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!
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