Part 5, Feb.21, 2007. The Conclusion!

On Wednesday, Feb.21, I had my final lesson with Cornelius, and then took a cab (grumpy driver and broken credit card machine included) to LaGuardia airport.

The lesson was fantastic, almost magical (that's a shout-out to Jayda, because she says "magical" a lot). Cornelius got me to a beautiful high 'A', and it was really good to be able to sing with him again, while feeling a little more relaxed.

(The unfortunate part of the lesson was this: Tony's recording device was set up wrong, so we weren't able to get the lesson on mini-disc. It would have been cool to be able to listen to that lesson again, but it was also cool to just appreciate an experience in the moment, not disregarding any of it, thinking I could listen to it later).

When it came to getting to LaGuardia, I had a plan that involved the C train, and the M60, but I decided to take a cab instead. Thaaat was good times. The cabbie was sort of grumpy, and I ended up being so early for my flight, that I got bored and took a lot of pictures -- for you happy blogreaders to enjoy.








One last note/travel tip: I didn't have any cash to pay for the ride (because I thought I could pay with VISA), and the cabbie was NOT happy with me. Always carry enough cash to pay for a cabin New York.

Ok, here's the pics. Enjoy!







Now, some night shots:






(and this brings my NY trip blog post series to a close).

...THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO...

is basically ALL about the flower maidens.



seriously.

we move the plot ALONG...without us, who would singing songs of mockery to the count?

part...4? Feb.20, 2007!!!

lady liberty!

Today was not a Cornelius day (I can't help but wonder if it should have been? Who knows).

We...no, I got up late (Tony, Elizabeth and David were all up before 7! gah!). Anyway, it was a day for shopping (woohoo $5 pashminas), and sight seeing!

I think we hit up whole foods for lunch...or maybe it was dinner...either way, incredible indian and jamaican food -- WOW!! I haven't had really good 'ethnic' food in quite some time...I miss the incredible "all india sweets" on 49th and Main...

anyway, new york!

We headed down south to chill with lady liberty, and that was fun! It was incredible to be out on the ocean, with the wind and the view -- oooh so beautiful.

Tony can comment about anything else we did together...I think that was about it.

I went adventuring @ night -- down to Lincoln Centre for Met presents, and then to Sal & Carmine's pizza, as recommended by Emily. It was fun. I felt really...natural, being out in the city on my own at night.

Mmmmm.




















"pre-fonatory tuning" -- ask me about it sometime.

PART 3: Feb.19, 2007.

10am: free tickets to a Carnegie hall rehearsal of Francesco Cilea's L'Arlesiana.

12.30pm: Carnegie Hall is FREEZING cold -- I head out to Fifth Ave. to look @ expensive stores, and buy inexpensive Pashmina's.

3pm: arrive @ Cornelius' apartment, observe Christi's lesson.

4pm: my lesson.

6.30pm: Applebee's.

7.30pm: the Met. Verdi's Simon Bocanegra

We had to leave a bit early, and went through a door marked exit...and into a deadend hallway that smelled like weed. THE ONLY WAY OUT was an emergency exit -- and we didn't want to be the idiots to set off the alarm. FORTUNATELY, someone let us back into the theatre, and we left through the front doors.
Christi headed to the Port Authority Bus Station to book it back to Baltimore, and Tony & I headed home to Elizabeth's.

I was reeling from the Cornelius experience (it was unreal), and the opera.

pics:















tomorrow: we make friends with lady Liberty...

PART 2: Feb.18, 2007.

10.00am: (ok, more like 11am) Sunday morning service @ St.Thomas, on fifth ave. (THE Fifth Ave!! ah!).

then:
Starbucks, lunch from Whole Foods (in Columbus Cirlce), back to Elizabeth's to eat, grocery shopping @ Gristede's (?), and walking up to Tryon Park (I think that's what it was called) -- beautiful view of George Washington Bridge.

