we woke up early and caught an 8:15 am train to nyc. i have never been in penn station before and i happen to be this history freak so i couldnt help but imagine the decades of different people that walked ont he same marble floor as i was imaging who they were and where they were going. i started to talk to my mom about it ... but she jsut didnt get it.

on the way i gazed out the window mainly looking at the grafitti painted almost nonstop all the way to the city. some of these people are real artists.

we got to penn station in nyc and met my aunt uncle and 2 cousins caitlyn and nicole. then we took the subway to the gugenheim art museum. this museum is amazing. my favorite exibits were the top floor (contemporary brazilian sculptures) and this awesome exibit on norman rockwell (my favorite artist next to van gough). his art is so amazing because it captures the moment in peoples eyes that no artist i have ever seen before can capture. hes amazing. my favorite painting was "the discovery" about a little boy who found his dad's santa costume. the look on that kid's face will stick with you forever.

there was also a van gough piece that just made my day.

i love art ... i just wish we got to go to the met.

after that we went out to lunch in this cute little italian cafe. they kept playing this cheesy soap opera-esque music so nicole and i were making up our own soap operas. its interesting how far out there you can go and it still sounds normal in soap opera-ness.

aunt uncle and cousins went home and we were left to wander new york alone. which was actually a bit more fun just teh 4 of us.

we "hiked" through central park. and that just made me want to live there (in nyc that is ... not the park itself) more than ever. i wanted to sit on tha rock over there and read and i wanted to play football over in that field with my friends and i wanted to walk my dog on that path. it was one of the rare moments in my life when i wanted to grow up.

we walked by the turtle pond and there was this adorable old italian couple dancing to music playing on a radio. she was teaching him how to dance and this hobo had joined in mimicking their movenents with himself. its something you would only see in new york. thats why i love it so much.

we visited a part of the park named "strawberry fields" in memory of john lennon who was shot across the street from it. there was this amaxing mosaic circle with the one word "imagine" in the middle of it. there were several flowers neatly arranged, a few notes, 3 guitar picks one yellow, one brown, and one multi-colored, and 1 candle burning there. it was something that didnt make you sad though. it was rather hopeful. i enjoyed that immensly and i wish i had my camera.

we walked the entire length of central park and emerged on near the jeckyl and hyde club ... so we went in for drinks. the place has sadly lost its touch.

then we walked over to times square ... my favorite place in new york. the enery there is amazing. you jsut have to step back, breath, and attempt to take it all in ... which is quite impossible.

after eating roasted almonds and walking by the myv studios, virgin megastore and the new toys r us store (which i might add is breathtaking) we headed to penn station to go home.

"i just want you to tell me when your upset so i know" said the man sitting behind me. he had along handsome face and sophisticated glasses that reflected the glare of his laptop while he talked on the phone to who im assuming was hig girlfriend. i couldnt help but listen to his somewhat nieve remarks to her. i tried to imagine what she looked like and what the situation was.

across from me there was a man who was wearing a blue baseball hat and looked like he hadnt shaved today. he kept glancing over and i imagined he was writing a book and was using the people on the train as his characters.

but my imagination tends to get too far ahead of me.

we arrived back in philadelhia to the pouring rain.

~chels