Hello Pennsylvania!

This morning Mark and I caught a bouncy cab to Newark Airport and picked up our hire car. One cool thing about New York cabs is that they now have touch screen TVs in the back! You can watch whatever you want, as well as find out about real estate, news, etc. etc. Unfortunately the smaller car we had booked did not come with GPS, so we had to upgrade, to a Hyundai Santa Fe.

Another thing I have to say is hire cars are damn expensive for visitors to the USA! The car itself only cost us US$15 per day, but the rest of the charges were over US$150 per day! But the car is nice and big and comfy, just the way Americans like it.

I visited my first ever diner for breakfast, the Readington Diner in New Jersey. Hey, I like Diners!! I had this excellent pan grill thing which was scrambled eggs with some other things mixed through it, like onions, potatoes and sausage. It was really good! And the service was personal. In conclusion, I'm all for diners.

We drove for about 5 hours down a non-descript but uncrowded freeway, and the last hour of the drive was glorious, with all the Autumn (Fall) colours, but we were a little too tired to enjoy it! We saw lots of McCain Palin signs and were disheartened, also a sign saying 'Wind energy costs us more money!' Welcome to small-town America.

But we are glad to be here! We are staying in a gorgeous Mansion, called the Levi Deal Mansion. This house is a dream come true. We are in a huge room with a whirlpool (spa), double basins, a huge bed and separate sitting area. It is very relaxing and there is even a guest kitchen with free wine and brownies! So far, I don't even know how they are making a profit...


The Levi Deal Mansion.

Meyersdale Pennsylvania is a small quaint town of about 2500 people with a railway running through it. We arrived on a Sunday, so nothing is open, and when we drove through the main street I saw a couple driving a horse and cart! I thought it was a tourist thing, but then I realised... these were Amish people!! I'm still totally fascinated and keep playing it over in my head.

So glad to be having a rest, sending love xxx

The Sopranos Tour of New York!

We sat here today!

This morning Mark and I took advantage of a quiet sleep in and headed up to the garment district for a 4 hour tour of Sopranos locations, a great activity to break up a trip to New York!

We visited sites from the opening credits as well as popular locations from the 6-part series, we also met the actor who played 'Vito,' who was busy flogging merchandise to us from the boot of his car.

We drove past Pizzaland, which is shown in the opening sequence, and they'll even fedex you one of their pizzas! (Not sure how it would taste once it makes it to Australia...)

One highlight was a visit to Holstein's Diner, where the very last scene of The Sopranos was filmed. We also got a chance to sample their famous Onion Rings and get a photo taken in the booth Tony was sitting in when it all ended. Too bad the man I asked to take our photo took a hopeless shot where you see nothing except for our faces!

Did you know that HBO made approximately $1 billion from The Sopranos? The tour also had great trivia and tips, and answered all of Mark's tricky production questions without skipping a beat.

It was great to have a chance to see small town New Jersey, and the day ended with a real-live visit to Tony Soprano's Strip Club 'Bada-Bing!' The funny part is it is actually an operating strip club called 'Satin Dolls,' and it was open for business, and full of clientele when we were there! We watched the girls dance on the poles and bought merchandise from the back storeroom, before heading back to Manhattan.

If you are a fan of The Sopranos and you make it to New York, I really recommend the tour! You can look at the tours here - they also do The Sex in the City tours of New York as well.

Since coming to New York, we have found all of these resources that I wish we had seen when we were back in Sydney planning! So I am going to plonk them down here, so they don't get lost again.
- I LOVE NEW YORK The official New York State Tourism Website. I particularly love the daily 'foliage report' for Fall, that will tell you where the leaves are changing colour.
- Time Out New York if I had followed Time Out more closely before arriving I would have realised that Nick Cave and Beck amongst others were playing while I was here, and I could have organised tickets, bummer.
- And as I have said before, book early. Hotel rooms don't get cheaper, they simply get booked out. Last-minute deals don't seem to be the flavour of the month here.

