Today was one of those days where it felt like we covered a lot, yet felt utterly relaxed while doing it. It helped that the weather was gorgeous.
We started by heading off for a pre-booked tour of Independence Hall, which is just across the road from our hotel. I admit, even though it's mostly reproduced, the moment I walked into the room where the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were drafted I found pretty breathtaking. It felt like there was a huge amount of history seeping around me.(I also may have spent 10 minutes trying to convince a nearby squirrel that it loved me and wanted to come home with me...)
We then did a separate tour of Congress Hall, again the history of knowing John Adams was declared President there etc, I found pretty riveting. (For those that haven't heard me ramble before, I have a degree in American History so this stuff fascinates me.)
After that we joined a line up to see the Liberty Bell, which we then found out had a 40 minute wait thanks to a bunch of tour groups so we exited the line and went to get lunch, intending on coming back. We ended up at the same place, my sister and I had lunch a Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia 10 years ago, Grande Olde Cheesesteak at the Bourse. Philadelphia Cheesesteaks = steak strips and cheese in a bread roll = awesomeness.
We then caught a hop on hop off sightseeing tour bus with no intention of hopping on or off because we wanted to get a good look at the city. Which we did, after finding Philly a little run down looking in the Old City area we're in, it was great to see just how beautiful it was, which it is. The area in the Center City around Logan Circle and further on at the Schulylkill River and the Philadelphia Museum of Art are particularly notable.
After getting back to the Bourse, we stopped for ice cream and then headed back to the Liberty Bell as the line was significantly shorter. 10 minutes later, we were standing in front of the bell. I have to admit, I had seen it before but it's not something I'd want to wait any longer for, Aaron was also suitably underwhelmed. It's smaller or something less than you expected. You sort of look at it, take a photo and then think "um, okay, now what?".
We finished our sightseeing with a walk up to Benjamin Franklin's grave, and then down to Washington Square for the tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary Soldier. I had a moment of real sadness at that tomb, there were apparently up to 20,000 soldiers buried in unmarked graves in the Square, and I thought just how sad it must have been for the families, who not only never saw their loved ones again, never actually found out what happened to them, or got to mourn their loss or visit their grave etc.
We ended up at a pizza place for dinner, and accidentally ordered what appeared to be the world's largest pizza (it was so cheap, we didn't realise!). It was delish but funnily we left a lot of it behind.
Finally it turns out that we have a small indie cinema just behind our hotel, on the same block, that happened to be playing Monty Python and the Holy Grail, so after dinner we went to the movies, which was a nice way to end our day. (Well technically my day is ending with the Celebrity Apprentice...)
I think we could very well have left Philadelphia tonight and felt utterly satisfied with what we've seen, but tomorrow we're doing an archaeology tour of the Independence Hall site, and I'm looking forward to the next two days being relaxing, before it's off to Chicago.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Goodbye New York City, Hello Philadelphia...
I think I want to write a bigger story about New York as my blog seems unfinished about it, but I'm always writing these blogs when I'm so sleepy, so I'll write that one up later as a separate, special entry.
Today we left NYC, and arrived in Philadelphia. After the long flights, and sagas with our luggage etc, I admit we were feeling slightly anxious about the whole airport experience, especially as we'd found La Guardia a difficult airport to get around last time we left from there. (Very security conscious.) Turns out it was the most super easy, comfortable flight ever. We were in the air for under 30 minutes, on a very comfy small plane. There were only 36 people on the plane, which meant there were rows free, even on a plane only four seats across. We were the only ones to have checked in baggage on the whole flight!
After a short cab into the city (set fare of $28.50 plus extra dollar per person and tip btw) we arrived at our hotel a few hours before check in. Some of you may know that we had a lousy time in San Francisco last year, and the major reason was a miserable time at our hotel, the Omni. After I completed a feedback survey on the Omni after our stay, we were contacted and advised that they wanted to make it up to us on our next trip to the US. So when we knew we were coming over, they offered us a lovely room at their hotel in Philadelphia for around half the price. We were kind of sceptical though, as we'd discovered that the hotel was totally full tonight whether we'd end up just being shoved in a janitor's closet. Turns out we're in a beautiful, comfortable room and were able to check in instantly. The hotel is very noisy though, as you can hear street noise, and there's a lot of noise in the halls.
After settling in the room, we went for a stroll around our neighbourhood. I wasn't sure what to make of it to be honest, being yelled at by a crazy beggar never helps. There are lots of beautiful, interesting areas and buildings, but it also felt kind of run down and kind of scary in parts. Ironically it would feel safer when we went out for dinner as there were more people around. I also found myself walking past an animal shelter, with all these homeless cats in the window, god I got fur clucky. I couldn't help but go in and leave a small donation. Poor kitties. :(
I feel like Philadelphia is going to be somewhere we like, but some where we don't feel a need to come back to again, in the sense that I don't think there'll be much left to cover. I stand to be corrected though.
After coming back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner, we ended up watching a few episodes of the show Parking Wars, which focuses on the parking officers and tow drivers etc of Philadelphia. (It's sometimes on tv in Australia.) By awesome coincidence, as we walked out of the hotel, we saw the Philadelphia Parking Authority tow a car right in front of us.
