United States
City Hall Park

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    • Day 94

      USA - New York 1

      December 11, 2022 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 4 °C

      Da wir uns für 8 Uhr verabredet hatten und er meinte vorher dann noch Frühstücken war ich um halb 8 in der Lobby. Ich wollte danach fix packen weil eben noch alle schliefen.

      Kein Chris kein nichts. Also lief ich zum Shop um die Ecke um zu gucken ob die Kinderschokolade haben. Leider war genau Sonntags erst ab 9Uhr offen. Chris schrieb nur neeeein ich meinte 8Uhr treffen und dann mitm Auto was holen. Immer diese Kommunikationsprobleme.

      Super hätte ich 30min länger schlafen können. Ich also fix aufs Zimmer und alles zusammengepackt. Minori war auch grad wach und fing an zu packen. Sarah wachte mit den Kater des Lebens auf weil sie bis 4Uhr in der Bar war 🤣 bin froh das ich nicht mehr mit gegangen bin.

      Da Minori 2 Freunde nicht mehr gesehen hatte schenkte sie Sarah und mir eine Schachtel Pralinen aus Frankreich mit Merry Christmas dazu. Soooo süß 😍😍❤❤

      Dann wurde alles ins Auto gepackt ubd wir gingen wir doch fix um die Ecke frühstücken. Hatte quasi rausgesucht. Ich bestellte endlich wieder ein Avocado Toast woraufhin Chris den Kopf schüttelte. Er ist ein Gegner der Avocado weil sie einfach keinen eigenen Geschmack hat 🤣. "Everything that makes it taste good it the slice you add". Jaàjaaaa....

      Die Fahrt war eigentlich richtig schön und landschaftlich bisher am Besten.
      Bis es auf einmal anfing zu schneien und ich wie ein kleines Kind quiekte.
      Das macht ich dann nicht mehr als ich hörte das Monsieur keine Winterreifen hatte 🙈

      Beim Tankstop hüpfte ich im Schnee auf und ab so freute ich mich. Aber zwischendurch war es echt nicht so angenehm zu fahren. Rutschig und dicke Flocken und keine Sicht. Wurde auch immer mehr....

      Naja als wir in New York ankamen war es nur noch fester Regen. Das Hauptproblem mit New York war übrigens der Parkplatz, denn wir hatten ja keine Unterkunft gebucht sondern schliefen bei unserem Freund Yadavan den wir in Malaysia Penang kennengelernt hatten.

      Also verbrachte ich 3 Std im Auto damit zu Parkplätze zu suchen die bezahlbar und nicht zu weit weg waren.
      Die Grenzkontrolle war übrigens. Hi warst du schonmal in Amerika? Jo. Gut dann gute Fahrt 🤷‍♀️🙈. Kann so einfach sein.

      Also generell war es super schwierig einen Parkplatz unter 200 $ zu bekommen. Die Preise sind wirklich echt crazy. Ich habe verschiedene Seiten durchgecheckt und wir wollten noch nicht so weit weg parken, da wir werden wir fahren sehr früh morgens fahren. Den Parkplatz den ich raussuchte steuerten wir direkt an und der war nur fünf Blocks vom Apartment entfernt. Die Bewertung war nur mittelmäßig und du siehst dass die Leute sehr unfreundlich sind. Irgendwie gab es nirgendwo eine gute Bewertung. Unfreundlich kann ich bestätigen denn er meinte direkt nur wir nehmen nicht über Nacht. Sehr komisch denn man konnte es online buchen. Vielleicht wollte er uns einfach nicht. Wählerisch sein können sie anscheinend bei den Preisen.

      Ich fand noch etwas was super günstig war für 20 $ die Nacht aber das war Chris irgendwie nicht geheuer so dass wir dann einfach das nächste ansteuerten und dort ohne genau zu wissen wie teuer es ist unser Auto Abgaben. Er musste auch seinen Schlüssel abgeben was mir auch nicht zu uns geheuer war. Denn es waren immer noch Sachen von mir im Auto.

