So, for my first night in New York City, my friend took me to dinner for some spag bol and then we got a glass of wine afterwards. It’s so true what they say about New York, it never sleeps! It seemed like I could get anything at any time of the day, or at night for that matter. My friend made sure I made it back to one of the New York luxury hotels where he so kindly booked for me since I had no idea which hotel would suit my needs. He picked a perfect hotel. When he walked me to the lobby he told me to get a good nights sleep, because tomorrow he has tickets for us to see Kylie and then after that, he’ll take me top see a few more bands. But, before we go, he wants to take me the the Bronx zoo.

I thought when I came out here to visit him, he’d take me on the usual touristy tours, like the Statue of Liberty and some other hot spots, but that wasn’t the case. He made me feel very relaxed and ready for anything he might surprise me with.

Oh, I have to say I got to see Miranda (Helena Christensen) from ‘Sex and the City’ at a pub we entered, she was leaving and she offered us the table she just was sitting at! I couldn’t believe that she really is that skinny and pale. We just happened to ‘bump’ into her. What a thrill!

We had somewhat of a difficult time negotiating the streets, because there was this massive parade down 5th Avenue, it was Columbus Day. I had no idea New York loves to celebrate Columbus, but they do. But, what I really had no idea about was that I got to participate in the parade! My friend arranged for us to ride on the cars that had some official of the city in it. I’ve never been in a parade before, and let me tell you, it was so much fun. All I did was wave and all these people lining the streets wave back as if you’re someone important. It was so thrilling! What a unique surprise my friend had for me when I thought we were going to the Bronx zoo.

I think I’m going to have to come visit New York more often, and see what other surprises my friend will have for me.

Salt Lake City, Utah has a great number of impressive cultural attractions, landmarks and beautiful features. It is comfortably situated against the backdrop of fabulous mountain scenery. Audiences from all over the world were able to enjoy shots of the gorgeous geography in 2002 when Salt Lake hosted the Winter Olympics. That was an amazing year for this city and all of the hotels Salt Lake were filled to capacity during these historic competitions. The motto for these games was Light The Fire Within, which continues to serve as an appropriate saying for the city and residents of Salt Lake.

At the time of the 2002 Olympics, Salt Lake was the largest and most heavily populated area to host them. This record, however, was surpassed in 2006 when they took place in Turin. It will again be beat in 2010 when Vancouver will host these honored games. The winter Olympics are much different from those that occur in the summer and most of the observers have their favorite sport and competition for both. They also support and adore favorite athletes and Olympic champions frequently become national sports starts and heroes. Some of the most popular games associated with the Winter Olympics are figure skating, cross-country and Alpine skiing and bob sledding.

Figure skating has been part of the Olympic games since 1908 and has been an official part of the winter games since 1924. The number of entries for this event are fixed by a quota, which is set by the International Olympic Committee. The singles events for both male and female include 30 performers each and the doubles 24 couples and 20 in pairs. Bob sledding made its official debut in the 1924 Olympics with the four-man event. The two-main even was added eight years later and women’s bob sledding was not added until 2002. Each game series every participating country is allowed to enter two sleds in each race category. There are strict Olympic standards and guidelines regarding the size and weight of these sleds.