Thursday 27 April 2017
Saturday 26 September 2015
Time to go home........
Thursday - and time to head home...
Oh dear god what was I thinking going out until gone 4am again?! And on the day that I have to pack up, check out and then keep occupied until around 5.30pm!
I think I was still drunk when I got up but somehow I managed to pack, shower, get ready and leave the room. H was on an earlier flight so she was just staying where she was until it was time to go to the airport.. and the jammy devil also had a 1.30pm checkout whereas we had to be out by 12.
J and Ilya were up and at it late morning and again, headed back up town to do some last minute shopping.
We left our stuff with Ronnie and then headed out for food. This time we when to Washington Square Diner which wasn't wildly different from the one yesterday but again, just what we needed.
Again, they had soup on and I had a bowl of this. Only today, it was a much bigger fight to actually eat it but I think the knowledge that I had no room to go back to or a sofa to veg out on made it all seem worse. I just wanted to be at home now and it felt so close... but so very far away!
After witnessing a bit of an altercation in the diner and the skinniest woman polish off more food than Dan and I could eat between us, we paid up and moved on. Dan really wanted to have a bit of a wander around Bleecker Street shops especially the record shops.
I was really coming round now so that suited me and off we headed. He was quite happy and managed to pick up 4 or 5 albums. By this time J and Ilya were back and so Dan and I, now ready for another sit down and some refreshement, found a little cafe called Grey Dog Coffee which is on Carmine Street. They joined us there and we had some drinks and I actually managed a sandwich which was delicious and I knew would work a treat. We whiled a way an hour or so in there with Dan hiding behind his sunglasses so he could doze off if needed!!
We were all feeling a bit frustrated I think with the lack of a hotel room and that we were just literally wasting time until the taxi came. To the point where Ilya was saying we should just order the mini-van (i got laughed at by Ronnie for calling it a Mini-bus) now and go!!~ I guess the fact that we were all so tired was the key thing as I'm sure we would have easily found ourselves something to do with the last of our time otherwise.
Anyway we went back to the hotel to make sure we pre-booked the van with plenty of notice. Ronnie was there and suggested we wait in their cafe rather than head off again in search of somewhere to land.. Great idea as it was lovely and cool in there and it was comfy. Oh and they sold beer.. so yeah... of course I ended up having a couple!
Eventually it was time to leave and we had an interesting journey back to JFK airport. He took us a really different route as the driver was trying his best to avoid all the traffic given it was rush hour plus the pope was visiting Manhatten that day so there were lots of road closures.
We got there in good time and that was it.. time to say goodbye to J and Ilya and head off towards home.
Check-in and security seemed to take forever but before we knew it we were sat at a bar having a beer. I had realised the day before that in 3 weeks of travelling I hadn't bought myself a single thing! What was that all about.. i decided that I would like some new Sunglasses so whilst at the airport I went off to find some and did get myself a lovely new pair of Ray-bans.
From there it was a bit of a rush as our flight was being called so we dashed off and were thankfully in the first group to board..
It was a good roomy plane and in no time at all we were up in the air.. though I had actually fell asleep whilst we were still on the runway so it was no surprise I thought it was quick! Tbh it was good that I did as I then had no interest in having a drink on the flight and stuck with water. I watched Breaking Bad most of the way back between eating the yummy sandwich I had bought, picking at the highly tasteless veggie pasta dish that was provided and sleeping!
And then we were home.... WOO HOO!!
It all seemed a bit weird at first tbh... I found it strange to be driving on the left when we were heading back from the airport and walking in the house it all looked a bit odd.. Like familiar but from years ago! Aaron and Abby (she has pretty much lived here whilst we were away) had done a decent job of keeping the house tidy - though a go of the hoover wouldn't have gone amiss!
Jesse came to greet us when she heard the back door open but then stopped in shock as she wasn't sure who I was... until I said her name and then she came bouncing over. She was still a bit skittish with us for most of the day tbh but we had cases and bags everywhere so I think it was the house being different as well that un-nerved her.
Aaron was out at work and Abby was upstairs in bed so I cracked straight on cleaning the bathroom, the cooker, re-organising the cupboard, sweeping the floor and putting a wash on! Ha... ah well, it makes me happy... especially when I knew that I was about to get to sit down on my sofa with a proper cup of tea and some toast and marmite and await the arrival of my son.... Simple things hey and each one was wonderful but none as good as finally seeing Aaron again.. :-)
Oh dear god what was I thinking going out until gone 4am again?! And on the day that I have to pack up, check out and then keep occupied until around 5.30pm!
I think I was still drunk when I got up but somehow I managed to pack, shower, get ready and leave the room. H was on an earlier flight so she was just staying where she was until it was time to go to the airport.. and the jammy devil also had a 1.30pm checkout whereas we had to be out by 12.
J and Ilya were up and at it late morning and again, headed back up town to do some last minute shopping.
We left our stuff with Ronnie and then headed out for food. This time we when to Washington Square Diner which wasn't wildly different from the one yesterday but again, just what we needed.
Again, they had soup on and I had a bowl of this. Only today, it was a much bigger fight to actually eat it but I think the knowledge that I had no room to go back to or a sofa to veg out on made it all seem worse. I just wanted to be at home now and it felt so close... but so very far away!
After witnessing a bit of an altercation in the diner and the skinniest woman polish off more food than Dan and I could eat between us, we paid up and moved on. Dan really wanted to have a bit of a wander around Bleecker Street shops especially the record shops.
I was really coming round now so that suited me and off we headed. He was quite happy and managed to pick up 4 or 5 albums. By this time J and Ilya were back and so Dan and I, now ready for another sit down and some refreshement, found a little cafe called Grey Dog Coffee which is on Carmine Street. They joined us there and we had some drinks and I actually managed a sandwich which was delicious and I knew would work a treat. We whiled a way an hour or so in there with Dan hiding behind his sunglasses so he could doze off if needed!!
We were all feeling a bit frustrated I think with the lack of a hotel room and that we were just literally wasting time until the taxi came. To the point where Ilya was saying we should just order the mini-van (i got laughed at by Ronnie for calling it a Mini-bus) now and go!!~ I guess the fact that we were all so tired was the key thing as I'm sure we would have easily found ourselves something to do with the last of our time otherwise.
Anyway we went back to the hotel to make sure we pre-booked the van with plenty of notice. Ronnie was there and suggested we wait in their cafe rather than head off again in search of somewhere to land.. Great idea as it was lovely and cool in there and it was comfy. Oh and they sold beer.. so yeah... of course I ended up having a couple!
Eventually it was time to leave and we had an interesting journey back to JFK airport. He took us a really different route as the driver was trying his best to avoid all the traffic given it was rush hour plus the pope was visiting Manhatten that day so there were lots of road closures.
We got there in good time and that was it.. time to say goodbye to J and Ilya and head off towards home.
