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Our Big Apple trip didn't quite start in an outstanding fashion… a long delay in the Miami airport with the cheap airline we booked through was followed by a bumpy flight and a rough landing, then an interview in the New York airport by pretty lady shoving a microphone in our face with a cameraman recording our luke-warm responses to her hard hitting questions.
Her: "How long did they keep you waiting in Miami?!?"
Us: "I don't know, a few hours."
Her: "Were you upset by this whole drama?!?"
Us: "Not really, we just watched a movie on our laptop. But some other people who I guess had deadlines were pretty pis.. annoyed"
Her: "Did the airline apologise or offer any sort of compensation?!?"
Us: "Na"
Her: "OK, CUT…. Thanks guys, now what's your name and what country you from?"
I looked back and she immediately interviewed the next passenger who was hopefully more outraged than we were.
So we grabbed our bags, got on a bus, then an underground train, then proceeded to wander around the meat-packing district with our backpacks in the dark for about an hour to Clare's uncles place (which we found out the next day was only about 10 mins away). But we made it! And straight into the bar next door to meet Uncle Alan and aunty Fiona for dinner and many drinks. Then back to their lovely house for more drinks. Things got a little messy… and as I found out, this would be a taste of things to come. I'd been warned about Alan and he did not disappoint!
We eventually managed to get up and moving the next day and after a big old NY breakfast bagel we went to the ex-World Trade Centre site and Wall St, then hopped on the Staten Island Ferry to get a look at the big green lady with the spikey hat and torch. That night we went to a delicious seafood restaurant with Alan, Fiona and some cool Belfast lasses who were friends of Alan's. The booze flowed and the craic was mighty! (That means we had a good time, for all you Aussies).
It was a slow start the next morning, but we dusted ourselves off to explore Greenwich Village then got picked up and treated to a very fancy afternoon tea at the elegant St Regis Hotel. I enjoyed this very much, but probably not half as much as Clare did. The woman strumming the harp, delightful surrounds, exquisite cutlery and little cucumber sandwiches with their crusts cut off was almost too much for me to handle, luckily they had Heineken. Let's hope Alan and Fiona don't think I'm too much of a bogan for Clare (though I doubt they would know the word). We also had some yummy Japanese for dinner with some extra yummy Saki and Japanese beers.
We started out a little rough in the morning (anyone picking up a pattern here?) but we soldiered on: this was to be our biggest touristy day! Grand Central Station was followed by a big explore session of Central Park where we saw the most amazing dancing/singing/violin playing couple of buskers. Then we headed down fifth avenue and checked out Tiffany's, Abercrombie & Fitch (exclusive fashion label which has a store that is more like a dark, pumping night club than a clothes shop!) then we took the super-fast elevator to the top of the Rockerfeller Centre skyscraper where we watched the sun go down over New York City. A stunning sunset; beautiful only begins to describe it. Back home for a mouth-watering meal cooked by Fiona on their super BBQ (infra-red cooking technology with a huge grill). We ate incredible seafood and garlic snails (LOVE them) followed by a steak which I literally picked up and gnawed on the bone. Next door for a nightcap we met a cool bartender guy and his rather easy-on-the-eye female friend who invited us out to a local night club. He could get us in for free, so we somehow mustered up some energy from deep, deep down inside and headed out with them after his shift ended. This place was very trendy, hipsters were crawling all over it, but I will never forget the view! We were surprisingly high up and the bar only had glass walls, so no view was missed. The upstairs level was the rooftop, which offered 360deg views almost better than Rockerfeller!
Another day, another hangover… but this was our last chance to see some more of NYC before our flight back to Miami, so we headed out to the very cool Chealsea Markets. Here we got a traditional Aussie pie before climbing up to the High Line for a quick walk along the old elevated train tracks that they have turned into a scenic and calming nature walk. A stark contrast to the busy streets only metres below and such a good initiative!
New York was a fantastic experience (short as it was) and another place on our "must return to" list. It was exhausting, exhilarating and extremely epic! I can't think of any more "e" words right now, so instead I'll sign off.
Daz
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