We had prebooked a restaurant for dinner - the Marmont Steakhouse - and sat in the window, watching them tow yet another car in front of us! Then one of the ticketing officers walked past, and I'd seen her on the show! I almost wanted an autograph!
Dinner, btw, was awesome. Aaron had the most delicious looking steak, and I had a lemon and rosemary chicken breast with mushroom risotto. Delish. Followed by beignets with divine caramel and raspberry sauces for dessert. (Which when we couldn't finish, they gave us the left overs and the sauces to take away. Nom. nom. nom.) The Omni have a policy where we cannot bring in any food or drink not purchased in the hotel, so we snuck this stuff away in my handbag! Not sure if the maid will dob on the contents of our trash tomorrow! :)
We've just had a quiet night in the room, after getting back after dinner. Tomorrow I'll have more to tell you about Philadelphia.
Today we left NYC, and arrived in Philadelphia. After the long flights, and sagas with our luggage etc, I admit we were feeling slightly anxious about the whole airport experience, especially as we'd found La Guardia a difficult airport to get around last time we left from there. (Very security conscious.) Turns out it was the most super easy, comfortable flight ever. We were in the air for under 30 minutes, on a very comfy small plane. There were only 36 people on the plane, which meant there were rows free, even on a plane only four seats across. We were the only ones to have checked in baggage on the whole flight!
After a short cab into the city (set fare of $28.50 plus extra dollar per person and tip btw) we arrived at our hotel a few hours before check in. Some of you may know that we had a lousy time in San Francisco last year, and the major reason was a miserable time at our hotel, the Omni. After I completed a feedback survey on the Omni after our stay, we were contacted and advised that they wanted to make it up to us on our next trip to the US. So when we knew we were coming over, they offered us a lovely room at their hotel in Philadelphia for around half the price. We were kind of sceptical though, as we'd discovered that the hotel was totally full tonight whether we'd end up just being shoved in a janitor's closet. Turns out we're in a beautiful, comfortable room and were able to check in instantly. The hotel is very noisy though, as you can hear street noise, and there's a lot of noise in the halls.
After settling in the room, we went for a stroll around our neighbourhood. I wasn't sure what to make of it to be honest, being yelled at by a crazy beggar never helps. There are lots of beautiful, interesting areas and buildings, but it also felt kind of run down and kind of scary in parts. Ironically it would feel safer when we went out for dinner as there were more people around. I also found myself walking past an animal shelter, with all these homeless cats in the window, god I got fur clucky. I couldn't help but go in and leave a small donation. Poor kitties. :(
I feel like Philadelphia is going to be somewhere we like, but some where we don't feel a need to come back to again, in the sense that I don't think there'll be much left to cover. I stand to be corrected though.
After coming back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner, we ended up watching a few episodes of the show Parking Wars, which focuses on the parking officers and tow drivers etc of Philadelphia. (It's sometimes on tv in Australia.) By awesome coincidence, as we walked out of the hotel, we saw the Philadelphia Parking Authority tow a car right in front of us.
We had prebooked a restaurant for dinner - the Marmont Steakhouse - and sat in the window, watching them tow yet another car in front of us! Then one of the ticketing officers walked past, and I'd seen her on the show! I almost wanted an autograph!
Dinner, btw, was awesome. Aaron had the most delicious looking steak, and I had a lemon and rosemary chicken breast with mushroom risotto. Delish. Followed by beignets with divine caramel and raspberry sauces for dessert. (Which when we couldn't finish, they gave us the left overs and the sauces to take away. Nom. nom. nom.) The Omni have a policy where we cannot bring in any food or drink not purchased in the hotel, so we snuck this stuff away in my handbag! Not sure if the maid will dob on the contents of our trash tomorrow! :)
We've just had a quiet night in the room, after getting back after dinner. Tomorrow I'll have more to tell you about Philadelphia.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Rocks and Rock
I cannot believe this is our last night in New York City, tomorrow we'll be in Philadelphia. Time really does fly when you're having fun.
Today was another good day, not perfect as I found myself at one point near hysterical in the American Museum of Natural History as I couldn't find my travelex card anywhere in my purse. (Thankfully Aaron with his fresh eyes found it, where I'd somehow stuck it behind another card, but a very good day.
We started with a walk to the cafe Serendipity 3 for their specialty Frozen Hot Chocolate (if you haven't already, watch the movie Serendipity with John Cusack, it's lightweight but sweet.) Shame it didn't open til an hour after we arrived. So we strolled off looking for brunch anywhere before our 12pm appointment. We ended up in the Trump Tower's "food court" with churros and milkshakes.
The Trump Tower was exactly as expected, ostentatious, tacky and a dedication to his insane ego. Even the water bottles had photos of the Donald on it. The one advantage was that it being like a casino, it had great toilets!
After that wandered to Central Park for our 12pm, which was a walking tour of Central Park's movie and tv sites. We hadn't seen more than 10% of the films, but it was a good way to walk around the park. Our tour guide was a young actress who was really sweet and energetic. Very pretty too, apparently...
