Archive for May, 2009

Memorial Day in New York City was a crazy affair – the weather was gorgeous and the metropolis was swarming with people. The holiday seems similar to our ANZAC Day – except shops are open, many boasting mind-boggling sales – and it also marks the unofficial start to summer. Madison Avenue, the street where our hotel was situated, was blocked off to traffic for as far as the eye could see, and transformed into a market of sorts – with everybody out for a bargain. Tired of shuffling along like a couple out of March of the Penguins, Nick and I escaped the borough for Brooklyn.

Braving the subway was the first order of the day – a quick glance at the map, followed by a deep breath and two swipes of the Metrocard and we found ourselves exactly where we intended. Phew!

Brooklyn was a real breath of fresh air. The streets were quiet and charming, and away from the hustle and bustle of the city. We weren’t constantly harassed by street vendors or homeless people. The air felt cleaner. I found myself thinking I could actually live here. It was a lovely escape!

The Promenade (a little like our “Esplanade” in Darwin) offered fantastic views of Manhattan and the Brookyln Bridge. Joggers ran by, and families sat having picnics in the shade. It was a lovely stroll, but we were in Brooklyn on a mission. We were there for Grimaldi’s Pizza.

In all my preparation for our trip, every site/book/forum I trawled advised that a trip to NYC was not complete without a trip to Grimaldi’s. The pizzeria itself is this tiny little whole in the wall in Brooklyn, only recognisable by the line of people that goes around the block. They also advise to arrive by about 11:30am to avoid waiting too long.

We join the already long line at 12:19 pm. We’re in the door with our order taken at 12:59 pm. A small 16″ pizza with garlic, pepperoni, mushrooms, red peppers & extra mozzarella, please. And two Sprites. Meal arrives 1:18 pm. The pizza is huge. Pizza finished by 1:46 pm. Check received and paid, and out the door by 1:50 pm. Walk half a mile down the street, passing those who will be in line for a long while yet. Get in line at the Brooklyn Icecream Factory. Feel like all we’ve done in Brooklyn is line up. Half an hour later, we’re out, Nick with Vanilla Chocolate Chunk, me with Vanilla. Could take or leave the icecream, but the pizza … my gawd, the pizza …

Amble around DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) before making our way up to the entrance of the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge is not quite 2km from Brooklyn to Manhattan, so it’s a reasonably short walk, but the view is spectacular. I wish we’d had the chance to do the walk at sunset, but with daylight savings that isn’t until after 8pm, and we just ran out of free evenings! And we had the Empire State Building to climb!

Strolled around the Financial District some more, before catching the subway back uptown (we were pro’s by this time!). Used our “Express Pass” tickets to bypass the 2+ hour line at the Empire State Building – everybody hoping to get in before sunset. Felt like royalty as we sauntered past the suckers tourists who hadn’t thought ahead and forked out the extra $10 for said tickets online. Positioned ourselves in an ideal photo-location at the top of the Empire State Building while we waited for the sun to go down. Managed to snap some terrific photographs, before back to the Palace we went.

We’ve had a busy few days!

We ‘hit’ Woodbury Commons on Thursday – premium outlets, about an hour’s bus ride out of Manhattan. While Nick did quite well for himself, shopping up a storm in Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren, all I returned to the hotel with was my bus ticket stub. Very sad. Over 220 outlet stores, including Chanel, Dior, Burberry, Roberto Cavalli, Jimmy Choo … and nothing jumped out at me! I’m a failure as a female – all I’ve bought on this trip is a camera lens.

That night was Romeo and Juliet at the Lincoln Center – it was breathtaking. A combination of sitting in the dark and the soft music almost sent me to sleep at a couple of points, so I was glad when I could get out into the fresh air. We met up with Steve for the second time that day, this time at Serendipity3 – we enjoyed the desserts so much on our first trip that we just had to do again.

Friday started with Fall Out Boy in Rockefeller Center on Today. I’m not exactly a big fan (although I don’t dislike the music either), but we figured that it would be an experience. We found ourselves a great spot, which wasn’t exactly so great as we found ourselves on TV regularly, and stayed for a song before heading off to breakfast at Pershing Square. The whole day was a bit of a blur (I should have posted earlier), but involved Grand Central Terminal, the NY Public Library, Bryant Park, and Bloomingdales! We went to Avenue Q (a sort of dirty, inappropriate Sesame Street) that evening … loved it. When it comes to Australia, I wouldn’t mind seeing it again! We also checked out of Trump Towers, and into the NY Palace.

We had planned for a full day of shopping on Saturday, but this cold has taken up residence in my chest, so we spent a little time just resting in the hotel, before heading back out to browse Saks, Bloomingdales, Bergdorfs and Fifth Avenue in general. It felt like a bit of a wasted day, but I just couldn’t do it – and was in bed asleep before 7pm!

