I Want to Be a Part of It

Chris and I recently returned from our trip to New York, and I couldn't be happier about the whole experience. One of the things I like best about the city is the sense of history you get from it. I love to gaze out on the skyline and think about all the new immigrants who came here, full of hope and excitement for a new life, the actors and actresses dreaming of making it big, the celebrities. It's certainly a place of glitz and glamour, but underneath it all there's a sort of toughness, a grit that brings the place back down to earth.

I've posted before about how Chris and I love to hunt for television and movie locations in our travels, and New York's certainly the place to do it. Sometimes it feels like the whole city's been a set for one type of movie or another. So while the location of every picture we took has probably been graced by the presence of directors and a celebrity or two, here are a few special shots from some of our favourite locations.

 The Friends apartment exterior. This spot is crazy popular. In the five minutes we were on this corner, at least half a dozen people stopped by to snap a photo.

The site of the iconic Marilyn white-dress-blown-up-by-the-subway-grate shot. The actual scene for The Seven Year Itch was filmed in L.A., but director Billie Wilder had Marilyn photographed (and her skirt blown up repeatedly) in front of a New York crowd as a publicity stunt for the movie.

The deli and grocery store used several times in The Departed. There may or may not have been a few Jack Nicholson "No one gives it to you, you have to take it" impressions done before and after this photo ;)

The Monk's exterior from Seinfeld. We ate gigantic piles of super cheap food here immediately after this picture was taken.

The Comedy Cellar, where Louis CK does a lot of his stand up in his show Louis. We didn't have time to stay for a show, but apparently big name comics (like Jerry Seinfeld) drop by here out of the blue from time to time to try out new material.

I hope you enjoy the photos and I can't wait to share more about my trip in the coming weeks. Seriously, we had such an amazing time!