We walked up to the American Museum of Natural History, stopping at the Dakota building where John Lennon was shot on the way. It was a reasonable walk and we hadn't eaten all day except for the churro so I didn't really enjoy the museum too much as I was sore and hungry. Aaron liked it though, he was really interested in the dinosaurs and the evolution exhibits, which were pretty impressive. I was at one point calling it the American Museum of Natural Pottery due to exhibits and exhibits appearing to be dedicated to that.
After a long awaited dinner at TGI Fridays, we headed to our final Broadway show of our time here (well obviously I guess) Rock of Ages. I adored it when I saw it toured in Australia, and I hoped I'd still love it and that Aaron who's sceptical of musicals, would enjoy it too. Turns out he did. It's a very funny, rock concert almost more than a musical. If you ever get the chance to see it, I couldn't recommend it as a really fun time enough. It's brilliant.
I'm now supposed to be packing, so sorry this is quick. Hope you have good weekends.
Today was another good day, not perfect as I found myself at one point near hysterical in the American Museum of Natural History as I couldn't find my travelex card anywhere in my purse. (Thankfully Aaron with his fresh eyes found it, where I'd somehow stuck it behind another card, but a very good day.
We started with a walk to the cafe Serendipity 3 for their specialty Frozen Hot Chocolate (if you haven't already, watch the movie Serendipity with John Cusack, it's lightweight but sweet.) Shame it didn't open til an hour after we arrived. So we strolled off looking for brunch anywhere before our 12pm appointment. We ended up in the Trump Tower's "food court" with churros and milkshakes.
The Trump Tower was exactly as expected, ostentatious, tacky and a dedication to his insane ego. Even the water bottles had photos of the Donald on it. The one advantage was that it being like a casino, it had great toilets!
After that wandered to Central Park for our 12pm, which was a walking tour of Central Park's movie and tv sites. We hadn't seen more than 10% of the films, but it was a good way to walk around the park. Our tour guide was a young actress who was really sweet and energetic. Very pretty too, apparently...
We walked up to the American Museum of Natural History, stopping at the Dakota building where John Lennon was shot on the way. It was a reasonable walk and we hadn't eaten all day except for the churro so I didn't really enjoy the museum too much as I was sore and hungry. Aaron liked it though, he was really interested in the dinosaurs and the evolution exhibits, which were pretty impressive. I was at one point calling it the American Museum of Natural Pottery due to exhibits and exhibits appearing to be dedicated to that.
After a long awaited dinner at TGI Fridays, we headed to our final Broadway show of our time here (well obviously I guess) Rock of Ages. I adored it when I saw it toured in Australia, and I hoped I'd still love it and that Aaron who's sceptical of musicals, would enjoy it too. Turns out he did. It's a very funny, rock concert almost more than a musical. If you ever get the chance to see it, I couldn't recommend it as a really fun time enough. It's brilliant.
I'm now supposed to be packing, so sorry this is quick. Hope you have good weekends.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Brooklyn and Back
First, an apology for the ending of last night's blog, I was really quite sleepy...
After a night where nothing bad happened (!) Aaron and I were both wide awake around 5:30am...how we love you jet lag) so we were able to get a good start on the day.
I was so hungry when I woke up, but I've been scared to eat much (at all) since my colic attack the other night and I mentioned to Aaron that I missed cereal. It's super nice that here you can get an omelette or pancakes for $3 but I really wanted something that wasn't rich. I almost wept when Aaron mentioned that the cafe at the bottom of the hotel serve cereal so I dragged him down there for breakfast around 7am.
Today was going to be the day we went to a taping of Maury Povich, we'd ummed and ahhed originally and then decided we would go, but the crazy events of the last few days meant we felt like we hadn't seen enough of NYC, so we decided to skip it. Today's goal became about seeing some more of Brooklyn.
For those of you that aren't aware, my sister is named Brooklyn, so it's kind of got an extra level of interest for me (she is not named after the city/borough). (My other sister is Jordan, which makes me have an extra curiousity about that country too.)
We grabbed a hop on hop off bus from Times Square to Battery Park and then another for a loop around Brooklyn. Both rides were freezing. I'm hoping the rest of the trip brings a bit more sun and heat.
We probably didn't scratch much of the surface of Brooklyn, sticking mostly too the Brooklyn Heights area, and the main roads around the Botanic Gardens etc. No offence to the Brooklynites reading this but we were really surprised by how pretty Brooklyn was, the tree lined streets are full with gorgeous Brownstones, I think we imagined it much more industrial looking or similar. We had some nice views of Manhattan, especially the lower end, and the Brooklyn Bridge too. (The Brooklyn Bridge is going to be my big regret from this trip, as I really, really wanted to walk over it, but we just didn't have time, and won't tomorrow.) We really liked Brooklyn and will definitely spend more time wandering around it next time we go to NYC.
After heading back to midtown Manhattan on another bus (we deliberately sat in the much warmer bottom half and I promptly fell asleep!) we decided to stop off at an earlier stop outside of the Waldorf Astoria, so I could take Aaron to meet my real true love, the Chrysler Building. I love the Chrysler so much it's ridiculous. I found myself near patting its wall lovingly. It's just such a beautiful piece of architecture.
