Votika

I learned something from my friend Robert last time I visited in his home town city of New York.  I usually stay with him when I’m in the city, but he had moved into such a small apartment so I decided to find a room.  I had sold a few paintings, and had a bit of money to spend, but not much.  I prefer the funky places, be they hotels, cafes, restaurants or just that part of a city, the eclectic neighborhood.  My trip was to be a tour of the vintage and thrift shops, as well as the street markets and artsy boutiques.  This is what I was also looking for in my hotel accommodations and found that here, a thoroughly unique, and friendly place to come home from a day of haggling on the streets.

Oh…haggling, that is what I learned from my friend on this last trip, how to get the most for my money, and come home with some incredible treasures to boot.  The thing is, that I’m just not that comfortable haggling.  I grew up in Phoenix and we would many times cross the border into Mexico to find the incredible ceramics, blankets and jewelry that they sell on the streets, and I have never been able to haggle.  The vendors recognize me and smile when they see me approach.  The thing is, the vendors in Mexico are kind, and most of time soft spoken.  This is what I was worried about, as in New York, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone soft spoken, so it was trial by fire…haggling with the best of best.

As it turned out, for most of the day Robert did the talking, and because of him I did end up with quite a few vintage and used treasures, from a 1920’s hat, to a purse that apparently belonged to the sister of the friend of the uncle who opened the famous Belasco Theatre.  I had no idea who that was, but I had at least a bit of an idea…it had belonged to someone with a name and most of my things had belonged to strangers.  My last purchase of the day was a green, jeweled choker.  A piece of beautiful costume jewelry with an elaborate butterfly as the centerpiece.  The great thing was I haggled and I wasn’t even trying to do so.  I asked the man “how much?”  He said, “$20.”  I only had $10 left, and so I told him that and began to walk away.  He called my back and said, “Okay, $10!”  I couldn’t believe it.  Robert thought I was brilliant.  I haven’t told him yet that I wasn’t really haggling.  I’ll let him sit with me being brilliant, just for a little while.

Even given the popularity of the corporate theme parks around the world such as Disneyland, Disneyworld, Sea World, and Six Flags, many people still choose to visit the long standing and historically significant New York theme park, Coney Island.  Coney Island is located just outside of the Brooklyn borough and conveniently accessible through a short train ride.  Many of the visitors to this area of the city, find the hotel which will perfectly suit their needs by looking here.  The site offers options not just for the neighborhood of Brooklyn but for the entire city of Manhattan.

Summer travel to the city, and summer travel for those living in the city, often includes a least a few trips to the boardwalk, to the sun and the surf, and the roller coasters, as a price that is much more affordable for those seeking get-aways this year.  This is one of the most beloved resorts and amusement parks in history, and while it may not be pristine, it is a walk through the history and a walk in the millions who have had fun, experienced the sights, and performed on the boardwalk for almost a century.  It is a bit of carnival Americana,  where on one side of the beach you may see a muscle man balancing a cabaret girl on his arm, while on the other side they will be filming a movie, or a new music video by the hot new pop band of the year.

This is a place that has found its way in and out of favor, through times of disrepair and time of renovation, and is now fast becoming one of the hippest spots to see and be seen.  The charm of the brightly colored amusement rides, the urban chic of just a bit of time worn buildings, the neon and the Russian Cafes are just a few of the elements Coney Island possesses that keeps people coming back year after year.  So take a train ride, relax, and end up on the famous boardwalk of Coney Island, where you really never know just what you may see.

Day 1 of being a proper New York City tourist was going up the Empire State Building, which at first was great, but then I got a mild case of vertigo, but my travelling companion was hanging her camera out over the edge to take some downward shots, but apart from vertigo, the tour of the building was grand. We then headed off to the Guggenheim, but it was closed on Thursdays! Strange day to be closed; we should have checked on-line first. That only left us with the Met instead, which we thoroughly enjoyed. The Fashion exhibit was brilliant and some of the Impressionist paintings were fabulous, oh, and the Egyptian Jewellery was exquisite.
 
The afternoon began to turn on us, it looked like it might snow or sleet. We wanted to go a the boat tour around Manhattan and on to the Statue of Liberty, but we knew it would be quite a hike from Fifth Avenue to the West side where the Pier was, as when made our way down, it began to rain, sleet really, so we picked up our steps, and then it began to really come down hard! We felt like we were no nearer to the Pier than when we started, plus we had some seriously muddy feet. When we finally arrived to the Pier, our boat was pulling away. We were freezing and completely soaked! So, we decided that the only sensible thing to do was to get drunk. We found a bus immediately and luckily it was heading back to Grand Central Station. Apparently, we weren’t the only freezing, soaking wet people in New York, a majority of the bus riders were just as wet as we were. When we got off the bus, we weren’t too far from one of the better luxury hotels of New York, The Library, so we decided to change into warm, dry clothes before we went out for drinks.
 
We decided to stay at our hotel for drinks, so we thought that there was probably no place better to get drunk, than at The Library. At least it would be something to write about.

