Mario Comes to NYC

My Swiss mister Mario came to visit me for 10 days earlier this month. It was his first time to the states, so I was really looking forward to showing him around the city. It was a great, great time. We did sooooooo much sightseeing and exploring, it was terrific (and exhausting!). It also served as a really efficient and fun refresher of the city for me.

Here are some of the things we did:
--saw three Broadway shows: Spamalot, Avenue Q and Stomp. I had seen both Ave Q and Stomp before; Spamalot was fun and charming, and hysterical. Nate came with us to Stomp, and we sat in the first row, which was quite the experience. MUCH funnier than I remembered.

--saw two movies: Once, and Stardust. Already saw Once, but it was just as great the second time. Loooooved Stardust.

--attended two sporting events: a Mets game and the U.S. Open Final. Mets are always fun; the Open was an amazing experience. Roger Federer, the champion of that match and of the world, is Swiss, so of course Mario was very excited to see the game.
--went to a Letterman taping. The guests were Jessica Alba, and a band that I never heard of before, but they were pretty cool--Manchester Orchestra.

--went to the Museum of Natural History, where we chilled with the dinosaurs for a bit and went to the IMAX movie, about dinosaurs, of course.

--went to Coney Island, and the New York Aquarium, which is right on the boardwalk. Favorite part: the walrus feeding, by far! :-)
--went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Hadn't done this since I was like, 10, maybe?
--walked across the Brooklyn Bridge at night. My first time ever! There are gorgeous views of Manhattan from there.

--visited Ground Zero on 9/11. Seemed like the right thing to do.

Also, we had dinner in Chinatown, walked around (and bought lunch at) Zabar's, had drinks in the West--and East--Villages, walked around Central Park, went to the United Nations (but the flags were down, so it was a pretty boring sight), walked and shopped on Fifth, and so many other things I completely lost track. All in all, a great time. :-)