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Published: November 20th 2010
Date Saturday 13th of November
City Manhattan, New York
Currency NZ$1.00 = US$0.76
Climate Low 9c – high 16c – fine and sunny
Sailing into New York at dawn was spectacular. We had a wonderful clear morning, and many passengers were up on the outside decks early to witness the Manhattan skyline wake up to the lovely sunrise. It was quite chilly up on deck with people rugged up in jackets, scarves, gloves, beanies and warming themselves with a hot coffee. Going under the impressive Verrazano Bridge was amazing. You may have seen images of it when TV has covered the New York Marathon with thousands of people running over it. Also, seeing the Statue of Liberty gleaming in the sun was a true photo moment. We had chosen a disembarkation luggage tag for around 10am as we weren’t really in any rush to join the maddening crowds leaving the Norwegian Gem. So once showered we sadly left our cabin – the small inside room that was our home for the last two weeks – and headed to breakfast. It was good to relax over our last “free” meal and we made the most of it – having a couple
of courses – very naughty! Our luggage tag green was called about 10am and we were in the last group of six people to disembark out of the 2300+ that journeyed (and survived) across the Atlantic with us. We were straight out with a very short queue to clear customs and we found a taxi (yellow cab) to take us to our apartment.
We had found the apartment on-line on the Sabbatical Homes website. It is in a fantastic location in the Garment District on W 34th Street. It is flanked by the Theatre District to the North and Chelsea to the South. If you know Manhattan you will know that this is the street that you will find Madison Square Garden arena, Macy’s and the Empire State Building. We can walk everywhere! Only a few short blocks from the ship terminal we arrived at our apartment and were very happy with what we found. In a lovely old building we found the studio apartment on the 11th floor (with a lift). It has all the necessary comforts - air conditioning, wi-fi internet, a kitchenette, TV and plenty of quaint NYC character to remind us where we are. Sandy the
owner, is an artist and she divides her time between here and her other home. Some of her art is on display in the apartment. With two weeks of emails to catch up on we spent the first few hours doing “business” before escaping the office in the early afternoon to go for a wander around the area. We checked out what was on at Madison Square Gardens, the famous home of the NY Knicks, Rangers and Liberty. It is also hosting the current winter Cirque de Soleil Wintuk and other family entertainment shows
We saw that there were only the ice hockey or basketball games on, that suited our timetable, and they were unbelievably expensive – well over US$100 per ticket. Our bodies were beginning to send out little SOS messages, as they were conditioned to being fed every 45 minutes on the ship, so we found a cool little bar called Lucy’s that had a Margareta happy hour and served tasty Mexican flavoured dishes. Yes, you are noticing a tendency for the Mexican cuisine and we don’t know why! Soon after, we stopped off at a convenience store Duane Reade to pick up our ‘essentials’ and wandered back to the apartment to chill out.
Date Sunday 14th of November
City Manhattan, New York
Currency NZ$1.00 = US$0.76
Climate Low 129c – high 19c – fine and sunny
Today we wanted to make the most of the great weather, so we purchased a Gray Line “hop-on, hop-off” 48 hour ticket. The service runs different loops – the Uptown, the Downtown, the Night and the Brooklyn loop. We could use all four loops on our selected All Loops ticket (US$54 each). Mid afternoon we started out on the Uptown Loop which took us past Central Park, Strawberry Fields, Harlem, and the numerous museums. It took two hours (with no getting off) and was very cold once we departed the double-decker bus at the bottom of Central Park. We walked back to the apartment via 5th Avenue passing by many famous stores. We walked into Times Square as we were keen to check out what Broadway shows are on this week and wanted to find out about same-day discounted seats. As usual Times Square was buzzing with activity and the bright billboards made it seem like daylight! We picked up some city guides and show information, then went
up to the lounge bar on the 8th Floor of the Marriott to imbibe in a wine and beer whilst overlooking the madness and chaos that is NYC. Walking back we partook in some retail therapy – mainly window shopping at souvenir shops and a minimarket for water. We also managed to finally find a warm top for Shaun to replace the one that mysteriously disappeared on the London- Scotland train back in September! After dropping our goodies off at the apartment we had dinner at “Chipotles”
it is a fast food chain that serves Mexican food. It has a cute by-line – Unburritable! The burrito meals we each chose were tasty and hefty – Jennie not able to finish hers- so took leftovers home to snack on later.