Check-in and security seemed to take forever but before we knew it we were sat at a bar having a beer. I had realised the day before that in 3 weeks of travelling I hadn't bought myself a single thing! What was that all about.. i decided that I would like some new Sunglasses so whilst at the airport I went off to find some and did get myself a lovely new pair of Ray-bans.
From there it was a bit of a rush as our flight was being called so we dashed off and were thankfully in the first group to board..
It was a good roomy plane and in no time at all we were up in the air.. though I had actually fell asleep whilst we were still on the runway so it was no surprise I thought it was quick! Tbh it was good that I did as I then had no interest in having a drink on the flight and stuck with water. I watched Breaking Bad most of the way back between eating the yummy sandwich I had bought, picking at the highly tasteless veggie pasta dish that was provided and sleeping!
And then we were home.... WOO HOO!!
It all seemed a bit weird at first tbh... I found it strange to be driving on the left when we were heading back from the airport and walking in the house it all looked a bit odd.. Like familiar but from years ago! Aaron and Abby (she has pretty much lived here whilst we were away) had done a decent job of keeping the house tidy - though a go of the hoover wouldn't have gone amiss!
Jesse came to greet us when she heard the back door open but then stopped in shock as she wasn't sure who I was... until I said her name and then she came bouncing over. She was still a bit skittish with us for most of the day tbh but we had cases and bags everywhere so I think it was the house being different as well that un-nerved her.
Aaron was out at work and Abby was upstairs in bed so I cracked straight on cleaning the bathroom, the cooker, re-organising the cupboard, sweeping the floor and putting a wash on! Ha... ah well, it makes me happy... especially when I knew that I was about to get to sit down on my sofa with a proper cup of tea and some toast and marmite and await the arrival of my son.... Simple things hey and each one was wonderful but none as good as finally seeing Aaron again.. :-)
Hangovers and Hair(s) of the dog!
Wednesday.....
Woke up with one hell of a hangover! Eugghhhh felt sooo rough and we had completely missed breakfast so I couldn't even stagger down and get some food and coffee...
I thought back over my drinking the day before and just had to laugh at myself for thinking I would be anything other than rough.... white wine, beer, red wine, ameretto, beer and then large vodkas (lots of large vodkas.. I swear as we got to know Sean h e just poured me larger and larger ones!)
I managed to drag myself together and get ready and Dan and I headed out. He was feeling fine which was annoying! We headed to a diner just up the road - mainly as we just wanted somewhere that did a bit of everything but also because it was about as far as I could walk!
I was over the moon to see they had soup on for lunch and it was chicken noodle soup. It was like they knew I was coming with my hangover. I'm never normally as bad as this I have to say, but I knew this was also a catch up off the past 19days - both drink and food - as it was my stomach that was making me feel the worst.
The soup was fab and I also had a sandwich. It took me about half an hour to finish just half of it but with every mouthful I forced in, I felt better so I knew it was worth taking time over. The diner was great, proper traditional style diner - Waverley Restaurant I think it was called. Ronnie, the concierge type guy at our hotel had also recommended Washington Square Diner but we didn't spot that one! Ronnie by the way is ace. He is really friendly (though Dan thinks he can be a bit too much at times but then Dan can be a bit of a grump at times so I take that with a pinch of salt. I think he is ace) and is full of tips and ideas and also has plenty of discount vouchers to hand. We used one the day before for Macy's and I'd passed this on to J & Ilya for them to get one also. He also had a good source of maps etc and was just fun! All guests seemed to love him.
Anyway, judging from the messages on our NYC IM group everyone else had got their lovely long lie ins and were up and about shopping and such! I was quite relieved that no-one was jumping up and down to go out I have to say. Dan and I discussed the going to Williamsburg plan and were both feeling that we would actually be more than happy to stay around Greenwich Village. Its a fabulous area that we had specifically chosen and we'd not really had a proper full night there... We agreed that we would throw the idea out there as an alternative to Williamsburg but would still go if that was what everyone else wanted to do.
We met up with J and I at 4pm at our hotel and we headed out. We found a great little bar (again around the corner) called Arts and Crafts. I managed to order a beer - the only answer here was Hair of the Dog - and sat there nursing it whilst the others just laughed at us for being out until nearly 5am given we were both saying we were shattered when we left the Rockerfeller and at just how rough I was!
At this point I was fairly convinced that I wouldn't really be drinking much and would need an early night. Also, we were discussing what to do and before we could say anything, Jason suggested maybe staying around Bleecker would be a better option. Oh I was happy that he also thought it and had actually said it.. That was it, we were all in agreement and when H arrived she was just the same. She knew how good the area was and that we hadn't really tried it out to its fullest.
Brilliant, plans made and we had a couple more. We then pushed on so that we could get a bite to eat as H especially hadn't eaten since breakfast and she had been on the go since then.
J had found a cheese shop/restaurant on Bleecker prior to coming away so we all agreed that would be a good idea for a snack and as Dan had a hankering for Chinese, Ilya found a nice looking restaurant for later (well it was still actually International Dan Day whether he liked it or not ;-) ).
We headed up to Murray's cheese shop and managed to bag a table in there. Oh by god it looked good and as I was really coming around now I was getting quite excited.The guys that served us was brilliant and there was some great banter between him and J. In fact, he loved us as a table and sent over some free starters for us to share!
We each had a little selection of cheese each with H and I opting for ones that were already defined and the boys all going for the 'CheeseMongers board' which is where you discuss your tastes with the lovely man that was serving us and he then goes off and selects suitable cheeses. You can also have these with meats on.
Our selections all arrived and I had food envy from the off. I wanted what everyone else had before mine had even arrived!! But I had nothing to worry about.. though I remained envious of the amazing Roquefort that both H and Dan had on their selection. Lovely wine and beer pairings in there and it was a complete hit all round. A great find of J's and a definite one for the list of places to return to. However, we were all stuffed and didn't really believe that Chinese would actually be needed.. but then it was still only 7ish so who knew.
A little stroll was in order then and we had a nice wander around to find another bar. We came across a nice one (can't remember the name) on the corner of sullivan and 6th and settled in for cocktails. Bizarrely Nightmare on Elm Street was playing on one of the TV's? Why would you have that on in a bar?! Needless to say everyone's eyes kept wandering to the film - except mine as I was sat at a funny angle so it wasn't easy to see,,, which all meant it wasn't the most sociable environment and as conscious as we were of this, eyes just keep wandering. I totally understand and probably would have been the same if sat elsewhere.