That's all for now, we leave New York for Pennsylvania tomorrow, we have to go to Newark to pick up our car first thing. It will be so sad to say goodbye, New York is my kind of city for so many reasons!

xx

Moving house, Columbia University & Wall Street

Today we woke up with a shock because the removalists had arrived! Not ours, but the removalists for Tim and Fabienne. It was also time for us to leave Hoboken, so we packed up pretty quickly and gave everyone some room to get on with the task. Luckily Tim had actually paid a crew to help with the move, moving is a nightmare for anyone, but with big heavy furniture and no car it was bound to otherwise end in tears. The apartment was fairly bouncing with New Jersey accents and I could have stayed to listen to their stories, I kept thinking 'what nice and kind people, I've never met such friendly removalists!' and then Mark reminded me that they were expecting a big tip at the end of the job, probably 20-25% of the cost... I think I'd rather have a gruff Australian who did the job silently and expected nothing at the end!

Then I stumbled and said 'Thanks for the good job boys, there's a six pack of beer in the fridge for you!' Mark's face turned a little blue and he took me around the corner to quickly tell me nobody calls anyone 'boy' in America etc. etc. due to the past (i.e. slavery) and inside I crumpled...by the time I came back out they had gone and I had no chance to apologise... I'm still feeling terrible just typing it...

The day commenced at a pretty low point, it then got even lower when I got stuck in the turnstile at the PATH (train) station with my huge suitcase at morning peak hour. I then had to actually crawl under the turnstile on my hands and knees towards Mark's disapproving face which made me feel incredibly embarrassed and self conscious. It is true, the services at different subway and train stations really vary which can make it very difficult to navigate - some stations will have lifts and escalators, others will not even have a turnstile for prams or disabled people (or clumsy 30 year old lady with suitcase.) There was nothing else I really could do at the time, but it was both exhausting and exasperating!

We dropped off our bags at our lovely hotel called The Gild Hall, which is in lower Manhattan, a block away from Wall Street. I cannot begin to tell you how expensive hotels are in New York, and furthermore, even if you are paying top dollar, you are not necessarily getting the standard you would expect for the outlay. Luckily I found The Gild Hall for basically half price on travelocity.com, but once taxes are paid and currency conversions are done it would still add up to being the most expensive hotel I have probably ever stayed in. There are really not that many cost effective options in Manhattan, we looked at The Larchmont and The Cosmopolitan, but unfortunately left it way too late to book!


The Gild Hall.

That said, The Gild Hall is lovely lovely lovely. We are on the 16th floor, resting on a real queen size bed for the first time in a week, with Frette robes and a tartan woolly blanket. There is an iPod docking station, free wifi in our room and a flatscreen TV. Our room's size is as big as any hotel room in any city, so we are not cramming ourselves in. With the blinds shut it doesn't feel like New York at all, it's quiet, comfortable and exactly what we needed after walking for one week straight. We are both falling apart a bit both physically and mentally, so this is a great place to relax and recollect before our next adventure!

After dropping our bags off this morning we caught the subway up to the Upper West Side to have a walk around and take in the sites. We walked across Central Park (which is fine, but I don't seem to love it nearly as much as any New-Yorker) and up towards Columbia University. On the way we saw the outside of 'Tom's Restaurant' from Seinfeld and checked out some bookstores. Tired and dragging my feet, we walked up to Morningside Park and took in the lovely view of Harlem. I would recommend this walk, and Columbia University sure is wonderful! I felt like sitting down and commencing an independent and absorbing task immediately upon walking through, oh to have the time and money to continue one's study!!

On the way back to the hotel I accidentally came across a shop I had badly wanted to visit, called Anthropologie. If there is a brand that could define me, this would be it! Mark had to leave me there to look around, and eventually I found the sale section and something I could afford. I was really glad to tick that off my list, I'm glad I saw it before I had to leave, it didn't disappoint!