      Naja auf jeden Fall war der Mann etwas netter trotz der schlechten Bewertung und wir hofften einfach dass alles gut geht.

      Also ging es los fünf Blocks weiter bis zum Apartment durch den Regen. Er hat jedenfalls toll wieder den Rucksack tragen zu können (Achtung Ironie😅).

      Angekommen haben wir beim Portier gesagt dass wir Freunde sind und durften durchgehen. Das Gebäude sah auf jeden Fall von innen und von außen schon sehr cool aus. In der 33. Etage angekommen empfing uns Yadavan in seinem Apartment. Alter Schwede. Kleine war fein. Die Aussicht war einfach nur einmalig. Hier würde ich auch wohnen wollen und fragte direkt ob dort noch ein paar Apartments frei sind. Als ich dann den Preis hörte zwischen 3500 und 6500 pro Monat dachte ich mir nur jop ich überlege dann noch mal 🙈😅.

      Er gab aber seine Entscheidung frei ob wir essen bestellen wollen oder um die Ecke etwas essen wollen. Ich meinte dann komm lass uns einfach rausgehen und etwas essen. Wir entschieden uns für Thai food. Bzw ich entschied da keiner so richtig entscheidungsfreudig war und die Auswahl von ihm einfach viel zu groß war. Chris meinte einfach nur Britta entscheidet she is the picky one. Excuse me? Ich esse alles 🙄.

      Nein ich habe komische Essensgewohnheiten weil ich morgen süß brauche oder nach dem Essen etwas Süßes esse und so viele restrictions habe für mein Essen. Dabei esse ich alles und wir haben uns immer alles geteilt so viel dazu. Männer🙄
      Sagt der jenige der Chicken on Waffle ist. 🤦‍♀️

      Das Essen war super lecker und teilweise sogar besser als in Thailand. Wir haben etwas bestellt was wir so in Thailand noch nicht gehabt hatten. Echt richtig gut.

      Danach ging es dann zur Break Bar. Da gabs einen Drink, ein Basketball Spiel bei dem ich echt ablooste und dann mussten wir alle eine Erklärung abgeben und unterschreiben und durften im Raum unser Glas gegen gegen Wand schmeißen. Mega cool. Hatte eh mal Bock drauf so ein Auto auseinander zu nehmen oder so.

      Danach sind wir dann zurück ins Apartment und haben uns durch die Bar probiert. Ich habe endlich mal den Macallan Whiskey probiert seit ich Suits geguckt habe. Sonst den Monkey Gin auch super lecker.

      Danach gingen wir ins Bett. Ich bekam ne Luftmatratze und Chris krallte sich die Couch neben mir. Na klar 😅
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    • Day 1

      New York City

      April 19, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      Honestly it was nice being in New York for the first time but - overrated. So so so overrated. The city smells, the pics are just for Instagram, it's creepy and nothing works properly. BUT we had the best host ever and that leveled everything up. The total costs for the apartment where we stayed plus the flight were just 300$ per person. If you're interested in where we stayed and why it's the best way to experience New York (or really any place ever), drop a comment!Read more

    • Day 11

      Homage to the Masters!

      December 23, 2011 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

      Friday was all about the Masters.

      Tracey and I rose early and went to the local supermarket. Usual lot of groceries but, more importantly, we'd run out of Coronas (that's a type of beer Mum) and had to stock up while they are still on special!

      We then rounded up the young-uns and headed up town to West 86 Street, this street runs east west and is about half way up Central Park. This was as far north as we have been and you don't really want to go much past the top of Central Park which is 110th Street.

      We headed through Central Park, past the Jackie Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, to the Guggenheim Museum. This cork-screw like building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in the '50s, it is pretty impressive though not particularly big. They have an interesting collection of art both old and modern and there were heaps of people milling around. The central section has a large sculpture hanging from the roof just called 'All' by a dude called Maurizio Cattelan, lots of bits hanging from the roof including the biggest fooz-ball table I have ever seen.

