A Walk To The Park

The deal with the weekend was that we would work Saturday giving the guys in Washington a day off and then we could relax on Sunday. Having had breakfast Karine and I started the long walk up to Central Park. Greg had left earlier. A great walk block by block passing through different neighborhoods, and architectural styles. We stopped in Union Square for a coffee having bought a pair of mini salt and pepper grinders for $16 (£8). Heading onto 5th Avenue we stumbled on a Polish carnival - just celebrating Poles in New York. It finished up at the Catholic cathedral - with the Cardinal greeting all the participants. To get past we had to go through the Cathedral - while a service was taking place! James suggested I pop into Abercrombie & Fitch - though when we got to the store there was a queue to get in - sorry but queuing to get into a packed shop...... errr no - well if it wasn't clothes and something fun - possibly!!

55 blocks after starting out we arrived in Central Park. With a burger and hot dog in hand we ventured through the park passing jazz quartet, a boy obviously banished from his flat with his drum kit and families out for a picnic. The strangest thing that actually made the park seem smaller and more restrictive was the fencing - every section was fenced and you couldn't just wonder where you wanted - Hyde Park has it any day of the week.



9 miles later we stopped in West Village for a quick drink. Shattered we took a taxi to the hotel.

Back to work on Monday morning - we arrived at 6.45am. Don just about getting used to the fact that we were relaxed - those crazy Brits.

Such a flattering photo of Don. Alledgedly his son woke up at 2.00am and the rest is history.



Don finally let us take him for lunch - a difference in the English and US way in working with trucks - strangely ours being we're all part of the same team. Chipotle was Don's choice - Burritos. Not just any Burrito but stuffed with rice and stuffed with chicken and stuffed with black beans and stuffed with salsa. About the size of a very large haggis - each. It was good - stuffingly so. We all had trouble walking back to the truck and as soon as time allowed - siesta followed!!



Live Jazz Fish Restaurant. Oh yes please. But would it be possible when stuffed like a Burrito. Tuna Steak simply grilled followed by the lightest spongiest Carrot Cake with a Jazz Quartet mellowing us out the Blue Water Cafe in Union Square rocks!

Its a great city - a combination of the energy and pace of Hong Kong or Tokyo as well as the stature and diversity of London and the food to die for!!

Is it me or is this really becoming a gastronomic blog more than any thing else!!

Sunrise at CRRNJ

What with Wall street being closed on a Saturday we headed to Liberty State Park in the morning to have a view across the Hudson river to Manhattan. Stunning.



The 7.00am live - orange on the left red on the right,



And then the sun came up...



Being at the end of the park not near much breakfast was a minor affair - not much at all. Don had got some nuts, mini pretzels and nutri-grain bars to help but a muffin it wasn't. Karine wondered off at somestage and came back with some hot dogs - filling but still not a muffin.

The view was good though.



Tonka needs to model their sat truck on Don's pride and joy. What a cool toy that would be!!



The big dish.



CRRNJ stands for the Central Railroad of New Jersey. We were next to the old terminal (station) building which was now used for ferrys departing to Ellis Island and trips round the Statue of Liberty.



When the immigrants came over from Europe two thirds of them having been processed missed out Manhattan entirely and boarded trains here for the rest of the country. It must have been very inspiring seeing the growing city with its skyscrapers over the river.



Sadly the station had also been left to rot, in a state of huge disrepair but at least it hasn't been torn down and rebuilt.



Staged or not some of the original fittings and platform hand carts seem to have been abandoned where they were left.



Despite the glorious sunny day by the time we left at 5pm we were all starving and starting to feel grumpy. As soon as the car turned up to collect us we headed to McDonalds for some quick and easy food to eat on the way back to the hotel. Did it make a difference to blood sugar levels or what.

Our hotel was fully booked so we moved to the Gild Hall hotel about 2 blocks from Wall Street, and cheaper to boot. Not only cheaper but staff who smiled and made you feel really welcome - large rooms too. I could lay all my boxes in a long line - space!!

Dinner was supplied by Les Halles - Anthony Bourdain's rotisserie again only a couple of blocks form the hotel. Jam packed it was another great meal - a platefull of fresh Maine mussels in a tomato and chorizo sauce followed by flambed bananas in honey. All these meals with good company - this trip was a gudun!

Downtown Manhattan

Early morning lives again, we arrived at the truck a bit later - 6.30am with Don wondering if we were turning up at all. Straight after the first live was breakfast time which generally consisted of coffee from Starbucks, and a bagel from the Variety Cafe on Broadway. Not being a fan of bagels myself - I had egg and bacon muffins. No brown sauce though. Absolutely no taste these Americans!



Just after lunch we had a couple of hours spare so all went for a walk to clear our heads and revive our jet lagged bodies. First stop was overlooking Ground Zero.



Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.



Walking on to City Hall where there was a lunchtime game of chess going on in the park around the buildings.



People just enjoying the fresh air. Such a shame as London was cold and wet.



I feel sorry for the local pigeon and squirrel football teams - they're just not allowed to have any fun at all. City Hall bureaucrats.



Then on to the Brooklyn Bridge. Having seen it on so many movies I was really expecting to see helicopters, car chases, explosions - but nothing just a sign saying "No Salt beyond this point". Given the average diet - a bit late really.



All wrapped up for the day we headed to B&H (heaven for anything electrical / video & audio stuff) where I had to get a replacement bulb for my camera light. Loads of stuff that you could spend an absolute fortune on. I was good though - didn't go mad at all.