It was raining like a heavy mist by this point, so after also stopping by Grand Central Station, we headed back to the hotel, to get warm and dry, via Toys R Us.
I fell asleep again back at the hotel (whoops!).
After rousing, we walked to W46th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenue) to an area known as Restuarant Row. It's basically a restaurant in every building with cusines from Italian, Japanese, Russian, Brazilian etc to choose from. We didn't know what we wanted and I was still worried, so we ended up picking an Irish themed pub and it was really yummy and so cheap.
Heading back towards the hotel, we realised that the night loop version of the bus was picking people up, and they were using a covered bus, so we decided to get on. It was certainly warmer and dryer but photos were near impossible. We did get to really enjoy the lights of New York though, which wow us still every time.
Falling asleep again... so will sign off. Have a good day!
After a night where nothing bad happened (!) Aaron and I were both wide awake around 5:30am...how we love you jet lag) so we were able to get a good start on the day.
I was so hungry when I woke up, but I've been scared to eat much (at all) since my colic attack the other night and I mentioned to Aaron that I missed cereal. It's super nice that here you can get an omelette or pancakes for $3 but I really wanted something that wasn't rich. I almost wept when Aaron mentioned that the cafe at the bottom of the hotel serve cereal so I dragged him down there for breakfast around 7am.
Today was going to be the day we went to a taping of Maury Povich, we'd ummed and ahhed originally and then decided we would go, but the crazy events of the last few days meant we felt like we hadn't seen enough of NYC, so we decided to skip it. Today's goal became about seeing some more of Brooklyn.
For those of you that aren't aware, my sister is named Brooklyn, so it's kind of got an extra level of interest for me (she is not named after the city/borough). (My other sister is Jordan, which makes me have an extra curiousity about that country too.)
We grabbed a hop on hop off bus from Times Square to Battery Park and then another for a loop around Brooklyn. Both rides were freezing. I'm hoping the rest of the trip brings a bit more sun and heat.
We probably didn't scratch much of the surface of Brooklyn, sticking mostly too the Brooklyn Heights area, and the main roads around the Botanic Gardens etc. No offence to the Brooklynites reading this but we were really surprised by how pretty Brooklyn was, the tree lined streets are full with gorgeous Brownstones, I think we imagined it much more industrial looking or similar. We had some nice views of Manhattan, especially the lower end, and the Brooklyn Bridge too. (The Brooklyn Bridge is going to be my big regret from this trip, as I really, really wanted to walk over it, but we just didn't have time, and won't tomorrow.) We really liked Brooklyn and will definitely spend more time wandering around it next time we go to NYC.
After heading back to midtown Manhattan on another bus (we deliberately sat in the much warmer bottom half and I promptly fell asleep!) we decided to stop off at an earlier stop outside of the Waldorf Astoria, so I could take Aaron to meet my real true love, the Chrysler Building. I love the Chrysler so much it's ridiculous. I found myself near patting its wall lovingly. It's just such a beautiful piece of architecture.
It was raining like a heavy mist by this point, so after also stopping by Grand Central Station, we headed back to the hotel, to get warm and dry, via Toys R Us.
I fell asleep again back at the hotel (whoops!).
After rousing, we walked to W46th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenue) to an area known as Restuarant Row. It's basically a restaurant in every building with cusines from Italian, Japanese, Russian, Brazilian etc to choose from. We didn't know what we wanted and I was still worried, so we ended up picking an Irish themed pub and it was really yummy and so cheap.
Heading back towards the hotel, we realised that the night loop version of the bus was picking people up, and they were using a covered bus, so we decided to get on. It was certainly warmer and dryer but photos were near impossible. We did get to really enjoy the lights of New York though, which wow us still every time.
Falling asleep again... so will sign off. Have a good day!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
The Courtney That Never Sleeps
Sorry again for a lack of photos but I simply can't stay awake long enough after two nights of no sleep. They're on my FB page if you're interested. (Also apologies for the outtakes on FB, I just upload them straight on without editing, which I "plan" to do later.)
The reason for such exhaustion is unfortunately I had a colic attack last night, which lasted nine painful, miserable hours. It culminated in me ending up visiting St Luke's Roosevelt Hospital's emergency department at 5:30am, but after a disagreement with the nurses regarding giving me an ECG (I knew it wasn't my heart, and unlike Australia where my stay in emergency and all the tests costing me nothing, I couldn't bear to be charged hundreds for something that would be clear) I ended up realising that the pain had gone so I had to leave. I'm convinced they thought I was either mental or a drug addict. I'm not feeling great at the moment which I think is fear that it'll happen again.
It kind of sums up the day though, it's been an up and down one. After finally being able to sleep at 6am, I slept until 10 when I was woken by Aaron bringing my long lost suitcase into the room! YAY!!! It's all together and everything was in it, I almost cried with happiness to see it. (BTW - Whining on Twitter is very useful!)