      After inflicting culture on the teenagers we went outside and partook in that great New York culinary tradition - Street Meat.

      All over town there are little carts on the footpath selling hot dogs, kebabs, pretzels, nuts, and lots more. They usually smell fantastic and some of them will have a queue of people waiting to be served. We tried a hot dog from the cart out the front of the Guggenheim - verdict, it was OK. Probably should have tried one of his other offerings.

      We caught the subway back into town and split up, the boys hung around town for a bit and then headed back to the apartment. Trace and I went to the MOMA - Museum of Modern Art - which is in the middle of the shopping district in town. There are some great paintings here - Monet, van Gogh, Cezanne, Picasso just to name a few. Once again there were lots of visitors to the Museum and their gift shop was quite interesting.

      By this time it was quite dark so we headed back to the apartment for a quiet evening in.

      A few points I have noticed/learned so far:

      - There are heaps of tourists especially from Europe
      - The gutters are steel so the snow plows don't destroy them
      - Man-hole covers really do have steam coming out around them (don't know why)
      - Everyone travels by subway and they have grates in the footpath that blow air like the scene from the Marilyn Monroe movie
      - Driving would be nightmare as pedestrians think they have the right of way and the traffic is so bad anyway
      - The spike at the top of the Empire State Building was designed for airships to moor to it but only 1 ever did as it was considered too dangerous
      - New Yorkers are very friendly and happy to help a tourist
      - It is a very safe city
      - The architecture is stunning, every day we see something that makes us stop and say 'look at that'
      - Americans love (and I mean LOVE) peanut butter. Today Trace and I found those Lindt chocolate balls filled with peanut butter, you can also get M & Ms, cupcakes, and bags of chocolates all filled with peanut butter
      - Light switches turn on/off the wrong way - down is off, up is on
      - Power points don't have an on/off switch, just the plug holes
      - I have taken over 600 photos

      Tomorrow it is mid-town madness!
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    • Day 92

      Wochenende in New York

      January 16, 2020 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

      Dieses Wochenende habe ich mit Sarah in New York verbracht, denn wir wollten ihren Geburtstag dort feiern.

      Also ging es heute um 5 Uhr früh an den Flughafen und mal wieder habe ich die Nacht durchgemacht.

      Gegen 10 Uhr kamen wir dann in New York an und haben uns gleich auf den Weg zum Central Park gemacht, sind dort dann etwas umher gelaufen und haben ein paar Fotos gemacht.
      Dann ging es weiter die 5th Avenue runter, etwas bummeln, vorbei am Rockefeller Center und am Empire State Building. Zwischendurch waren wir dann noch bei der Magnolia Bakery mit ihren süßen, leckeren Cupcakes und sind in ein paar Vintage Läden gegangen.
      Zum Sonnenuntergang sind wir dann Richtung High Lane und Meatpacking Distrikt gelaufen. Die High Lane ist eine stillgelegte U-Bahn Strecke, auf dieser kann man dann ganz gemütlich schlendern.
      Am Abend ging es dann zum Times Square wo unser Airbnb nur eine Seitenstraße von entfernt war. Ich will gar nicht wissen (oder doch;)) wieviel er für die Wohnung zahlt. Jedenfalls haben wir uns dann umgezogen und uns auf den Weg zum Broadway gemacht um das Musical Beetlejuice zu sehen, welches echt gut ist 🤗
      Danach ging es dann eine Kleinigkeit essen, die New Yorker 1$ Pizza und anschließend haben wir im Hard Rock Cafe in Sarahs Geburtstag reingefeiert.
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    • Day 16

      Goodbye to New York

      December 28, 2011 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

      Tomorrow (Thursday) we fly out early to San Francisco and I am not sure if we will have access to the internet so I thought I would do today's (Wednesday's) blog tonight before we leave. You lucky little readers!!!

