22^nd June – 25th June – New York Continued

We woke up to another stunning day in New York – thank you weather gods, you have done a fabulous job. I am even getting my tan back after Iceland.

Today was a day for walking around the city, some shopping, and catching up with friends.

We walked from our hotel up towards the shopping district. On our way we stumbled across Grand Central Station. It really amuses me to find these places still standing after all the action movies show them blown to pieces.

Inside the station is beautiful, high ceilings, paintings, archways, and fabulous acoustics. This particular day, and probably most days now, there was a strong military presence inside the station.  But it did not stop the normal hustle and bustle going on around them.

From Grand Central we walked around to Times Square, you can’t go all the way to New York without seeing Times Square! And it is even bigger, brighter, and madder than I remember! More billboards, more people, and a lot more police than I ever remember. Jason was just blown away. Its hard to explain until you have stood in the middle of it.

The square was covered with NYPD armed and tactical officers. As had become the thing to do, Jason approached them and we got a photo – introducing himself as a Kiwi police officer and showing them his ID (slowly and carefully so as to not create a “situation”).

They were standing behind some concrete blocks and were very happy to have a photo, as long as Jason stayed on the other side of the blocks. “Just there is fine sir”.

All this walking sure chews through the time, and it was getting close to midday.

We were meeting Mark, Mari, and April for lunch. Wahoo.

I was so excited, I had not seen April for over 12 years, the last time I saw Mark was 2011, and I had yet to meet Mari. So seemed like an excellent idea to bring all these people together and flood jason with new names and faces.

April had recommended a Korean restaurant and we all met there at 12.

How absolutely wonderful it was to see my old friends. April is just as fabulous and fun as she ever was, I wish we had more time to spend together catch up over old times and to meet Mr April (no he is not out of a calendar, his real name is Will and he was clever enough to marry our April).

Mark and Mari had rocked up with a new travel companion for Lulu. Jake, Jake is from New York and now travels with us everywhere. He and Lulu have become best friends and he will be moving to New Zealand permanently.

The food was amazing. The restaurant is called Barn Joo 35. Jason, Mark, and I ordered a selection of small plates, more than enough to fill us all up, Mari and April had noodly things that were equally tasty. And, just when we thought we could not fit in anymore food, they gave us dessert on the house.

April had to head back to work, boo hiss, so missed out on dessert! Thanks for taking the time to hang with us April.

We waddled out of the restaurant and into the heat of the day.

Jason and I had plans to walk around and explore Central Park, something that we are told must still be done during the daytime hours.

So off we set to explore. Another long walk to reach the park, and another long walk around the park. We sure are clocking up the miles in New York. You don’t appreciate the distance until you have already made the decision to walk somewhere.

Easily walking 26kms a day.

We made it to Central Park and it is massive. We followed the pathways through the park and walked to the large reservoir. It is so beautiful and feels far removed from the beeping and craziness of Times Square. The only reality check is the sky scrapers in the background.

The park is filled with squirrels and French Bulldogs. Jason was in his happy place, squirrel, squirrel, SQUIRREL!

After an hour exploring the park we were in desperate need of a wash and a sit down, back onto the subway and back to the hotel. God bless hot running water and deodorant.

We had tickets to see The Book of Mormon, Christina Barr had bought them as a wedding gift. Mark and Mari and bought tickets too so we were all going together.

I had heard nothing about the play and did not really know what to expect. But by the time the first song had been sung I was hooked! All I can say is Hasa diga eebowai! Google it. General Butt F*cking Naked! I have not laughed so hard in a long time. So inappropriate and so wonderfully fun. It’s a sound track worth purchasing!

It turned out we were surrounded by antipodeans, that meant Mark and Mari were squeezed between us, New Zealanders in front and to the side. Too funny. And of course the ever enchanting Jason made friends with them all. I think he misses home.

In the intermission I dashed off to go to the bathroom. A lot of people and not a lot of toilets. But wow, do they know how to run an operation. There was a female user in the toilet and it went something like this:

“Right ladies, you only have 15 minutes, 15 minutes till the show starts”

“Cubicle 5 is free, in you go ladies, show starts at 815, on the dot, so keep moving ladies”

Like a finally tuned military operation. That is how you get things moving ladies!

