a poster and figured out where it was located from the picture. It was so peaceful there.

Minna and Topi, happy travelers.

All you need is LOVE.

The coolest looking fountain on the 5th Avenue. Looks like a dandelion.

Miles walked: 4

Flying with Tylenol PM-First night toward NYC

PM in Tylenol means Pissed Marja. It is a known fact that I can't sleep when I fly, no matter how long the flight is. Because this particular flight was a red-eye, I thought, I will bring some help along the way to see if I can actually fall asleep. Took two pills and waited and waited. Nothing. Out of the 4 hour flight I was able to gather together 1 hour of some sort of snooziness. I arrived in New York at 5:30 on Thursday morning. Picked up a cab at the curb toward Manhattan. While riding in the cab, I learned that arranged marriages are live and well in America. My destination was the Portland Square Hotel on 47th street and just half a block down from Times Square. Excellent location. I knocked on the door number 711, and I was greeted by my old high school friend, Minna and her son, Topi (he was still asleep). We were the best of friends with Minna in high school and lost touch and have rekindled our friendship a few years ago. We have been planning this trip for a few years now, and now it was reality. Let the FUN begin!

First Sign of Summer

The mop comes off.

Ahh...the cool and breezy feeling.

Jorge's last minute advice to us

It was Jorge's last night with us yesterday before he headed out back home to Mexico this morning. We took him out to eat to celebrate his graduation and also his departure from his second home.

While we were having sushi at Shoga, Rod asked him to give us advice. Here is the solicited advice according to Jorge.

"Alex, keep playing pool and maybe one day you will beat me."

"Rod, keep practicing driving those go-carts, and maybe one day you will beat me."

"Marja, don't swear when you are angry." WHAT THE HE**! At least I swear in English, which happens to be my foreign language and therefore doesn't count or mean anything to me. FROM THE MOUTH OF BABES! I tell ya!


The Last Supper.


Jorge stuffing his face with the Playboy Roll, or was this the Vegas Roll?


Rod and Alex are speechless while enjoying their fishy adventure through the ocean offerings.

We are going to miss Jorge so much.

Memorial Day Fun at Park City

After 9 holes of golf for Rod and Alex, we were ready to drive up to Park City to have a day of fun.

First stop was at the outlet stores for a couple of hours of shopping. Rod cleaned up the stores of all the golf gear, and was very happy with his loot. Jorge wanted to spend his money on clothes for him and his brother Aldo. He was also very successful. Alex went crazy at the Nike store and I also found what I was looking for.

After shopping, we had a mandatory stop for lunch at Logo Lizard and then headed to Main Street Park City.

Dessert time! Jorge enjoying a huge ice cream.


Alex in his element of climbing the light pole.

Then we went to see if the Alpine Slide was open. And it was. No crowds. After contemplating what we should do: Alpine Slide, the Sky Coaster or Zipline, we decided to do the zipline. Unfortunately, it wasn't available anymore because it was so late in the day. So, we decided on the Sky Coaster.

Jorge getting ready to lead the way.

Next up was Alex. Then Rod and I. We shared the sled. BIG MISTAKE! I screamed like a little school girl when we were coming down the steep curves. It was SO scary. Rod didn't push on the brakes at all because he was more focused on laughing and laughing and laughing. At the end he said that my screaming was worth the $20. Next time...I ride ALONE.

We had a fun day together as a family. Only 4 days until Jorge goes home back to Mexico. Sad, sad day.