New York City - 11 March 2012

"What time should I wake up tomorrow?" I asked Karen before going to bed.

"Nine should be good!" I nodded and we bid each other goodnight.

My alarm went off at nine, and I immediately texted Karen to see if she was up. She was, but refused to get out of bed. After an hour, she finally got out of bed and we began discussing the previous day before a delicious breakfast of some sort of Polish salad thing, bread, Polish ham, Prosciutto, and Polish tea.

It wasn't long until Karen's aunt, uncle, cousin, and their dog came over for lunch. I chatted with Karen, her sister, their uncle, and their cousin before I finally realized that this uncle was Karen's infamous Russian Jewish Uncle Boris - the one she had been telling me about for a year. He was hilarious, and kinda awesome.

We all had some delicious Polish lunch, and the second we finished, Karen's cousins made a surprise visit. After they left, Karen drove me to the Summit train station and I headed back into New York City.

There was only one place I wanted to go in New York: Stonewall Inn, so I maneuvered my way through the NYC Subway to Christopher Street in West Village. For those of you who don't know Stonewall, you should. This bar was the site of a riot in 1969 in which New York City's gay population fought back against the police who were arresting and brutalizing their community for years. A year later, on the anniversary of the riots, New York held the world's first gay pride parade. The Stonewall Riots were the start of the gay rights movement, and remains sadly mostly unknown.

After a Cosmo at Stonewall, I went next door to the Duplex and had another Cosmo and an Appletini. I sat in the well lit bar, listening to a sassy black man playing the piano while joking with the bartender. Sufficiently tipsy, I headed out for thirty minutes of exploration and tipsy photography before having to rush to my Megabus. I wandered around, turning wherever I wanted, searching for churches to photograph. I first came across a Lutheran Church, having a jazz party for Jesus. Second, I found Our Lady of Pompeii Catholic Church, and stumbled in for a few minutes of Mass. The Mass was hands down the most boring religious service I have ever experienced. It felt like a hospice bed-side chat for Jesus. I should've stayed with the Lutherans.

After having enough of Church, I found the Subway again (surprisingly) and made it to my Megabus.

I can't wait to get back to New York and do more splorin'.