6.00pm: checkin' out St.John the Divine -- divine it was.

On the way home: THE SEINFELD RESTAURANT. Cool. This city is so famous.

Dinner was chili @ Elizabeth's (she puts beer in it -- very interesting), and chill time.





















tomorrow: lessons with Cornelius...(sadly, no pictures of him, but plenty of recording).

new york: my blogger scrapbook. PART 1: FEB.17, 2007.

Feb.17.

7am: leave for Calgary with Kira.
10.15am: sitting in the airport waiting.
9.20pm: arrive @ LaGuardia, NYC.

pics:

update.

hey ya'll.

i'm back in lethbridge -- here are some pictures of my adventure.

enjoy!

manhattan at night, starring: me!

what up ya'll.

just thought I'd let you know that I adventured myself from 172nd and Ft.Washington on down to Lincoln center (Met Opera presents for some lovely friends), and then back up to 103 & Broadway to get some pizza from Sal & Carmine's (as recommended by Emily Lyall).

here's a fun list:

Stuff I've Learned So Far In New York City (Manhattan):

1. uptown = travelling North in Manhattan, downtown = travelling South in Manhattan.
2. New Jersey is a state. Never move from Manhattan to New Jersey. Seriously. Giving up the dream. Just move back to Canada.
3. Streets run East and West, Avenues run North and South.
4. There is no 99 cent pizza. $2.50 minimum.
5. Walk, don't Run across the streets (unless a cab is literally headed right for you), but do so confidently.
6. New York has 5 Burroughs: Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island.
7. Met Opera singers really aren't the "best". Example: we went and saw Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, and only 1 singer was big enough to handle it.
8. Ellis Island was an immigration processing facility.
9. Times Square makes everything neon -- police station and McDonald's included.
10. I could totally live here. For reals. Subletting Elizabeth's place this summer? ... more likely than finding a genie in a bottle, I can tell you that much.

Ok kids. that's the post for today. 24 hours from now I will be home, or at least in Lethbridge, and all this will be but a dream...

and you'll get more photoblogs.

good times!

ok.peaceout.

big apples, antique toys, and a tall green lady.

!!!!
MY DAY AS A NEW YORK TOURIST...

We took the ferry to Ellis Island/the Statue of Liberty.
$11.50 for a ferry ride out to a famous statue -- not bad hey?

It was incredible to be out on the ocean...ooooh gaaaaaad. Home.

We saw a funny older middle easter man with a nice round pot belly, posing in front of the statue of liberty like an army general.
Very funny.

[Tony now has a...totally believable "nu yo-urk" accent...(teeheeehee)].

We had this really rad starbucks time in midtown (so on 57th and seventh or so). Rather than being rushed and in line, it was totally the westside (vancouver) starbucks experience. Super chill, the barista takes your name, quiet, relaxed, jazz music playing in the background...Mmm. It was beautiful. If I live here, I totally need to find those quiet places. Well, there's probably a lot of them, just not really in midtown.

Sorry about the scattered-ness of all these new york posts. I'm just kind of in a daze here -- trying to experience every moment, but every moment has so many things I could do, so many possibilities...multiphrenia (for all you sociology geeks out there....ok, so there might not be any of you...).

Ok, what else. We hit up this music store over by Carnegie hall, and I bought a Cornelius Reid book (Psyche and Soma), and tony bought a set of Ginistera (sp?) songs for me to sing @ my grad recital.

We ate dinner @ Whole Foods (like Capers, but SO MUCH BETTER!!!!)

We took a lot of pictures. (woot!)

We saw some hot young black men dancing (the positive brothers).

I totally found the train we wanted to take home. And we finally caught the Express train (rather than the "milk run" -- stopping every 6-10 blocks, which is a lot when you're trying to get from 42nd to 172nd).

We went to Apple NYC -- a big glass box with a huge apple hanging above the door -- it's all underground, but with the world's biggest skylight...it was unreal. And so CONSUME! Do I really want an ipod?

