The Big Apple . . .

With the drop in airfare from Europe to the U.S., it was possible to spend spring break this year in New York City. This was my first visit to the Empire State and Luiza's first trip across the Atlantic. To make the trip all that much more exciting, we met my parents, brother Dave, and my two BFF's (that's best friends forever for you folks not versed in adolescent lingo) Brian and Jeff. Brian drove in from Pennsylvania with his girlfriend, Lindsay, and Jeff flew in from Minneapolis with his new cell phone.

We were pretty jet lagged to start things off but managed to go out on the town until the wee hours the first night in town. The next day, we took in the Easter parade before checking out Rock of Ages, a musical based on the music of my formative years, the hard-rockin, spandex clad 80's. If you grew up in that era, you will love this show starring American Idol alum Constantine Maroulis. It was a heaping helping of cheese, but who doesn't love cheese? They even worked in a four-pack of Bartle's and Jaymes as a prop.

The next morning, the boys left and we had been lucky enough to score tickets to Letterman. All of you High School Musical fans out there will be jealous to find out that I was seated only twenty feet away from Dave's first guest, Zac Efron. (queue squealing girls) It was interesting to get a behind the scenes look at how the Late Show is produced but it loses a bit of luster when you are being goaded into laughing and clapping. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a big Dave fan, but think he was much funnier back in the NBC days when the comedy was edgier and he interacted with the audience a lot more. Through the magic of youtube, check out the classic Velcro Suit, Marshmallow suit, and Chip Suit. Just the Chronicle's small contribution in keeping you productive at work.

The rest of the week was spent just being tourists. We went to see Billy Elliott, the Tony Award winning "it" musical this year. It was spectacular to see all these kids performing some jaw-dropping dance moves with impeccable timing. Though I'm sure they've broken some child labor laws while preparing for the show since the choreography and songs were mind blowingly complex. One of the tiny ballerina girls who stole the show was only seven years old.

We saw our share of tall buildings, heading to the top of both the Empire at night, and Rockefeller Center during the day. If you only have time for one, make sure it's the "Top of the Rock". They've really streamlined the process by putting a time for you to show up on your ticket, and then showing a video detailing the building's history during your brief twelve minute wait.

Mom and Dad tooled around Central Park in a bicycle cart driven by a Macedonian medical student. They learned all about Yoko Ono's dominance of the Dakotah Hotel (she owns seven apartments there) and how she blackballed Madonna from getting an apartment. There were many other trivial tidbits that escape me but my Mom can tell you more about them.

While they were learning the inside celebrity scoop, the proverbial cherry on our sundae happened on Saturday, when we just happened to ride our rental bikes through a shoot of "Law and Order: SVU". I just wish my parents, who are HUGE fans of the series, all three installments, were there to see it. I was hoping that Mariska Hargitay, who my father informed me is the daughter of famed pin-up gal Jayne Mansfield, would arrest me, but no such luck. The locals paid no attention, however, since the city is such a popular backdrop for both film and television.

Luiza, Dave, and I saw a show at the famed Comic Strip, but unfortunately most of the comics we saw were hacks, especially the final five we endured who were given just a few minutes in front of the mic to prove their comedic chops. All of them failed miserably and made me glad that I only have to make sixth graders laugh everyday. Comedy is not easy folks. It was cool to have this uniquely American experience since there is no stand-up scene here in Warsaw.

I feel really lucky to have had this chance to see my family (Chicky and Scrote too!) for a week and introduce them to Luiza. Having the time off in the middle of the spring to hop on an overseas flight and play in New York City is just one more reason I never take this job or the special people in my life for granted*queue the video*