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Saturday 15th March 2008
I have finally made it to NYC after weeks of dragging out leaving drinks and annoying all my friends because I don't have a job!! For those of you that don't know this morning was a little stressful to say the least.Going out and drinking copious amounts of wine and not getting home until 2am seemed like a good idea at the time but it certainly didn't feel it when I got up at 8am. The leaving time was 9am as arranged with James, Princey and Chris the night before. After dealing with Hangovers, picking up Mcdonalds breakfasts and trying to find Chris who was MIA!, we managed to leave at 10am without him!We arrived at Heathrow at 11.45am and met Irv, now bearing in mind check in had only been open about 10 mins, when I got to the desk they told me that the flight was overbooked and there may not be a seat for me. My response to that was to do the usual Charlie way to deal with a problem, I cried!!!!After lots of hanging around at customer services and talking to BA staff who were really nice but didn't have a clue what was going on, I eventutally got a boarding pass with about 20mins to spare. So I said my tearful goodbyes to the boys and legged it through security. I got to the gate to find a big queue of people all waiting to board and just in time to hear an announcement saying the flight was delayed!! Great! So Finally I get on the plane and make my way to my Upgraded World Traveller plus seat which is so comfy and spacious I fall asleep before we take off!! For those of you that have never travelled on a plane with me, i'm rubbish, I hate it so obviously the hangover did the trick because I slept for 5 hours!!!So anyway, i'm here in this beautiful hotel in the middle of Manhattan thinking were the hell do I start!! Just take each day as it comes, 4 months seems like such a long time, I have no idea how i'm going to fill my days but i'm sure i'll come up with something!
16th & 17th March
So i've completed two whole days in the big city. I've managed to cram a whole lot of stuff in too!! On my first morning I got up early and decided to go for a wander to find my bearings. I found myself in Grand Central Station were I sat down for some Breakfast and planned the rest of my day. After that the plan went out the window and I just wandered off looking at absolutely everything I could manage to squeeze in on one massive stretch of 5th Avenue. Taking in the Rockefeller Centre, St Patricks Cathedral, one massive queue outside Abercrombie & Fitch (Male models were outside and you could have your picture taken with them, stared a little bit, contemplated it then walked off, Wish I had now!!!) then ended up in Trump Tower where I sat and had my lunch in the Trump Grille. After that I went for a little look around Saks 5th Ave and ended up in the shoe department trying on Christian Louboutin and Gucci shoes!! Very Nice but would have blown my whole 4 months budget in one transaction!!!! Also had a look in the Apple Shop which was crazy busy and really stressed me out!
At this point it started to absolutely chuck it down and I was 20 blocks from the hotel with no umberella and stupid shoes on. A long wet walk home!! but it was fine, had a quick shower and went out for dinner at the Barking Dog Restaurant and then bed early.
Woke up at 7.15am, damn jet lag!!! Pottered about, bothered eveyone that was on MSN and then got myself organised to hit 5th Avenue again for the St Patricks Day Parade at 11am. 20 block walk again up to St Patricks Cathedral and, god knows how I managed with the amount of people standing on the street, managed to get an amazing place to watch it. The sheer volume of people in Manhattan was totally overwhelming and the noise was phenominal. I watched about 3 hours of the parade which was just stunning if a little cold (1C to be precise!) The most poignant part was the NY Fire Fighters carrying a flag for each person killed in 9/11. The cheer from the crowd echoed around the huge buildings it made my ears hurt. I got some good photos, I wont put them all on as there are loads but i'll pick some of the best ones, managed to catch the Derry (Pa) and Waterford (Kelly) marchers but sadly missed the Kilkenny ones(For those of you that don't know, my parents live there).
After seriously freezing as i'd picked the side of the street that was shaded and not in the sun I decided a little shopping was in order. So I battled my way over to the Avenue of the Americas and went and had a browse in Macys (new shoes purchased! Thankfully as my feet are starting to hurt from all the walking!) and then took a walk down Broadway (stopping for a glass of wine in Mustang Sally's) and went to Madison Square Park. After that I was feeling a little tired and so have now retreated to the Hotel to write this, have a shower and venture out for what will most surely be a busy Paddy's Night in NYC!!!! I'm planning on heading up to Johnny Utah's for a St Paddy's Day Bash!!! Should be interesting.
18th &19th March
So I would say I walked about 8 miles easily on Tuesday, I walked from the Hotel on 34th Street all the way down to Ground Zero, about 2 miles and about an hour and half of solid walking. It was great I got to see so many different areas, Soho and Chinatown namely. Spent a while just taking in the hugeness of Ground Zero and the sadness that surrounds it. Its very emotional and perhaps not the best place to go on your own but i'm glad I went there. Next I walked over the Wall Street and took loads of touristy pictures!!!
I then had a little look in the Federal Hall National Memorial which houses Washington's Inaugural Address as the first President of America. Then started my walk back to the Hotel. Quick change and then walked down to Union Square Cinema and watched The Bank Job.
Wednesday was the most torrential rain I have seen in my life, it was awful outside. Day in for me, not too bad though because I have got the worst cold ever and couldn't really face the outside world anyway. Only went out to go to the pharmacy across the street, got soaked anyway!!! So I spent the day researching and booking my next leg to Boston for Saturday.
20th March
Today I took a walk up to Times Square and then onto Central Park, I popped into the American Museum of Natural History had a little look around. I didn't even scratch the surface it is sooo big. I went and watched the Cosmic Collisions Show in the Hayden Planetarium. It was spectacular and really insightful about the universe!! Had a look around the Rose Centre for Earth and Space and then headed out the Central Park again for a Hot Dog and a Coffee!
I headed out at 6 to meet my old school friend Jess for dinner and a catch up, having not seen her for about 12 years! We walked up to Times Square and went for food at Bubba Gumps, a Forest Gump themed restaurant. I had the Dumb Luck Coconut Shrimp which was amazing.
21st March
I had a fairly quiet day today considering I am still suffering with a horrendous cold. Had a lie in, went out for Brunch up Madison Avenue and then came back to the Hotel for a couple of hours. I got ready for about 6ish then walked all the way down to Greenwich Village. I had booked a table at the Cafe Wha to see the resident band. Whilst waiting outside I met a couple of English guys called Dave and Jamie who invited me for a drink before going into the Cafe Wha. We had a drink over the road at the Tavern and then headed over to the Cafe Wha for 9pm.
We ordered some food and wine, watched a comedy set and the band came on. We had great seats right in front of the band. We drank wine danced in the booth and on the dance floor. It was a great evening and I finally stumbled in to bed at about 1am.
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