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Hi again everyone, here's another update on our adventures so far - this time from the east coast! We've been in New York for a little over 4 days now, and have managed to see quite a few sites already, but still have a lot to tick off our list!
Our flight into JFK airport was pretty uneventful, and we passed a lot of time just by looking out the window at the changing American landscape. The big downside was on US flights, you have to pay for everything (with the exception of peanuts and soda). So we somehow managed to sustain ourselves on skittles and complimentary mojitos, given to us for changing seats to accommodate a family of 5 - score! When we touched down, we began to navigate the subway system to our new couchsurfing host, Mike's, apartment, right at the very top end of Manhattan, in a district called Washington Heights. Getting in took a little over an hour, so we were pretty beat by the time we got in and headed more or less straight to bed after a quick take out dinner.
On our first full day in NY, we caught the subway down to Times Square, a somewhat overwhelming way to first experience the city on stepping out of the subway. We walked past the flashing lights and electronic billboards and after getting our bearings (and a map), we began to walk east towards Fifth Avenue. From here, after getting a quick breakfast, we headed towards the New York Public Library. It's a spectacular building with a lot of history and still very much a functioning library- we saw heaps of uni students at work and people doing research. Also famous for sheltering Jake Gyllenhall in "The Day After Tomorrow"! :P We continued to walk up 5th Avenue gawking at all the expensive stores and wrestling with fellow tourists for sidewalk space. We made a quick detour towards the base of the Rockafeller building and paused for some phooto ops near the skating rink at the base of the building. Next stop was FAO Schwarz, possibly the most famous toystore in the world! so much fun! I (Hayley) wanted to buy ALL the stuffed animals and we got a chance to see the famous BIG keyboard :) Next we took a stroll through the very posh Upper East Side, stopping in at a book store and a puppy store (i'm a little worried those puppies were from puppy mills though :() It's fun perving on rich people and their houses :) About halfway up Central Park we gave up on our stroll up Lexington Ave and headed for Grand Central Station with the huge famous terminal. This place is really amazing and again still seems to function as well as it always has. They even have a fresh porduce market in the middle. An aborted attempt to see the Chrysler building followed (there's not much to see on ground level when it's all those stories high) and a quick noodle dinner before heading back to Mike's for an early night :)
The next morning I was excited to head to my favourite part of New York- Chelsea and the Village. We were FREEZING again but manned up to walk the streets through Chelsea then to the famous Flat Iron building and to Gramercy Park a gorgeous private park (only residents have access) surrounded by great apartment buildings including the oldest one in Mannhattan. We did a little Ryan Adams sight seeing, walking via Avenue A and Tenth (mentioned in his song New York, New York) and some more dog sighting :) they have dog runs in the parks here and seriously it's like watching something from "Hairy Mc Clary from Donoldson's Dairy" (does anyone remember that kids book?) Heaps of different breeds (everyone seems to have designer bred puppies here, no mutts. Doesn't anyone adopt from the pound???) big dogs and little dogs all playing with eachother :) By this stage we were getting peckish so we headed for a litttle food place we'd heard rumors about - Tuck Shop! Yes it's an Australian place where they make pies, sausage rolls (vegie ones too!) and sell vegemite and bbq shapes! it was quite fun though we must say we didn't feel very unique as every single person who walked in while we were eating was Aussie! Also the guys who own the place were about to go off and do an interview with Sunrise. That was exciting :P we proceeded to another foodie place Ryan had been DYING to visit - Magnolia Bakery, famous for Sex and The City and Cupcakes. And yep there was a line out the door and roound the corner- crazy how obsessed people are. They were delicious however but very VERY sweet! Now for another NY reccomendation- The Strand Bookstore. yes 18 miles of new and used books, over 4 floors of joy. Let's just say when we went in it was daylight and when we emerged it was pitch black. We were very restrained and just bought two slim paper backs each though we could have bought half the store!
Thanks to the awesome "free and cheap NYC guide" our host Mike leant us we had a on the cheap dinner of burgers and grilled cheese out the back of a little dive bar in the West Village though we had to line up for while for our dinner! But the night still wasn't over - we had big BIG plans- a hard rock/hair band Karaoke show at an awesome little bar called Arlene's Grocery in the Lower East Side. So much fun- really committed karaoke people singing Iron Maiden and classics like Proud Mary, Purple Rain and Piece of My Heart. No "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" here - only in NY!
That was quite a late night so we had a pretty relaxed start to the next day and made our way AAAALLL the way to the other end of the island to South Ferry to catch the ferry to Staten Island. This is awesome cause it's free and you go right past the Statue of Liberty- we're such budget travellers. We didn't stop at Staten Island- just rode the ferry right back again. Next we made our way up through the very middle of the Financial District to Wall Street, the stock exchange and the federal building- this is where George Washington was inaugurated and the Bill of Rights is displayed- all very educational. Our final stop for that day was Ground Zero. Personally, I think it's important to go there as seeing the great big gap in the city in between all the other huge buildings is quite powerful. Makes you realise how frightening the day must have been for New Yorkers. However, since I last went in 2006, a lot of the memorials have been taken down to make way for building work and replaced by a vistors center - which charges entry! And I'm just not that comfortable with where that money may or may not be going. But anyway in the end I thinnk it was interesting for Ryan to see. The rest of the day was filled with mundane but important tasks such as washing our clothes!
Yesterday it was forecasted to rain so we decided on a museum day. First we caught a subway to the American Natural History Museum. What's great about the two museums we went to yesterday is that they have "suggested admission" that is you can pay whatever you want even if the "recommended" adult price is 20 bucks. We didn't feel too bad paying 5 bucks each as we figured all the rich old biddies who live on the Upper East Side probably give their money to the museuems when they die! This museum really was fascinating- a lot of focus on anthropology even if the plastic models of Indians etc were kinda weird. They had a mind boggling amount of mayan, aztec and incan artifacts too which was of particular interest to me. Not that into the stuffed animals donated by the Marquess of Reading in 1918 though- creepy! it also inspired me to see Night at the Museum :)
Next stop on our musuem trail (after a warming lunch of soup) was the famous Metropolitan Museum of Art- what an experience. To stand in a room literally surrounded by greek and roman art thousands of year old is something you're unlikely to experience out of Europe let alone in Australia. The sheer volume of the collection was incredible in itself. Ryan loved the Greek and Roman mezzanine while I really enjoyed the modern american art. Though the security was insane- first we were told we couldn't bring a backpack in, then we were told we couldn't put it in coat check cause it had our laptop in it, then we had to get a permission slip for the backpack only obtained after switching the computer on and off for the security guard (bomb disguised as a computer?!) and then we couldn't wear it on our back around the exhibits- i had to wear it on my front like a baby. what the?
Soon enough it came time for dinner with Mike and some Brazillian friends at a Mac and Cheese restaurant, Yes S'mac sells only that delicious comfort food in various guises - napoletana, Cheeseburger etc- delicious and only in America. Then it was off to Brooklyn for a couch surfing event at an adorable little bar (we love Brooklyn now btw). There were arm chairs, the walls were lined with books , the drinks were cheap, there was a bandroom downstairs AND out the back? a bocce ball green? yes we played bocce as we chatted to other couch surfers from Brooklyn and all over. How fun!
OK that brings us to this morning, we promise we will try and update more regularly form now on!
All our love,
Hayley and Ryan
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