Date Monday 15th of November
City Manhattan, New York
Currency NZ$1.00 = US$0.76
Climate Low 9c – high 15c – partly cloudy
Today was Downtown Loop day. Our first part of the journey on this loop took us past Macy’s, Empire State Building, Flatiron Building and down to the World Trade Center (Ground Zero) site. We had brunch at a New York style deli where we had the breakfast special for $3.95. This was an interesting meal, consisting of a bread roll filled with an omelette, country style potatoes, onions and a burger patty – washed down with coffee (Ahhh, good ol’ light meal!). Quite tasty – but a oncer! Done with that Shaun couldn’t resist the draw of the massive electronics department store across the street J&R – it is New York’s largest home entertainment and computer megastore
We wandered around looking at netbooks, cameras, luggage, and software and then left empty handed. We believe the store B&H near the apartment offers better value and is just as big (or bigger), with over 198,000+ items in the store. It is so large that a computerised conveyor delivery system runs above your head all around the store and over the different levels, delivering your goods to the dozens of cashiers located on the ground floor. Our next stop – the gorgeous St Paul’s church – the haven for so many relief workers after that dreadful day on 9.11.2001. Given the proximity to the devastation just across the road, not a single window was broken or damaged in this church - truly a miracle. We paid our respects inside, with the interior of the church adorned with memorials, dedications and mementos to those that perished and for the relief workers. This church exudes an almost overwhelming presence of grief, camaraderie and optimism that truly needs to be experienced. Given that this event occurred 9 years ago now, there does not appear to be any sign of dwindling numbers paying their respects. We visited 3 years ago and have noticed a huge amount of construction work has been completed with structures now standing where before there was nothing. Just opposite the church on 20 Vesey St is the relatively new 9.11 memorial preview site
where you can view the completed vision.
Shaun was also attracted to New York’s largest outdoor store, spread over 6000 sq feet, called ‘Tent & Trails’ located at 21 Park Place It had all sorts of high-tech backpacking and climbing equipment as well as shoes, clothing tents and much more. Shaun was finally able to fulfil his obsession of buying a torch bright enough to burn out your retinas at 200 yards!
It was time to hit the road again so we jumped on the hop on-hop off to do a tour of Brooklyn.
We went over the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn and spent 2 hours cruisin' around before once more crossing back to Manhattan Island, jumping off in the East Village. We walked through Little Italy and Chinatown as twilight descended into what NYC considers darkness. Peking duck hanging from the windows and the aromas emanating from the Chinese restaurants were mouthwatering and swept us back to our recent travels in Beijing and Shanghai. Little Italy tugged at our heart strings with their displays of prosciutto and massive blocks of cheese adorning their windows. But we had to fight our urge as we were heading into Soho and Greenwich Village to quench our thirst for some jazz and blues. Before going to our venue, the “Blue Note” club, we grabbed a wonderful Thai meal in the restaurant next door - Beyond Thai. They served an amazing coconut crusted prawn dish with a plum sauce accompaniment and lethal cucumber and ginger mojitos (another fave cocktail to make back at home!) At our final destination, the famous Blue Note Jazz bar we heard the crooning of Tessa Souter
Who could put it better than the review from Jazz Times: “Souter’s crystalline contralto and impeccable phrasing are mighty arrows in her quiver, but it is her ability to become one with a song, finding its intrinsic core and allowing its sentiments to grow organically, that enables her to score successive bull’s eyes” Praise indeed.
The friendly Canucks we had met on the cruise joined us at Blue Note, so after the show we hit the streets of Greenwich to find the perfect bar to imbibe. We have to report that after a few ‘interesting discoveries’ and lots of joviality we called it an early morning and cabbed back to the apartment.
Date Tuesday 16th of November
City Manhattan, New York
Currency NZ$1.00 = US$0.76
Climate Low 9c – high 14c – cloudy and rainy
We had a bit of a late start – due to our early morning finish – but also we were fortunate to be able to communicate over Skype with Jose (Max’s Argentinean Dad) regarding our arrival into Buenos Aires and our bus trip up to Reconquista in a couple of weeks. He was great and helped us through the process of selecting the bus and getting the tickets organised. Not being able to speak Spanish –
we struggled with deciphering the instructions on the website and Jose came to the rescue booking and paying for the tickets on our behalf. We have secured some 180 degree reclining sleeping seats and they serve hot meals and drinks on board as well – apparently better than a plane journey! Also, Max was able to come online too and we chatted to him for a while - which was lovely as it is his birthday in a couple of days.
Once we finally made it out the door we decided to head back on the Downtown Loop into Greenwich Village to make the most of the final few hours of our 48 hour ticket. During our explorations we discovered a small Asian ‘hole in the wall’ restaurant called Xi’an Famous Foods,
with rave reviews and photos of culinary TV heavyweights Anthony Bordain and Andrew Zimmern amongst others frequenting the establishment and featuring it on their programmes. They made the most amazing wide noodle dishes with Jennie trying out their very popular savoury cumin lamb noodles and Shaun going for their “spicy and tingly” beef noodles concoction. We said they could add our photo to their wall if they wished, but sadly they had just run out of film for their digital camera. Oh well, maybe next time.