Anyway, Ilya, H and I went out for cig and during a conversation were approached by someone asking for a cig. Nothing new to any of us and we happily handed one over. This guy though was particularly grateful and wanted to shake everyone's hand, kissed H's hand and then gave me a big hug. Hmmm he hadn't washed in a long time so it wasn't the most pleasant situation. On finishing our cigs we all headed straight for the bathroom to wash our hands! H came in with me to share the sink and whacked on the drier as I finished rinsing my hands.. Thing is, the drier was right over the sink so it just blasted the running water everywhere and I was getting a right soaking but couldn't understand why it was happening so was just having this massive 'fit' in the bathroom as I tried to escape (it was a tiny bathroom btw).. Even funnier was that H wasn't getting wet so just saw me going bonkers all of a sudden with no idea as to why! Of course, in seconds we both worked it out and I turned the tap off but we were in absolute fits of laughter both doubled up over the sink. I still had soap on my hands and I went to wash them again just as H set the drier off... Cue another soaking. SO funny..
We left this bar and made our way back to Bleecker (like a street away) and came across GMT which Dan and I had been to on our last visit. Here we could sit outside and just properly enjoy a drink and chill on our last night. We all went a little cocktail crazy here and stayed for quite a few drinks. It was a great way to round up our time in NYC and we had a good laugh and a good chat. We did all try and establish what we thought was a favourite whilst in NYC but it was too difficult. We'd just had such a fabulous time and it was so brilliant to all be there together. At a push I said Chicago and Rockerfeller but only because I had SO wanted to do both of those and both exceeded my expectations. My unexpected delight was the night in Russian Samovar I think and the rest was just a mixture of thoroughly enjoying the company, the new places we found (eg Stone St) and getting to go back to some old favourites too.
J was starting to get quite peckish now and I was thinking the same, so we cut round the corner to 'Joe's Pizza' which I knew was supposed to do amazingly good pizza slices. And they were! ohhh yes, they were damn good (and huge). We quaffed that and then set off to Blind Tiger so Dan could have a last one in there.. We all had a few more actually as the pizza had livened J back up and had also given me a nice boost too!
J and Ilya left us in there I think around 2ish and Dan, H and I all decided that it would be a great idea to go for lasties in Four Faced liar!!
I couldn't believe it when we walked up to the bar in the there and Sean already had mine and Dan's drinks waiting for us on the bar having spotted us making our way in! Says it all really doesn't it?! We introduced H and that was it, we got stuck into more vodka's! We also saw the Mexican guy that i had originally got chatting to the night before. After half an hour or so they were actually trying to clean up ready for closing so we were asked to go in the back part of the bar so we could carry on with our drinks. There was only about 4 other people in there but Dan appeared to want to talk with them and just got up and joined them!! haha. it was quite funny.. they were talking quite loudly tbh and I think we 'knew' one of them so it wasn't THAT random but neither of us are very clear on that detail, just that Dan went and sat with them.
H and I also got talking to one of the guys in there - I remember we said he looked like Zach Galifianakis when he took his hat off! Dan decided he was rather drunk and had to leave but was quite happy for me to stay... which of course I did but the events I am afraid are rather hazy. I know that realisation hit me that I better leave soon given I was making my own way back (and it was around 4am) and I think I also thought that I was cramping H's style with her Zach lookalikee!! Anyway, we left together and I shared her cab and then we said our goodbyes as she was heading home earlier than us the next day..
I vaguely remember having one last ciggy on the steps of the house next door and then I fell into our room and to bed.......
A truly fun and fabulous last day in NYC.
Woke up with one hell of a hangover! Eugghhhh felt sooo rough and we had completely missed breakfast so I couldn't even stagger down and get some food and coffee...
I thought back over my drinking the day before and just had to laugh at myself for thinking I would be anything other than rough.... white wine, beer, red wine, ameretto, beer and then large vodkas (lots of large vodkas.. I swear as we got to know Sean h e just poured me larger and larger ones!)
I managed to drag myself together and get ready and Dan and I headed out. He was feeling fine which was annoying! We headed to a diner just up the road - mainly as we just wanted somewhere that did a bit of everything but also because it was about as far as I could walk!
I was over the moon to see they had soup on for lunch and it was chicken noodle soup. It was like they knew I was coming with my hangover. I'm never normally as bad as this I have to say, but I knew this was also a catch up off the past 19days - both drink and food - as it was my stomach that was making me feel the worst.
The soup was fab and I also had a sandwich. It took me about half an hour to finish just half of it but with every mouthful I forced in, I felt better so I knew it was worth taking time over. The diner was great, proper traditional style diner - Waverley Restaurant I think it was called. Ronnie, the concierge type guy at our hotel had also recommended Washington Square Diner but we didn't spot that one! Ronnie by the way is ace. He is really friendly (though Dan thinks he can be a bit too much at times but then Dan can be a bit of a grump at times so I take that with a pinch of salt. I think he is ace) and is full of tips and ideas and also has plenty of discount vouchers to hand. We used one the day before for Macy's and I'd passed this on to J & Ilya for them to get one also. He also had a good source of maps etc and was just fun! All guests seemed to love him.
Anyway, judging from the messages on our NYC IM group everyone else had got their lovely long lie ins and were up and about shopping and such! I was quite relieved that no-one was jumping up and down to go out I have to say. Dan and I discussed the going to Williamsburg plan and were both feeling that we would actually be more than happy to stay around Greenwich Village. Its a fabulous area that we had specifically chosen and we'd not really had a proper full night there... We agreed that we would throw the idea out there as an alternative to Williamsburg but would still go if that was what everyone else wanted to do.
We met up with J and I at 4pm at our hotel and we headed out. We found a great little bar (again around the corner) called Arts and Crafts. I managed to order a beer - the only answer here was Hair of the Dog - and sat there nursing it whilst the others just laughed at us for being out until nearly 5am given we were both saying we were shattered when we left the Rockerfeller and at just how rough I was!
At this point I was fairly convinced that I wouldn't really be drinking much and would need an early night. Also, we were discussing what to do and before we could say anything, Jason suggested maybe staying around Bleecker would be a better option. Oh I was happy that he also thought it and had actually said it.. That was it, we were all in agreement and when H arrived she was just the same. She knew how good the area was and that we hadn't really tried it out to its fullest.
Brilliant, plans made and we had a couple more. We then pushed on so that we could get a bite to eat as H especially hadn't eaten since breakfast and she had been on the go since then.
J had found a cheese shop/restaurant on Bleecker prior to coming away so we all agreed that would be a good idea for a snack and as Dan had a hankering for Chinese, Ilya found a nice looking restaurant for later (well it was still actually International Dan Day whether he liked it or not ;-) ).
We headed up to Murray's cheese shop and managed to bag a table in there. Oh by god it looked good and as I was really coming around now I was getting quite excited.The guys that served us was brilliant and there was some great banter between him and J. In fact, he loved us as a table and sent over some free starters for us to share!
We each had a little selection of cheese each with H and I opting for ones that were already defined and the boys all going for the 'CheeseMongers board' which is where you discuss your tastes with the lovely man that was serving us and he then goes off and selects suitable cheeses. You can also have these with meats on.
