Day 16 and 17 - New York

Update 18/10/2015 - Hi everyone, this is very long overdue, thanks in-part to my laziness and Kathryn's laptop which contained the photo's being broken. It's now been almost 12 months since we went away so I've been getting very nostalgic and looking back at this blog. So I've finally got a free Sunday today and I'm finally going to upload all the remaining things I have.

Saturday

This is an entry that I've written in the last few days. Naturally there is not much I can remember. On Saturday we went shopping. I got a map from a website called superfuture which has some good city guides aimed at a young audience (I used to use these a lot about 10 years ago when first dabbing into streetwear). We got the subway to 14th St on the A-C train and visit the West Village first. This was a really nice area and full of classic 3-4 storey terrace that you see in most American TV and films. The streets where a bit leafy and the streets not in the usual grid layout as it is a slightly older part of NYC.

View from the street in West Village

We visited a few shops on the map, spent some money and had some cocktails and dinner in a small tavern type bar in Soho.

Inside of place we had dinner (I can't remember the name!)

Sunday

This was the day we visited the Natural history museum, Central Park and 5th Avenue.

Unfortunately the park was a bit boring as there was a lack of anything interesting going on. The trees had lost their leaves, it was cold and gloomy and there wasn't many people about. Kathryn gave me a run down of the various buildings and who owned them. It was pretty cool to finally see The Plaza hotel featured in Home Alone 2.

Outside Central Park

Front of Natural History Museum (left) and exhibit (right)

Kathryn with festive dinosaur! (left) And walking down 5th Avenue (right)

Later on in the day, Smiti came back from Washington and we went out for dinner and watched an American football game. She expained to us what was going on and we had a really good time.

Day 15 – New York (Black Friday)

Distance travelled: 7 miles on subway, 2 miles on foot

We had a change of plans on Black Friday. We were going to brave the sales, but actually the weather was the best day in a couple so we decided to take a walk from the apartment to Brooklyn bridge. And do the shopping tomorrow.

View approaching Brooklyn Bridge

You can see the bridge from Smiti’s building so we headed down to the riverside, and then along to try and get to the bridge. We got a little lost, or you might say just exploring, before we found the way up to the bridge.

The bridge is a very impressive structure to look at. A mixtures of steel plate and rivets type contractions and wires with wooden slats that make up the pedestrian part. They was quite a lot of tourists around, but once we walked over the half way, it wasn’t too bad and we spent a while taking some photos and looking back at the view.

Views from Brooklyn Bridge of Lower Manhattan

It was still a bit windy, so after a bit we decided we’d had enough and headed back to the shore.

In the evening I had booked tickets for a college basketball match at Madison Square Garden. There was an invitation tournament over the thanksgiving weekend. We went for a quick slice of pizza at a very well reviewed place just opposite. The pizza was great, but the service not so much. Probably due to the hype, it was very busy inside, but we did get a table easily once we were served.

Pizza Suprema on 8th Avenue, opposite MSG

We walked back over to the Garden, which is actually on top of Penn station. We dove into a bar outside for a quick drink as we still had some time to spare. We were the only ones there, and the bartender was very friendly. He actually let us go up some special stairs to get into the arena so we didn’t have to walk outside.

Madison Square Garden

Apparently MSG is the oldest arena in use in the National Hockey League, and it does look a little old, but actually is really well kept. As the college teams have a smaller following, the upper bowl of the arean was not in used, and even the lower half was only about half full, maybe 5,000 to 7,500 in attendance. I was pleased to see there was a band in attendance that provided some good authentic music. The seats were a little uncomfortable as there wasn’t much legroom.

Inside Madison Square Garden

The game was actually ok, but the New York team should have won as they were better, but actually they played terribly and lost.

Day 13 and 14 - New York

Distance travelled: 8 miles by subway, 2 miles on foot

I was feeling pretty rough on Wednesday so we actually didn’t really do that much. I had a really bad headache in the morning. I’m not sure why, although we did have another drink when we got back last night. I could only think as I’d eaten quite a bit of Chinese for dinner before we went out, that the alcohol had a bit of a delayed effect. The Wednesday was a bit of a write off to be honest.

Stephen's hangover!

In the evening, Kathryn cooked a nice meal with a starter of brussel sproats, bacon and parmesan. The main course was a pasta bake with creamy mushroom sauce and green beens. As Smiti was heading for Washington in the morning, we had an early night.

So for Thanksgiving we got up early as Smiti had to get the train to Washington. We left about 8:30am to go to the parade which started at 9am in Central Park. The weather wasn’t great and it was very cold and grey. We also got some “wintery mix” of rain and sleet that they didn’t mention on the tv.

It was very eerie using the public transport and walking the streets as there was hardly anyone around and most of the shops were closed. The platforms were deserted. We decided to go via Grand Central Station and walk to the parade route. We had wanted to see the station anyway during our stay so it seemed like a good opportunity to do it.

