So were off to New York for a weekend in Dec. Already lined up to see the Lion King and the Phantom of the Opera. Looking to see a hockey game as well. Rangers are not playing, leaves me with the Lowly Islanders playing. BUT they are playing Pittsburgh, so all is not lost! So I'm looking to see if I can catch the metro train to the rink from the Times square area where our hotel will be (anyone know if we can????) At the bottom of the New York transmit page is translations for various countries!! Low and behold is CANADA!! So i click on it, and after 20 secs up pops the new page in FRENCH!! lol Whats with that? lol

Wow that's silly!!!!
LMAO this post made me laugh

Well... I suppose they thought that since some of Canada does speak French (and it's one of the two official languages), it should be listed as a "translation." The English part of Canada wouldn't be necessary, since most of the United States speaks English (there may be differences between America and Canadian English, but it's still basically the same) and the most common second language is Spanish, so a translation of French might be warranted.

You also have to take into account Quebec's close general location to New York. I bet a lot of Quebecois visit New York, so that might have something to do with it as well.

yes I realize all that!! Still found it funny that it was in french!! I was hoping it would be full of "eh"

and words like Honour and Colour and Cheque and Toque

all of which come up in your average transit conversation...

Now you KNOW I just can't let that pass! I will admit that the Coliseum sucks, but the crowd should be pretty good to see Crosby play. Derek and I went to a Montreal/Isles games last February (Isles won, thank you very much) and the crowd kept shouting "Where are your green cards?" And a few other obscenities that VJ won't let me type. But it was a good game, especially since I have gone to only Caps games for the past 10 years and had gotten accustomed to the tame crowd at the Verizon Center. What do they think they are watching, golf?!

Anyway, no, there is no "metro" that goes from NYC to Long Island. You have been living in DC too long. It's called the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). And no, it doesn't go to the Coliseum in Uniondale where the Islanders play. So you will have to take a bus or taxi from train station. There are a couple of nearby stations to choose from so here are the public transportation link from the Coliseum website as well as the LIRR website:

http://www.nassaucoliseum.com/publictranspo.htm
http://www.mta.info/lirr/

If you take the train to Garden City, say hello to my hometown for me.

And how much will it take for me to bribe you to bring me back some bagels?

They couldn't figure out how to speak (type) in English with a French accent...

I suspect your soiree in NY will probably be even more interesting than a consulate review. We shall await your return, story (with pics would be great)!

HONNH, HONNNHHHH, HONNNNH

Errr, yes. Especially if you take the bus through Hempstead. Probably should warn you that when I lived on the Island, Hempstead was pretty rough. Think SE DC. Well, maybe with less guns. I can check with some friends who still live in Garden City, but if I were you I would probably try and take a taxi.

And Liz, your images have been cracking me up!

My work here is done

You have had me laughing in many threads today liz!

Oh and flames, I think the fact that there are apparently fewer guns where you are going bodes well for you too!

Thanks!
I've been very bored! Oliver's working til about 11 or midnight.. I'm done all my paperwork in prep for the interview.. just need to take out the $100US!

Oooh, the Caps/Pittsburgh game is getting very physical. Ovechkin just took Crosby down!

I must say Liz...you have been making me laugh too!!!

Yea you just take the train to madison square garden to catch the game.

BUT its actually a nice walk from Time Square...I highly recommend walking. It's about a good 30 minute walk but its nice strolling around in NYC.

Thats where the rangers play, not the Islanders. Would have loved to catch a Rangers game, but the Islanders will suffice,lol especially since Crosby is in town!! Actually I dont mind the Islanders, lots of history.

Looks like our Dec. trip to New York is set! Will catch the train from DC to New York. Will see Lion king Friday night, Phantom of the opera Sat afternoon and I think we will catch the islanders gamer Sat night, thanks to Derekkj superb directions. We may bring our skates along and go skating at Rockefeller center, jam packed weekend. Ok, have put it off long enough, back to the books!! Cheers

Yes bring your own skates, me and my fiance went skating at Rockefeller a few years back, and we rented the skates...plastic skates...super uncomfortable...I spent most of my time standing in one spot because they made my feet hurt so much.

Is it a decent rink? I think the fee is $18 a person,lol

It's a pretty decent rink, although anytime around Christmas is likely to be crowded. But, hey, it's one of those once in a lifetime been there done that moments. Take photos!

And definitely bring your own skates. Derek and I went skating here in Northern VA once before he moved down here and he blamed his falls on the @#%#$ rented skates.

I wanna go to an Islander game!

How long of a taxi ride is it from the train station to the islanders rink? Our Phantom of the Opera play is at 2pm, figuring that must be close to 3 hrs, and the game is at 7 pm.

Good grief, have you left yourself enough time to sleep??

Have a great time!!!

Our mornings are free! meg isn't a morning person!! lol I'm hoping their is a Dunkin or starbucks close by! lol Wil definetly require a lot of coffee to stay awake and watch the Islanders!! :-)

You are really asking for it my friend! But I will be nice and give you directions that won't land you in the hood, however tempted I may be.

After a quick glance at the LIRR schedule, it looks like your best bet is to take the train to the Westbury station since it looks like you won't have to change at Jamaica that way. Jamaica can be a pain if you not familiar with it. Westbury is only a couple of miles from the Coliseum, so it shouldn't take more than 15 or so minutes to get there. But I am not sure what the taxi service would be like on a Saturday night, so you may want to call ahead to make sure someone will be there and maybe even arrange the return trip from the Coliseum. Anyway, again according to the website, it's Stuart's Taxi, 516-333-1111.

You may be cutting it a bit close - train from Penn to Westbury is about 45minutes or so - but you should be able to get there by face-off. Keep in mind that coming home, trains are running Off Peak and while they do run all night (unlike Metro!), it may be almost an hour between trains.

Have a great time!