Our selections all arrived and I had food envy from the off. I wanted what everyone else had before mine had even arrived!! But I had nothing to worry about.. though I remained envious of the amazing Roquefort that both H and Dan had on their selection. Lovely wine and beer pairings in there and it was a complete hit all round. A great find of J's and a definite one for the list of places to return to. However, we were all stuffed and didn't really believe that Chinese would actually be needed.. but then it was still only 7ish so who knew.
A little stroll was in order then and we had a nice wander around to find another bar. We came across a nice one (can't remember the name) on the corner of sullivan and 6th and settled in for cocktails. Bizarrely Nightmare on Elm Street was playing on one of the TV's? Why would you have that on in a bar?! Needless to say everyone's eyes kept wandering to the film - except mine as I was sat at a funny angle so it wasn't easy to see,,, which all meant it wasn't the most sociable environment and as conscious as we were of this, eyes just keep wandering. I totally understand and probably would have been the same if sat elsewhere.
Anyway, Ilya, H and I went out for cig and during a conversation were approached by someone asking for a cig. Nothing new to any of us and we happily handed one over. This guy though was particularly grateful and wanted to shake everyone's hand, kissed H's hand and then gave me a big hug. Hmmm he hadn't washed in a long time so it wasn't the most pleasant situation. On finishing our cigs we all headed straight for the bathroom to wash our hands! H came in with me to share the sink and whacked on the drier as I finished rinsing my hands.. Thing is, the drier was right over the sink so it just blasted the running water everywhere and I was getting a right soaking but couldn't understand why it was happening so was just having this massive 'fit' in the bathroom as I tried to escape (it was a tiny bathroom btw).. Even funnier was that H wasn't getting wet so just saw me going bonkers all of a sudden with no idea as to why! Of course, in seconds we both worked it out and I turned the tap off but we were in absolute fits of laughter both doubled up over the sink. I still had soap on my hands and I went to wash them again just as H set the drier off... Cue another soaking. SO funny..
We left this bar and made our way back to Bleecker (like a street away) and came across GMT which Dan and I had been to on our last visit. Here we could sit outside and just properly enjoy a drink and chill on our last night. We all went a little cocktail crazy here and stayed for quite a few drinks. It was a great way to round up our time in NYC and we had a good laugh and a good chat. We did all try and establish what we thought was a favourite whilst in NYC but it was too difficult. We'd just had such a fabulous time and it was so brilliant to all be there together. At a push I said Chicago and Rockerfeller but only because I had SO wanted to do both of those and both exceeded my expectations. My unexpected delight was the night in Russian Samovar I think and the rest was just a mixture of thoroughly enjoying the company, the new places we found (eg Stone St) and getting to go back to some old favourites too.
J was starting to get quite peckish now and I was thinking the same, so we cut round the corner to 'Joe's Pizza' which I knew was supposed to do amazingly good pizza slices. And they were! ohhh yes, they were damn good (and huge). We quaffed that and then set off to Blind Tiger so Dan could have a last one in there.. We all had a few more actually as the pizza had livened J back up and had also given me a nice boost too!
J and Ilya left us in there I think around 2ish and Dan, H and I all decided that it would be a great idea to go for lasties in Four Faced liar!!
I couldn't believe it when we walked up to the bar in the there and Sean already had mine and Dan's drinks waiting for us on the bar having spotted us making our way in! Says it all really doesn't it?! We introduced H and that was it, we got stuck into more vodka's! We also saw the Mexican guy that i had originally got chatting to the night before. After half an hour or so they were actually trying to clean up ready for closing so we were asked to go in the back part of the bar so we could carry on with our drinks. There was only about 4 other people in there but Dan appeared to want to talk with them and just got up and joined them!! haha. it was quite funny.. they were talking quite loudly tbh and I think we 'knew' one of them so it wasn't THAT random but neither of us are very clear on that detail, just that Dan went and sat with them.
H and I also got talking to one of the guys in there - I remember we said he looked like Zach Galifianakis when he took his hat off! Dan decided he was rather drunk and had to leave but was quite happy for me to stay... which of course I did but the events I am afraid are rather hazy. I know that realisation hit me that I better leave soon given I was making my own way back (and it was around 4am) and I think I also thought that I was cramping H's style with her Zach lookalikee!! Anyway, we left together and I shared her cab and then we said our goodbyes as she was heading home earlier than us the next day..
I vaguely remember having one last ciggy on the steps of the house next door and then I fell into our room and to bed.......
A truly fun and fabulous last day in NYC.
High line, High views and high amounts of drinking....!
New York - Day 3 (Tuesday)
Getting really tired now and am struggling like mad to get up each morning. Its no surprise really as we're 2.5 weeks in, we're having incredibly busy days, I've driven nearly a 1000 miles and I went to bed the other night at 4am (night we arrived in NYC) Plus, drinking every day even if only a couple of beers and eating food that is nothing like I would normally eat on a day to day basis all takes its toll.
That said, I'm happy as anything as I'm in NYC with just the best people and we're on the holiday of a lifetime.
Yesterday, we all agreed that Tues would be the morning for shopping / mooching individually so that we could get it out of the way really! Plus Dan was getting desperate for either new clothes or to get another load of laundry done.
Dan and I managed to make breakfast again though I think he'd rather I had stayed in bed as I was (once again)not being a very good morning person!
The breakfast at the hotel is pretty good I have to say. You can get extras but we've been sticking with the breakfast that is included as simple breads/cereals/fruit is what we need at the minute.
As always, I had said I am only going to shop at Macy's or one other store and am only really doing it for Aaron.
It was a fairly successful trip for us.. certainly for Dan and I managed to get some nice stuff for Aaron just not what he had asked for.. though I did manage a grey hoodie.
H headed off to the Met rather than shop as she did want to see the show that Lenny had told us about.J and Ilya were also shopping. (Turned out that the show had finished.. such a shame but H said she had had a lovely time wandering around and had also covered some serious miles by the sounds of it!)
The afternoon was all about walking the High Line and as Dan and I were back first we headed out for lunch (everyone had eaten on their own travels anyway) and found A.O.C on Bleeker & Grove and gradually the others drifted in to meet us there. The food was pretty nice in there - its French and I had a lovely Tuna Nicoise... Well, you would expect it to be good in a French restaurant to be fair!
We set off to find the High Line which was about 4 blocks & 12 streets from Bleeker.
