My encounter with a rat (a trip report from Christmas)

My encounter with a rat- No not my ex husband but a real rat.

Thanks to all who replied on my previous post about how to get my excitement back about my up coming trip to NYC after my husband wanting a divorce with one month out till the trip.

Well the trip went ahead and no I didn鈥檛 push him off the Brooklyn bridge which I told the guy at immigration in San Francisco I might do. He had asked me if I was travelling alone to which I told him the story of breaking up with husband but coming on trip. He told me he didn鈥檛 want to see my on the news while I was here and to have good trip.

Left San Francisco hotel at 6.30am to get 9.17am flight to JFK. We had a confirmed seat on the plane just awaiting a seat number. We never got on the plane as it was over booked. United airlines ended up compenstating us with a $500 check. We were then put on a plane to fly to LAX to fly to New York. (They upgraded us to first class from Lax to JFK.) The plane arrived at midnight so made a long day but a great start to the holiday to see snow on the

ground.

The hotel I stayed at was On the Ave in the upper west side. Great location and easy subway ride to anywhere you wanted to go. The room was fine and not small as I had expected it to be by NYC.

Took a cab to our hotel and shared the cost with a German guy we had met earlier in san Franacisco who was in the same situation as us.

Check in was easy and was told that I was unsuccessful in getting a BAG. Not to worry it meant I could sleep in the next day.

Day one:

First up brunch at a little dinner across the road from the hotel called Manhattan Dinner (open 24 hours). Snow was on the ground so it made walking interesting, I had visions of falling onto my backside.

Headed to central park and got lots of great photos with the snow. The park looked magical all decked out in snow. Spend a bit of time wondering around the grounds taking in the park.

Headed off to find out where grease was and pick up tickets at the will call box for that nights performance. I had always wanted to see Grease on Broadway and was pleased I got the chance. It wasn鈥檛 as great as other shows I have seen though. I did get to met Ace Young after the show at the stage door.

Day 2;

A slice of Brooklyn Pizza tour. The day was FREEZING cold the coldest day of my life. It was also cold for the people from Toronto so it was damn cold.

I enjoyed this tour as it was a tour of Brooklyn as well as pizza places. The best part was turning up to Grimaldis and not having to wait for a table. This place was quite small and has only 1 coal fired oven that is heated to 900 degrees , and the pizza only needs to be in for 2min and 45 seconds. It was very yummy and my favourite pizza of the day. Frank Sinatra apparently went there whenever he was in town - and it was his fav pizza in all of nyc.

Tried the Shake shack for dinner, I had taken a couple of bites of my burger and it wasn鈥檛 cooked probably. It was still raw. I took it back and got a refund. They offered me another burger but it had put me off my burger. I did like their cheesy fries.

Day 3:

Today was a beautiful day so took advantage to walk the Brooklyn bridge. The view from up there is amazing. I loved walking this bridge. Very icy and snowy up there so took a bit longer to walk than normal.

Ice hockey game day at Madison square gardens. What a great sport to watch this was my first ice hockey game and it was awesome. The action was so fast at times I couldn鈥檛 keep up where the puck was.

Day 4:

Today we had brunch at the Manhattan Diner for the second time on this trip- During the lunch I noticed a guy side on who I thought was Anthony Michael Hall, (former child star turned producer and Dead zone actor). I wasnt too sure so got dave the ex to look he I confirmed it was him - so I went and said hi - he was very nice and asked me where I was from, I told him I loved him in 16 candles as it is one of my favorite movies, he told me that the city was his home,and aksed how I was liking it. I told him I like NYC and was going to see the Radio city Christmas show that night, he told me I would like it and also thanked me for coming over and saying hi. It really made my trip meeting him as he such a cool guy.

Had dinner in the restaurants new hotel.

Christmas day:

What a bust this day was. Not the Christmas day I had planned when booking this trip. The ex and I got into a fight on the way to Kennedy鈥檚 he threatened to leave me to have Christmas lunch by myself. When we got to Kennedy鈥檚 he had the nerve to say can鈥檛 you at least pretend you are having a good time. Kennedy鈥檚 was decorated beautifully for the holidays with fire place going, decorations and carols playing. The lunch was huge and I had the turkey options. After that we took the staten Island ferry ride to take in the views of Manhattan. Dinner we had Chinese down the road from hotel at a place called 鈥楾he cottage鈥? Saw Ben Stillers new movie then called it a night.

Karma baby鈥? I woke about 5.00am to the ex spewing his guts out, (not hung over) food poisoning I think but he thinks it was some bug he picked up. He was up 5 times throughout the night throwing up and doing other things. He was so crook he missed the early bus he had booked the other day to go to Philly to stay with his mate. He ended up taking the later bus which I had orgnially booked months back.

Turns out philly wasn鈥檛 that much fun as couldn鈥檛 drink as he was still recovering from his illness.