Sunday was a huge day. We started with breakfast at Sarabeth’s, just across from Central Park – Nick had the most amazing buttermilk pancakes, and I had some really good porridge. It was just what the doctor ordered! In just half a day, we managed to squeeze in a Carriage Ride, a visit to the Zoo & Children’s Zoo, the Hans Christian Andersen and Alice in Wonderland statues, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Betheseda Terrace, and the American Museum of Natural History. Central Park is around 843 acres – and a lot to take in – not to mention two museums .. but we somehow did it!

18. Swing through the sky on a trapeze

Just a quick photo post to validate crossing a ‘must do’ off my 25 by 25 list!

The instructors at the New York Trapeze School were incredible – Nick came along for the ride, and even he enjoyed it. The two hour lesson was an exhilarating experience – and their motto is that you don’t need to worry about fear, only about the addiction… they’re right on the money – if our trip weren’t so short, I would be booking another lesson! Thank goodness for Sydney Trapeze School!

Courtesy of mapmyrun.com - 21.65km ... before I called it quits and hailed a cab

My friend Wikipedia tells me that Manhattan is approximately 21.6km long, and 3.7km wide. In one day, Nick and I managed to clock up 21.65km, between Central Park and the Financial District alone. It went something like this:

Start: Trump International Towers (One Central Park West)

- B&H Photo (W34th St, 9th Ave)
- Chrysler Building (E44th St, Between Lexington & 3rd Ave)
- Flatiron Building (W23rd St, 4th Ave)
- Forbes Magazine Gallery (Between W12th & W13th St, 5th Ave)
- Down past the Williamsburg Bridge & East River Park
- Past the Manhattan Bridge & Brooklyn Bridge
- Lunch @ Pier 17 (South St, Seaport – on the East side)
- Across to Wall St & the Charging Bull in the Financial District
- Over to Trinity Church
- Ground Zero
- Across to St Paul’s Chapel
- Up to Pier 40 (on the West side) for our two-hour Trapeze Lesson
- Perry St for Carrie’s Stoop

…. and then I’d finally had enough, and we hailed a cab up on 6th Avenue.

Photo Credit: iStock

Some of my readers may remember our previous flight to the USA, and the hell that we endured with United Airlines with their tiny seats, grey omelettes and poor service .. Our flight with Qantas was nothing like that of their American counterpart.

The only exception to Qantas’ brilliant service was the attendant that checked us in, who acted like she was going out of her way to do us a huge favour to seat us together – the flight reservation was booked and paid for at the same time on my credit card, I’d expect that we were seated together!

Once you’re past Security, Sydney’s International Airport is rather lacking – there are few nice cafes or restaurants .. so I amused myself in Duty Free and bought a 50ml Chanel Chance EDT, before making myself comfortable with my laptop and some tea.

Despite being seated at the very back of the plane with already screaming children, the flight was particularly quiet once we took off, and I managed about six hours sleep. The seats were about twice the size of those with United, and we actually had something I like to call “leg room”. The Entertainment Units had possibly too much choice – I enjoyed Confessions of a Shopaholic, Marley and Me, Bride Wars (all for the second time), a couple of episodes of The Simpsons, a documentary about Madeleine McCann, and something called Who Stole My Foetus. As far as plane-food goes, Qantas do a terrific job, and we certainly didn’t go hungry.

The only “bad” thing about the flight was finding myself sans mobile, and realising that I perhaps had a little addiction problem; and two passengers in the seats behind us. While the husband was a convicted sexual offender – something he made known to the flight attendant, when asking what he was supposed to tick to the “have you ever been convicted” question on the Customs form, and children were immediately ushered back to their parents – but the wife … the wife was an obnoxious, giant pain in the arse. Every time she got in or out of her seat (which was frequently), she would pull my seat right backwards, and slam the top of my head. I’m quite sure I directed an obscenity in her direction towards the end of the flight.

Interestingly, the passenger next to Nick and I, who had the window seat, didn’t leave his seat once during the entire 13 hour leg to Los Angeles. As somebody who needs to wee several times an hour, this was both fascinating and horrifying for me. He was either the World’s Most Considerate Traveller, or he has the World’s Largest Bladder. …. On our stopover at LAX, Nick would later make friends with the young man who introduced himself as “Matt”, an Australian living in Washington.

The second leg of our flight was entirely uneventful, and we both slept for most of it. I couldn’t even tell you what the inflight entertainment was .. actually, that’s a lie – it was Mall Cop, or whatever it’s called.

Over twenty hours after departing Sydney, we had arrived.