It was a lovely walk I have to say and its fabulous what they have done with the disused railway. It was interesting to see how many apartments were either already alongside it or being developed along with outdoor spaces that were completely overlooked by the high line - including one that was nearly finished and looked like it had a swimming pool about to be filled up. And we were all wandering past it and looking over at it.. Who would want to sunbathe or swim in that with hoards of tourists wandering past all day and night..?? Though as Ilya said, New Yorkers are all exhibitionists so it probably doesn't matter to them! hahaha
The walk is roughly 2 miles long and we came out on 11th and 30something. We moved up a couple of blocks to 9th and then headed down towards 50th to find somewhere to eat (of course we found a little bar on the way and stopped in for a couple). J was laughing at me for my skills at understanding the grid system.. or perhaps he was laughing that he thought I was showing off a bit?!? But I love reading maps so I grasped the grid quickly the first time I went and therefore understand the Avenue & Stree location names. Not to say they didn't but I am of course much more vocal!
We ate at 'Etcetera Etcetera' which was on 44th and 9th (and almost opposite the New York beer company where Dan and I regularly went last time!). The food was lovely and just what we all wanted.. We had a great waiter too who was obv in 'showbusiness' and was loving trying out his different accents and little shows on us - including rolling up a napkin to look like a penis!! Bonkers. I think we fell out of here a little bit tipsy (maybe not Jason as he stuck with water i think bar the huge Amaretto after dinner - which of course I also had) and then headed for a very quick one in New York Beer Company! Well it had to be done.. Dan and I had had many a starter or interim drink in there so it would have been rude not to... From there we headed to Rockerfeller Centre where I had booked tickets for us all for 10pm to go to the 'Top of the Rock'.
We just sailed through with no queues or anything which was great. We stopped to do the cheesy pics on the girder along the way and then all fell out at the top. It was spectacular. Top of the Rock at night was one of the few things I said I absolutely wanted to do and would have done it on my own if no-one else was bothered - though J had always been interested as he'd not been up before and knew it would be fabulous views. When I had brought it up again whilst we were all in NYC everyone was really keen to also go up so I made sure that I booked us in..
Ahh and it was so worth it... it was so beautiful to see all of NYC lit up like that and of course to see my most favourite view with the Empire State in the middle.
Ilya found a new job as a tour guide for some random couple and not just about NYC but about their entire trip! I think he enjoyed that more than the actual views..!!! hahaha
After T.O.R we headed for the M&M factory as J was looking for some specific mix they do as a present and it was believed that it would be in the NYC shop - unfortunately it wasn't. From there everyone piled into taxi's and headed back.. we were all shattered.
Agreement was that the next day would be a very lazy morning for everyone so they could try and get a good long lie in and we would all gather at some point in the afternoon and probably head over to Williamsburg. (Wednesday had originally been designated 'International Dan Day' so that we could celebrate his birthday but it got mentioned so much over the course of the week that he got all hassled and stressed about it thinking that all focus would be on him all day esp to decide everything we did so we backed off with that one!)
Anyway, in the cab on the way home I asked D if he fancied a nightcap in our hotel bar. I knew it shut at midnight and it was now about 11.40 so just one drink would be fine. As it turned out, it was already closed and as we headed to the room instead, Dan offhandedly said that we could always just go round the corner for one.. Of course, I jumped at that and off we set. Dan had a place in mind called 'Four Faced Liar' and we headed in there. It is just round the corner, just before Bleecker.
It was lively enough still and unsurprisingly we ended up chatting with others in the bar - well I say 'we' it was me! I ended up getting this guys bloody life story all about his love of his life from England etc etc and then how she finished with him and then about the next love of his life and how that went all wrong.. Ahh it was a shame tbh but it was a bit much to be telling a stranger. Or is that the British way of thinking given how guarded and reserved we tend to be?
Needless to say this led to us chatting with more people including the bar owner. He had originally seemed like a stereotypical grumpy American bar tender but was actually very friendly and really interesting. His brother was also there and we got into a good old group conversation about life in America vs life in Britain and about travelling etc. We also found out that the bar owner (Sean) had written a book which was on Amazon and was ultimately about life as a bartender in NYC. Brilliant - and I have it on order now. Btw, this bar had entertained the Gallagher brothers and Morrissey (who had entered with 5 minders, sat in the corner and barely acknowledged anyone's existence. Suffice to say, no-one was particularly impressed with him! There was another big name that had been there too but I can't remember as I was really rather drunk by this time! hahaha.. so yeah, this 'one quick drink' turned into 4.5hours of drinking and D and I finally made it back to our beds just before 5am! Shocking......but a great deal of fun was had which is all that matters!
Getting really tired now and am struggling like mad to get up each morning. Its no surprise really as we're 2.5 weeks in, we're having incredibly busy days, I've driven nearly a 1000 miles and I went to bed the other night at 4am (night we arrived in NYC) Plus, drinking every day even if only a couple of beers and eating food that is nothing like I would normally eat on a day to day basis all takes its toll.
That said, I'm happy as anything as I'm in NYC with just the best people and we're on the holiday of a lifetime.
Yesterday, we all agreed that Tues would be the morning for shopping / mooching individually so that we could get it out of the way really! Plus Dan was getting desperate for either new clothes or to get another load of laundry done.
Dan and I managed to make breakfast again though I think he'd rather I had stayed in bed as I was (once again)not being a very good morning person!
The breakfast at the hotel is pretty good I have to say. You can get extras but we've been sticking with the breakfast that is included as simple breads/cereals/fruit is what we need at the minute.
As always, I had said I am only going to shop at Macy's or one other store and am only really doing it for Aaron.
It was a fairly successful trip for us.. certainly for Dan and I managed to get some nice stuff for Aaron just not what he had asked for.. though I did manage a grey hoodie.
H headed off to the Met rather than shop as she did want to see the show that Lenny had told us about.J and Ilya were also shopping. (Turned out that the show had finished.. such a shame but H said she had had a lovely time wandering around and had also covered some serious miles by the sounds of it!)
The afternoon was all about walking the High Line and as Dan and I were back first we headed out for lunch (everyone had eaten on their own travels anyway) and found A.O.C on Bleeker & Grove and gradually the others drifted in to meet us there. The food was pretty nice in there - its French and I had a lovely Tuna Nicoise... Well, you would expect it to be good in a French restaurant to be fair!
We set off to find the High Line which was about 4 blocks & 12 streets from Bleeker.
It was a lovely walk I have to say and its fabulous what they have done with the disused railway. It was interesting to see how many apartments were either already alongside it or being developed along with outdoor spaces that were completely overlooked by the high line - including one that was nearly finished and looked like it had a swimming pool about to be filled up. And we were all wandering past it and looking over at it.. Who would want to sunbathe or swim in that with hoards of tourists wandering past all day and night..?? Though as Ilya said, New Yorkers are all exhibitionists so it probably doesn't matter to them! hahaha
The walk is roughly 2 miles long and we came out on 11th and 30something. We moved up a couple of blocks to 9th and then headed down towards 50th to find somewhere to eat (of course we found a little bar on the way and stopped in for a couple). J was laughing at me for my skills at understanding the grid system.. or perhaps he was laughing that he thought I was showing off a bit?!? But I love reading maps so I grasped the grid quickly the first time I went and therefore understand the Avenue & Stree location names. Not to say they didn't but I am of course much more vocal!
