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Published: December 15th 2008
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My last day in New York - Friday. Had to pack my stuff up, get organised, check out, pay the lovely bill. New York is proper expensive. I wanted to take the boat to the Statue of Liberty, but the weather wasn't really behaving. It was beautiful and sunny - totally clear - but a touch brisk and pretty windy. Several locals had said that if it’s windy in the city, don’t bother with the islands…….anyhow I thought I’d go see for myself. Thankfully I could leave my bag at the hotel, and my flight wasn’t till the evening.
So I walked downtown. All the way down 6th, and hung a right somewhere, and wound up at the edge of the Hudson river.
On my way there I stumbled upon a bar called Walkers, who had a jazz musician playing there each Sunday called Peter Leitch. I’d have loved to have met him, but chronology let me down. I presume he’s the Canadian guy that I’d previously found on google, would’ve been great to say hello……..
Most cities make the most of their waterfront property with bars, restaurants, parks and general places to hang out. As you can
walkers Bar
nonedescript apart from the musicians... see from the photo, this global phenomenon hasn’t yet hit New York, the waterfront was as bleak as a Norwegian Winter and as desloate as a Darlo home game. Seemed like a shame. The rubbish lapped against the desolate breakwater, and only a few hardy joggers were braving the wind.
The walk proved to be a good viewpoint for the Statue of Liberty though, and I took a load of photos, all from too far to really do it justice but by then I knew that a boat trip out there wasn’t going to happen.
It was a nice, if bracing stroll along the river, but as it turned a corner I headed back into the city, across Wall Street, and into an - you guessed it - Irish bar for a quick fortifying beer. The Rose of Killarney perhaps…..I’m not sure. Anyhow, from there I turned north and made my way back towards the hotel and my baggage.
I left plenty of time to get through the airport - again via public transport - and had what turned out to be a great stir-fry in a takeaway place. The highpoint here was a muslim couple, a
Sunday night's performer...
Ladies and Gentlemen - Mr Peter Leitch..... tiny little weedy guy and the mother of all arranged wives. I’m sure she was lovely, but it was as though she’d been brought up under different gravity to him, he was tiny and meek looking and she was a giant in every way.
Quiz - film question - “His head must way 20 pounds on its own” - a quote from which film? But of course in this situation I mean her head, not Geoff Woad’s. She really was a monster, paired off with a tiny little guy who I have no doubt knew the meaning of the word fear. They caught the attention of everyone in the airport.
So anyway, boarded the flight to Frankfurt. Was excited to see the beautiful woman sitting on my row of seats. A little less so to see her 3 year old son sitting next to me. But Samuel was a good kid, and his French mummy really very yummy. We chatted a fair bit before the lights went out before her son took to kicking me repeatedly for 7 hours.
Saturday morning and I was back in Europe. Bear in mind it’s been 4 years since I’ve touched
Statue of Liberty
Can't argue that this is one of the world's famous sights..... Europe, and I hope you appreciate it was pretty weird. Martin and 1-year old son Julian met me at the airport at Frankfurt and whisked me straight of to see the delights of the city’s outskirts. We went to Aldi to get groceries, we went to a pharmacy to get baby food, and we went to some other shops to get some other things, I’d switched off by then. But when you’ve got 2 kids, life isn’t all beer and skittles and that’s fair enough. Once we’d done the shopping, we drove back to Martin and Marion’s new(ish) house.
I’d forgotten how exciting driving in Germany is. Bearing in mind my car is as fast as almost anyone’s in Sydney, all of a sudden we were on the Autobahn doing 200kmh. And I was sat where the steering wheel should be. My toes curled into my boots, fingernails into the seat, but it’s the German way……..
Frankfurt looked all a bit cold and gray, but it was nice to get to their new - large- house and settle in. Their kids Julian - 1+ and Sarah - 3+ - were very cute, we had a nice late lunch
NYC's beautiful Waterfront
A Mecca for Tourists who travel from miles around..... then were promised a trip to some Christmas markets. Sadly, by then I was falling asleep on the sofa and had to pass on the trip. After 2 hours asleep infront of the TV, that turned out to be a good move - they drove an hour to the market which was knee deep in snow and horribly cold so the kids made the decision to turn around and come home. By the time they got back I’d had a decent kip and was able to stay up and communicate for the rest of the evening…… and Martin has an excellent cellar……..
After a nice quick brekkie it was time to say goodbye to the Woerners- a terribly quick flying visit but I was really glad I’d called in on them all. Another 200kmh+ drive to the airport - kids in the back seat - and after a lot of dicking around with German efficiency I got checked in and then had to sit about for a delayed flight.
It’s only 80 mins or so from Frankfurt to Heathrow, but we were 2 hours late. Thankfully that meant Hosko could haul his @rse out of bed and meet
God told me to do it....
Wouldn't you take this photo? me there, giving me a lift back to their new place in Hammersmith. Lovely new flat, great part of town, dropped the bags and went for brekkie at a nice French café before hitting the local pub. Helen the barmaid proved my theories wrong about English barmaids not being so friendly…..we hung around for quite a while, I had the roast for dinner and we called it a night. Much whisky and chat on the sofa, and here I am typing while Andrew and Dee are asleep ‘cos they have to work tomorrow (Monday). I’ve got the day to please myself and explore before meeting old school friend Dominic in the evening.
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