Thursday, June 24, 2010

April 22, 2010 Day 1



Written while waiting for my flight for Spain

Last night was awesome. A bunch of friends came over and we partied all night. A true send off. The morning was equally brutal. I believe I went to bed around 2:30 and got up around 4:15. Perhaps this will help curb my jet lag. We've timed our flight where sleeping on the plane will align with our sleep schedule in Spain. Our flight from Houston departed around 6am.

We had a contingent of Chinese tourists on our flight. Many of them wearing newly purchased cowboy hats. At one point a Texas walked over and reversed a china man's hat. I wonder if four weeks from now will I be walking with the same refreshed joy of these guys. I slept all the way to New Jersey and zombied over to the train headed toward NYC.



We ate at A Salt and Battery a favorite of my last trip to New York. I was excited to visit, but in hind sight somewhat regretted that in a city of literally tens of thousands of restaurants I picked the same one. Afterwards, we hung around Penn Station people watching, until Cathy was able to stop over from her office above Manhattan Mall. Always a pleasure.



I always enjoy the unique style of New Yorkers. I think its a product of the fashion industry and the many unique boutiques that dot Manhattan. I must say that the Fashion Institute keeps a steady stream of attractive girls in its radius. Men in NYC be they 25 or 55 will holler at every girl they come across. Hell in a city of millions 1 of 100 can't be bad.

While walking David and I spot the guy from the "wow that's a low price commercial". Does that even count as "C" list? My favorite part of the city is the distinct feel that each area of the city brings. As we walk we hit fashion focused twenty somethings, to Ethiopians, to businessman, to hipsters, etc. They congregate together. For celebrating so much diversity the city's inhabitants strive to find homogeneity. Interesting, at the end of the day all people want to find relevance and comfort in shared culture.

This is what travel does. It removes the option of homogeneity. You just are. The small size of my pack leaves little (read no) room for vanity. I've replaced all sense of fashion with function. Here I'm not my clothes, my house, my job, my possessions; just a soul searching for commonality that lies in the human experience.

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