NHL in the Madison Square Garden Rocks...

...As written earlier yesterday was the day of my first NHL (National Hockey League) game in the World's Most Famous Arena, the Madison Square Garden (MSG). We watched the New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins in an arena which was sold out! So we were under 18,200 Rangers fans.

The Rangers started not very good, but in the end they really did perfect catch-up (2nd goal 8 seconds before the end - crazy moments). Here is a video from the goal - don't miss it, because it is awesome and you can feel a bit how fabulous the atmosphere was in the stadium - here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvkdy5dUl_8 (Length: 1min and 02 sec.)
(Everybody was singing: Goal, Goal, Goal, Goal - Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! ...)

After the overtime the Rangers won the shootout session 3:2. For more details, please read the game recap on the NHL website.

We were lucky because around us were real hardcore Rangers fans (I believe season subscribers) and they were singing most of the time. That was fun!

After the game some people were saying that this was one of the best games since a long time in this arena. I don't know if this is true, but it was really loud when the Rangers scored their second goal and won the shootout.

What else? National anthem of the United States at the beginning of nearly every event.
Hockey field during the game with the players and around the huge tribune. Our seats were in the upper area, but the view was still very good and we needed five in a row and this is not so easy to get - otherwise it would be very $$$$.
It's written everywhere. "I AM A RANGER", "LET'S GO RANGERS" and "I BLEED RANGER BLUE" (picture before the game - afterwards no seats were empty!).
It was more fun as it looks like.
Now I'm looking forward to the NBA game (November, 16th) which is also in the Madison Square Garden...

It's Party Time...

...As you most probably know, New York is also known for its fabulous nightlife. Before I came to this city I read and heard a lot about it and everything is true ;)

There are many crazy parties, clubs, pubs and bars here. If you would have enough time you could go out every night! We have already some preferred areas for going out like Upper West Side (area around Columbia University), Lower East Side, Meatpacking, Chelsea. Below you can see some pictures from nights where we had a lot of fun.

One of the best things here is that ALL bars are non smoking areas. I think it will be horrible for me when I will come back to Austria in our bars and restaurants and everything is filled with smoke.

This was on the day when Peter had his birthday and we were on the way to a frat party at Columbia, where we grabbed a beer at a Deli. It's so funny for me to drink out of these paper bags...A friend of us got already a ticket for an open beer can on the street. He had to pay 25 bucks.
In a nice pub somewhere on the 2nd Avenue, after dinner at our famous Indian restaurant:

This picture is from the Lion's Head Tavern. Later on, we went to one of my favorite bars called The Heights. There you have two floors (one of them is the rooftop) full with students...
Perfect view on Jersey's skyline from the hip rooftop bar of the Gansevoort Hotel. From the roof you have a breathtaking 360 degree's view. Up there it's really wonderful.

These are just some impressions - unfortunately we had not always our camera with us...

The American Way of Life...

...I'm now in the States since around two (2) months and therefore I would like to give you guys some impressions about some typical American things...

When you google the American Way one famous phrase is:

"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

(These words are written in the United States Declaration of Independence)

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_way, October, 23rd 2008)

A quite famous and very nice smoothie chain is called Jamba Juice - some of you may know it from various movies:
Since I'm here, I drink more coffee than in Austria and fortunately there is a Starbucks EVERYWHERE! This is not an exaggeration - e.g. on the Broadway there are areas where min. all 5 blocks is one - even more often.
On the other side there is the big competitor of Starbucks - Dunkin' Donuts. I like the coffee mug's very much, where you can see the slogan "America Runs On Dunkin" in images :-)
A dozen donuts box - they were really good:
Besides donuts you can also get some healthy food like we had one day during a very nice Sunday brunch - Salmon Plate:
In Montreal I enjoyed one of my best burgers here - Bison Burger:

Columbus Day...

...As Americans celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in America, fortunately yesterday was a day without classes. The Columbus Day is not in all States a holiday like it is in New York.

We have been at the Columbus Day Parade which takes place at the Fifth Avenue. This parade is hosted by the Columbus Citizens Foundation:
"The Columbus Citizens Foundation is a non-profit organization in New York City committed to fostering an appreciation of Italian-American heritage and achievement. The Foundation, through a broad range of philanthropic and cultural activities, provides opportunities for advancement to deserving Italian-American students through various scholarship and grant programs. The Foundation organizes New York City's annual Columbus Celebration and Columbus Day Parade, which has celebrated Italian-American heritage on New York's Fifth Avenue since 1929."
(Source: http://www.columbuscitizensfd.org, October, 14th 2008)

The parade was not as amazing and fancy as we have expected - anyway it was nice to watch it:

NHL and NBA Games...

...This week we have bought tickets for our next sports events. We are going to watch the following games at the famous MSG (Madison Square Garden):

NHL - National Hockey League:
New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (October, 25th)

NBA - National Basketball Association:
New York Knicks vs. Dallas Mavericks (November, 16th)

Currently I'm really looking forward to these two events, because these will be my first NBA and NHL games. When you have been in America for a longer period you have to visit such events, as they are really typical for the United States. Definitely I will post some impressions after we were there.

Roadtrip to Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Montreal and to Lake Placid...

...Due to some Jewish holidays we had also last Monday and Tuesday off. Therefore we took the opportunity to make a road trip to the following important places in the United States and in Canada:
- Buffalo
- Niagara Falls
- Toronto
- Thousand Islands
- Montreal
- Adirondack Park Reserve
- Lake Placid

See below our travel route where we drove a bit more than 1.300 miles (around 2.100 km):
Buffalo:
After driving all the night we arrived on Friday morning in Buffalo and had a short breakfast there. It is a nice and small city where the famous Austrian NHL hockey star Thomas Vanek is playing for the Buffalo Sabres.

Niagara Falls:
Amazing experience - we also made the tour with the Maid of Mist where you can go to the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls. In the evening the falls where illuminated and there were also very nice fireworks. I can't put this into words - see the pictures below.

American- and Horseshoe Falls:
Horseshoe Falls (in the middle you can see the Maid of Mist boat):
Illuminated American Falls (Nils, Markus, David and me):
Toronto:
On the way to Toronto, we made a short stop in Burlington. This is a small town located on the Lake Ontario. After this we continued our trip to Toronto were we've spend our time to see the most important sights and also to watch a football game in the evening.

CN Tower (We have been on the top - 553 m high - belongs also to the modern Seven Wonders of the World):
My first football game - Toronto Argonauts vs. Calgary Stampeders in the Rogers Center:
Montreal:
Montreal was also an extraordinary experience, because the city is very nice - the only bad thing for me was that the official language is French and not English anymore.

Nice view from Mont Royal:
Typical streets in Old Montreal:
The reason why I will move to Montreal :-)Olympic Park from the summer games in 1976:
Lake Placid:
Lake Placid is located in the middle of the wonderful Adirondack Park Reserve. We were lucky, as we chose the best time to go there - Indian Summer. Lake Placid is quite famous because it had the Olympic Winter games in 1932 and 1980. To be honest I have never seen such a beautiful and big national park like this. It was really a picture-book journey through this park.

To sum up specials thanks to the rest of the travel crew (Markus, Peter, Nils and David) for this trip and the amazing last days! Indeed we had a lot of fun...