A New York Birthday (and the curse of the free pour)

We lived it up this year!   It was more like a birth-month than a birth-day – I was very spoilt as the parcels from home started arriving a week before the big day.  Thank you to everyone who sent something, it was much appreciated and made me feel very loved.  I now have enough Australian chocolate to last until Christmas, and thank goodness, because I think I’ve mentioned already how limited the local options are!

I was lucky enough to have Chez here from Aus for a visit and it was her birthday only a week earlier so her, Ash and I went out on the town to celebrate – here's the photo evidence of the evening:  

First bar – the Peninsula Hotel, Roof top bar with views over 5^th Ave.  The weather wasn’t promising with some spitting clouds but we persisted and sat outside to enjoy a cocktail and some bar nibbles – 3 drinks plus a tip = $100!

Onto the next one – around the corner to the Plaza Hotel Champagne Bar, 3 drinks and some more bar nibbles (popcorn!) in opulent surroundings, another $100!

Finally, a taxi ride down to the Standard Hotel roof top bar, otherwise known as the Boom Boom Room!  (google this to get the idea…) .  This time the bar is inside with floor to ceiling windows reminding me of the Shangri-La in Sydney, and you feel like you need shoulder pads in this very lavish décor, leather seats and chandeliers that look like the 80’s.  There is even a spa inside the bar! This is a great spot with views of the Hudson and Manhattan skyline – the best view of the Empire State building is from the unisex toilets, when you sit you are facing a floor to ceiling window 1m in front of you.   Another 3 drinks, and you guessed it – about $100!   I think we all agreed these won’t be regular haunts for us here in NY – or we would be broke pretty quickly – but we enjoyed ourselves.

So here is where I should tell you that in NY (I can’t talk for the rest of the States) definitely has no liquor laws about the measurement of alcohol into drinks, ie/ a shot of vodka at home is a shot of vodka.  Here the drinks are, or at least taste like, at least ¾ glass of vodka!  It makes for a very strong drink, sometimes not even pleasant in taste, and well, lets just say you don’t need many to feel very light headed!  So on this night, having only snacked on the hotel provided, and really not very nice nibbles, by now we all had the munchies!

It was about 11pm on a Tuesday night and the evening took a downgrade (at least in average price) as we headed to the Corner Bistro (www.cornerbistrony.com), which happens to be right across the road from where we live and many people say has the best burgers in Manhattan, for a late meal.

The small hangover the next day (after only 3 cocktails!) made for a long day at work, but it was worth it - a night to remember - thanks Chez and Ash :)  I’ve set the standard high to celebrate all my future birthdays!

PS.  My birth-month continued the weekend after my birthday when Ash and I flew to Bermuda for a long weekend – the blog to appear soon.   And my pressie from Ash was a glider flight when we are in Vegas later this month – I’m very excited, there isn’t many adventure activities I haven’t done, but this is one of them - I’ll share the photos and story of that too!

A NY weekend - II

Today was Labor Day and a public holiday in the US.  This is the weekend that signals the end of summer for the locals and we had stunning weather all weekend -  in the mid-20’s - that we were determined to get out and about.  As much as I am looking forward to a white Christmas, I don’t know how I’m going to cope with the winter here and we are making the most of the outdoors while we can.

On Saturday we wandered around the West and East Village stumbling across a street art fair near NYU where we bought one piece to decorate our walls.    On Monday we took the subway to 53rd St and walked 50 blocks north along Madison Ave as we had heard it was a good walk through the Upper East Side.  I hadn’t been this far north outside of Central Park and it was like night and day to the West Village where we live.  It was very high end shopping the whole way.  Jimmy Choo, DKNY, Ralph Lauren – I lost count, and interest to be honest, as we wandered past shop after shop.  It’s a different life up there!

Ash had fun claiming some pieces of wood for one of his art projects at home from a dumpster outside a building site which he then carried through the Upper East Side – I wish now that I took a photo!

