Kids, I'm going to tell you an incredible story, the story of how Laura and Natalie met North America!
Saturday 14 April 2012
Friday
After a late night on Thursday, we decided to have a bit of
a lie in. We got up, packed our bags so we’d be ready to leave that afternoon
and then at about midday we headed uptown for the first time to visit a diner
that’s special to both of us but for different reasons. For Laura it’s the
place where Suzanne Vega wrote “Tom’s Diner” and for me it’s the building used
for the exterior shots of “Monks” diner in Seinfeld.
The diner from Seinfeld, and also where Suzanne Vega wrote Tom's Diner. |
The diner has been owned by the same family for 60 years and
felt very traditional and authentic. They only take cash, so after checking my
pocket to count how many dollars we had left we ordered (an omelette for Laura,
strawberry pancakes for me and a strawberry “famous giant shake”). Everything
was tasty.
We then walked off our food by walking back to our apartment
via Central Park. Tom’s Restaurant is on 112th Street and our
apartment is on 74th, so we walked a fair distance. The park is
beautiful and it was amazing how quickly you lose the sounds of the city once
you’re in it. We saw plenty of people out enjoying the park, playing softball,
baseball, football.
At this time of year all the trees are just greening out and
the blossoms are still in full bloom, so the view over the reservoir back
towards the city was lovely.
Back at the aparment we gathered our stuff together, checked
for mislaid socks, finished writing the blog and then said our goodbyes to the
apartment we called home for 6 days and 5 nights. We got on the subway to Penn
station and then waited for our train. It wasn’t a long wait though and the
station had wi-fi so we were easily entertained.
The train was busy, but we got seats and settled in for the
80 minute journey back to Philadelphia.
In Philadelphia we got a really slooooowwwwww train to the
airport and then proceeded to walk around a really complicated tour of odd corridors
before finding where to check in and drop our bags for the flight. Terminal 5
this wasn’t.
Once through security we found a bar called Chickie &
Pete’s and ordered a Philly cheesesteak, some wings and crab fries to share.
Oh, and a couple of drinks. On the TV, the Mets game was on, and as we’re now
fans of the Mets ;) we kept an eye on the score. We chilled here until it was
time to go to our gate and board the plane.
The flight home wasn’t as exciting as the one 2 weeks ago,
and we kept reminding each other that “this time last week we were….” or “last
night we were in New York doing…”
We watched the silent film The Artist and then caught a few
hours sleep before being woken up with tea and a muffin for breakfast.
At Terminal 5 we were allowed back into the UK (hurrah!),
got the car back from the hotel and began the 2 hour drive home with the
holiday blues kicking in!
At home, the cats were waiting for us and Liz had bought us
some milk to we had tea and snuggles.
And that was the Awesome American Adventure – 2012.
THE END
Thursday
Today’s diner of choice for breakfast was a place downtown
near Battery Park called “The Diner” (wonder how they came up with that
name?) Laura had pancakes and I
had a waffle (with maple syrup, cream and fruit – I was trying to be healthy!)
We then walked down to Battery Park to get on a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and visit Ellis Island. For the first time on this trip our luck was out and we arrived to find a massive queue of people. We were able to skip the ticket line as we had our NY City Pass, but it still took about an hour to get through security and onto the dock. For almost everything else we’ve done on the holiday we’ve been lucky and the queue has always been short when we joined and long by the time we were finished. We’ve also seemed to have been really lucky with the people we’ve met, the places we’ve eaten and the timings of everything. Very strange!
When the boat arrived, we sat on the top deck and had a
great view of the Manhattan skyline as we sailed over to Ellis Island. The
weather had turned a bit cloudy and it was cold upstairs, but we both enjoyed
the view.
As the Statue of Liberty is currently closed for renovation,
we stayed on the boat and went straight to Ellis Island. The immigration museum
is fascinating and there are loads of stories to read and information to
digest, but we had other things to do so we didn’t linger too long.
Back in Manhattan we went to Times Square and posed in front
of the webcam with a silly sign. The HD webcam might not have been working
though, so perhaps our sign was missed! Here it is in case you didn’t see it.
We did plan to go back to Ellen’s Stardust Diner for dinner
but there was a massive crowd of people forming a scrum to get in and we heard
a rumour that there were some famous Broadway stars in there. We didn’t fancy
queuing, so we went back to McGees again!
In McGees we shared some appetisers and a plate of sliders (mmmm, mini burgers) and I drank a ridiculously strong Cosmo. The couple at the table next to us, who turned out to be from California heard our accents and started talking to us, once again discussing the differences between the UK and America. The woman asked if everyone in England loved Kate, we didn’t know which Kate she meant straight away but we got into a conversation about how the royal family are in the news all the time in the US so we realised she meant Kate Middleton. We were enjoying a good conversation, sharing our travel stories and life stories when all of a sudden the husband received a text, they looked worried then started to have little digs at each other, we stopped talking to them, paid our bill and left them to it!
We then popped to Grand Central Terminal to marvel at the building and have a nosey around.
After that we went to the Rockefeller Center and got our
timed slot to visit the Top of the Rock Observation Deck. The elevator ride to
the top was a surprise as the elevator ceiling is see through, a film is
projected onto it and the lift shaft is illuminated in blue as you zoom up. It
was really cool.
From the observation deck the views over the Manhattan skyline were stunning. It almost didn’t seem real. Right at the very top on the 70th floor you get a brilliant view as there’s no railing or fence to get in the way (it’s safe though as the floor is set back from the one below).
We soaked in the view and took lots of pictures. It was
beautiful.
We then walked down to Battery Park to get on a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and visit Ellis Island. For the first time on this trip our luck was out and we arrived to find a massive queue of people. We were able to skip the ticket line as we had our NY City Pass, but it still took about an hour to get through security and onto the dock. For almost everything else we’ve done on the holiday we’ve been lucky and the queue has always been short when we joined and long by the time we were finished. We’ve also seemed to have been really lucky with the people we’ve met, the places we’ve eaten and the timings of everything. Very strange!
Battery Park and World Trade Center Memorial (the globe is from the original WTC Plaza) |
Lady Liberty |
Manhattan skyline from the Ellis Island ferry |
The great hall on Ellis Island |
Posing for the webcam in Times Sqaure |
In McGees we shared some appetisers and a plate of sliders (mmmm, mini burgers) and I drank a ridiculously strong Cosmo. The couple at the table next to us, who turned out to be from California heard our accents and started talking to us, once again discussing the differences between the UK and America. The woman asked if everyone in England loved Kate, we didn’t know which Kate she meant straight away but we got into a conversation about how the royal family are in the news all the time in the US so we realised she meant Kate Middleton. We were enjoying a good conversation, sharing our travel stories and life stories when all of a sudden the husband received a text, they looked worried then started to have little digs at each other, we stopped talking to them, paid our bill and left them to it!
We then popped to Grand Central Terminal to marvel at the building and have a nosey around.
Grand Central Terminal |
From the observation deck the views over the Manhattan skyline were stunning. It almost didn’t seem real. Right at the very top on the 70th floor you get a brilliant view as there’s no railing or fence to get in the way (it’s safe though as the floor is set back from the one below).
The view from the Top of the Rock |
Me on the Top of the Rock |
After the Top of the Rock we got the Subway downtown to the
Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village where we had a reservation at 10pm. We both
joked that we might be the only ones in there, but it turned out to be fully
booked and people were queuing for reserve entry. We were allocated a table and
stood in a queue with the few other people that had arrived early like us. We
got chatting to a lovely couple visiting from Holland (although she was
actually from Spain). We compared notes on New York City and it made the half
hour pass really quickly.
When the 8pm people had left we all filed in. Much to our
shock we were seated right next to the stage! Ooooh, rule 1 of comedy venues is
don’t sit at the front if you don’t want to get picked on or quizzed!
We couldn't have been any closer to the stage |
The room is underneath a bar and very small and intimate. I
think the compere said it held 80 people. The toilets were stupidly small and
held two people and required a complicated push me, pull you, shuffle here,
shuffle there style of entry and exit.
The next 2 hours were brilliant. We were entertained by 6
comedians (plus the compere) and by the end my face hurt from laughing so much.
Each comedian seemed to have been on loads of American TV shows or was a writer
for some comedy and had solid gold acts. And we didn’t get picked on at all!
At the end of the show the waiting staff then give every
table their bill (or “check” to use the American phrase) and we settled up.
It’s very different to the UK where everything is paid in advance, I liked it
though.
After the show we felt like staying out a bit longer (it was
our last night after all), so we wandered around the street, but in the end we
went to the bar upstairs from the Comedy Cellar as it seemed really nice. It
was. In the bar were many of the comedians we’d just seen. We sat at the bar
and chatted to the barman Maciej (he moved to the US from Poland when he was
4). We drank more beer and ended up having a great night. Behind the bar was a
little TV monitor showing the comedians where were doing the midnight show.
Amusingly, the bar’s only toilets were downstairs in the comedy club, so when
we both needed to go we had to go down a “secret” staircase, shuffle past the
comedians waiting to go on stage and then walk right through to the club,
passed the stage to the tiny toilets in the corner. Crazy.
Derrick, drunk guy (John) and Laura - who both had the same calculator watch |
We also met a comedian called Derrick in the bar and spent
time chatting to him (he could do a fab impression of Obama). At about 3am we
started saying our goodbyes to everyone we’d met and got the subway home. At
home we facetimed Sam (who was at work) and Tina & Emma (who were also at
work!). It was very weird to think that we were just going to bed, yet they’d
just arrived at work. In the future. It was tomorrow. Clearly we’d drunk
enough! And so we went to bed.
Thursday 12 April 2012
Wednesday
After a hectic few days, today was a little bit more laid
back. We stayed in bed a little longer and so didn’t leave the apartment until
12pm. We headed down to the financial district and got a burger at Five Guys
Burgers & Fries (a most unhealthy breakfast I’m sure you’ll agree). This
was on the recommendation of one Gordon Greenland, so I was in high hopes that
it would be good. We were a little flummoxed when ordering as we both asked for
a “Little Cheeseburger” but the order taker then asked us what we wanted on
them. “Er, cheese, relish, pickle” said Laura, thinking on her feet. After a
few minutes we got out burgers and fries.
Despite sharing one regular fries, we had enough for at
least three people easily. The fries were skin-on and very tasty indeed. The
burger was just melt in the mouth good. All in all, very good. Thank you Mr
Greenland.
Tasty fries |
Yummy burger |
We then walked a few blocks to the Brooklyn Bridge and
walked over it. It was a very nice bridge, but currently undergoing some
maintenance, so one side of it was all wrapped up and protected. Still, the
other side was very nice. The views back to Manhattan were great. On the other
side of the bridge we wandered down to Brooklyn Bridge Park and sat in the
shadow of the Manhattan Bridge as we gazed over at the skyline. At that moment
the sun came out again and it felt lovely.
Our next stop was Coney Island, but we both needed a comfort
break… so we walked up a few blocks to the DUMBO area and found a bar called
rebar to pop into. We ordered a couple of cokes and sat at the bar. The place
was converted from an old warehouse and had barrel vaulted ceilings, exposed
brick and tons of character. At the back were artist studios and offices. All
very hip and boho chic. The bartender (we’ll call him Jake) got chatting to us
and we both mentioned how we wished there were a bar like this in Nottingham
and how we could both happily live here with this being our regular. He laughed
at this. When we came to settle the bill, he said “don’t worry ladies, these
are on me”. And so we left with a smile on our face and another experience with
a very friendly American.
At the bar in rebar |
Rebar |
Lots of beers |
Studio / gallery space |
We got on the Subway and headed down to Coney Island. The
weather was cloudy with occasional sun and so both cold and warm. That annoying
kind-of jumper on / jumper off weather. At Coney Island we played some skee
ball, Laura got her fortune told by Zoltan (a-la Tom Hanks in Big) and we
walked along the boardwalk.
Skee ball (didn't get a very high score on this one) |
Zoltan! |
The iconic Parachute Jump ride |
The Coney Island Cyclone |
Bizarrely, it must be some sort of Orthodox Jewish holiday
as Coney Island (and New York in general) was packed today with people in their
formal dress. I’d say it was equal numbers Orthodox Jew and the rest of us.
Being a religion that isn’t very mainstream in the UK, it was difficult not to
notice them. But none of the New Yorkers seemed to notice and the staff all
knew to remind them to tuck in their “insert word for long black dressing gown
thing” and to fasten down their “insert word for skull cap thing”.
Laura doesn’t like rides, but I rode on the Steeplechase -
which was pretty scary! (a bit like Rita Queen Of Speed but sat on a horse).
And I also got to ride the 85 year old Coney Island Cyclone (a very old wooden
coaster). It was brilliant fun and very rickety.
After Coney Island we headed back up to Brooklyn and hunted
out Barcade, which as the name suggests is a mixture between a Bar and an
Arcade. It was really cool in there and they had lots of different beers and
loads of classic video games (Paperboy, Tetris, Asteroids, Outrun, Ms Pac-man,
Chosts n Goblins…) Me and Laura were like kids again. Laura got to play
Paperboy for the first time in an arcade since she was 13 and in Woolacombe.
Games that we’d never played but discovered that we loved
were Moon Patrol, Rolling Thunder and Timber. Timber in particular was lots of
fun (er, nothing to do with the alcohol consumed…..) and is a two player game
that has you competing to chop down the most trees and avoid being stung by
bees (thrown by an evil bear!) A bonus round involves running on a log and
battling to stay on. Seriously, it was brilliant.
Paperboy |
Tetris |
Timber! |
The fact that a bar like this doesn’t exist in England makes
us both very sad. It would totally be our regular. In fact… me and Laura did
start discussing where in Nottingham we could set up our own version…
After spending far too many of our quarters, we got the ‘L’
train back to Manhattan and went to McGees for some dinner. We ate sliders and
chicken wings and watched both Baseball and Basketball simulataneously (The
Yankees drew, the Knicks just narrowly beat the Bucks with a 3-pointer a minute
before the end).
Wednesday 11 April 2012
Tuesday
One thing I haven’t written about in this blog is the
inequality in America. In all of the big cities we’ve visited we’ve seen many
homeless people, usually men and almost always quite old. We’ve seen them
pushing shopping trolleys around, loaded with all their possessions, we’ve seen
them rummaging through bins hunting for food or sometimes simply shaking a cup
and begging for spare change. A few have been in wheelchairs with missing legs,
and a lot have claimed to be veterans who can’t afford to buy food.
The room is full of photographs by Gary Suson (who was
appointed the official photographer at Ground Zero after mayor Rudy Giuliani
banned all photographers form the site) and is inspired by the Anne Frank
museum in Amsterdam. Gary documented the recovery at Ground Zero, 17 hours a
day, six days a week for a 14 months. There are hundreds of photos and
artefacts, many of which you are encouraged to hold and touch, all of which
designed to bring you closer to the events and people who died that day.
The tour is interactive, so as you look at a photo or an
object, Gary Suson describes on your Tourmate (audio headset) what you are
seeing. Luckily, a few of the objects are a bit more light-hearted as it can
get quite heavy. It’s a brilliant museum and if you ever visit NYC I recommend
you check it out.
After that we popped over to Greenwich Village and had a
nosey around. We had tea and a gigantic slice of Lemon Meringue Pie at Rocco’s
while marvelling at the huge array of cakes and pastries.
Greenwich Village seemed like a very nice neighbourhood.
We then got on the subway to Flushing Meadow as it was time
to get all sporty and watch a baseball game!
At Citifield we somehow found ourselves in the memorabilia
shop… so we’re both now kited out with Mets t-shirts, jumpers and hoodies.
Whoops! Before taking our seats, I changed into mine so that I would look like
more of a fan. What would have helped me more would have been PAYING ATTENTION
to the game and not accidentally whooping when the opposing team almost got a
home run… whoops again!
We had great seats (a bargain on Stubhub) and enjoyed every minute of the experience: the game, the spectacle, the adverts, the organ, the music, and the interludes between innings. It was great fun. I think if I lived in America I could become a real fan of baseball. The only downside was that it got really cold towards the end of the night. Oh, and the Mets lost (doh!). So at the bottom of the 8th (get me with my fancy terminology!) we headed off and got the Subway home. Another fab day in New York City.
Before coming here I’d assumed this was something that was
just a cliché from 80s films, but it’s not. And the thing that struck me
yesterday as we ate a ridiculously large portion of food was that the
inequality seemed awful. How can people finish a meal, stuffed so full it hurts
and still leave gluttonous proportions of food on their plate while outside
people starve. It just seems wrong. Maybe the homeless and the hungry are more
hidden in the UK, but it certainly never appears to me to be as bad as this.
Anyway, enough of that. On to what we did on Tuesday. We
started the day by getting the subway down to the Meatpacking district (which
was a very nice area) and attending the Ground Zero Museum Workshop. This was a
fantastic experience. The museum is only in one, small room and so we had to
pre book a timeslot to visit (there are currently only 2 tours each day) and
there are only 25 people allowed on each tour.
The museum (it's quite small) |
Clock stopped at the moment the North Tower collapsed |
Artefacts saved by Gary Suson |
The crosses and star were cut from the steel beams by recovery workers and given to relatives of the victims. |
We were there for 2 hours, and when we left we were both
starving, so we headed to Little Italy for some food. As we wandered the
streets looking at restaurants, two guys came out of a little place called La Mela
saying “Oh my God, that was so good” “Best food ever!” or something like that,
so we stopped them and asked what they had. It sounded good so we said to each
other “Let’s go here” and we ate there.
It was laid back and the food was indeed tasty, so a good choice. (Laura:
Natalie forgets to mention the fact that there was a ‘proper’ Italian fella on
the door, looking like something out of The Sopranos, trying to encourage us to
come in. He was all “whaddaya know, youse girls are gonna gedda surprise in
here”. There were also lots of photos on the walls of famous people who had
eaten there, so we figured it had to be good.)
Famous people on the wall |
Greenwich Village seemed like a very nice neighbourhood.
First, we wandered around the old World’s Fair Site and marvelled
at the unisphere, which was massive.
Worlds Fair Park |
If you look closely, you can just see me at the bottom left |
We had great seats (a bargain on Stubhub) and enjoyed every minute of the experience: the game, the spectacle, the adverts, the organ, the music, and the interludes between innings. It was great fun. I think if I lived in America I could become a real fan of baseball. The only downside was that it got really cold towards the end of the night. Oh, and the Mets lost (doh!). So at the bottom of the 8th (get me with my fancy terminology!) we headed off and got the Subway home. Another fab day in New York City.
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