After dawdling to get ready, we went out to catch a hop on hop off bus around the city but decided to get out some money... and our cards wouldn't work. At all. So we had to go find a travelex to sort it out. Half an hour on the phone later it turns out that somehow our passwords got switched in the system so Aaron's PIN was now attached to my card and vis-versa and our accounts had been locked. Mine is now unlocked, but Aaron's is still locked as they wanted him to call from the start again, and we didn't have time.
Finally we got on a hop on hop off bus and drove around the Downtown loop. I love these buses in NYC, as you have a real tour guide (for now - a council bylaw thingy is going to force the buses to use headsets, which will probably see them just use an audio tape) and every time we've heard something new from the guides. Plus it's just a way of covering a lot of the city quickly. I snapped lots of photos, that are probably exactly the same as the ones I took last time!
Of note was the Freedom Tower though, which I think they were just starting when we were last in NYC is now almost finished.
After the loop, we headed back towards Times Square to meet my friend Jessy for dinner. Jessy is a friend I met back in the day when there were yahoo mailing lists instead of forums on the internet. To quote Aaron after dinner "Ooh, she's really lovely." We lost touch for a few years because I'm a freaking useless friend at at times, so it's great that Facebook has let us up and reconnect. We went to a Japanese BBQ place where you cook your own food, it was lots of fun. I have also learned that it's very easy to burn marshmallows when you aren't paying attention. Dinner was great :).
We've just come back to the hotel for the rest of the night, we're so tired (I just fell asleep writing this!), so [
The reason for such exhaustion is unfortunately I had a colic attack last night, which lasted nine painful, miserable hours. It culminated in me ending up visiting St Luke's Roosevelt Hospital's emergency department at 5:30am, but after a disagreement with the nurses regarding giving me an ECG (I knew it wasn't my heart, and unlike Australia where my stay in emergency and all the tests costing me nothing, I couldn't bear to be charged hundreds for something that would be clear) I ended up realising that the pain had gone so I had to leave. I'm convinced they thought I was either mental or a drug addict. I'm not feeling great at the moment which I think is fear that it'll happen again.
It kind of sums up the day though, it's been an up and down one. After finally being able to sleep at 6am, I slept until 10 when I was woken by Aaron bringing my long lost suitcase into the room! YAY!!! It's all together and everything was in it, I almost cried with happiness to see it. (BTW - Whining on Twitter is very useful!)
After dawdling to get ready, we went out to catch a hop on hop off bus around the city but decided to get out some money... and our cards wouldn't work. At all. So we had to go find a travelex to sort it out. Half an hour on the phone later it turns out that somehow our passwords got switched in the system so Aaron's PIN was now attached to my card and vis-versa and our accounts had been locked. Mine is now unlocked, but Aaron's is still locked as they wanted him to call from the start again, and we didn't have time.
Finally we got on a hop on hop off bus and drove around the Downtown loop. I love these buses in NYC, as you have a real tour guide (for now - a council bylaw thingy is going to force the buses to use headsets, which will probably see them just use an audio tape) and every time we've heard something new from the guides. Plus it's just a way of covering a lot of the city quickly. I snapped lots of photos, that are probably exactly the same as the ones I took last time!
Of note was the Freedom Tower though, which I think they were just starting when we were last in NYC is now almost finished.
After the loop, we headed back towards Times Square to meet my friend Jessy for dinner. Jessy is a friend I met back in the day when there were yahoo mailing lists instead of forums on the internet. To quote Aaron after dinner "Ooh, she's really lovely." We lost touch for a few years because I'm a freaking useless friend at at times, so it's great that Facebook has let us up and reconnect. We went to a Japanese BBQ place where you cook your own food, it was lots of fun. I have also learned that it's very easy to burn marshmallows when you aren't paying attention. Dinner was great :).
We've just come back to the hotel for the rest of the night, we're so tired (I just fell asleep writing this!), so [
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Mormons, Macy's and Mario
First - sorry for no photos today, I'm having trouble with the uploader.
Today started with more arguments with Delta as my bag didn't surface last night as promised. I was told it was in NYC and I'd have it soon, two hours later it was never received in JFK and was still in LA! Eventually I started whining on Twitter and suddenly Delta seemed more helpful, I think my bag may be on its way to me now. (Maybe. *Fingers crossed.*)
After that we realised that we had no idea when my bag would arrive, and the three tops I had weren't enough, so off to Macy's we walked. Ah, I love Macy's in New York City. They have an entire floor dedicated to plus size women's fashion and it's designer - Michael Kors, Calvin Klein etc all priced reasonably. It's impossible to find anything like that in Australia. As I needed mostly wintery clothes, I was focused on the end of season sale racks, where I picked up a jumper that was $79 down to $20. I decided that I couldn't face the idea that my bag was really lost, and didn't want to buy stuff that I'd never wear again if it showed up, so just bought enough items that can be rotated through my normal closet at home, including a dress that I really love. All of it was on sale or only $20 to begin with. So yay.
After Macy's we headed to pretty much my single favourite eatery in New York City - Ellen's Stardust Diner. It's a cool 50s style diner with singing wait staff. All of them are Broadway hopefuls and they're genuinely good. There is a former member of staff in the cast of every current Broadway show. My song highlight was Part of Your World from the Little Mermaid. I was going in to have their nommy Mac and Cheese with chicken, but noticed they had a dish named after Gene Kelly so I had to go for that!