Deserted New York; John Street (left) and Fulton Street Subway (right)

We got off the subway and spent a few minutes in the station before leaving. We got some coffee on the way to the parade. Unfortunately, being tourist/first timers we were actually not really prepared for the parade crowds. Even though we were at 7^th Avenue before the parade arrived, the police had already shut most of the streets off to more spectators so there wasn't any overcrowding. We ended up being funneled into a park, but eventually we got a decent spot where we could see most of the parade. Unfortunately we were just a little far back.

The parade was actually very entertaining and quite exciting. I’d say the best thing was the marching bands, probably because they were very loud and ou could hear them very well.

Our view for the Thanksgiving Parade (left) and another photo of what it was like in reality (right), especially if you weren't as tall as me

After we’d seen pretty much everything, we pushed our way back away from the crowd and back towards central station. We were going to get a drink to warm ourselves up and found a nice Parisian bakery. Unfortunately, although we got seated quickly, it was about 10 minutes and no-one came to take our order so we just left. We went back to central station, I took a few more photos and we headed back to the apartment.

Main hall in Grand Central Station

In the afternoon we decided to go and see a movie as we haven’t had the chance with having to look after Izzy for at least a year. We went to a cinema in a newly built office tower.

Main cinema foyer

The movie we saw as The Hunger Games which we enjoyed. Afterwards we went to a bar and grill called Bill’s. They did a special thanksgiving meal of turkey, cranberry sauce and vegetables that I had to have, and I wasn’t disappointed.  It was really good, very nice and moist turkey. My plate was clean afterwards! Kathryn had a burger.

Bill's Bar and Grill; turkey dinner (left) and bar (right)

Afterwards, we wondered past the 9/11 memorial again, although this time it was at night. It took a few more photos, which I think showed how spectacular it looked with the contrast between dark and light. We went back to the apartment and watched the remainder of the Matrix trilogy which we had recorded before going to bed.

9/11 memorial at night (left) and lower floors of the Freedom Tower (right)

Day 12 - Boston to New York

Distance travelled: 227 miles by Amtrak, 5 miles by subway, 1 mile by taxi and 1 mile by foot

Our train back to New York was at 11am, so we had a bit of a lay in, before leaving about 10am. We got a taxi from the hotel as we have actually accumulated quite a few gifts and things that meant our baggage was quite heavy, and we didn’t feel like negotiating the transit system during rush hour.The other thing was that the temperature has increased quite a bit, from about freezing to over 10 degree Celsius so now we have to carry our coats as extra.

We got the Back Bay station with plenty of time. Unfortunately again, the train stations aren’t much to look at really so it was just a case of sitting on an uncomfortable slab of concrete an watching the departure board for our train to be announced.

View from back of Boston taxi (left) and Back Bay Station main hall (right)

It wasn’t too busy actually, we were worried initially that travelling before thanksgiving would be difficult, but actually, probably because the train originated from Boston, it was easy to get on and get a seat. As the train was fully booked even when we booked our tickets in advance, we were travelling business class back to NYC. Unbelievably, business class has even more legroom than just regular coach class. There is actually a footrest as the chair is so big that if you reclined, your feet wouldn’t touch the floor!

The journey was quiet uneventful. As the weather was cloudy there wasn’t much to look at. I went to get the free coffee from the buffet car which was intriguing to see the attendant preparing all the food by shoving it in a microwave! I used to time to try and catch up with the blog. Kathryn enjoyed that the train guard was insisting that everyone in the quiet coach maintained a "library-like atmosphere"!

We got back just fine. Penn station was a little more busy but as Smiti’s apparent tis on an express line it only takes about 10 minutes. I never realised this until this trip but there are two types of train in New York; local and express. The local stops at every station, whereas the express only stops at some selected station. This seems to be a logical system and I imagine it does cut the journey time if you’re going across the city. As the subway is tunneled under the streets, there is room for the kind of “overtaking lane:” that allows the express trains to get passed the local ones.

NY Subway

Smiti  and Simon was there to welcome us as we got home. We spent a while catching up on our escapades in Boston. We watched some television, did some laundry and had Chinese take out for dinner. After that, we went for a drink down by a street of pubs and bars next to WallSt. Called Stone Street. The first place we went to was packed, but we found a place tucked by the bar to sit and chat.

After that we went to a Meixcan bar and me and Kathryn had this super large frozen Margarita that for some reason had a bottle of Corona beer inverted in it. It was great.We had a lovely evening with Smiti and I certainly got to know her a lot better.

Cocktail with Smiti

Day 11 - Boston

As predicted, the weather turned horrible today.

I went for coffee and breakfast to bring back to the hotel room, and strangely enough the weather was more drizzly than rainy, but it was really really mild, it must be because of the southerly wind direction. It was a bit difficult having to hold the umbrella and carry the coffees back to the hotel room.

