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Day 3. Anniversary!
Today started DREADFULLY early, as the NYC Five Boro cycle marathon was on and the starting line was literally outside our window. 32000 cyclists started lining up from about 6am, and from 7 a warm up guy starting bellowing from the loudest sound system in the world. They then blasted out New York New York, Empire State of Mind - all the classics! It was So. Loud. This in turn woke up the chatty Kathys next door, who started screeching nonsense at each other. Amidst this cacophony, though, we opened our lovely anniversary cards from fam and friends, which was a great start to the day.
Andrew has a slight obsession with American chains, and today's focus was the coffee shop Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. He found one on the map and we trundled there, but happily this took us to Greenwich and the West Village. Leafy and residential, full of traditional brownstones, it was just lovely! It also highlighted how distinct and characteristic each neighbourhood is. Despite the rain, it was just so bloody pleasant, I even had a coffee (I KNOW!). We then walked a couple of blocks, and we came across the building used as Monica and Rachel's flat in Friends. Highlight of the morning!
The rain continued unabated (I mean, it really pissed it down) so we opted for lunch then a museum rather than our planned mooch around Central Park. We found a great Mexican place called Casa Mezcal in the Lower East Side, and it brought back many memories of our honeymoon. The food was so tasty, and we took advantage of the boozy brunch deal (ie Andrew got pissed...!). Round the corner from the restaurant was the Tenement Museum, which is in an old tenement block on Orchard Street. There are different tours on each floor of the building offering a glimpse into the lives of the numerous families who lived there between about 1850 until 1935. Our tour was called Irish Outsiders and focussed on the life of Bridget and Joseph Moore and their family. Led by the enthusiastic FIELDING (and by enthusiastic I mean loud...) he explained just how profound the Irish influence has been on New York - at one point a third of the entire population of the city were Irish immigrants. It was informative and everything, but the tour guide insisted on asking us to discuss things with him which led to some very waffly discourse between him and a lady from Buffalo...and maybe it was due to the boozy lunch but my eyes did glaze over a couple of times. Still, it was an interesting visit and the reconstruction of the Moore family's small apartment was impressive. Time for another beer though!
After a brief return to the hotel, we went up to Christopher Street to squeeze in a quick drink before dinner. We visited the original Stonewall Inn, where the gay rights movement really kicked off in 1969. What a dive! I don't really know what I was expecting, but it was a bit of a s*** hole - really dark and saloon-like. There were a few token bits of info about the riots and protests that went on here, but really it was just a skanky dank dive. Thank Christ it was happy hour!
For dinner I'd made reservations at a restaurant called The Fat Radish from a recommendation by a friend, and it was brilliant! I was fat and had a burger, Andrew ate radishes (amongst other delicious things) and it was a really cool, laid back place for us to round off the day. We spent most of the evening reliving the wedding - it was lovely.
More tomorrow! Check out the pics!xx
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