Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Times Square at Night

I'm back, I'm back. If you haven't caught up on the blog in a few days, I posted twice today, so at the end of this post is even MORE stuff that's new to you!

Aren't I your favorite bloggist ever?!


Everyone: Yes!


(P.S. [Pre-Script] I'm not going to reduce the size of today's photos. If they take a little while to load, I apologize, but you'll see them better.)

So tonight I decided to wander my way up to Times Square to take some pictures at night. My original plan was to walk north along Broadway, because my dorm is on 10th and Broadway. Broadway eventually stretches to 42nd Street where Times Square begins. However, that's a walk of 32 blocks, and nearly 4 miles round trip. Here's the route I took tonight:

Click on the image for a better view. The solid line headed north is how far I walked before deciding that my unlimited subway pass might be a better idea. The dotted line represents the rest of the way that the train took me.

Okay, Let's start at the beginning. I exited my dorm, and walked to the end of the block where 10th St. meets Broadway.

I decided to stop by this gorgeous church right across Broadway to take a couple pictures, as it's sort of lit up at night. Last night as I took a walk down to city hall and back, I could see this church from probably a half mile away. It stands at a bend in Broadway's path, so from Noho and even Soho, you can see this church lit up at night. Most of it, including a beautiful parish, was blocked off, and chained up at night. Sometime during this summer, I'm going to see if they'll allow people inside for photos. It has an Episcopalian flag flying outside during the day, so I'll be interested to see what the inside is like. Here's a view from the outside, though. I'm afraid I haven't studied architecture enough to really comment on what I'm looking at. It's beautiful, though, and that's good enough for me!


I moved further uptown until I reached Union Square. I've noticed this is where those of the East Village (my neighborhood) hang out. The village is the young, trendy section of town occupied by students, and those of my age. Lots of bizarre shops, ethnic restaurants, and various University buildings are in the village. Anyway, as on any night, it seems, the square was full of young people just hanging around.

The park also has some beautiful fountains and statues. I tried taking pictures of some of them, but my cheap digital camera and lack of lighting didn't allow for a very good turnout. Here's a good shot of the side of one statue, though.


I continued north, but made my way back west to catch Broadway. (I had strayed onto Park Avenue) Between the two avenues, there were a line of quiet, trendy restaurants. Outside of one of these, I saw a Porsche that I just had to take a picture of. This was a Porsche Carrera 4S, which retails at $100,000.


After a few more blocks, I realize I've only made it about 1/3 of the way to Times Square, and I've already spent half an hour. I take the stairs down to the nearest subway, hoping it's the same line that rumbles my dorm room. As it turns out, it is, and I wait with a small crowd for a train to take us uptown. Finally, it arrives:



After a couple quick stops, I see signs that say "42nd St." so I hop off the train and walk above ground to see Times Square.


Funny story: The picture that includes me was taken by a family I met and traded photos with. After we had taken pictures of each other with the other party's camera, I asked them where they were from.

The lady said, "Einschland".

They seemed to have accents that sounded vaguely like German, so I asked if that was in Germany. She looked dismayed and said "No, it is like country... like Scandanavia."

I said, "Oh! Which Scandanavian country is it in?"

"No! Is own country!"

Finally it dawned on me that these people were from ICELAND, and I just didn't understand her pronunciation. So we had a laugh at me, as people often do.

Times Square was about as packed with people as I imagine it is 18 hours out of the day. Fleet week is ending, and I caught a pretty telling picture of a Marine saying goodbye.

Any kids reading this might be interested in what I saw across the street. Toys "R" Us has a multi-story toy store. I tried to take some pictures of it from the street, but nothing was really working, so here's a small video clip of this massive toy store.



I grabbed a few more pictures after crossing through the square.

A Messianic Jew playing trumpet, a gigantic array of cameras for sale, and Japanese tourists... All normal things in Times Square.


Finally, it was time to go back. I re-entered the subway, and heard some beautiful cello music. I turned a corner, and there was this performer. I'm not sure what he was doing as a street musician, but compared to some of the musical garbage I've heard on the subway, this guy was a master. And... I kind of like this picture.

I'm headed to work in about 9 hours, so it's time for bed. Enjoy!
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