Monday 13th
I think we planned our escape quite well. We flew out of London in the early afternoon which got us in to JFK at 5.00pm local time. We jumped in a yellow cab and headed straight for Manhattan. Forty minutes later we are there. First impressions were that it was blinking cold. We met up with Tom’s friend Hannah and went back to her humble abode in New Jersey, just across the Hudson River. We didn’t do much else as we were pretty tired.
Tuesday 14th
We got the PATH from New Jersey to the site of the old World Trade Center or “Ground Zero” as it has become known. It’s a strange place. Redevelopment work is already underway on the site but it’s strangely quiet.
After Tom bought a digital camera he went on an epic walk along Broadway. This was a good excuse to take in a few shops and get a feel for the place. We had a busy day for shopping as Tom was after all sorts of things. He was desperate for some Red Wing boots (poor man’s Timberlands) and some Pro-Keds trainers (poor man’s Converse All-Stars). It was amazingly challenging to get either of these.
We spent the afternoon in Greenwich Village, Soho, Little Italy and Chinatown. We walked and walked and tried all the shops we could. As time went on we decided to head up to Bloomingdales to see what all the fuss was about.
I wasn’t all that impressed but then again I’m not Jennifer Anniston.
In the evening we headed down to a few bars on Bleecker Street before catching the PATH back to New Jersey in the small hours. Did I mention it was cold? We probably get only a few days a year as cold as this in London all year thankfully.
Wednesday 15th
In the morning we went to Time Square and we finally located a shop that had Red Wing boots –Dave’s Army & Navy Store. This has to be one of the best shops we went to on the whole trip. It’s great for American brands like Carhartt, Levi’s, Wrangler, Schott etc. It’s also incredible value for money as you would expect to pay double for similar stuff in London. We also realised a childhood dream by enjoying a stroll down Sesame Street. It was worth the air fair on its own.
After all that we went to the Empire State Building. Did I mention the weather was cold? Well the wind really blows in between the buildings which made taking pictures or looking at the map a real task. At the top of the tower it felt like dipping your hands in acid every time you took your gloves off to take a picture!
We than met up with Hannah who took us to the world famous Katz’s Deli on the Lower East Side. This deli is famous for that scene in When Harry met Sally where Meg Ryan gets a little over excited. A three meat platter at Katz’s which the menu says is suitable for two tourists, would easily feed six in my opinion. After this we went for a few drinks in some trendy bars on the Lower East Side before going back to New Jersey.
Thursday 16th
In the morning we went to Central Park which is huge. We also visited the American Museum of Natural History. After this we grabbed our bags and headed to Jen and Ted’s place where we stayed during the rest of our trip. Incredibly, Ted went to High School with my cousin Jim! I couldn’t believe it!
In the evening we met up with Jen for a few drinks in a local bar without staying out all that late.
Friday 17th
We split up today to do different things. I was leaving town for the day which meant Tom had to find his own way around town. The poor lad has very little sense of direction so I hope he didn’t get too lost. I headed down to Grand Central Station to catch a train upstate to visit my relatives in Mount Kisco. The train took me through Harlem which didn’t look nearly as bad as some parts of North London I have lived in. I did only see a couple of blocks as I went by on the train which is not really a fair test.
I spent a fun day with my auntie and my two cousins Jim and Patrick. Patrick showed me some of the local sights including Bill Clinton’s house and the world headquarters of Readers Digest. Unfortunately, I got a bit lazy with my camera and didn’t take my pictures while upstate. Jim and Patrick then took me to a few of the local bars in Mount Kisco in the evening.
Saturday 18th
I said goodbye to my relatives and headed back to Manhattan. I met up with Tom and we went down to take the Staten Island Ferry. When we arrived at the terminal we were pleasantly surprised to find that the ferry is free! What a country!
In the evening we went on a bit of a drinking session starting off in a few bars around Union Square before heading to the Meatpacking District on the West Side. That may sound dodgy but there are actually a lot of cool bars and clubs in the area. I met an American Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen who claimed to have never heard of the mighty LLB. He had his style right down to the big silky cuffs. I directed him to the web site address of his soon-to-be hero.
Sunday 19th
We got up fairly late nursing headaches. We had a splendid breakfast in a proper New York diner before heading down to Madison Square Garden to watch the mighty New York Knicks take on the Utah Jazz. The Knicks won by one pint. After this we went to check out the Christmas lights at the Rockefeller Center. We headed back to Ted and Jen’s place and ordered Pizza as we were both feeling cream crackered.
Monday 20th
The last day in town so we went to the newly opened Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). It’s a very impressive building with a equally impressive collection. It’s well worth a visit if you do go to New York although the entrance fee is $20 which is considered a lot for NYC.
As we had snow on Sunday we left quite early to go to JFK because we didn’t want to miss the flight. I’m paranoid about missing flights since the Carcassone disaster of 2003 – but that’s another story.
Big thanks to: Hannah (pictured), Jen and Ted as well as my aunt Theresa and cousins Jim and Patrick in Mt. Kisco.