My first day alone in the city. I grabbed a fruit salad punnett from Westsdie Market and went to central park to have brunch. I sat and watched the people and took in the park. It was lovely being their by myself without any plan to my day. I decided to explore the village. I then headed to times square to try the tks booth to see a Broadway show. While standing in line I met a girl called Aliesha from Australia ( who lives in London) who was visiting by herself. We decided to get tickets to the same show together then headed off to get a late lunch/early dinner. We had a few wines to many about 5 each and had a great time talking about my situation and live in genearl. We ended up seeing Hairspray. That was a great night and I have a couple of photos to remember it by.

Next day I did more exploring this time around the east village. I then headed to tkts again and was approached while in the line to buy half price tickets so did to Altar Boys. The show is harlious. I loved it would see it again. It didn鈥檛 hurt that I was sitting next to a cute guy either. (He may have been gay as he had seen the show before and was by himself).

Dave got back from Philly later in the day and just made the opening of Avenue Q. That show is very funny who knew puppets could be so entertaining.

Got in another fight with Dave (what a surprise there..) I found out more information the day before the trip when I found some letters she had written him. They had their first kiss as Boyfriend/girlfriend on the 30 october (he still denies this, thinks she wrote the date down wrong) Turns out he had bought her some new boots which she was wearing at the concert we went to on the 14 november (he broke up with me on the 20 November). The fight was caused by him always texting her, emailing her or messaging her. I called him a loser which he didn鈥檛 like and her a few choice names like slapper and harlot. (after all if you are hanging out with a married man and taking gifts what are you). And me wanting to know if those were the boots she had on at the concert that he bought her. I had asked him on the way to Christmas lunch what colour boots did you buy her. And then I asked him if she had them on at the concert which he wouldn鈥檛 answer. I kept on at him till he snapped and confessed yes they were the boots.

NYE:

I ended up spending NYE by myself. The plan had been to spend it was Dave and his best mate and his girlfriend who were coming up from Philly. The first thing he said to me when he got back from Philly was so what are your NYE plans? I said hanging out with you and Nick, Phinny like we had planned.

That day I got brunch and bought it back to the hotel to eat. Dave got ready and then started to head out the door saying see you in the morning. ( I took that as my que that I wasn鈥檛 invited).

I headed down to Times square (which is not what I had planned) but who wants to wondering central park by themselves looking for fireworks not me. It was damn cold there. Crazy with police everywhere but hey at least I can say I was there. I wasn鈥檛 sitting alone by myself I was talking to two girls from Canada.

1 january:

More sightseeing as well as doing top of the rock. That place has great views. I loved it up there. I could have spent hours up their admiring the view. I think I tookd photos from every angel.

Last night in NYC:

Saw spamalot which I had booked tickets for months ago as part of the ex Christmas present. It was okay, it wasn鈥檛 as bad as it thought it would be seeing that I don鈥檛 personally like Monthy Phython stuff.

What else I did:

Natural history museum

Shopped and many other things i can%26#39;t think of at the moment.

Got back to New Zealand today at 5.00am it is now 2.49pm and I am holding out to last to bed time.

I think my next trip to NYC will be in the summer time. I have yet to experience a summer there.

Oh yeah. Nearly forgot my encoutner with the 4 legged rat. I had seen a couple of rats on the train lines so from then on never looked down at the tracks as I HATE rats.

I had just come down the stairs of the 79th st stop and was walking to the turnstile when I see this rat to the side of me. I froze after letting out a swear word and waiting to see where it was going. It was going the way i needed to go so needless to say I got the hell out of there back up the steps to the top. A guy who had been on the other side of the turnstile thought it was a great laugh he told me his cousin doesn%26#39;t like rats either. I walked down to the 72nd street stop and caught the next train.

My encounter with a rat (a trip report from Christmas)

Don%26#39;t know if I should laugh or cry..what an adventure Kiwigal! Must say, blue-blood here and have never had one escort me although pretty much a daily occurance when looking down at the tracks! What a share..Enjoy!

My encounter with a rat (a trip report from Christmas)

Kiwi ..... now I%26#39;m confused ..... so when you say ..... ';I had just come down the stairs of the 79th st stop and was walking to the turnstile when I see this rat to the side of me. I froze after letting out a swear word and waiting to see where it was going.'; ..... ah ..... so are you still talking about your ex or are you talking about Chuck E. Cheese?

Maybe you should have titled this your encounter with two rats - your ex and the real rat...

I dont think I would have been gracious enough to still go on a holiday together including sharing a hotel room! You have guts, girl! Hope you had a great time in NY!

You should see how many rats are in the elementary I teach in in the south Bronx. Rats and mice of all sizes, LOL. Let me tell ya, it really makes you want to eat lunch when you see them scurrying around the cafeteria!

It must have been tough to spend a trip with someone you%26#39;re divorcing, but I admire you for going on the trip anyway and try to make the best with him. Maybe next time you can come to NYC with some of your girlfriends :-)

Your report is hilarious.

You should have dumped your ex once you got the NYC and gone off with the German guy - lol.

It sounds like you had a great time and it%26#39;s good to hear you are planning on returning. NYC is addictive.

Great Trip report, thanks for the laugh.

Well done girl.

Great trip report.

Thanks for posting such a fantastic trip report! It sounds like you had fun despite the circumstances!

I hope 2009 is good to you!!