Now I am back in the hotel room, feet throbbing, tired but happy. I can hardly wait to sleep tonite after (gratefully) sleeping on the equivalent of a plank for a week! Bring on the comfy times!!

xox

The Guggenheim (almost!) Galerie Neue, Greenwich Village and a trip to the Pharmacy.

Let me start by saying that I woke up feeling a little unwell this morning. The wild goose chase that followed made me feel even more anxious and unwell, and made me want to bow down and worship at the feet of Medicare Australia and our wonderful health system!

I sat down and found the nearest pharmacy on the internet (which was at the local supermarket) and thought I could simply go along and get my over-the-counter medicine, no worries. This was not the case at all!! I went to the pharmacist and explained my problem, and although she was kind and concerned, she could not give me the medicine I needed! I won't divulge my health situation, but believe you me, it's an over the counter exercise in Oz, and untreated, I would remain very very uncomfortable for the rest of the trip. She told me my best shot was to visit an Emergency Room, or to somehow find a doctor, which is usually via recommendation by a current patient on the books (these is no such thing as a medical centre here.) The whole situation was laughable!

Defeated, I came home and had a cry in the kitchen, then looked up the internet to see if there was any way possible to get some medication prescription-free. I found a list on the internet, wrote it down in my little notebook, then headed out to the local drug store. Long story short, the lovely Jewish pharmacist found the medication I needed and had it delivered to his pharmacy for me this afternoon! I have never felt more grateful in my life!! All thanks to the internet, because the pharmacist had never even heard of the medication brand I needed! Phew!! The lesson here: bring every drug you need with you. Try and think of every possible situation! I had NO IDEA it would be this difficult. Thank God I eventually got the help I needed!!

Anyway, moving on from embarrassing personal health matters, Mark and I decided today was the day to visit The Guggenheim, only to arrive and find it is shut on Thursdays!! We were still impressed with the building though, we are just not sure that we will have time to go back now, so are a little unhappy about it. However, we were lucky enough to visit The Neue Galerie which is a small and impeccable space dedicated to German and Austrian Art and the sucessionist movement. We saw works by Klimt, Kokoschka, and Schiele amongst others, as well as a collection of furniture and design from the 1890s-1940s. The gallery housed an impressive bookstore and a very cosy wood-paneled cafe. I definitely recommend it!


The Neue Galerie

We strolled back down to Little Korea (32nd Street) and had our weekly fill of Bulgogi and BiBimBap, (little Korea is much nicer than Chinatown) and then walked back towards Greenwich Village, our main purpose being to visit The Magnolia Bakery to sample a red velvet cupcake. The aroma of baking filled the air even a block away from the store, and we waited in line for about 5 minutes before going in. Once inside, people were snatching cupcakes everywhere, I thought I was going to miss out! But a whole fresh lot was delivered from the kitchen and I got to try three different flavours, and yes the red velvet. What is red velvet cake? I have never seen it in Sydney. It tasted just like a red-coloured buttercake to me, and when I got back home and looked up recipes I was disappointed to discover it is in fact, exactly that - a light buttercake made with buttermilk, with a little cocoa and red food colouring added. It still tasted great! But the red colour... well, it's not from anything particularly exotic.


Magnolia Bakery!


This is a red velvet cupcake!

We also bought some takeaways and brought them home for our hosts Tim and Fabienne, who are currently in the throes of moving house. Today is our last night in Hoboken, tomorrow we are going to stay in Manhattan for two nights, before heading off on our road trip!

And I have to add, I'm getting used to the walking, now I actually WANT to walk which is a great feeling, and could walk way further than I could just 5 days ago... yeah...!

More news soon, lots of love xxx

Greenwich & East Villages, Ground Zero...

Today Mark and I had a lovely day wandering around Greenwich Village and East Village, Nolita, Chinatown, skimming the edge of Little Italy and across to Ground Zero. We finished the day eating ice cream in Battery Park, took in the view of The Statue of Liberty, and ran back to the subway dodging serious drops of rain!

