Book of Mormon... Or Book of Awesome!?!?

Yay for Book of Mormon! This was probably the single most enjoyable musical that I have ever been to! The story was great! It was hilarious, although I'm sure for some people it would be slightly offensive... I loved it though!!! 

We had box seats which were worth the price although you couldn't see what was happening on the far left of the stage. 

Also great... The wine served in sippy cups! These things are genius! 

The only bad (horrifying) part about the night was the poor quality of the audiences attire... I mean c'mon!! I saw someone in runners and capris!! But other than that I highly highly recommend Book of Mormon - unless you are easily offended!

Top of the Rock

So we were going to go to MoMA in the afternoon after we had a sweet sweet nap.... But it was literally lined up around 2 whole blocks to get in because its free from 4-8 on Fridays... Who knew!?! It was also pouring rain. So we decided to go to Top of the Rock! 

Which is the viewing area at the top of 30 Rock! It was great because there was no one there... Possibly because visibility was a 3... Oh well!! We got out of the rain and really enjoyed it! Check out these awesome pics!!

Central Park - Day 1

As soon as Brad and I got in we headed to Central Park! It was great! We just cracked the surface of the park but we are headed back tomorrow!

 

We wandered around a bit and then escaped the rain by playing chess in the park! Tons of fun! Although Brad is the superior chess player. :(

I lost twice despite my best efforts!

Hopefully the weather starts to cooperate for brads birthday tomorrow! Tonight we are off to Book of Mormon!! Should be fabulous!!

We're here!

After a fairly great flight we have arrived! Although in future... When I'm wealthy... The first class seats turn into BEDS so that might be something to experience for a red eye... But the Cathay flight was great! We got dinner and free wine! Whhaaaat!

After a harrowing cab ride into the city from JFK we arrived at our hotel! We randomly asked if the penthouse was available (haha) and there WAS a penthouse suite that we got and didn't have to pay more for!! Check out the views and the patio!!

We also got free champagne!! It doesn't matter that it was 11am... we are on vacation!!

Welcome to NYC Taryn and Brad!!

We're Back!

We are back in the blogging world and headed to New York!! We got to the airport WAY too early and are now just hanging around. Who knew that everything closes at 9! Where am I supposed to get a glass of wine!? You would think at this wine bar... But no. It is closed :(

Also... the red eye Cathay Pacific flight we are taking is an international flight so we didn't have to clear USA customs before we got into the terminal - huge time saver!! It only to 30 minutes to get from our front door to the our departure gate!! Although I've never been through US customs at a US airport so it will be an experience I'm sure!

 I have my ZzzQuils and I'm ready for the red eye!! We all know Brad can sleep anywhere so it shouldn't be an issue for him! New York here we come!

Coming Home!

This will be our last post *sniff sniff*. We are packing up our stuff (again) and about to head out on our long journey home! We are heading to Dusseldorf tonight and back to Vancouver for Wednesday morning :) I doubt that we will have Wifi anywhere between here and home so I thought I would wrap things up today.

Thanks to everyone who was following our blog and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Our 4 week European Adventure was just that - an adventure!! It was super fun and we both had an amazing time!

Here are some of our favorites!

Taryn's Fav Hotel: Hotel Alexis in Rome - super big room and super big shared bathroom!
Brad's Fav Hotel: Hotel Mercurio in Venice - not having to share a bathroom!

Taryn's Fav Moment: Going up the Eiffel Tower! It was such a process getting up there and then we got up to the top for the perfect time! Sunset! It was great!

Brad's Fav Moment: Spending time with Uncle Rossano in Pescina but especially the breakfast with him before we left for Scanno

Taryn's Fav City: CAN'T CHOOSE!!! But not Venice... I wasn't a fan.
Brad's Fav City: Italian cities (minus Venice) for the Food, Paris for the sights, London for the English speaking

Taryn's Least Fav Moment: When I realized that I didn't have my passport :( followed closely by walking through Venice at 2am....
Brad's Least Fav Moment: Trying to drive to Marco Polo Airport at midnight on Italian backroads so that we could return the car on time.

Taryn's Funniest Moment: The disorganization of most of Italy - especially the Ciampino Airport bus!
Brad's Funniest Moment: Uncle Rossano trying to explain why we aren't married to the Italian relatives!

Taryn's Fav Attraction: Tower of London because I super enjoyed the Yeoman tour and it was one of the first things that we saw.

Brad's Fav Attraction: "Because I have already done everything, I think it would have to be driving on the Italian highways.  It's something few people get to do and the Italian countryside is very beautiful... in the day light"

Most Overrated attraction: Oxford Street in London. Both of us agree... total waste of time!! Nothing gained culturally or otherwise. Also, the food in Venice was overrated.

Something that we wanted to do but didn't get to:
Taryn: Swim in the Mediterranean
Brad: See the Macario Brother's house in Scanno

Overall we had an AWESOME trip (despite bad-ness in the last couple of days). It was great and I can't wait to come back! Thanks SO MUCH to Iain for letting us stay at his place and thanks to his flat-mates for putting up with us :D

Palaces and Pomp

Because of our "extra" time here in London we were able to check out MORE royal stuff :) We headed to Windsor for the day to look at the castle and check out the town! Lucky for us it was a weekend and the Queen was in residence!!!

That's her standard flying which means that the "queen is in!" If not it would be the Union flag. We toured the state apartments and the castle grounds. All very impressive!!! The queen is back there somewhere!

I wanted to go into St. George's Chapel where all of the recent monarchs are buried like the Queen Mother, George VI, George V, and Henry VIII (not recent... but still!). Unfortunately it is a church and we were there on a Sunday... so no visitors unless they were coming in for services! So I just took a picture outside! Looks pretty nice!

There is so much royal stuff to do in London I just can't get enough! I convinced Brad that we should go to the Royal Mews aka the Carriage Museum!!! Except it's not a museum because these are all working carriages!! Like the one that took Princess Di to her wedding

And more recently... wait for it... wait for it....the carriage that William and Catherine rode in after they got married!! AHHH!!

Unfortunately we weren't able to see the Rolls-Royce Phantom because the Queen was currently using it at Windsor for the Royal Ascot!

 I love all this Royal stuff everywhere!! I'm going to miss it! But I think I've got my fill for a little while. Especially after seeing the Coronation Carriage! It's been used for every coronation since (I can't remember)... but a while!!