Sunday was my favourite day.  We had been planning this for a week or so and I was excited and keen to get out of the house in the morning.  We hired bikes at the shop nearby and rode along the Hudson River Park south to the ferry that took us to Governors’ Island.  In NY Harbor, this Island was once a Naval base and Coast Guard community with many buildings including schools and swimming pools.  These days most buildings have been left to fall apart, including one building the fire dept had done a test through and you can see the fire damage through the broken windows.   The return ferry is free and the Island is now a public park with bike paths all around it.  My idea of a lazy, quiet day relaxing in the park was a naïve one, as we determined as we queued for the ferry with hundreds of other people.  It is NY, a city of 20 million people, and it is free, and it is a beautiful summer weekend – of course it would have been busy!

We circumnavigated the Island and then as we arrived at the ferry dock we managed to cycle straight onto a departing ferry and crossed back into Manhattan.  What we hadn’t planned, but decided we had the time and the energy, we cycled up the East River to Manhattan Bridge, across to Brooklyn, picniced under the bridges at Dumbo and then back across the Brooklyn Bridge.  It was such a great day, the streets of Manhattan weren’t too scary with bike paths most of the way and we wore helmets, even though it is not the law here.   All up we rode for about 5 hours, needless to day I have a sore rear end for a few days  :)

Catch up – more NY moments

Another way too long between blog updates – we’ve been busy!  Back by demand from my friends at home here’s what we’ve been up to…

We’ve been so lucky to have many visitors, arriving with lots of Aussie chocolate (not “candy” as I educate my colleagues) for me and sweet chilli sauce for Ash.  We’ve had a great time exploring new restaurants and bars with our friends while sharing some of our favourite spots too.  Below are some of the things we have done together.

Staten Island Ferry with Ang

The round trip is free and you get great views of the Statue of Liberty along the way.

Yankees Baseball with Tina and Neil

Another hot one out at the baseball!!  Who won??

Back to Broadway – “Promises Promises” with Louise

My third show – yep, I’m keeping count – and this one was like a ½ musical and ½ a comedy play.  Starring a Broadway veteran, Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes who you would recognise from Will and Grace, it was set in the 50’s NY, was light hearted and the couple of great dance numbers were the highlight.

www.promisespromisesbroadway.com

Times Square 

A must see for all our visitors – I think the photo says it all…

Top of the Rock with Ang

With great views of the Empire State Building and Central Park we think this is the best vantage point for seeing Manhattan.

The High Line

Another thing I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned previously, it is a regular outing for our visitors.  This elevated, disused railway track that has been recently converted into a public park is only a 5 min walk from home.   Walking along the High Line gives a completely different perspective of NY and is a great place to view the Hudson and the Manhattan skyline.

Other things we have been up to:

4^th July Independence Day Fireworks

Not sure how these missed my last blog but we have some great photos so thought I would include here.  We joined 5 million other locals (literally) on the West Side Hwy, which was closed to traffic, to see the Macy’s Fireworks display over the Hudson River.  A great family occasion, most noticeably comparing to Sydney NYE is that no alcohol is allowed, the 27 min display was fun and while it is pretty hard to beat Sydney Harbour as the backdrop, we had a great time.

MOMA

The Museum of Modern Art is a high priority for many visitors to NY and we have become a member so can visit regularly.  I had not been, saving the visit for when the weather turns cold but we had a rainy day recently so decided to visit.  There is a temporary exhibit on Matisse which was worth seeing but my favourite section was definitely the impressionist area where I found Van Gogh’s Starry Night and one of the great Monet Water Lilly canvases that matched those we had seen in Paris earlier this year.

US Open Tennis

I had bought tickets for this as soon as they went on sale and dragged Ash to Arthur Ashe stadium last Thursday night for a night of top quality tennis.  The line-up was a little disappointing – Sharapova and Djokovic – I would have preferred a Williams / Clijsters / Stoser and Federer / Nadal, but the atmosphere was brilliant and definitely worth going.  In the upper stands, you are so far away from the action that, unlike any tournament I had visited before, there is no control about people moving or noise throughout points.  During one point, a fight broke out in the opposite stand that caused the play to stop!  The only other sporting event I have been to is the baseball and I thought the patriotic tunes between innings was just a baseball thing, but apparently it is a sporting event thing, as, between matches, an 8 year old girl came out and sang ‘America the Beautiful’ in a rendition that, if you weren’t looking you would think was a 30 year old, nearly brought me to tears!

And, on a final note, its been a great summer in NY and we've loved having all our visitors and enjoying a beer with them on our NY terrace: