Welcome to New York

We arrived in the city in the morning, and stepped out of the station into the hustle and bustle of New York City.

After grabbing a very mediocre breakfast at Applebee's (too hungry to walk far; we may also have freshened up in the loo), we headed out. One of the first things I noticed as we walked out was "Empire State of Mind" playing in the street - now is only the Taylor Swift song had come out then!

One of my goals were to see the Stephen A. Schwarzman building, probably one of the most iconic libraries. Sadly, the room I wanted so very much to see was under construction.

Grand Central was also on the list; Shake Shack was an added bonus.

Went to find our house in Staten Island, and then after figuring some details out, we headed back out!

The lights of Times Square make it feel as if night never truly comes; we wandered around and I started to feel a bit sleepy, checked the time to realize it was past 12am. Magic of the city that never sleeps!

Taking the ferry is actually very calming. It was a nice precursor to all the walking and getting lost we would do. Also it brings you decently close to the Statue of Liberty... all for free!

And this ended our first day in "the Big Apple" (P.S. is that a name that no one uses anymore...?).

Buffalo, briefly

Earlier in the year, one of my friends, who is a (somewhat) major Bruno Mars fan, wanted to get tickets for his show, but getting 4 seats together proved harder than we thought. Still in the mood for a concert, another friend suggested we head to see City and Colour in Buffalo (only we would go to the States to see a Canadian). As we were already in Buffalo, we thought: why not go down to New York City?

Leaving T dot

Commence last minute planning and lots of compromising. At the end of the day, we got there.

This trip was entirely dependent on buses, local transit, and our own two feet. This meant we had to pack light as we would be lugging our bags with us for the majority of the trip.

Sadly we encountered some people who made unnecessary comments while in Buffalo. I sometimes take for granted how diverse and multicultural Toronto is, and I'm both proud of my hometown and disappointed that we had to experience that attitude at all in 2014.

City and Colour was amazing. During the concert, someone from the nearby harbour released thousands of doves and had a fireworks display that supplemented the show nicely.

Impromptu fireworks, with doves

This trip also taught me the importance of comfortable shoes. My shoes fit well but was too stiff, which resulted in blisters and sore arches. Those shoes have fallen from my good graces now, and have not been worn since.

Summer of travelling

I've always been lucky enough to have gone on frequent vacations with my family ever since I was a child. We would go camping at least once a year, and take a trip somewhere, oftentimes close by, and once in awhile on the other side of the world. When I was younger, I thought that going on a summer vacation was the norm; I don't take that for granted anymore.

That being said, I also went through the typical teenager stages where I increasingly valued my friends over my family, and we often talked of going on a trip together. This summer, it finally happened.

Here are a few snaps from the summer, more detailed posts to come...

Buffalo

City and Colour

New York

Brooklyn Bridge

Montréal

Bleu Lavande

Omemee

Lakeside

San Francisco

Along the pier