We ate at 'Etcetera Etcetera' which was on 44th and 9th (and almost opposite the New York beer company where Dan and I regularly went last time!). The food was lovely and just what we all wanted.. We had a great waiter too who was obv in 'showbusiness' and was loving trying out his different accents and little shows on us - including rolling up a napkin to look like a penis!! Bonkers. I think we fell out of here a little bit tipsy (maybe not Jason as he stuck with water i think bar the huge Amaretto after dinner - which of course I also had) and then headed for a very quick one in New York Beer Company! Well it had to be done.. Dan and I had had many a starter or interim drink in there so it would have been rude not to... From there we headed to Rockerfeller Centre where I had booked tickets for us all for 10pm to go to the 'Top of the Rock'.
We just sailed through with no queues or anything which was great. We stopped to do the cheesy pics on the girder along the way and then all fell out at the top. It was spectacular. Top of the Rock at night was one of the few things I said I absolutely wanted to do and would have done it on my own if no-one else was bothered - though J had always been interested as he'd not been up before and knew it would be fabulous views. When I had brought it up again whilst we were all in NYC everyone was really keen to also go up so I made sure that I booked us in..
Ahh and it was so worth it... it was so beautiful to see all of NYC lit up like that and of course to see my most favourite view with the Empire State in the middle.
Ilya found a new job as a tour guide for some random couple and not just about NYC but about their entire trip! I think he enjoyed that more than the actual views..!!! hahaha
After T.O.R we headed for the M&M factory as J was looking for some specific mix they do as a present and it was believed that it would be in the NYC shop - unfortunately it wasn't. From there everyone piled into taxi's and headed back.. we were all shattered.
Agreement was that the next day would be a very lazy morning for everyone so they could try and get a good long lie in and we would all gather at some point in the afternoon and probably head over to Williamsburg. (Wednesday had originally been designated 'International Dan Day' so that we could celebrate his birthday but it got mentioned so much over the course of the week that he got all hassled and stressed about it thinking that all focus would be on him all day esp to decide everything we did so we backed off with that one!)
Anyway, in the cab on the way home I asked D if he fancied a nightcap in our hotel bar. I knew it shut at midnight and it was now about 11.40 so just one drink would be fine. As it turned out, it was already closed and as we headed to the room instead, Dan offhandedly said that we could always just go round the corner for one.. Of course, I jumped at that and off we set. Dan had a place in mind called 'Four Faced Liar' and we headed in there. It is just round the corner, just before Bleecker.
It was lively enough still and unsurprisingly we ended up chatting with others in the bar - well I say 'we' it was me! I ended up getting this guys bloody life story all about his love of his life from England etc etc and then how she finished with him and then about the next love of his life and how that went all wrong.. Ahh it was a shame tbh but it was a bit much to be telling a stranger. Or is that the British way of thinking given how guarded and reserved we tend to be?
Needless to say this led to us chatting with more people including the bar owner. He had originally seemed like a stereotypical grumpy American bar tender but was actually very friendly and really interesting. His brother was also there and we got into a good old group conversation about life in America vs life in Britain and about travelling etc. We also found out that the bar owner (Sean) had written a book which was on Amazon and was ultimately about life as a bartender in NYC. Brilliant - and I have it on order now. Btw, this bar had entertained the Gallagher brothers and Morrissey (who had entered with 5 minders, sat in the corner and barely acknowledged anyone's existence. Suffice to say, no-one was particularly impressed with him! There was another big name that had been there too but I can't remember as I was really rather drunk by this time! hahaha.. so yeah, this 'one quick drink' turned into 4.5hours of drinking and D and I finally made it back to our beds just before 5am! Shocking......but a great deal of fun was had which is all that matters!
Friday 25 September 2015
Downtown and Staten Island Ferry fun
New York Day 2 (Monday)
We then wandered around to Stone Street which is a place I had found during all my research. Sarah that we met in Haight was quite dismissive of it as she said it would just be full of arrogant 'shirt sleeved' men and people who thought they were living a bit of Europe!
Given we were from Europe she didn't think it worth us bothering with... but we were right around the corner, starving, H WANTED to see shirt sleeved men (arrogant or not) and it was ideal for J & Ilya to find us too so we headed there. Its a cobbled street that is full of bars and food places and has the road filled with tables for each place and therefore no cars! (hence the Europe feel as that is not the norm in NYC or many places in USA I think)
After Stone St we headed over to get the Staten Island ferry as we were literally over the road and that was fab. The view was stunning and we were like a bunch of over excited kids on there.. Mainly due to alcohol I am sure! That said one of the other people on the ferry did ask us if it was our first time on it so I think we were being a bit giddy on there! I still can't believe it is free and I can't get my head around the fact that this view that we were going mental over is something that commuters and locals see day after day to and from work.. do they ever get bored of it and maybe don't even notice it anymore?? Can't imagine it ....
We had drunkenly planned for H to come over to our hotel around 12pm and we would then take a wander right downtown and of course do a bit of a pub crawl!
The boys had been offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to get a tour of Conde Naste in the WTC (Richard is friends with someone that works there) so they were doing that around 3pm.
That said, we did have a terrible mis-communication problem and they headed downtown midday-ish and were then waiting for us to cab it there and meet them as that was what they thought was agreed!
However, we didn't think that we were meeting the until after Conde Naste so we were just walking down as slow as anything and popping in places as we found them! Of course we soon sorted it out and arranged to meet them after their tour was over so H, Dan and said that we would make sure we were fairly near them and settled somewhere so they could easily find us.
We mainly walked down Broadway but it's not the nicest of roads to perambulate to be honest so we were cutting down side streets too and taking roads that were parallel to Broadway.
We had a really pleasant walk (it is also very hot here) and a few nice drinks. We went to the WTC and got to see the area all around there and then headed to Wall St. I've always fancied walking down there as I didn't do it last time. I kind of wanted it to be like it is in the films with lots of Gordon Gekko / 'Wolf of wall street' characters there! ha.. yeah, that wasn't the case, there were more tourists than anything.
However, we didn't think that we were meeting the until after Conde Naste so we were just walking down as slow as anything and popping in places as we found them! Of course we soon sorted it out and arranged to meet them after their tour was over so H, Dan and said that we would make sure we were fairly near them and settled somewhere so they could easily find us.
We mainly walked down Broadway but it's not the nicest of roads to perambulate to be honest so we were cutting down side streets too and taking roads that were parallel to Broadway.
We had a really pleasant walk (it is also very hot here) and a few nice drinks. We went to the WTC and got to see the area all around there and then headed to Wall St. I've always fancied walking down there as I didn't do it last time. I kind of wanted it to be like it is in the films with lots of Gordon Gekko / 'Wolf of wall street' characters there! ha.. yeah, that wasn't the case, there were more tourists than anything.