      Today was bright and sunny in the morning but the clouds rolled in and the wind came up which made it icy in the afternoon! We went up to 88 Orchard for breakfast, they do a good bagel and jam. Then we headed back to the apartment to do some packing and cleaning up.

      The boys went uptown for one last visit while Trace and I had a last look around the Lower East Side.

      A few streets over there is the New Museum of Contemporary Art which actually featured on Masterchef - one of them was booted off when she tried to recreate the building using a cake, pretty dopey idea but it is a nice building. It was a very different museum, not many exhibits and some of them were a bit odd - a giant slide that goes between floors (one and a half hour wait for that one so we skipped it), and a mirror carousel that you could ride on.

      Like I said a bit odd but very popular and worth seeing.

      Then we wandered around and found the Australian restaurant Bondi Road. It was closed and looked a bit of a mess but the write up was quite good. We went further down towards the East River and cut across to the Williamsburg Bridge. This is the third bridge near the Lower East Side, the others being the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. This bridge is the one that we came in on the first night and is at the end of the movie 'How to Lose a guy in 10 days'.

      Trace and I walked up to the first pylon as it was a tad cool. The bridge is surrounded by high-rise tenements, see the pictures below, it would be hard living in one of these. The bridge had great views and a very pink framed walkway for pedestrians and bike riders.

      By now Trace and I were a bit cool so we headed back to the apartment to try and defrost.

      Food time! We checked Linda's list of recommendations and the Meatball Shop sounded good. Dave has been battling a cold and wasn't hungry so we left him at home and walked the few blocks to the restaurant. It sure hadn't warmed up at all but this restaurant was excellent. It was packed with a few individual tables, people sitting at the bar, and one long communal table down the middle of the room. You ordered your food by marking off the menu with a dry-erase marker and giving it to the waitress. The food was really good. Tracey had beef meatballs and salad with spaghetti, Ewan had a beef meatball hero, and I had a spicy pork with mushroom sauce and cheese on a wholemeal roll. Desert was caramel ice cream and ginger snaps sandwich for Trace and I, Ewan had an ice cream float.

      Afterwards we rolled home for our last night in New York.

      Tomorrow we climb aboard the Delta plane to San Francisco arriving there at about 1.30pm. I'll give you all a full report as soon as I can.

      Goodbye New York. Things that stick in my mind:

      - The architecture
      - The Christmas displays
      - The noise
      - The crowds
      - The shopping
      - The museums

      I would definitely like to come back but next time aim to get to Boston, Washington, and a few other highlights outside of New York.
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    • Day 15

      CELEBRITY!!!!! SIT ON ME ... SIT ON ME

      December 27, 2011 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

      On Tuesday we decided to get out of Manhattan, at least for a while. In the 2 or 3 weeks we have been here we have been focused on Manhattan Island but today we changed all that. We braved the subway and headed for ... Brooklyn.

      Brooklyn is across the East River from Manhattan. It is on the B-Line which is the same subway line we catch into the city, all we had to do was get on the other platform. When you get on the subways in New York you need to look to make sure you are on the 'Uptown' or 'Downtown' platform as that tells you which way you are going - into or out of the city. The subways are all underground and the trains travel on the right not the left like Sydney so it is easy to get disorientated.

      The station we use is the Grand Street station and it is the last stop on the B line before it goes over the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn - and the only section of subway I have been on that is above ground. I was reading the guide book and it talked about a trendy section of Brooklyn called Dumbo ... another one of those acronyms it means Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass. Anyway we didn't go to Dumbo (too trendy for us) we went up to Prospect Park which is sort of like the Central Park of Brooklyn.

      New Yorkers love their acronyms for place names Soho, Noho (North or South of Houston (street)), Nolita (North of Little Italy).

