Tue 18 Jan
Woke up with intention to go for a run in Central Park. Overnight snow all over the place, sleety rain, so gave up on that idea. Gutted. Decided to do more walking (!!) round the city instead. Started off with tour of Brooklyn courtesy of our hop on/off tickets. Found a bus, with a driver, but no guide. Upstairs section was uninhabitable - the front section had sprung a leak and water was collecting on the floor. The rear section was relatively dry, but freezing cold and the clear plastic ceiling was covered in snow so in any case not able to see anything.
Back downstairs I had time to get the compulsory daily Starbucks and once the guide turned up we set off. Pretty interesting tour, guide was a Brooklyn local with a bag of chips on his shoulder, very colourful stories. Downstairs windows had no snow but so much steam on the inside we couldn't see outside. We had to make do with our minds eyes. His routine was amusingly punctuated by torrents of water flowing down the stairs from the upstairs flood. All round, great info and entertaining tour.
From there we strolled through the Financial District, Wall street, the big brass bull statue, saw Ground Zero, then mastered the NYC subway to make our way to Greenwich Village for lunch. I was starving (floods make me hungry) and partook of some delicious Chinese food. While still in the Village we strolled the streets, serious window shopping and saw the oldest Pharmacy in New York. Fascinating.
Onwards to some retail therapy at Columbus Circle (again). Whole Foods is incredible and my wallet was very glad we got there *after* lunch. Back onto the subway to Columbia University to meet a friend who works there and his brother who doesn't. Quick look around the fantastic university buildings and then some coffee and cake more or less opposite the diner used in Seinfeld. And a drink at the famous Lenox Lounge jazz club in Harlem. Pretty cool, man.
To close off the day we joined our hosts for the greatest kosher Moroccan cuisine in the Upper West side. Note to self: a veal chop is basically a baby T-bone steak. Huge!
It was morning, yada yada, Day 3.
Wed 19 Jan
Today the rain had disappeared and the ambushing slush soup puddles were gone too so first thing I dressed and went for a jog in Central Park. It took about 5 very stop-start minutes of jogging up 5 avenue blocks to get there which was not so cool (New York traffic light phases are veerrrrry long) but I got there. Hundreds of runners and dog walkers and cyclists circling the inner ring road/path thing. And now I was one of them. Sporting my London Marathon finisher T-Shirt (over a long sleeve top, don't worry I was warm) I was the envy of all who bothered to look up. Lovely start to the day and very glad I did it. That's that checked off the list.
We decided to fill the rest of the day with as much tourist stuff as possible. Breezed through Grand Central Terminal (very grand, really) and then strolled down 5th Avenue (the wrong way for the posh shops), past the Empire State Building. By this time it had clouded over again and started raining so couldn't really see the tops of the buildings so gave up on top of the Rock or Empire State Building viewing thang.
Then, deep breath, we went to Macy's. It is huge. And has stuff in it. Not much more I can say, although La prob has loads more to contribute on that one.
We then made our way to B&H, an electronics store owned and run by Frum Jews. Everyone behind a counter's name is Sholomo or Chaim and has a beard and payot. I kid you not. Apparently even their internet shopping site closes on Shabbes. During sales process of a very reasonably priced SD card for my camera, Shlomo (I think) wanted my details for their computer. I decided to spell out my name and surname. 'Are you Jewish' he asked me. Hilarity ensued.
Once you have chosen your item, they give you an order receipt for it and tell you to pay downstairs for it. My memory card was put onto a complicated but efficent set of tunnels, pulleys and conveyors, lifts and balances and found its ways to a collection area near the tills. Then, as you leave the store, a Rastafarian man encourages you to buy some kosher falafel from the kosher falafel caravan 2 yards away. Fascinating.
After that we went to Carnegie deli for lunch. I was ravenous (shopping near Frumas makes me hungry). I had "the best" pastrami sandwich in the world. Huge. About 2 inches of hot pastrami. Delicious. No hot English Mustard in sight if I must be critical. And I must. La had the biggest tuna salad in existence. We were so full we had to politely decline the waiter's offer of the best cheesecake in the world. Thrice.
From there we walked past or into the following:
Carnegie Hall
The Big Big Apple Apple store
Tiffany and Co
De Beers
More of 5th avenue, this time the side with the posh shops
We rounded off the day with a bus trip to Baltimore where we'd be staying with La's family for a few days.
Morning, noon and night. Day 4.
Thu 20 Jan
Today La's cousin kindly drove us to the Washington DC, the capital with the Capitol. It was a gorgeous clear and crisp day. We started off at the White House. To be precise, the back entrance. The famous view of the front is not really visible from either the road or the pedestrian walkway, but the views from behind are fabulous. (a number of obvious jokes omitted here)
Next stop, the Lincoln Memorial via Arlington Cemetery. We walked up the steps humming Rocky them tune. I know *that* was Philadelphia, but the steps felt the same to me. From the Lincoln statue there is an incredible view of the Washington memorial (big obelisk thing) with its reflection clearly showing in the, erm, Reflecting Pool. It is hard to describe the scale of the grounds and the monuments and the everything. Huge. Monumental. Also saw the memorials to the soldiers lost in the Vietnam and Korean wars.Drove to region of the Mall with all the museums for lunch in the National Museum of the American Indian. Some good views of the Capitol building. We did end up in the museum itself, but food first. I was famished (Capitols make me hungry). I wolfed down a Buffalo Chili with fried flat bread and a coffee. De-lish. Then onto the Air and Space museum (NASA space craft leftovers, like, the one that they came back from the moon in!) and the National History Museum (just *had* to see the Hope diamond, darling) and the Smithsonian Institution. Note, even the museum guards are packing handguns. Astonishing.
Other stuff we saw:
Treasury department, National Archive and loads of cops. And military helicopters. Apparently the Chinese premier was visiting Mr O this week.
Day 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment