Mo' Big Apple

So while we were relishing our meal at Dirt Candy, Brad spied a barber shop across the street. We decided that if it was still open after dinner we'd go over and he'd get a trim. He'd been wanting to get his hair cut before we left, but with the craziness of last Thursday, he didn't have a chance. He made it in just in time and since there was a bench outside and it was a nice evening, I sat outdoors and waited. It took a while, but Brad says it was the best cut of his life and the guy even used a straight razor on his neck. (Ha! I've thought of using one sometimes myself!;) Actually straight razors in barber shops are outlawed in our province, perhaps in all of Canada. Who knows, maybe there was a spate of barbershop killings in the 1950s or something.

In any case, after the trim, we made our way back to Chelsea, stopped a corner store and picked up some supplies for breakfast, and went back to our room and crashed.

Here are a few pics of our pad. The room was large, and had a kitchen, all for about $250 a night right in the middle of Chelsea. Not bad at all by New York standards. We have tried to stay at this place in the past, but it was always booked. This time we lucked out.






The next morning, Brad dedided to go for a run with the Front runners group (many large cities have a gay running group and a lot of them are called Front Runners after the book by Patricia Nell Warren.) I decided I'd head up to the Met box office to pick up our tickets for the evening's performance of Sonnambula. We agreed to meet back at the hotel at 1:00 p.m. After getting the tickets, I meandered back down to the Time Warner Building, shopped around a bit and then went to the Whole Foods store in the basement to pick up a sandwich as I was getting peckish. I chose a yummy roasted chicken with pesto, and I got a baguette and some cheese and some wine for later in the afternoon with Brad. The sun had come out and I decided to walk the 30-some blocks south back to the hotel.

Naked dude in the lobby of the Time Warner Building (there was a naked women on the other side). Like the bronze boar in the Florence market, people were rubbing a certain part - for, ummm, good luck, I guess! Works for me! :)


Naked dude's view of The City




Look! Green grass and buds on the trees!! Still lots of snow back home :(


Sunny skies and the Empire State Building


After lunch and a glass of wine with Brad in the room, we made our way downtown to a pier near Wall Street where we caught the free water taxi over to IKEA in Brooklyn. What a great idea! I'm sure the store pulls in A LOT of customers this way making it very worthwhile. It's certainly a terrific way for people to get get out in the harbour and see The City from a different perspective. We're thinking of getting a new bed, so we wanted to see and plop our backsides down in a few that IKEA has on offer. The store was absolutely packed. Have you ever been in an IKEA that isn't? And lots and lots of cute gay boyz and some straight ones, too!





So long Manhattan


Hello IKEA!


Cute boy - gay or straight?


After testing some beds and making our way around the IMMENSE store, Brad bought a new flatwear set and I picked up some Swedish chocolate and coffee and then we took the water taxi back to Manhattan. We hopped on the subway back up to Chelsea, changed for dinner and the opera and ate at a restuarant just around the corner, where we had stopped at on our last trip back in 2004. Intermezzo.

More on our meal there, the opera, and the rest of the trip coming up... Stay tuned!