We had a lazy morning and didn’t leave until 12 o’clock again. We were a bit unsure of what to do as we had several things we wanted to do. In the end we settled for doing the New England Aquarium first as it was indoors to get out of the rain, but actually by the time we left the hotel the rain had stopped.

Kathryn navigating the Boston transit system (top) and underground streetcar (below)

The aquarium wasn't much to look at from the outside. We were quite pleased just to get inside out of the rain. They had a really small tank with seals in out the front, which wasn't really a good start, but it got a lot better inside!

The first exhibit that was immediately opposite as you walked in is the giant main marine fish tank which is about 5 storeys tall and surrounded by a spirally walkway. At the bottom of this was divided into four quarters with different types of penguin in. We then went off and walked around the smaller fish tanks on each level. They had loads of really good things to look at, such as a piece on shark eggs with the little sacks at various stages of developments, various different types of jellyfish and also a giant pacific octopus!

Photos from the aquarium starting in top left and going clockwise; main entrance, penguins grooming each other, close up of giant turtle that has been in the aquarium over 30 years I think and view of top of main tank and man feeding fish.

Once we finished, we went on the hunt for some food. We went to a bar called the Granary Tavern. I had an America dish called a Monte Cristo which was like a ham and cheese toastie with French toast instead of bread. It was really good, but the ham was a little sweet which meant I couldn’t finish all of it. It was the dish of the day so was only $10 with a drink so that was a goodchoice I thought.

Monte Cristo

We got the subway to go check out a sneaker store called Bodega. The main reason for going was that it has a fake shop window at the front, but when we went inside, the guy directed us to a secret door that opens automatically to reveal the actual store behind it. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything I wanted so we left.

Front of Bodega shop disguised as grocery store

We stopped by the Cheescake factory to have our desert. We went into the main mall so Kathryn could buy some perfurm and make up as she had ran out. We got back to the room about 5pm, and decided we would go out in the evening as we had some money left for this part of the trip, and treat ourselves to some nice cocktails. There was a nice place called City Bar, which was about 3 blocks from the hotel.

The bar was really nice, very dark and cosy! We had table service and ordered quite a few different drinks from the money. I had a Honey Bee, which was rum, brandy and sugar mainly! Then I had a  berry thing I can’t remember the name. And lastly a Mojito. Was also had some snacks of French fries and grilled asparagus which was really nice. We went back to the hotel about 10pm. By then most people had left the bar already.

Nibbles in City Bar

Day 10 - Boston

Distance travelled: 23 miles by car, 4 miles by subway, 2 miles by foot

I got up early today as I’d asked Jo and Mike if we could watch the Formula one race, which started at 8am here.

The Engelhardts get up early every morning so it wasn’t a problem. Myself, Mike and Dylan watched most of it together. Kathryn got up when Jo prepared pancakes for us for breakfast. They were really nice with butter and sugar.

Watching the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

After the race had finished, I went outside with Dylan to play soccer for a bit before they had to leave for his pool party. Again, the weather was great and it was really sunny. Actually it was getting noticeabley warming and I remember thinking that this was actually a pretty decent day for summertime in the UK, let alone November.

Jo and Mike's Street (top), their back yard (middle) and Kathryn ready for the next leg of our journey (bottom)

Jo and Mike have a really spacious garden with a swing rope from the tree that obviously I had to have a go on.

Everyone left for the pool and after packing everything up again, me and Kathryn left about 12 o’clock for our final drive into Boston. I was pretty nervous, but it was a lot easier driving in the daylight. We actually went past a junction that previously I would have accidentally left the interstate on, but this time we knew what we were doing and avoided it! We stopped for gas on the way back too, which was easier again as I knew what to do! Once we got to the airport, the rental car return was really well signposted so we were able to get the car straight back to the drop off point. Once there, it took about 2 minutes to hand the car back, and we were back in Boston.

View of Airport Station on Boston public transit

We headed over to the hotel straight away to drop our bags. The hotel was kind enough to upgrade our room to a park view, but it wouldn’t be ready until later.

Street outside hotel

In the meantime, we explored the local park oppsite the hotel, and went for some lunch at a wine bar and kitchen. We had grilled chicken pinini and chips, which was filling enough for the rest of the day!

View of park in Boston known as Boston Commnon (top), Soldiers and Sailors Monument (middle) and State Library (bottom)

We walked around some of the shops on Newbury Street and returned to the hotel about 4pm when the room was eventually ready. We were actually feeling pretty tired after the early start, so I went out to get some coffee and cupcakes for an evening snack/desert. I got vanilla, coconut and chocolate flavours, the best was chocolate!

As we’d missed the last few weeks of The Walking Dead, we just watched the previous episodes and the new one before going to bed.

Exterior of Georgetown Cupcakes Store (top) and cupcakes (bottom)