On the way back to the hotel, we noticed a little crowd hanging around a block away, and there was clearly something being filmed, strolled up and saw Mario Lopez (Slater from Saved By The Bell). Goodness, he still looks like he's about 25, and very good for it. *Wiggles eyebrows*.
After hanging out in the hotel for a while, we went for a quick walk as we were heading out to see a Broadway show that started at 7. We walked next to Central Park to 5th Avenue, popping by FAO Schwarz and the keyboard from Big, and then we went into St Patrick's Cathedral. I must admit, I tend not to walk into churchs or cathedrals as I worry about being disrespectful to those who are using it for worship. However it was so full or tourists and so striking, we went in and joined the horde. Walked back to the hotel via Rockefeller Center and stopped at my beloved Ray's for gigantic slices of cheese pizza.
We then headed off to see the Book of Mormon, one of two Broadway shows we're booked to see. It is such a massive hit, we had to buy tickets for it last year! It was very good, very clever. Sometimes I feel like Trey Parker and Matt Stone end up poking so much fun at everyone that they end up not believing in anything by the end, and sometimes they massively overstep the taste levels in my opinion, but this while pretty adult content was good, and I loved the ending. Unfortunately jet lag and a case of colic, made me either so sleepy or in pain so I couldn't enjoy it as much as I could but I did enjoy it, as did Aaron. On the way back, we detoured via Times Square for some night photos.
Off to bed now, hopefully there is a suitcase waiting for me tomorrow morning!
Today started with more arguments with Delta as my bag didn't surface last night as promised. I was told it was in NYC and I'd have it soon, two hours later it was never received in JFK and was still in LA! Eventually I started whining on Twitter and suddenly Delta seemed more helpful, I think my bag may be on its way to me now. (Maybe. *Fingers crossed.*)
After that we realised that we had no idea when my bag would arrive, and the three tops I had weren't enough, so off to Macy's we walked. Ah, I love Macy's in New York City. They have an entire floor dedicated to plus size women's fashion and it's designer - Michael Kors, Calvin Klein etc all priced reasonably. It's impossible to find anything like that in Australia. As I needed mostly wintery clothes, I was focused on the end of season sale racks, where I picked up a jumper that was $79 down to $20. I decided that I couldn't face the idea that my bag was really lost, and didn't want to buy stuff that I'd never wear again if it showed up, so just bought enough items that can be rotated through my normal closet at home, including a dress that I really love. All of it was on sale or only $20 to begin with. So yay.
After Macy's we headed to pretty much my single favourite eatery in New York City - Ellen's Stardust Diner. It's a cool 50s style diner with singing wait staff. All of them are Broadway hopefuls and they're genuinely good. There is a former member of staff in the cast of every current Broadway show. My song highlight was Part of Your World from the Little Mermaid. I was going in to have their nommy Mac and Cheese with chicken, but noticed they had a dish named after Gene Kelly so I had to go for that!
On the way back to the hotel, we noticed a little crowd hanging around a block away, and there was clearly something being filmed, strolled up and saw Mario Lopez (Slater from Saved By The Bell). Goodness, he still looks like he's about 25, and very good for it. *Wiggles eyebrows*.
After hanging out in the hotel for a while, we went for a quick walk as we were heading out to see a Broadway show that started at 7. We walked next to Central Park to 5th Avenue, popping by FAO Schwarz and the keyboard from Big, and then we went into St Patrick's Cathedral. I must admit, I tend not to walk into churchs or cathedrals as I worry about being disrespectful to those who are using it for worship. However it was so full or tourists and so striking, we went in and joined the horde. Walked back to the hotel via Rockefeller Center and stopped at my beloved Ray's for gigantic slices of cheese pizza.
We then headed off to see the Book of Mormon, one of two Broadway shows we're booked to see. It is such a massive hit, we had to buy tickets for it last year! It was very good, very clever. Sometimes I feel like Trey Parker and Matt Stone end up poking so much fun at everyone that they end up not believing in anything by the end, and sometimes they massively overstep the taste levels in my opinion, but this while pretty adult content was good, and I loved the ending. Unfortunately jet lag and a case of colic, made me either so sleepy or in pain so I couldn't enjoy it as much as I could but I did enjoy it, as did Aaron. On the way back, we detoured via Times Square for some night photos.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
86th Floor Highs and Lows
It's funny how Times Square is so noisy, chaotic, flashy, busy yet it really is the place where I feel most at peace in the world. It just feels like it's home.
So even when I've had a reasonably difficult two days (almost three if you're in Australian time), every time I see the lights of Times Square I can't stop breaking into a grin, and feeling so darned happy.
(Note the blog will get positive again shortly!) The reason it's been difficult are the long flights, total chaos in the airports which resulted in our bags not arriving in NYC with us. I've been amazed at how annoying it actually is not to have your stuff. Thankfully we'd packed a spare shirt and underwear in our carry on, but after a long day of flights and literal running around airports, I really wanted my pyjamas when we arrived at midnight.