      Anyway we got off at the 7th Avenue station and I have to admit I really didn't know what to expect when we got up to street level, no idea what type of neighbourhood we were going to end up in - but there were no problems. Brooklyn is a lovely place. The first thing I noticed was the quiet. There wasn't so much traffic and we weren't hemmed in by tall buildings. We headed up towards Prospect Park and through the big Civil War Memorial Arch, really impressive. There was a bust of JFK in front of it.

      Prospect Park is huge, we wandered around playing fields, picnic areas, playgrounds, ponds - most of the locals have no back yard so parks like this one are where their kids get to run around and play. This part is where you see the classic New York terrace houses (called Brownstones) like what you see in the movies - see the pictures to see what I mean. We wandered down a few streets and then headed back towards the subway station. Dave summed it up when he said that if he had to live in New York he would like to live in Brooklyn.

      We caught the B-Line to Noho where it started to rain so we dropped into Kmart and bought an umbrella. We stopped into a burger joint and we spotted a celebrity!!!!! In the shop eating a burger was Chris Noth who plays Big in Sex and the City, is currently in the The Good Wife, and used to be a cop in Law and Order. Tracey is also sure she saw Hillary Swank walking her dog on the Lower East Side (at least we think it was her) a few weeks ago.

      The boys headed back to the apartment while Trace and I headed up Broadway to the Max Brenner Chocolate shop and it was HUGE! It's a full-on restaurant with crowds of people and they served all kinds of food not just chocolate. We then wandered through Union Square to the unusual elephant sculpture (see the picture for that one) and over to Barnes & Noble. By this time it was pouring rain and the tops of the buildings were shrouded in fog.

      Trace and I kept going up towards 34th Street getting rather wet on the way but there were some interesting places we dropped into look at. The doorman out the front of the Empire State Building was telling people there was zero visibility at the top but people were going anyway. We dropped into Victorias Secret for some important shopping ...

      Then it was back to the apartment in the bucketing rain.

      Important blog note - Wednesday (today) is our last day in Manhattan before we leave Linda's wonderful apartment and fly out to San Francisco. My frequency of blog updates will depend on access to the internet but rest assured we will endeavour to keep it going! I actually have to do today's entry but given today isn't over I can't do it yet!!
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    • Day 14

      Boxing Day

      December 26, 2011 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

      Monday was a very different Boxing Day. No lying around watching cricket or basking in the sun, this Boxing Day was spent wandering around Manhattan.

      The boys went to the Central Park Zoo for a look around while Tracey and I went to the Fairmont for hot chocolate. We met up and went to FAO Schwarz, this is a huge toy shop covering 3 floors and has lots of stuff! It is where Tom Hanks played the big piano in the movie Big - you walk across the floor and the notes play. We didn't have a go as the queue was too long but it was an interesting shop. Other highlights included a big pink Barbie fooz-ball table and Lego versions of Jack Sparrow, Indianna Jones, and the Statue of Liberty.

      Afterwards we headed down towards the East River to see the UN Building. 5th Avenue was packed with people but once you get off it to one of the other streets the crowds weren't too bad. The building was closed so we missed the opportunity to queue and go through a security screen but it was still good to see.

      We headed back up 42nd Street as the boys wanted to see Grand Central Station - very impressive.

      We dropped into the Lego shop in the Rockerfeller Centre, one of my favourite shops. The Rockerfeller Centre must be one of the most perpetually crowded places in New York ... of course it was packed.

      By this time we had had enough of the crowds and headed back to the apartment for an early night.

      Tomorrow we get out of Manhattan ... and we also get wet!
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    • Day 13

      Christmas in New York City

      December 25, 2011 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

      Ho ho ho!

      Sunday was declared a day of rest.

      After all the days of walking and looking and shopping we decided we needed a day to chill. Of course this was very disappointing to the teenagers but Tracey and I insisted. On Christmas morning we slept in till after 9am (a far cry from the Christmas mornings of not-that-many-years-ago), had breakfast, handed out Christmas presents, watched TV, surfed the web, read books, and just relaxed.