We then wandered around to Stone Street which is a place I had found during all my research. Sarah that we met in Haight was quite dismissive of it as she said it would just be full of arrogant 'shirt sleeved' men and people who thought they were living a bit of Europe!
Given we were from Europe she didn't think it worth us bothering with... but we were right around the corner, starving, H WANTED to see shirt sleeved men (arrogant or not) and it was ideal for J & Ilya to find us too so we headed there. Its a cobbled street that is full of bars and food places and has the road filled with tables for each place and therefore no cars! (hence the Europe feel as that is not the norm in NYC or many places in USA I think)
It was really cool there and we were happy straightaway especially as we found a place called 'The Growler'! Food ordered and inhaled and we settled into our beers! (Dan was getting H into beers on our walk!)
The street was fairly busy but not over the top. I can imagine it can get ridiculous in summer or at the weekend. And you get table service too.. and good service at that AND you can smoke at the table! What's not to love!
As we were sat there having a cig, a man approached us to ask if he could buy a cig for a dollar which we refused and gave him a cig and a light. Straightaway he said that we must be visitors as someone from New York would have asked for 2 dollars and 40cents for the light! Hilarious and a great opener to get chatting. He was GREEN with envy that H had just come back from Bordeaux! He was also impressed with us staying at Washington Sq hotel and said it was just quite simply an iconic building.. yay!
Anyway we chatted with him (Lenny) for a while and he told us how he had moved over here from Canada as he was in a show and stayed from there (30 years ago) as the job opportunities were much better (for his life in showbusiness!) H absolutely loved him. The boys joined us at Stone St and their tour sounded amazing. They were on the 41st floor of WTC! They got lots of magazines and then after there they went to Hermes to get something and as it was a brand new store they just filled up J's arms's with all sorts of freebies!! Amazing.
Lenny wandered by again later (he was now working in the bar next to The Growler) and we offered him another cig and he sat with us again chatting. This time though he was telling lots more about his life and the stories were amazing. He'd met so many legends and he used to go to Studio 54 which J was so jealous of! Apparently he knew the special cocktail name too that got him into the basement where he would party with the stars. He also told us about time working for the mob - basically he was a bartender to support his training etc and he got asked to work a party at midnight. He was there and only about a dozen people turned up - all men in suits with briefcases. He was really confused and couldn't understand what sort of a party this was! They just did lots of paperwork and then left after about an hour! He was then told that he was getting a ride home and that they knew where he lived.. it started to click into place then and he was quite worried that he was never going to make it home, rather end up in the river! They did, obviously, take him home and then he was handed a brown envelope with $300 dollars in it! At this time his rent was $60 dollars so it sorted him out for a few months as well as his dancing and speech lessons!! He continued 'working' for them for a couple of years then.
H and I are now friends with him on fb!
After Stone St we headed over to get the Staten Island ferry as we were literally over the road and that was fab. The view was stunning and we were like a bunch of over excited kids on there.. Mainly due to alcohol I am sure! That said one of the other people on the ferry did ask us if it was our first time on it so I think we were being a bit giddy on there! I still can't believe it is free and I can't get my head around the fact that this view that we were going mental over is something that commuters and locals see day after day to and from work.. do they ever get bored of it and maybe don't even notice it anymore?? Can't imagine it ....
From there we got a cab back to Bleecker St and went to Risotteria (somewhere J and Ilya had been before) Lovely meal in there and then we wandered to the little bar that we had been in the night before where we sat outside. Just had a couple in there and then we all headed back.... Another fabulous day..
Wednesday 23 September 2015
Jazz hands and Russian hats
Sunday was really our first proper day here and we had a nice little lie in and then arranged to meet up around 12ish as today was 'Chicago day'!
I was so excited about actually seeing Chicago on Broadway --even though it was actually 49th street but you know what I mean.
We headed up to a cafe place (Mother Burger) on 48th and 8th and met Helen there.. It was ACE to see her and we're all a bit astounded that this actually has happened and we are all here together!
The service was pleasant enough but very slow. We were getting really angsty about it as we absolutely had to be at the theatre by 2.20pm latest and it was approaching 2pm and we still had no food.. I went and chased it up and they had it out with us in no time thankfully. Though we did have to ask for the bill at the same time as the food arrived on our table!
We wolfed our food down and then headed off to the theatre - thankfully it was only a block away.
Our seats were just fabulous, front row of the mezzanine - centre left (yay well done me!)... H had managed to get herself a ticket for the row behind us so we could keep waving our jazz hands at her! Unfortunately for her she had a very loved up couple directly in front of her who kept snogging.. I mean really guys. No need.
The performance was amazing, I was enraptured from the off. I had to really hold myself back from singing and dancing my way through it! Cell Block Tango was just sublime and I nearly cried I was so happy to be there, with my darling Dan and my wonderful friends actually watching Chicago in NYC. It was a proper pinch yourself moment.
The Ambassador theatre is really old and only has one set of toilets so the interval was a bit of a battle to say the least. Thankfully, I got tapped on the shoulder whilst at the back of this stupidly long queue and got taken off to the 'secret toilets' where there was only a handful of people queuing!
Made it back to my seat just in time and a lot more comfortable ;-) hahaha..
The 2nd half was just as fabulous as the first and Dan even enjoyed it too...
We had reservations at Russian Samovar - a place that Ilya and Jason had previously found and loved and had made good friends with a couple of the guys that work there...- but before then we went for a couple of drinks in 'West End bar and grill' , which was a little bar that Dan and I had previously found! R.S was literally 4 streets away so we had lots of time to relax and catch up.
Finally headed off to the restaurant and J and Ilya saw their friend as we approached which was great. They had been a bit gutted that he wasn't actually working on Sunday so they were really happy to see him if only briefly and he took us into the restuarant and showed us to our table.
Its a really great place, Russian Samovar. They have a pianist in there and it feels quite classy and like a world a way from a standard NYC bar/restaurant. Helen and I did some great chair dancing and singalongs to some of the tunes we recognised. I personally suspect the pianist thought we were murdering them but at least we were showing that we were listening!! They did also have a singer on who was very good but seemed to need to sing everything off an iPad.. yet she works there regularly and by all accounts sings pretty much the same songs! Ilya mouthed along to a number of songs too which was an achievement we were told as he normally only knows one line of every song!!!
We were looked after by Moon (another friend of J & I's) and he was just so funny. A real character.. He got us all shots and even had one or two with us.. btw, this place makes their own flavoured vodkas. They are delicious and I think we did a very good job of trying most of them whilst in there!
The cocktails were flowing too as was the beer for Dan and Ilya! and more and more and more shots ;-)
Ilya chose a selection of Russian
appetisers for us all to share, which were delicious and then we all had our chosen mains. I had the hen. Now those guys love their garlic to say the least! Woooooo!
