Return to the Very Large Apple

Canada doesn't celebrate the 4th of July. And that just would not do. So, since we had a 4-day weekend at work because of Canada Day, we took off Thursday night for NYC again, this time with David's sister Katie.

The drive to New York is about 9 hours from Toronto. We wanted to leave early in the afternoon so we'd get there by midnight. But we didn't end up leaving until 6, so it was...late...when we finally got there and we were a little dead the next day.

We did, however, manage to get into the city by late afternoon on Friday. We explored Chinatown a bit and ate some great chinese food and some crazy-flavored ice cream, then went up to Radio City Music Hall to catch a performance of Cirque de Soleil's Zarkana. Soooo trippy. The acts were amazing, crazy amazing. The clowns were creepy. And the in between stuff...well, I guess it was supposed to be some kind of a story tying everything together. We had no idea what was going on, but it didn't matter — we just ignored those parts and I think the show was better for it :). 

 The next day we went to the MOMA again and then met David's cousin Brian and his friend in the city. We went to dinner at a cute little French restaurant in Chelsey. It had a garden patio out back and the food was fantastic and the waiters were really French. So that was nifty. Then we found a bakery and we shared the best napolean I've ever had. I never thought I liked napoleans. But I do.

 On Sunday, we chilled. David and I went to the Portuguese branch, which was fun. Then we had a great Sunday dinner at home and Katie and David made a blueberry pie that was freaking delicious.

And Monday was the 4th of July! We all went to breakfast at a little pancake factory close to Phil's apartment and then he drove us into the city. David and I sat in the back of his Volvo, top down, listening to Daft Punk, the subwoofer pounding the bass beat into our backs. It was sort of epic, driving around the city like that. Phil showed us David's babyhood home on the Upper West Side, we drove through Central Park, and then Phil dropped the three of us off at the zoo.

 I love zoos. The Central Park is pretty small and it was super packed, being a holiday and all, but it was really fun.

 I especially liked the polar bear. He kept swimming up to the side, flipping around and pushing off the glass towards the other side of his pool. It was adorable. I hear polar bears aren't as cute when you're face to face with one in the wild. I don't know. I bet Sarah Palin does, though.

 Look at his cute little paws :).

 After the zoo, we walked through the park to the Museum of Natural History, which was awesome. We saw a lot of fossils and then went to the special brain exhibit they were having, also awesome.

 Afterward, we got Mega Missiles from a popsicle stand (I think it's funny that the Americana popsicle is called "The Mega Missile") and went back to Phil's apartment. David's other cousin who lives in Jersey with her family came over to watch the fireworks and eat hamburgers and another blueberry pie and homemade blueberry ice cream. It was bah-freaking-licious and the fireworks were amazing, even though we only saw a slice of them through buildings.

 Katie making her seal face :).