      We had a sensational Christmas dinner of roast chicken and vegies followed by apple pie and ice cream and after all that ... we relaxed some more.

      By about 3pm the teenagers were begging to go out so we headed into town to visit St Patricks Cathedral and also look at the Christmas lights. One thing I have noticed is the Americans do Christmas really well, not sure if it is the cold weather or tradition but everyone really gets into it. The shops are beautifully decorated and everyone is right into the whole 'Happy Holidays' thing.

      We caught the subway to 42nd Street and headed down towards 5th Avenue and St Patricks.

      Being Christmas day and pretty cool weather one would have thought the city would have been pretty empty - boy was that wrong. It was packed. Of course most of the shops were closed but the footpaths were jammed with people out walking. The crowds were not helped by lots of people flogging knock-off Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and various other brand hand bags. They spread them out on sheets on the footpath so they can pick up and run very quickly if the Authorities turn up. We dropped into St Pats where a Mass was happening ... in Spanish. We lit a couple of candles and pushed our way through the crowds and out the door.

      The Rockerfeller Centre was also crowded so we took a few distance photos of the Christmas Tree and moved on.

      The Cartier, Fendi, Tommy Hilfiger buildings were all lit up - the pictures below show the lights and the crowds. There were a couple of shops open, most importantly the Lindt chocolate shop so we had to drop in to sample the wares - you get a free one for walking in the door! Across the road is the shop that strikes sheer terror into most males - the De Beers diamond shop. Sadly it was closed so we moved on ... quickly.

      We walked up 5th to Central Park and found the FAO Schwarz toy shop which had been on our list to visit. Then we walked across the southern end of Central Park to Columbus Circle and caught the subway home.

      Of course Chinatown was all happening, no one would have thought it was Christmas Day as everything was open as normal.

      A quiet day.

      Tomorrow is Boxing Day - no cricket test, no yacht race, no BBQs - not sure what's going to happen!
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    • Day 12

      Union City

      December 24, 2011 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

      Saturday was the last day of shopping before Christmas. Trace and I were up early and headed to the supermarket to get Christmas dinner organised and then we headed towards Chelsea, Noho, and Greenwich Village. These districts are in between the southern end of Manhattan and the main shopping area at the southern end of Central Park. It was a gloriously bright and sunny day and the shops weren't overly busy.

      We visited a number of shops including American Eagle, Espirit, Crate & Barrel, Barnes & Noble, and others. The boys called in for a burger at one of the local Noho shops and decared it the best burger they had ever tasted.

      By this time the boys decided they were worn out and headed back to the apartment while Tracey and I went on to Union Square and the Flatiron district. We headed up to Union Square Park which had a neat market and some cool shops. With all the walking we have been doing we invested in some walking shoes before heading further up towards the Flatiron Building.

      This is another iconic New York building. It is built on a small triangle of land and with 22 floors was one of the first skyscrapers. It opened in 1902 and is still used as an office block. This is a nice end of town, some good shops but not as crowded as the main shopping district. It is a few blocks south of the Empire State Building and you can see its triangle shape in some of the photos I took.

      Trace and I then headed back to the apartment to organise dinner for the hungry hordes.

      We decided to try Chinese for dinner tonight so we wandered up Canal Street and over into Chinatown which is only a couple of blocks away. New York's Chinatown is much like any other - loud, crowded, and very in-your-face. We spotted a restaurant called 456 that looked OK (and seemed to be full of locals) and went in. The food was excellent - chicken & corn soup, spring rolls, chicken and cashews, beef and veges, and shredded pork - all for $70 including tip. We were in there just before 6pm but by the time we left there was a queue. I took a photo of it so I could remember the name though the lady did tell us 456 are meant to be lucky numbers.

      After dinner we wandered around Chinatown for a while and then headed back to the apartment.

      Tomorrow it is ho-ho-ho!

      NOTE: I added some photos to Tracey's entry on 12 December, she and Ewan went to Central Park Zoo.
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    • Day 10

      Biffo!