Feeling replenished and famous, we jumped on the Downtown loop bus passing by the Rockefeller Centre with its huge Christmas tree and ice skating rink, then finishing at Times Square. There we joined the short line to buy tickets from TKTS situated right in Times Square. They sell discounted tickets for all the Broadway shows on that day, offering 50%!o(MISSING)ff the best seats. We had looked at all of the options and decided on a Broadway show called “Rock of Ages”, in the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on 256 West 47th Street. It has been running since late March 2009 and seems to have quite a following.
The choice is huge with big named shows such as Chicago, The Lion King, Billy Elliott, Mamma Mia, Stomp, Mary Poppins, The Jersey Boys and Elf among the dozens to choose from.
We had enough time to grab a ‘happy hour Margareta’ and a quick bite to eat at “Famous Dave’s” Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que, 117 West 47th Street, before taking our seats 3 rows from front stage left! These were great seats and were discounted 50% to $US61.50 each. Advertised as ”Broadways Best Party!”, this was a frenetically paced retro love story musical full of laughs and rock ballads from the 80’s including Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benetar, Twisted Sister and heaps of others. In fact the lead singer from Twisted Sister, Dee Snider, was one of the leads! This means that they HAD to play “I Wanna Rock” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It”. It was so much fun! We emerged from the show to find that the heavens had opened up and the streets teeming with umbrellas of all shapes and sizes. Fortunately we had ours with us so we joined the hordes of umbrella wielding NY’kers trying to claim their tiny bit of the sidewalk as we made for home.
Date Wednesday 17th of November
City Manhattan, New York
Currency NZ$1.00 = US$0.76
Climate Low 12c – high 15c – fine, partly cloudy and windy
Today we started by taking a 19lb box of our winter clothes to the Post Office to ship home. Now almost finished with cooler weather on this trip we decided to pay to send things back, rather than have an additional
bag travelling with us for the next month. Quite costly at US$135, it was still a relief to bid it farewell. Next – some exercise - we walked 50 blocks up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
on 82nd Street. The walk was broken up by taking the last 23 blocks through Central Park. We have heard from the tour guides on the Gray Line Loop tours that this is the best week of autumn to see Central Park. The week before Thanksgiving is traditionally the week where all the colours of the trees are at their best and the leaves on the ground and blowing around you are just magical. We also spotted a number of cute squirrels, showing off and posing for us to take photos. We had to be quick though – they are very quick when they decide to run off. The weather was amazing today in the Park. Bright blue skies, mild temperature and the odd gust of wind that would toss the red, yellow and brown leaves around as we ambled through. The park is huge covering 843 acres. We only scratched the surface on the way to the Museum, passing by The Pond, the Wollman ice skating rink, Literary Walk, Loeb Boathouse and Cedar Hill. Once inside the museum the hardest decision was where to start. The museum has more than two million works of art spanning 5000 years over 13 acres of floor area. We started in the Egyptian section, pausing briefly to look at a few artefacts. Naturally we were underwhelmed having just spent a week seeing the real treasures in their homeland Egypt. We had a whirlwind couple of hours going through the much of the building. After our long walk to get there our legs were feeling quite tired so we decided to try out the metro to get back to mid-town. It proved an easy system to understand – buying the metro ticket for $2.25 each which is valid for 2 hours from the time of purchase. We only went a few stops along the line and disembarked on 33rd Street, close to home. Still not totally exhausted we felt some retail therapy was in order. We shopped for a couple of gifts and then spent up large in B & H. Shaun bought a new netbook and Jennie bought Max and Agostina some items from their
wish list email!
Once home we completed packing, booted up the new netbook and had some great Skype calls with Shaun’s Mum, sister and family. It was neat to see the nieces on video and catch up on news from the family.
An early start tomorrow – so lights out around midnight.
Date Thursday 18th of November
City Manhattan, New York
Currency NZ$1.00 = US$0.76
Climate Low 10c – high 16c – fine and sunny
Today we bade farewell to New York after a great few days of rediscovering this great city! We must come back as it would take years to see all that this city has to offer and we still have more on our NYC “to do” list.
Bound for Hawaii today. We woke early, cleaned the apartment and walked up to Penn Station just three blocks across town. We had discovered last night that there is a train that takes you to Jamaica Station where from there you can take the AirTrain directly into the terminals at JFK airport. This was the plan and it worked well. We took the 7.39am train the Jamaica and we were at JFK before 9am. Our journey
took us through Phoenix for a brief stop and then on to Honolulu for an arrival around 7pm. More next blog ……..
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