Thank god we all had very garlicky mains so no-one was a stinker on their own.. hahaha..
Ahh we had a bloody great night in there and stayed right to the end. They also have some military hats behind the bar so just before we got our Uber, we had some daft pictures with those on and a final shot of vodka too! (I ended up with the horseradish one .... hmmmmm not one I would rush to have again thats for sure!).
Definitely a place I would head back to next time I come to NYC and definitely one I am going to recommend to people..
We certainly all went back to our hotels full, happy and rather vodka'd up!!!
I was so excited about actually seeing Chicago on Broadway --even though it was actually 49th street but you know what I mean.
We headed up to a cafe place (Mother Burger) on 48th and 8th and met Helen there.. It was ACE to see her and we're all a bit astounded that this actually has happened and we are all here together!
The service was pleasant enough but very slow. We were getting really angsty about it as we absolutely had to be at the theatre by 2.20pm latest and it was approaching 2pm and we still had no food.. I went and chased it up and they had it out with us in no time thankfully. Though we did have to ask for the bill at the same time as the food arrived on our table!
We wolfed our food down and then headed off to the theatre - thankfully it was only a block away.
Our seats were just fabulous, front row of the mezzanine - centre left (yay well done me!)... H had managed to get herself a ticket for the row behind us so we could keep waving our jazz hands at her! Unfortunately for her she had a very loved up couple directly in front of her who kept snogging.. I mean really guys. No need.The performance was amazing, I was enraptured from the off. I had to really hold myself back from singing and dancing my way through it! Cell Block Tango was just sublime and I nearly cried I was so happy to be there, with my darling Dan and my wonderful friends actually watching Chicago in NYC. It was a proper pinch yourself moment.
The Ambassador theatre is really old and only has one set of toilets so the interval was a bit of a battle to say the least. Thankfully, I got tapped on the shoulder whilst at the back of this stupidly long queue and got taken off to the 'secret toilets' where there was only a handful of people queuing!
Made it back to my seat just in time and a lot more comfortable ;-) hahaha..
The 2nd half was just as fabulous as the first and Dan even enjoyed it too...
We had reservations at Russian Samovar - a place that Ilya and Jason had previously found and loved and had made good friends with a couple of the guys that work there...- but before then we went for a couple of drinks in 'West End bar and grill' , which was a little bar that Dan and I had previously found! R.S was literally 4 streets away so we had lots of time to relax and catch up.
Finally headed off to the restaurant and J and Ilya saw their friend as we approached which was great. They had been a bit gutted that he wasn't actually working on Sunday so they were really happy to see him if only briefly and he took us into the restuarant and showed us to our table.
Its a really great place, Russian Samovar. They have a pianist in there and it feels quite classy and like a world a way from a standard NYC bar/restaurant. Helen and I did some great chair dancing and singalongs to some of the tunes we recognised. I personally suspect the pianist thought we were murdering them but at least we were showing that we were listening!! They did also have a singer on who was very good but seemed to need to sing everything off an iPad.. yet she works there regularly and by all accounts sings pretty much the same songs! Ilya mouthed along to a number of songs too which was an achievement we were told as he normally only knows one line of every song!!!
We were looked after by Moon (another friend of J & I's) and he was just so funny. A real character.. He got us all shots and even had one or two with us.. btw, this place makes their own flavoured vodkas. They are delicious and I think we did a very good job of trying most of them whilst in there!
The cocktails were flowing too as was the beer for Dan and Ilya! and more and more and more shots ;-)Ilya chose a selection of Russian
appetisers for us all to share, which were delicious and then we all had our chosen mains. I had the hen. Now those guys love their garlic to say the least! Woooooo!
Thank god we all had very garlicky mains so no-one was a stinker on their own.. hahaha..
Ahh we had a bloody great night in there and stayed right to the end. They also have some military hats behind the bar so just before we got our Uber, we had some daft pictures with those on and a final shot of vodka too! (I ended up with the horseradish one .... hmmmmm not one I would rush to have again thats for sure!).Definitely a place I would head back to next time I come to NYC and definitely one I am going to recommend to people..
We certainly all went back to our hotels full, happy and rather vodka'd up!!!
NYC....
Journey from Vegas to NYC was pretty uneventful really - which is of course what you want! My luggage arrived safe and sound this time and we got more or less straight into a taxi.
H was at T7 and stuck in hours of passport control queues (just like J and Ilya had been the day before) but because we were on an internal flight, we just sailed threw. She sounded shattered and said that she was just going to go to her hotel and catch up with us the next day.
Our 'Washington Square Hotel' is lovely and in such a great location. We checked in, freshened up and then headed straight out onto Bleeker St to the Blind Tiger bar..
It was heaving but then it was 11.30pm on a Saturday night! We managed to find a table and then sat there in anticipation of being able to meet up with J and I....and then they arrived! It was so exciting to see them as it always is but seeing them in NYC was just double exciting.
They had also met up with a couple of friends from Miami that they had met previously (via Johnna & Nina in Omaha).. Erin and Richard were fab, really lovely and good fun.
We headed on from Blind Tiger to a couple of other bars (once they had let J in - he kept getting ID'd and didn't have anything on him) and ended up in a little bar called Arthurs Tavern. It was small, crammed full and loud but it was great. They had a live band on that played a bit of everything and played it very well.
We only had a couple of drinks in there as it was now pushing on past 3am and one by one we trickled off back to our respective hotels for much needed sleep.. though Dan and I did go via a sandwich shop as we hadn't eaten since the plane..!!
H was at T7 and stuck in hours of passport control queues (just like J and Ilya had been the day before) but because we were on an internal flight, we just sailed threw. She sounded shattered and said that she was just going to go to her hotel and catch up with us the next day.
Our 'Washington Square Hotel' is lovely and in such a great location. We checked in, freshened up and then headed straight out onto Bleeker St to the Blind Tiger bar..
It was heaving but then it was 11.30pm on a Saturday night! We managed to find a table and then sat there in anticipation of being able to meet up with J and I....and then they arrived! It was so exciting to see them as it always is but seeing them in NYC was just double exciting.
They had also met up with a couple of friends from Miami that they had met previously (via Johnna & Nina in Omaha).. Erin and Richard were fab, really lovely and good fun.
We headed on from Blind Tiger to a couple of other bars (once they had let J in - he kept getting ID'd and didn't have anything on him) and ended up in a little bar called Arthurs Tavern. It was small, crammed full and loud but it was great. They had a live band on that played a bit of everything and played it very well.
We only had a couple of drinks in there as it was now pushing on past 3am and one by one we trickled off back to our respective hotels for much needed sleep.. though Dan and I did go via a sandwich shop as we hadn't eaten since the plane..!!
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