Kooza.

We went & saw Cirque du Soleil's Kooza Saturday afternoon - my gift to Mike for our wedding anniversary this year. We took the bus over to Randall's Island (I suppose we could have walked) & got excited as soon as we saw the blue & yellow big top. The last time I saw Cirque was in Portland, in college I think. Alegria. It was beautiful. I knew Mike would love it. It was sort of a grey day, but we happily managed to avoid the rain that came later that night. 

(Intermission = eyes burning from the sunlight. Ouch.)

Cirque is one of those things that I think everyone needs to see at some point in their lives. It's really beautiful & unique. The music (via a live band with trumpets - I love trumpets) was great, the acrobatics were amazing (I had to close my eyes a few times) & the clowning was just funny & witty. Our favorites: the contortionists (ouch), the juggler, the pickpocket & the two large men who ran around on large spinning wheels that flew way up really high in the air. Hard to explain, but I was sufficiently terrified. It really was just amazing how up close everything was & we loved how intimate the venue felt. We saw Wintuk last year, but Madison Square Garden just doesn't compare to a tiny-by-comparison tent. 

(Side notes: We were lucky to be able to switch seats. Our assigned spots - I was sitting next to a woman who was so large that she took up half of my seat. Literally. Not exaggerating. Probably 300+ pounds. Small seats, yes, but I still only had half of mine to use. What would you do? It was so awkward, but luckily we were able to move. Oh - & on top of that, there were two abnormally tall people sitting directly in front of us. Above 6'5" for sure. A very strange, perfectly bad combination for two people of average height & weight. Secondly - don't try to take photos when you go to Cirque. You'll get yelled at. Twice. I guess my camera isn't exactly discreet. I'm glad they didn't try to confiscate it.)

Oh, & I ate a hot dog. I normally hate hot dogs, but we were hungry, & it was actually pretty good. Even though it was $5 (for a hot dog?!). I might not write off hot dogs forever, anymore. Except the dirty water dogs on the street. Gross. 

Read the review from The New York Times here.