The early mornings and time difference starting to kick in we had dinner at the Italian restaurant on the corner of the hotel. In a word the attitude was highly 'pretentious'. And the food only average. The bread was stale and only came with olive oil no balsamic vinegar, the wine was described at dry, really bone dry - like the ocean... so dry in fact it came out of the bottle and looked like a glass of wine. The cheese selection - I say cheese lightly as it was 'all American cheese' and no blue cheese - the maitre'd (who described the wine) didn't know what Dolcelatte cheese was... when I asked for some..... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! How can you run an Italian restaurant without having any blue moldly soft smelly cheese on the menu?

Friday - was more of the same - for lunch instead of being a chicken wrap Karine and I headed down the street to a Sushi shop spotted when taking a cab back to the hotel. Most cabs are horrible, and famously in New york the drivers are mostly immigrants the whole time we only had one Amercian driver. One time an Indian driver had a huge map of the US unrolled on his lap as he drove us to where ever. Back to lunch, great sushi & noodle soup with added wasabi and chilli. Fantastic for warming the cockles.

We got back to the hotel and saw that there was 'free' wine from 6pm on the 10th floor and headed more or less straight up. It would be rude not to. Better still the 10th floor had a balcony area over looking mid-town where we were staying.

One striking difference between New York and London is the greenery - London is so much greener. New York more striking initially as its built on the block system so you can see for ever down the Avenues (north/south roads) and the sky scrapers in the distance. Streets run east/west. If you live in NYC you have to have a penthouse / top floor flat with a roof garden or green balcony - makes all the difference to have that bit of nature around you.



One glass of wine later - that it. Just one glass of wine... not because you were only allowed one - the waiter only put out 2 bottles of wine. Once gone that was it - he collected the glasses and went.... rude not to really!!

The Empire State Building - minus King Kong.



Dinner was pizza. Bloody good too. Not sure how many native cuisines this city has but seem to be flying through them.... just need need some fish, salt beef sandwiches, pretsels.....

How Ya Doing?

The two times I've been to New York they really didn't do the city justice to get a real feel for it. The first time was back in 199.0 I came through Penn St Station on the way to JFK on the way home from visiting Bust in Florida when he was learning to be a pilot. It was in the autumn and as I ventured out of the station steam was coming from the man hole covers - just like in the movies!! Next was in 2000/2001 with Madge.web - a short while before the Twin Towers came down - all I remember was staying in a hotel overlooking Times square and walking from Wall Street up to Central Park - a long way.



This time though, the Dow was crashing and the banks went into meltdown. Greg, who I was with last week in Finland was on his way out from Brussels and I met up with Karine at the office. The flight was uneventful though with what seems to be trends one of my bags was missing - the lights. It would arrive the next morning and I'd be able to live without them for a day.

Dinner was a handover from the team currently in place which we had in an Indian restaurant that didn't serve beer - or any alcohol. Despite that flaw in the plan not bad at all - very reminiscent of Punjabi by Nature in Delhi.

Wednesday morning was early start - up at 5.00am and leaving the hotel at 5.45am to go down to Wall Street to do lives starting from 7.00 (Noon UK time).

Getting out of the taxi we found the sat truck we'd be using with Don in tow the engineer / owner. One thing - it was big - well compared to ours back in the UK.



Very comfortable though and with anything and everything you may want - satelitte TV and Internet and even a microwave. Didn't find the kitchen sink. Must have been in one of the drawers somewhere. I don't know what Don and Karine are talking about but the guys on the TV seem to be quiet interested...



I did say the truck was big - big enough for Greg to swing an earpiece.



Sheltered in a disused doorway as it was forecast to rain, we huddled to one side of Wall Street facing the original entrance to the Stock Exchange.



Greg.... just about to go live.



We ended up being very lucky with the rain - just after we finished the last live at 5pm it tipped down - not for long. That didn't stop a little old Chinese lady popping up nearly instantaneously with her umbrella stall. How she got there so quick nobody knows. As the skys cleared she didn't hang around either.

Don had recommended a steak house for dinner - The Old Homestead. Apparently the oldest steak house in NYC. We headed back to the hotel - with minute rooms. Having 8 pieces of luggage doesn't help but to move around or get into the wardrobe I had to move one or two items out of the way every time.

A short taxi ride form the hotel to 9th Ave the steakhouse was a sight for sore eyes. The menu too - though choosing was a little difficult. Finally settled on a 16oz Fillet Mignon on the bone - medium rare with pepper sauce. Gloriously it just melted. Pudding followed was original New York Cheese cake - a big slice that Karine and I shared - Greg has is own. Stunning again. We waddled out, hailed a taxi and were in bed by 10.00pm.

Epcot

And a giant golf ball.

3D glasses. So fetching.

This is much better. Aaron the …

And Fun.

And ridiculous?

A quick visit to China.

Rain rain glorious rain with thunder and lightning, just what we need in Delhi - though weeks and weeks of it.

Hey - we found Nemo, he’s here.

Best show was with Crush the turtle from Finding Nemo. An interactive animation who asked questions of the audience. Very cool.

Jessica being fearless again. What will we do with her?

Seaworld

Fantastic - just like before. Its been nicely warm too at about 30-35C.

A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle chillin out.

Shamu’s pool show - quite amazing.

Jumping.

‘Thats cool.’

Flips.

A tail.

‘Will we get wet here?’

Errr - splash.

Taking a well earned bow.

In The Pool

A hard day at the park deserved some time at the pool.

Shame we don’t have a slide at home.

Jess is there just always under water! She did get tired and wasn’t happy being put to bed.

‘I’m not happy - don’t take my photo!’