Aaron's bag arrived today, but mine is still missing. Delta told us (several times) it was arriving with Aaron's and they could "guarantee" it was on the delivery truck but no, 10 minutes later my bag had still never left LA. It's allegedly on a plane to NYC and will be with me tonight, but my breath isn't being held. It's been honestly really annoying, as we've had to buy socks and underwear etc that we wouldn't have had to, plus I've had to do a lot of chasing. We also had to pay our car driver nearly double extra because of waiting time due to how long we were delayed at the airport. All small money things, but I obssess about budgets while I'm away.
Anyway, the flights over (2 hours between Adelaide and Sydney, 13 hours between Sydney and Los Angeles and 5 hours between Los Angeles and New York) weren't that bad actually. We were super lucky and had a seat free in our row of three for the long flight, which made the flight phenomenally more comfortable.
However that flight landed on time, but it arrived at the same time as another international flight and that's where the chaos happened, as immigration couldn't cope with everyone, so there were delays, meaning the three hours we had between flights totally evaporated.
For entertainment, we both watched the new The Three Musketeers film which was unbelievably bad but actually watchable, and I watched Crazy, Stupid Love.Well half of it, as far as I was concerned it should have been called Boring, Depressing Love and I hated it so much, I turned it off.
Anyhoo, as exciting as plane flights are... maybe I should talk more about NYC! As I said, as our car turned into 7th Avenue to our hotel and I squealed at Times Square blinking at me down the street. We ended up grabbing a very late dinner at our hotel's diner - Aaron had a cheeseburger and I had spaghetti and meatballs. After unwinding we went to sleep about 1:30am.
We've made a concerted effort to try and get to a normal timing schedule to try and fend off jetlag. It seems to have worked as well as it could have. So we got up around 7:30am, went to a deli for breakfast (I had a cheese omelette - Aaron a fruit salad), then walked down to Times Square, browsed M and M's World, Toys R Us' massive store (it has a ferris wheel inside of it!) and then strolled down to Macy's.
After getting ourselves lost in Macy's (about 64 times - it is the largest store in the world) we ended up on 34th Street and decided the freezing weather (about 10 degrees today) may have affected the Empire State Building lines,so decided to go up. It was only a 10 minute line, and most of that was walking between areas.
Last time we were up on the Empire State Building it was a very busy Friday night, and it was hard to take photos, today we were really able to wander around and take some decent shots. Unfortunately as it was misty, we couldn't get a decent shot of the Brooklyn Bridge. But here are some photos, as usual I stared at the Chrysler Building for ages.
After that we grabbed some lunch at another deli (huge grilled cheese sandwiches and fries - $4.95!) we strolled back to the hotel via KMart and Macy's to buy a few essentials in case we have no suitcases for awhile.
After a break at the hotel (and while the suitcase drama ramped up) we went out to dinner at one of our favourite places here - Famous Daves. (I have photos but they're not on the computer yet.) The food there is so huge. I had beef brisket, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and cornbread. We didn't finish it, didn't get close but still needed to be almost rolled back to the hotel!
It's been a nice day. I love this place so much.
So even when I've had a reasonably difficult two days (almost three if you're in Australian time), every time I see the lights of Times Square I can't stop breaking into a grin, and feeling so darned happy.
(Taken on the TKTS Steps)
Aaron's bag arrived today, but mine is still missing. Delta told us (several times) it was arriving with Aaron's and they could "guarantee" it was on the delivery truck but no, 10 minutes later my bag had still never left LA. It's allegedly on a plane to NYC and will be with me tonight, but my breath isn't being held. It's been honestly really annoying, as we've had to buy socks and underwear etc that we wouldn't have had to, plus I've had to do a lot of chasing. We also had to pay our car driver nearly double extra because of waiting time due to how long we were delayed at the airport. All small money things, but I obssess about budgets while I'm away.
Anyway, the flights over (2 hours between Adelaide and Sydney, 13 hours between Sydney and Los Angeles and 5 hours between Los Angeles and New York) weren't that bad actually. We were super lucky and had a seat free in our row of three for the long flight, which made the flight phenomenally more comfortable.
However that flight landed on time, but it arrived at the same time as another international flight and that's where the chaos happened, as immigration couldn't cope with everyone, so there were delays, meaning the three hours we had between flights totally evaporated.
For entertainment, we both watched the new The Three Musketeers film which was unbelievably bad but actually watchable, and I watched Crazy, Stupid Love.Well half of it, as far as I was concerned it should have been called Boring, Depressing Love and I hated it so much, I turned it off.
Anyhoo, as exciting as plane flights are... maybe I should talk more about NYC! As I said, as our car turned into 7th Avenue to our hotel and I squealed at Times Square blinking at me down the street. We ended up grabbing a very late dinner at our hotel's diner - Aaron had a cheeseburger and I had spaghetti and meatballs. After unwinding we went to sleep about 1:30am.