      December 22, 2011 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

      Thursday was another day of chillin' out around New York.

      Tracey and I went uptown early and wandered down East 42nd Street (in line with Times Square and running east - west across Manhattan), this is where Grand Central Station and the Chrysler Building can be found. There is the famous photo of Grand Central Station with sun streaming in the windows lighting up the room, no chance of that happening now as it is surrounded by high buildings. It is a very impressive building, the photos show its beautiful blue roof and fantastic architecture.

      We continued down 42nd to the Chrysler Building. This a seriously sensational building. It is on par, if not better than, the Queue Building (aka the Empire State Building) - I definitely think it is a better looking building. The gargoyles and eagles on the outside are all chrome as are the spike and famous curved bits at the very top of the building. There isn't a viewing platorm or anything like that so Tracey and I formed a queue of our own in 42nd Street, just so we didn't miss out on our daily dose.

      Then we headed back to to Bryant Park for a hot chocolate from the Max Brenner shop and to wait for the teenagers to make their way uptown to meet us. Then we headed across to Times Square to go to M & M World. Tracey and the boys were talking about this M & M World and I thought they were talking about the singer Eminem and I was wondering what would be in there. They soon put me straight with much eye-rolling.

      M & M World is pretty impressive. Three levels devoted to all things M & M - tshirts, stickers, dispensing machines, boxer shorts, chocolates, plates, cups, soft toys, and anything else you can think of. We loaded up on some interesting M & M paraphenalia and an appropriate amount of M & Ms themselves before heading up to 5th Avenue again to do some shopping, yes even the teenagers joined in.

      After battling the crowds for a while we headed back to the apartment to rest up before we commenced our evening's entertainment!

      Thursday evening saw us off to Madison Square Garden to watch the New York Rangers play the New York Islanders in ice hockey. Apparently this was a huge match, intense local rivalry, New York pride on the line, more important than life itself!!

      The Islanders were the past greats having won 3 or 4 competitions on the trot in the 1980's but have dropped off a bit in recent times, the Rangers were the up and coming favourites.

      This is one strange game. Luckily I started chatting to they guy next to me otherwise we wouldn't have had any idea, and would have been left sitting in an empty stadium waiting for the 4th quarter to start! There are about 26 teams in the comp across both the US and Canada. The NY Rangers were playing Thursday and then backing up gain to play on Friday, none of this 1 week break between games nonsense. The game has 3 x 20 minute periods of play and there are 6 players from each team on the ice - the goal keeper, 2 defenders, and 3 offensive players. The objective is, of course, to get the puck into the opponent's net, the puck weighs about 1.3kgs so it has a bit of weight behind it and they sure don't hold back. There were unlimited substitutions and they seemed to change the whole team about every 3 or 4 minutes during the game.

      There was a lot of crunching into the barriers like you see on TV and in the movies. There were a few fights which are pretty pointless as they all wear so much padding, and when a fight breaks out they all stand back and watch for a few minutes before the Refs step in and stop them. Fighting and tripping all earn you time on the side lines usually 2 minutes for a trip and 5 minutes for a fight.

      Anyway that's enough of a lesson. I thought it was a good game, it sure takes a lot of skill to be skating (backwards as much as forwards), controlling the puck, and avoiding the opposition. Many of the players were from Eastern Europe or Sweden where I guess they learn to skate at a young age.

      The end result was the Rangers won 4 to 2 much to the crowds' delight.

      The Islanders really did not rate a mention. At an NRL game both teams get introduced and talked about before the game starts, this game was a Rangers' home game so the Islanders were not mentioned or introduced. The crowd was very well behaved, except for some yobs yelling out during the National Anthem, and all in all it was a good night.

      After the game we were back on the B-Line home.

      Tomorrow it's van Gogh, Cezanne, Degas, Matisse, Tolouse-Latrec, Picasso, Dali, Monet, and soooo many more!
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