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Published: January 15th 2008
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skyline
from empire New York Myself and Gavin set off for the states on Dec 24th; we flew from Edinburgh to London and stayed the night in the Crowne Hotel. Baring in mind it was £4 each to the hotel from Heathrow, we knew that it would be £4 each way and £20 return to London if we fancied a trip for the day etc. we decided to just do lunch and chill round hotel. Dam, with what it cost in that hotel, we could have chattered a helicopter to London.
I was surprised I was up late for the trip back to airport, Gavin was up and dashing about telling me I’m late, being the ‘small chunker’ I am it took me 20 secs to realise it was 18:00 and not 06:00, lol, and I chilled back down for a nap. Good start for Gavin :o)
We set out for states on Christmas day. Tried in vain for an upgrade, will of course be writing to BA to complain, well, you got to eh? lol.
Arrived JFK round about noon. Stood in line for quiet a while, in a stuffy hall. Jumped straight into a yellow cab and headed
artistic
in the park in queens for hotel. The cabbie was Lithuanian or something like that, and we chilled in the cab gasping at the sights as we travelled.
Dumped the bags at the hotel (travel inn, w42nd st). Had a quick shower, and headed out for a look see.
Drifted around Times Square to get our bearings, and of course, fired into a star bucks for a latte.
Had lunch at Maxie’s Dinner on Broadway. Not so low cost, but, very nice, across the street from Carnegie Deli (lines were always to long to wait for food).
Now is about time where my days and times for doing things start to blur, lol. So I will just list the things we did/saw/experienced, and tell you my take on what I thought.
Empire State Building - long lines, long wait, was ok, bloody high, pretty overcast day sadly. (Got our city pass which saved us loads of cash) 4/10
Harbour Cruise - Upgraded to 3 hr cruise round all of Manhattan, lines here were outrageous, and had to get ticket for next day cruise. But weather was good, lil windy but clear sunny day. I enjoyed this very much. Narrator
was great also, loads info. 8/10
Central Park - surprisingly clean, strawberry fields was nice, walked all way through it, cold day though lol 5/10
Museum of Modern Art - of all the galleries and museums, this was my fav, had my Monet’s, Picassos, and Warhol’s, but, most of all, Starry Night by Van Gogh. Wow. 7/10
Guggenheim - well, to put it bluntly, actual exhibition was to say the least, a piece of pish. But the building is stunning. More pictures of inside gallery that the exhibits themselves. 3/10
Museum of Natural History - had most fun in this one, lots of stuff covering all aspects of life, cultures, and traditions, as it set up largely for the younger generations, it was superb 7/10
The Metropolitan Museum of Art - again another astonishingly awesome building, lines here were massive, was a overcast rainy day, so people I suspect were doing a dry sight. This one was ok, kind jumbled inside, but I was a lover of the Egyptian section the most. 5/10
When it comes to food. Think Gavin was disappointed, he was gonna eat New York, but in reality, portions were so large
chilled
lay back, relax and rich, we only had 1 eat per day, and It was usually a sandwich of some sorts. Although I must admit to enjoying the ‘odd’ dunkin donut, lol or two
Sylvia’s Soul food - Gavin hated the location, deep in Harlem, lol, but once inside with our lives intact, it was a quaint well maintained restaurant. Lots of history, and awesome food, I had fried chicken, ribs, collard greens, and garlic mash. Gavin had a smile, :o) 9/10
Katz Deli - well, I’m sure Meg Ryan never had an orgasm over the food. The place was very kitsch, a great sit in deli example. Went there twice, had a Rubén both times, first time me Gav had half and half, needless to say, Gav had a Rubén the second time, lol. Met a nice couple en route to Katz, exchanged emails, and had the best waiter you could ever had, purely for entertainment of course, he sucked at bringing thing, like food, drink, and such things, lol. 8 ½ /10
Maxie’s - north end of Times Square, most expensive place we ate in NY, but I enjoyed, size of plate for burger and fries was obscene.
gavs fav
he closes his eyes, and he's back there I think that’s what bust us for the remaining trip beer was warm, but a nice joint 8/10
Nathan’s - well, as famous in Coney Island as fish and chips are to Anstruther, lol. Very cold day, and that dude ate 66 dogs in 12 mins, that’s wrong man. Had a chilli dog and garlic fries, very cheap, but very classy as a hot dog can be. 7/10
Lucky’s - our hidden gem, we just bought a sub, and passed this a minute later, announced as itself as the best burger in the world, and you know what, they are correct. Take away restaurants and home made, for a burger joint to fire out a stunning double cheese burger for $8, and trust me; I had to remove 1 of the patties, at least a ¾ pounder each. This place is our Mecca.
And of course, the usual sub way and the odd sandwich from other places I would guess. Cant mind all the grub, lol, I Gav reminds me of more, I will edit this.
Now, when it comes to the entertaining things we done, me and Gavin have numbers one and two in reverse
orders.
Number one for me was of course the New England vs. NY Giants game, being a pats fan for 22 years I was not only excited to see my boys, but the fact that this was the HISTORY game, to go 16-0 for the season, and oh boy, the game lived up to the hype, Brady and the boys had a great 4th quarter come back to make history.
Number Two, well, lets just say, Hustler lap dances are way too cool. Was an experience to say the least? Girls were stunning, and of course, it was way raunchier than I ever thought. Was the start of a very good night, and Gavin determination not to refuse any dancer that approached him was amusing, lol. But, he did smile more than any food or meal at brought out of him. Awesome night.
Only real pub crawl was that Hustler night also, after the ‘dances’ we were on a high, and hit the bars, all Irish of course, started slow with some weak ass beer and flat Magners, within three hours we were slamming down Jägermeister, dam that shits wrong. But completed a good night off, well
brooklyn bridge
not easy to get all boats out of the way, lol almost, one last pub, with the pool table, so, while I played pool with a gang banger, gavin flashed the cash in his wallet, then disappeared. Thinking the worst, I had to leave to try finding him. He was drifting down from Times Square not knowing what the hell he was doing. Along with a collapse on the floor and a bed full of whatever he was eating that afternoon, I’m sure we all agree, a dam fine day.
Took subway into queens to do the stadiums, Shea and Flushing Meadows. Of course, the reason for going, the Unisphere from MIB, lol.
Subway - my first time on a subway loved it, great way to fire all over, and cheap as chips. Sorry, fries.
Ground Zero - well, was a lil creepy, still removing the debris. Never really done much for me, abit to commercial maybe for my taste.
Done the M&M store (Gavin paying homage to Bruce) lol. Of course, Gavin done it better, lol, that’s for you Bruce. And various other stores and locations completed our touring.
Might edit when I recall more, and will post Charlotte Blog ASAP, also going back to
action
watching me watching you Charlotte in April/May
Derek
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