After the show we found a place for dinner, quite a late one at around 1000pm. Chicken wings. YUSS.

Subway back to the hotel and another great sleep. Thank god for double glazing so we don’t hear the beeps. Jason is getting citied out! Poor man. Another couple of days to go!

23^rd June – Sight Seeing and BBQ

After a few late nights and lots of walking and shopping it was time for a sleep in and more laundry. I left Jason catching some extra zzzzzs, no point in waking him up just to get some washing done. I am now a regular at the local Chinese laundry.

Washing done, showered and ready to face the world, we started to walk up town. We were meeting Mark and Mari to do some sightseeing together.

It’s a pretty decent walk of over an hour but we were not in any rush, just a casual stroll stopping off anywhere that took our fancy. That included a pet store.

They had cats and kittens but no dogs L so we chatted to the crazy cat people for a while and then carried on with our walk.

By the time we made it Mark and Mari it was lunch time, yes our world revolves around eating and walking! It just seems to work out that way.

Mark knew of a nice noodle place so we had a very good lunch and then went to find the sightseeing bus.

I know, I said never do one, never, ever, were my words, but I had been watching the ones in New York and they seemed to actually move. So we bought tickets and, after a bit of a wait, all climbed aboard (including Lulu and Jake).

And sure enough the New York hop on hop off bus does move a lot faster than the ones in Paris. I guess it helps that red lights are a decoration, not really something you have to pay attention to. The commentary was also fabulous, the guy was knowledgeable and entertaining.

For example, were you aware that there are no more graves on Manhattan Island, anyone that dies is shipped off to New Jersey. Real Estate is too expensive to fill it up with dead people. The living are cramped enough as it is.

Also, there are over 3000 taxi cabs in Manhattan, but only two gas stations. Again, it comes down to cost of real estate, imagine the queues!

We had bought tickets for two routes but by the time we had completed the first route, it had taken about 2 hours. So no time to do the second tour. We were meeting Zeke, Nicky, Abbie, and AJ at the world’s best BBQ place. Jason was in desperate need of some meat!

Getting there was not as we had hoped. We thought, we are masters at the public transport now, we will take the subway and the bus.

FAIL, our transit to the bus was in a slightly dodgy part of town, domestics in the middle of the street. Rather unsavoury characters everywhere. After waiting for the bus that did not come I got fed up and grumpy, time to uber.

The driver was there in no time and we made it to dinner only 10 minutes late.

Hometown Bar-B_-Que was fabulous, all the meat is slow cooked and you order by the pound or half pound. There is a massive BBQ outside the restaurant and you can smell the flavours before you even enter the room.

I lined up to order, starting with 3 chicken wings please. Then ½ pound of brisket, ½ pound of ribs, beans and burnt ends, cornbread, and slaw. “That’s more like it” says the guy behind the counter. I guess he had me picked as a small eater. WRONG!

Jason was truly in his happy place. The meat was divine and so well cooked it just melted in your mouth.

There was a live band next door so Abbie insisted we needed to dance. Nicky, Abbie, AJ, and I danced about for a while, but damn it was hot and I needed to sit down. So great to hand with such awesome kids though.

After we could not fit in any more food we packaged up the leftovers for breakfast tomorrow and went for a stroll around the pier. The rain had washed the air clean, the sky had cleared, the views to Miss Liberty were awesome.

We hugged goodbye and all ubered in our own directions.

I think our uber driver got lost, but we had a really scenic drive back to the hotel and it only cost 13 dollars. Got to love it.

It was so great to hang with the gang and meet their families. Such a shame we live so far away, I miss them lots. Thanks Zeke, Mark, Nicky, Mari, AJ, and Abbie for spending time with us xxx

A great day and a wonderful night.

Sleepy time. Another day in New York tomorrow. Our last full day.

Damn I love this city.

24^th June – Last Bite of the Big Apple

We woke to the worst weather we have had in a long time, it was pouring with rain, there were thunderstorm and lightning strike warnings, streets flooded etc.

The TV said it would all be clear by 1000am, and wow they must have a direct line to the weather gods because it did!

