Back to New York

We ended up back in the city for a couple of days (working and, well not 100% sure what Kristen was doing), but still managed to get out and take in the rest of the city.

Cool entrance to the subway station at the
Brooklyn Bridge

My attempt at fancy picture taking.  Pretty excited
about the result.  Click to enlarge

Manhattan Bridge from the Brooklyn Bridge

These parking lots were all over the place.  I kept
wondering what happens if the guy with the top
car wants to leave.

I compared Picadilly Circus to Times Square a while ago, and just want to apoligise to all New Yorkers for it.  Times square is much bigger and better, impressive to say the least.

Not to be outdone by the M&Ms store Hershey's
got in on the action.

These looked really tempting, but seemed like a sure
thing for a tummy ache.

We visited the 9/11 memorial too.  I don't really know what I was expecting it to be but wasn't expecting what we got.  I guess its not complete yet and really surrounded by a construction site, so any other thoughts or feelings about the memorial are a bit premature at this point.  Gotta think that everyone that visits will have very strong emotions about it.

This is a quick pan through the memorial, hopefully it will play in the US, have had some problems sharing movies before.

Columns from the base of one of
the towers.  Centrepiece of the
unopened museum.  

Paul Jr. memorial chopper

Coming to New York I expected it to feel a lot like London, but was really surprised just how much it wasn't.  Yeah lots of people, and a subway but  a lot of little things that seemed to add up to a big difference.

View from Battery Park over the Hudson

I am sure this is going to upset someone, but gonna say it anyway.  On the way to Newark to come home I leaned over to Kristen and said 'Do you smell that?  It smells like poo.'  Kristen without hesitation said 'Thats New Jersey'.  I am not trying to be mean but seriously it was funky!

Remember that sunburned forehead?  Yeah, I started to peal and flake off, gotta think everyone was looking at me like some kind of leper or something.

Long Island

We headed out to Long Island to visit Kristen's Grandpa and Aunt  Kristen had set some ground rules before we had arrived.  I was to eat anything and everything that was set in front of me.  Don't think she planned on me taking it sooo literally.  In two days I managed to tick off alot of the New York favorites...homemade Italian, slices of pizza as big as my head, (Grandpa says 'Pizza is a snack' but my three slices were probably a bit overzealous for a snack), bagels, and a whole host of other things.  I ate just about all of the candy that had been sitting out in the living room.  I always wonder in a situation like that just how long it might have been sitting out, but that didn't slow me down in the least.  Ended up getting the seal of approval as a 'good eater', so I would say mission accomplished.

Really liked it out on the island, everything was nice and peaceful.  Perfect for a afternoon nap with the window open listening to the birds.

Before leaving the island we stopped at the beach(es) and enjoyed a visit from my long lost friend.....the sun (And he left me with a special going away present).  Look like a lobster now and cant touch my forehead.  Just goes to show how little direct sunlight we get in London.

I made a friend with Sam Adams

New York

I needed to go to New York for business, and since we were hurricaned out of our trip last summer Kristen decided to tag along and make a bit of a vacation out of it.  I guess for her it was a full on vacation but just a bit of one for me.

Sooo much to talk about, not sure where to begin.

I guess the beginning makes sense, so will start with the flight from London.  The flight has completely ruined me for air travel in the future.  Much the same as what happened with the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills.  You see, I had gotten sweet hospitality tickets from a friend, and we had our choice of not one but two hospitality chalets to wine and dine in all day while watching the tournament.  Imagine if you will two catered meals, 'snacks' (if I were telling the story face to face the quotation marks would have been air quotes, to indicate that they were only snacks in name but in reality closer to another two meals.) and an open bar.  Our day consisted of filling our stomachs in one chalet then only going outside for long enough to finish a drink and get hot, before going back to fill 'er up again in the other chalet.  After that standing for hours on end or even sitting in the sun and having to shell out $8 for a bottle of water became completely intolerable.  I would rather watch on TV now vs. 'normal' spectating.

Flash forward to the flight again....Never before have I had the pleasure of flying business or first class.  Not sure if it would be even remotely with it flying domestically, but can tell you for sure that the upgrade to and from London was magical.  I spent the first two hours of the flight working my way through the four course lunch, and then stretched out for a nap.  Only to be welcomed by fresh cookies and a cheeseburger soon there after.  My flight attendant Vlad, was getting a workout refilling my drinks and I was doing my best to get my money's worth out of them somehow.  Just like not being able to watch sports for the 'normal' seats, there is no way I could go back to WizzAir again.

 It will probably cut down on my future travel plans, but I don't think I can go back.

Kristen was lucky enough to have the airline support her vegan diet, only to discover that the only thing worse than airline food, is vegan airline food.

We went from the airport in Newark to Manhatten to drop off some luggage, and took in some of the sights before heading out to Long Island to stay with Kristen's grandpa and aunt.

We managed to hit about all the midtown hotspots in about 3 hours before going to Long Island.  We have gotten really good at speed sightseeing.

The Plaza Hotel

In front of one of the buildings near
Rockefeller center

Rockefeller Center

Trump Tower on the left

Nor really sightseeing, but can't figure
out why these steaming pipes are all
over the place.

I am sure this has a name, but don't
know what it is

Our hotel was on Park Ave.

Chrysler Building

Grand Central Station

This was St. Patrick's Church.  Just
happened to be having a wedding at
the same time.  

I tried getting artsy with the camera too.

Furry Friday

Big news for Corgi lovers everywhere...Corgi popularity boosted by Queen's Diamond Jubilee

Still Weird

The weirdness didn't stop with last week.  Turned out that last month was the rainiest April on record.  Got to be tough to show your face around the office after rationing water in the wettest month ever.

Wettest April Ever

Got to say for all the nice warm weather we had last spring, we are paying for it now.  They say that this is more like typical English weather.  I am not a fan! 46 and rainy today.

So in 18 months we have experienced:

• The coldest December ever
• The warmest October ever
• The wettest April ever

Not sure if its global warming or what, but looking forward to some shorts and t-shirt weather.

Complete mindblower

After a dramatic failure on my part to cook eggplant parmesan, and then an equally dramatic failure at a London 'Italian' restaurant Kristen took pity on me and brought out the apron and proved homemade Italian is really the best.

It really wasn't a surprise that my attempt failed, seriously what was I even doing pretending that it was going to be anything but bad.  But when I ordered it at a restaurant here it wasn't even breaded.  I almost told the waiter that he had brought me the wrong meal, but since his accent said Australian or Kiwi, I figured he wouldn't know the difference anyway.

So Kristen's version was just awesome.

 I could have eaten it every meal for a week, but despite my hopes and dreams it didn't last that long.  The whole reason I brought it up, was that while shopping for it Kristen tells me that the main cheese isn't parmesan at all but mozzarella.  I didn't believe her until 1) she showed me the recipe on-line, and 2) she put it in front of me for dinner.  Really explains why mine was soo bad!!

Either way, it was great!!