We've made a concerted effort to try and get to a normal timing schedule to try and fend off jetlag. It seems to have worked as well as it could have. So we got up around 7:30am, went to a deli for breakfast (I had a cheese omelette - Aaron a fruit salad), then walked down to Times Square, browsed M and M's World, Toys R Us' massive store (it has a ferris wheel inside of it!) and then strolled down to Macy's.
After getting ourselves lost in Macy's (about 64 times - it is the largest store in the world) we ended up on 34th Street and decided the freezing weather (about 10 degrees today) may have affected the Empire State Building lines,so decided to go up. It was only a 10 minute line, and most of that was walking between areas.
Last time we were up on the Empire State Building it was a very busy Friday night, and it was hard to take photos, today we were really able to wander around and take some decent shots. Unfortunately as it was misty, we couldn't get a decent shot of the Brooklyn Bridge. But here are some photos, as usual I stared at the Chrysler Building for ages.
After that we grabbed some lunch at another deli (huge grilled cheese sandwiches and fries - $4.95!) we strolled back to the hotel via KMart and Macy's to buy a few essentials in case we have no suitcases for awhile.
After a break at the hotel (and while the suitcase drama ramped up) we went out to dinner at one of our favourite places here - Famous Daves. (I have photos but they're not on the computer yet.) The food there is so huge. I had beef brisket, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and cornbread. We didn't finish it, didn't get close but still needed to be almost rolled back to the hotel!
It's been a nice day. I love this place so much.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
I Came. I Saw. I Nerded.
This weekend I embraced my inner (okay outer) nerd, and went off to the first Oz Comic-Con held in Adelaide. It was a two day event, but I only went Saturday, accompanied by a good friend from Melbourne.
I have always wanted to go to a Comic-Con, and hopefully will one day get the San Diego version, so was super excited to have one here, even if being honest, I hadn't seen a lot of the shows that the guest speakers starred in. I was pretty stunned with how many other people were interested in it, especially as I didn't think it had been well promoted, as there was 7000 people through the first day, and queues to get in that went for an hour and a half (it took us about half an hour - 45 minutes to get in.) Standing in line allowed me to admire some of the amazing efforts that had been put in by the people who wore costumes, or kind of giggle at the girls who'd dressed in too much lycra and too high shoes and were struggling to walk at all!
I ended up seeing panels with Norman Reedus, Sean Astin and Ben Browder. Sean Astin was only announced a week or so before the event, as Sean Patrick Flannery was going to be there, but pulled out. I was so excited to see Sean Astin though. I've always really liked him, so even without being a particularly large LOTR fan (I loved the trilogy until the last half hour of Return of the King, when I decided I was bored senseless) that was going to be cool. All the speakers were great, you could tell Sean Astin and Ben Browder had been to these conventions before and were really great at interacting with the crowd. Norman Reedus was good, but appeared slightly more green (not just from his hangover sunglasses) and a tad more amazed at the questions such as "in episode 2.4 you were wearing blue socks, where as in episode 2.7 you were wearing red socks, is that an example of the juxtaposition between the comic..." that the more "serious" attendees were asking.
Other highlights of the day were having photos taken with Daleks, R2D2 (it moved and made noises like a real one!) and a copy of the TARDIS.
I'm realising this is a fairly lacklustre blog about something that genuinely excited me but I'm sulking because they'd sold out of Buffy lunch boxes before I'd fully decided that yes I needed one in my life. Also because Daylight Savings ended this weekend and I'm totally out of whack, I'm way too tired than I should be, and almost had to have a huge nap during the day. I'm so sleepy now, I'm going to end this and head off for an early night. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.
(Oh and 3 weeks to go till the trip! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!)
I have always wanted to go to a Comic-Con, and hopefully will one day get the San Diego version, so was super excited to have one here, even if being honest, I hadn't seen a lot of the shows that the guest speakers starred in. I was pretty stunned with how many other people were interested in it, especially as I didn't think it had been well promoted, as there was 7000 people through the first day, and queues to get in that went for an hour and a half (it took us about half an hour - 45 minutes to get in.) Standing in line allowed me to admire some of the amazing efforts that had been put in by the people who wore costumes, or kind of giggle at the girls who'd dressed in too much lycra and too high shoes and were struggling to walk at all!
I ended up seeing panels with Norman Reedus, Sean Astin and Ben Browder. Sean Astin was only announced a week or so before the event, as Sean Patrick Flannery was going to be there, but pulled out. I was so excited to see Sean Astin though. I've always really liked him, so even without being a particularly large LOTR fan (I loved the trilogy until the last half hour of Return of the King, when I decided I was bored senseless) that was going to be cool. All the speakers were great, you could tell Sean Astin and Ben Browder had been to these conventions before and were really great at interacting with the crowd. Norman Reedus was good, but appeared slightly more green (not just from his hangover sunglasses) and a tad more amazed at the questions such as "in episode 2.4 you were wearing blue socks, where as in episode 2.7 you were wearing red socks, is that an example of the juxtaposition between the comic..." that the more "serious" attendees were asking.
Other highlights of the day were having photos taken with Daleks, R2D2 (it moved and made noises like a real one!) and a copy of the TARDIS.
(Oh and 3 weeks to go till the trip! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!)
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