We set out to do the last of the exploring. Squeeze as much into the last day as possible.

As we walked through the city all these little market places had popped up. With local produce, bread, cheese, meats, dog treats (ha, ha), honey, jams, everything you could think of. I wish we had more time to buy and sample, but probably not a good idea to fill the suitcase up with food.

We were headed to the High Line.

I had read about the High Line walk. It is an old railway line that runs above the streets and has been turned into a scenic walk. So damned cool! The train tracks are still visible but with plants and trees growing in between and water features you can jump and play in (which I did, of course).

The entire walk is only 3kms and you get some great views of the city streets.

It was a really good walk and you end up on 34^th Street where Macys is located. Funnily enough, as coincidence (or good planning) would have it, a store I wanted to visit.

I was a little sceptical about Macys, I mean this place takes up an entire block. With stores that big I usually find them overwhelming, get frustrated or bored and leave. But I really liked Macys and managed to find some stuff I liked and spent 2 hours in the store. But enough was enough, time to leave.

We went to a couple more stores but needed to head downtown to the Freedom Tower, I had booked us to go up to the observatory.

It was quite a walk, and a fast walk, as it took longer than expected to get there.

Because I am now sick of queues I paid the extra to get priority entrance, skip the queues, go ahead of everyone, and not stand in line. I tell you, it was worth every cent. There were people standing out in the blistering sun, and we happily walked straight past. It only took 15 minutes and we were at the top of the world.

The whole experience is done so very well. Videos play on the walls of the lift on the way up, showing how the city has changed over the decades.

You exit the lifts and are shown a video of how the building was put together. Then the screens, which you don’t realise are screens, get raised and you have this amazing view.

The day was stunning and you could see to the edge of the city.

We spent the next while walking around all the windows, taking photos, trying to figure out where things were, and looking down at the 9/11 monument.

If you go to New York, go up to the observatory. It is worth it. But go on a sunny day 😀

We left the Freedom Tower and went back to the chaos of the city streets, the crowds, the beeping (THE BEEPING says Jason) and the heat. We were both getting a bit grumpy by this stage and were in need of food.

At one stage we were crossing the street, the wee walking man quite clearly indicated we were good to go, but some asshole cuts in front of us, so I swung my shopping bag at his car. I hope he got a hell of a fright, no damage but it would have sounded like he hit something. I just kept walking, and felt a little better. Naughty Jo!

By the time we finally found a place to eat it was nearly 330, no wonder we were so growly.

We stopped at a place in Little Italy, Zeke was 100% right, the food is not Italian, it is what a 3^rd generation American of Italian descent thinks Italian food should taste like ha, ha.

But, it tasted good to us. The mojito was ok too 😀

With our extra strength it was time to visit our last shop. It was a camping and outdoors shop, I was looking for new hiking sandals as I have worn out my Hush Puppies. The tread is nearly gone, they have done stunning service.

We found the place and I was trying on some sandals, but the service was terrible. No help, no one to answer questions, so we just gave up and left. Grump, grump. Poor Hush Puppies you will need to hang in there for a wee bit longer.

We got back to the hotel, after taking a few wrong turns, sometime around 600pm.

Our dinner plans with Mark and Mari were screwed and we were shattered. Another day with over 20kms walked. Thank goodness they were close by and came to the hotel for a drink on the rooftop bar. I am getting old, it was so loud we couldn’t hear each other.

Thanks Mark and Mari for trekking up to our hotel xxx

And thanks for bringing the delicious cookies from Zeke’s bakery. For dinner we had left over dim sum from Mark and Mari’s dinner, washed down with cookies.

Perfect!

Another late night, with an early morning start. Tomorrow we head to Hawaii. Another step closer to home.

25^th June Goodbye New York – Its Been Fun

Our transfer arrived early, we were at the airport in 20 minutes and with only minimal beeping.

Our check in was easy. I had been worried about flying with United, after hearing all the horror stories, but so far so good.

We found a nice place to have breakfast BUT, did you know that they do not serve alcohol before midday. Nowhere in the state! So, there went my liquid sleeping pill for the 11 hours to Hawaii.

Our flight departed early, our seats were comfortable with lots of leg room, see you next time New York.