'FOUR MORE YEARS'

Today was a memorable day. We were up early and out the door for a local breakfast. After a stroll along the High Line Park in Chelsea, we grabbed a cab to the Guggenheim Museum in the Upper East side.  After a light lunch in the Gallery’s restaurant, we embarked on a master-class in Picasso as we spiralled our way through the Black and White phase(s) of his career. After a restful afternoon, we made our way to HUDSON CLEARWATER in the West Village for our 7.30pm diner reservation. The restaurant is ‘so hot right now’, it took effort to secure a reservation. Once there, we feasted on,

Butter Clam Gnocchi, Peekytoe Crab Cakes, Crispy Duck Breast on Forbidden Rice with Red Curry Nage, Pan Seared Arctic Char, Spice-Rubbed Pork Chop, Grilled Hanger Steak, Chocolate-Banana brioche bread pudding, Honeycrisp apple tarte tatin, and all washed down with a Jean Paul & Droin Chablis and a Domaine Sanvers & Cotton Gamay.           http://www.hudsonclearwater.com/

When we got home, we started watching the election on TV. Most of the coverage on ABC was coming live from Times Square so Ollie and I decided to walk up to take in the spectacle. And what a spectacle it was. A huge pro-Obama crowd cheered wildly every time an update was displayed on one of the huge screens. As he inched closer to victory, the crowd began chanting ‘FOUR-MORE-YEARS’. When the election result was finally announced, the crowd went wild and we went home, tired, excited and very content.  

TWINKIES

The thing I love about travelling is the variety. I like walking around a corner and not knowing what to expect. On this trip, there has already been so many new and unexpected experiences. But one has caught me particularly unaware. For some reason, Ollie and Stella have embarked on a quest to find the elusive Twinkie. On any given day, at any given moment, they will rush into a supermarket, convenience store or news stand and ask whether the tasty treats are stocked. Each time, they are met with a knowing, condescending smirk, as though the smirker is thinking, ‘these sad tourists actually think Twinkies are real’. The thing is, I’m beginning to think they do not exist, that they have been made up. While I have heard them mentioned in movies and on TV, I have never personally seen one, touched one or tasted one. So it has become a quest for the Holy Grail, one I’m sure will continue for the rest of this trip, and maybe a lifetime.

 

 

PIZZA PIE

Is it ever possible to each too much pizza? Each day we seem to find more and better pizza. In fact, we often go in search of it, that can’t be healthy. Following a late start to the day as our body clocks struggled to change hemispheres, we headed out in brisk sunshine to explore Midtown. We took in all the major sights, from both above and below. After sunset, we went to Café Reggio in Greenwich Village, made famous for introducing cappuccino to the USA when it opened in 1927. The original Espresso machine now sits against the back wall keeping an eye on its domain. We then walked around the corner to John’s Pizzeria in Bleecker St, which opened two years later. As we sat in the old restaurant eating excellent pizza pie, I thought of all the people who would have walked from one to the other over the years. Apparently Hemingway and Jackson Pollock were regulars and JFK once visited, maybe even Frida & Diego. A rich history, and never too much pizza.

 

 

 

Mamma-Dogg

It’s hard to decide what the highlight of today was. Firstly, we walked south down through Chelsea, Greenwich Village, Soho and then lunch in Chinatown. We then continued down through the Financial District towards Battery Park to enjoy the view out to the Statue of Liberty. On the way, we had hot dogs in Washington Square Park, street tacos in the West Village, and coffee in Little Italy. As amazing as that all was, it cannot really compete with today’s real highlight. In the early evening, we walked up 6^th Ave towards Times Square to get a taste of tourist central. Just past 42^ndSt, outside the Hard Rock Café, we saw a throng of animated people crowding around one man taking photos. As we neared, we saw Snoop Dogg graciously posing with whomever could get near enough. Out of the blue, and completely out of character, Karin forced her way through the crowd and latched on to the Star. The looks on both of their faces best sum up the moment. When Karin was finally dragged away, we made our way home for a nightcap. Stella’s still coming to terms with her mother’s reaction to stardom and has started calling her Mamma-Dogg. A match made in heaven?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arriving in NYC

Without any major delays, we arrived in NYC at 9pm last night (Friday). On the taxi ride to our apartment at 118, West 27^th St, it was clear there were large areas of the East-side still without power. On our arrival, we were met by the owners who have lived in the city their whole lives. We were told the apartment was their own residence and they will spend the next 10 days uptown in a small apartment owned by friends. The owners are an artist in his 70’s and his wife who have obviously been greeting travellers for many years. The apartment is full of art and books and takes up the entire 12^th floor. It fronts onto 27^th street with 6 large windows framing the Empire State Building. The back looks out over 26^th street with another 6 windows. We have an elevator opening directly into our apartment and can only barely hear the sirens from below (see link -  http://www.nyhabitat.com/new-york-apartment/furnished/8169)

We finished the day with a pizza the size of a table and a special bottle of vino brought from Aus. It is now 9am on Saturday morning and the sun is shining. It is 6 degrees outside so we will need to rug up on our first adventure. The only dilemma this morning is what to do first? We can’t decide on whether to head uptown towards Central Park and the Galleries or stroll down to Greenwich Village through Chelsea and the Meatpacking District. Not a bad dilemma to have.

 

Hurricane Sandy

We are now a day and half away from flying to NYC and have no idea whether we can or not.

Over the last 24 hours, Hurricane Sandy has rolled through NYC and its surrounds and closed airports, subways, power stations and most other things we need in order to step foot on that crowded little island.

Our apartment in NYC is located at 118 West 27th St, in Chelsea. The owners have kept us up to date on developments and are only mildly confident the infrastructure will be able to meet our arrival.

Somewhat ominously, the last two emails from the owners have been:

Dear Daniel, Well we survived the storm!  At the moment we have electricity.  We are very grateful for that.  Let's hope it continues.  As it stands right now, I think your plans for your arrival to NYC are fine with us.  I assuming that as long as the electric power company (Con Edison) doesn't do anything to our power sources, everything will be okay.

And, when asked how the subways were looking:

Terrible!!  I was born in NYC (Manhattan) and lived here all my life. We've never seen anything like this before.  I don't think this will be cleaned up too quickly.  At this moment I just heard on local TV news that there is 7 ft of water, still in the Holland Tunnel!!  That's one of our major tunnels, downtown westside to New Jersey.  That's hard to believe. I'm sure there will be full bus service by the time your here. But I doubt the subways will be working, they will get the subways in Manhattan fixed first.  I will keep you up to date.

I have spent the day talking to our travel insurance company, the travel agent, and scouring the internet news trying to work out whether it is even worth driving to the airport in 36 hours time.  At the time or posting, I would give us a 50/50 chance of tasting the big apple on cue. As it stands, the next 24 hours will dictate whether we leave Australia at all or try to recover our costs back from the insurer. Accordingly, this may be our last post or the first of a very interesting adventure.

6 Weeks to go!