We went to FAO Schwartz -- ENORMOUS TOY STORE. I was pretty excited. Tony felt like a pedophile (I guess he's too old to be super excited about toys, and doesn't really have any children to be excited about toys for).

We bought more cheap scarves (thank you street vendors).

I'm going to head to the MET store, and then to Sal & Carmine's pizza -- I might swing through time square, although that's a little (ok, a lot) further away than anywhere else I need to go.

So...today was fun. Lots of walking and running around Manhattan, seeing sights, smelling smells, talking about Cornelius, and singing, and what it will be like when I move here.

I have a lesson tomorrow, and then a marathon over to the airport...total "melinda" style -- why play it safe when the edge provides such a good view?

guess where i am?

Apple Store.

Fifth Ave, New York, New York.

next door is FAO Schwartz.

Across the Street is Central Park. And the Plaza Hotel.

if I move here...life will be far less glamorous, won't it?


Tony the great is to my left, checking his email...in the Fifth Ave, New York, New York Apple store.

isn't life good?

newyork, newyork, newyork...trains, planes, and cheap metropasses!

bus(metro)pass in nyc: $41/30 days/unlimited.
bus pass in lethbridge: $48.50 (student)/month.

!!!!!

Today, Tony and I headed out to starbucks (seriously...every morning this guy, with the coffee, oi), and then Tony went on to Cornelius Reid's apartment(ahhh!!!!!), and I headed downtown, bounded for Carnegie Hall. I had free tickets to a rehearsal of L'Arlesienne(no, that's not it, I'll look that up, anyway), which is a lyric opera, presented (at least this time) in concert style.



Carnegie Hall...@ 57th and 7th Ave, I believe...and next to THE Russian Tea room...anyway, I got to enter through the stage door (a picture of what is yet to come? OH YES!!!), and in I went. Pretty much all the other audience members were over 65, but that's cool. The theatre was freakin' FREEZING, so I only stayed for 2 acts worth of rehearsals. The soprano didn't stun me, actually, no one did, but the tenor was pretty ok. Anyway, it was exciting to be there, just BE there. Carnegie Hall!! ah!

Everything here is so "famous" to me -- the street names (fifth ave, west end ave, broadway [BROADWAY!!!]), the places (trump tower, tiffany's, time squares, the Seinfeld restaurant)-- all of it, all of it is famous. AH!



It's strange too, (but OH SO wonderful) to be back in a big city. Weird going from Lethbridge to New York (I think it would be easier to go from Vancouver to New York, but alas), because Lethbridge is so small, and such a small city -- a very small city attitude about it...anyway, comparatively, New York is incredible, and really, there is no comparison. Ahhh...so much to say, so much to say, so much to say, so much to say...

Ok, after Carnegie Hall, I hit up 5th Ave, for lots of stores that I will never shop in (when there are no price tags...), but lots of $5 Pashmina scarves, $10 wool scarves, $20 "couture" pashmina scarves...holla!!!

5th Ave, then I got a hot dog (pronounced: hawt dawg), and subway'd myself over to the westend home of Mr.Cornelius L. Reid -- vocal pedagogue to the (future) stars.

That lesson...will be a post of its own...

After that, we were off to the METROPOLITAN OPERA, for Simon Bocanegra (Verdi)...I think that will be its own post too, with pictures.



sweet.

Pizza, home, blogging...



I don't really know what to tell you...this is all too unreal and fantastic for me RIGHT NOW.

The best part is...I'm living with 2 cats, sleeping under a down (feather) blanket, and yet -- NO ALLERGIC REACTION.

Go my immune system, go.

yo!

I got a $24 metro card.
andsomepics in the subway.

it's windy and a little cold.

and I was in times square.

and I've had starbucks twice.

I walked by central park -- I'm in Spanish Harlem blogging.

wow.

this life is ... mine.