Anytime you have to make a move, whether it is across the city, country, or globe, it is a hassle. From packing up boxes to remembering to have the water shut off, moving is stressful from beginning to end. Relocating to different country is another matter entirely. On top of remembering all of the typical moving necessities ‚ don’t leave anything behind, turn off all of the utilities, leave a forwarding address‚ there are additional legal matters that need to be squared away.
Before beginning your move to the North you will need to submit an online eligibility assessment to determine what type of applicant you are; a skilled worker, family class, business, or provincial nomination. Once you have established your eligibility you can apply for a Canadian Permanent Resident Visa. Canadian immigration also requires that you pass medical and security screening. Once you have your passport and visa in hand you are free to make your move.
One thing to consider before making the move across the border is the cost of living. Like the United States, there are areas of Canada that cost more to live there than others. Unless you are moving for a job in a specific area, you have the flexibility to choose. There is also great variety in the different provinces. If you are uncertain of what area you would like to live in your best bet would be to rent an apartment from Transglobe property management. They own properties throughout many of the cities and provinces in Canada. Transglobe property management will set you up with a nice place to live until you are more familiar with your surroundings and find a place to buy.
If you desire, after you have physically lived in Canada for 1095 days (3 of the 4 years after receiving your visa) you are eligible to apply for citizenship. With citizenship comes more flexibility to move around and the ability to vote in federal elections.

Our first few days in New York city was spent meandering around stumbling on doing some touristy stuff. It’s been beautiful weather here, so with such a great day, we decided to check out the East Village. It was a very cool area of New York. The building height is zoned here, they can only go no higher than a few stories, so there were no skyscrapers obstructing the sky. It felt so open in comparison to the rest of Manhattan.

We didn’t wander around much, but we did people watch when we just plopped our butts down outside a Mexican restaurant and had a great lunch. Our lazy day carried on as the sun got higher in the sky and we topped noon time off with a beer at the White Horse Tavern, this is that bar where Jack Kerouac used to hang out when he lived here. This was a highlight of our wanderings.

It was strange how the sun gave up on us and allowed it to rain. This put a damper on us trying to find the Ghostbusters Building, but only a damper, we didn’t let a little wet stop us. The building is a functional Firehouse and is located on West Broadway and North Moore. We managed to get a few photos. We could tell the firefighters were proud of the building history, but we didn’t like how they were giggling at us because we were all ga-ga over finding the building.

It stopped raining and the sun once again graced us with its presence, so we made our way back to our hotel room to change into some dry clothes. Our New York hotel was a great find, we just happened upon this site: http://www.topnewyorkhotels.com, as we were trying to find the best hotels New York has to offer, but one that we could afford and one that was centrally located. We headed back out and made our way to 12th street and Broadway, where Strand Books is located. A great treasure if you ask me. We read in the Village Voice that David Sedaris would be doing a reading, but the queue was apparently too long, because by the time there were only seven people in-front of us, is when they cut off the line! We missed him by seven people!

So, we ended up seeing a sucky movie instead, ‘Terminator Salvation‘. Christian Bale is no David Sedaris!

I used to get into arguments with my brother all the time about how some things in New York are just better than they are anywhere else.  This began with pizza.  After I tried John’s in the Village, I was converted to a kind of mind-set that only New Yorkers are privy to: the idea that things in this city are better than other cities, and if they’re not, only the locals have the right to complain.  He would argue that any city could get the same ingredients and the same ovens and make pizzas the exact same way, and you’d have the exact same pizza.  I told him that his logic was entirely correct, and it sounded right, but it simply wasn’t.  New York pizza is better in New York, and it’s better than anything else.

Some people claim that it’s the water, that the peculiarities of the water make the pizza taste like it does.  There are plenty of other theories.  New Yorkers have plenty of time for theories, even though they’re always too busy to do anything else.  Hospitality is different here, too, and a luxury Manhattan hotel is better than anywhere else.  We did invent it, hotels, and hospitality, or at least, we might as well have.  The same thing can be said for cigars.  It’s partly out of arrogance that I would claim they’re better here, but then again, it takes a certain amount of arrogance to smoke cigars these days.  They are large, and they smell, and having one in public means that everyone in the vicinity is also having your cigar.

Things have changed in the past few years, however.  It’s not easy to find a place where you can enjoy a good cigar.  No self-respecting pizza joint, or hotel, would allow it.  Because of this, people in New York smell much better than they used to, but we’re all infinitely unhappier.  Of course, there are always ways of making things happen in this city, and if you know the right people, you can find everything.  De La Concha still holds some of the finest cigar dinners in the city, and for what it’s worth, a Nicaraguan stogie does taste better when you’re sitting at a table with white linens, listening to other New Yorkers complain about how everything has changed.  These things never change.

My final day in New York City, I was lucky enough to win free tickets to in the audience for ‘The Late Show’ with David Letterman! It was on the spur of the moment that I put my name in a draw a couple of days ago and viola’, I was selected! I laughed the whole hour of the show; David Letterman was so quick witted and his guest Larry David was fabulous. Before the taping started, David comes out and actually speaks with us, the audience and he answered questions. Then, when the show starts, he used the material from his dialogue with us during the recording of the show. As an audience member, we all felt like we were in on a joke and the rest of the viewing audience didn’t have a clue. This only made us all laugh more. I really enjoy the band, they are tight and sublime.

It was sad to be packing my bags on the last morning in New York City. I had hired a car here in New York so I could drive back to Washington D.C.  What a difference this city is compared to D.C.  It’s like heading back to Canberra from Melbourne. Respectively, these capital cities are interesting places to visit, but they have no soul due to them being planned out cities. Where in contrast to cities that developed upon themselves as their needs demanded and provided opportunities for nooks and crannies that are uncovered during an aimless exploration.

I tried to soak in all of my final morning, from a quick stroll in Central Park, a look over the Manhattan skyline, watching the steam rise through the subway vents and eating a warm pretzel from a street vendor. This is a city I will never forget.