The walking around this part of New York is much easier on the feet, you don't feel as compelled to rush, and the trees are green and shady, many of them giving shelter to squirrels (my new friends, why oh why weren't they ever introduced to Australia?)

First stop today was St Marks Bookshop where Mark studied the shelves and I bought a few postcards. This whole area is infact suited to more of a local style of living, where I felt more like an onlooker than a direct participant. I spent lots of the day staring into shop windows and reading menus taped inside windows, you can only eat so many times per day! I found (what I think is) my favourite street so far, it's called Orchard Street. It is the perfect collection of small shops, restaurants, slightly off-beat designers and discount stores. I have since read they close the whole street every Sunday to have markets, now that would be AWESOME! But I wont be here on Sunday, so I'll have to keep on dreaming...

We then walked through Nolita (looks like another great place for food, oh, how I would like to be taken out on dates here!) and through Chinatown, where all I wanted to do was wash my hands and vomit. Chinatown here is not only huge, it really is filthy and the smells were so bad it put me off the idea of food, or even breathing really. I am open minded but after smelling those smells I have no idea how you could just pop into a shop for a bowl of noodles. It did look like there were lots of jewelery stores here though, but I'm in no hurry.

We kept walking and found ourselves at Ground Zero, it's everything you expect and you feel even worse. I looked up and saw a poster of lost fireman in the disaster and felt my throat close, I didn't go into the museum at all because I knew I'd become a mess. Instead Mark and I went to Wintergarden where we could take in the view from 2 storeys up and get a few photos. I won't go on about the tragedy but I WILL for a moment. Just the feeling you get from being there, reflecting on the hatred and loss of life, the fear, the courage, the valor of those involved... it all sounds so old-fashioned but this was real and you could feel it. The challenge and drudgery of being involved in the rebuild, going to work everyday knowing that underneath your feet there is such a recent history of mass suffering and misery... my heart really felt it.

And we finished out day at Battery Park, eating ice-cream and walking South to catch the ferry back to Hoboken. If you don't have time to catch a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, Battery Park is the place. It's a lovely walk and there are lots of quiet spots to sit down and take in the view. Only it started to rain so we had to run back towards the subway instead! I'm glad to say I'm finally becoming more familiar with the subway and how it all works and little pieces of New York are starting to fit together, making it a little less puzzling.

Still happy to say there's so much more to do, days and days of it, and there will be lots we miss out on. But today has been another excellent day, it's been such a happy adventure!

The Plaza Hotel and...

My love affair with New York was off to (a bit of) a slow start, but yesterday I fell head over heels and had a magnificent, wonderful, fabulous day!

Mark and I decided to have a bit of a rest day because our feet were not holding out too well, even with the help of some Badger Foot Balm I was still feeling like the little mermaid must of when she walked on dry land. We visited the local post office and while trying to find it stumbled upon some excellent views of Manhattan from the local college on the banks of the Hudson River, I saw my first frat house, and imagined what it would be like to be an all-expenses-paid blond college student with a VW, a self-obsession and eating disorder (lots here!)


The Plaza Hotel.

It has been very hot and I was dreading coming back home to change into my dress to wear to the Plaza Hotel, where we had booked a High Tea. We managed to get to 59th Street, my composure still in tact, and sat down in The Palm Court Restaurant and enjoyed three courses of tiny delights, complemented with French champagne. If you'd like to treat yourself, this is an amazing New York experience. Scones hot out of the oven, miniature sandwiches which ooze exotic flavour, and sweet treats that taste like little clouds of exquisite-ness, all at a price much more reasonable than one would expect! (Well, cheaper than the US$850 a night for a room!) Not to mention the location, which over the years has had guests including F Scott Fitzgerald and The Beatles. The history!


Yes, we ate HERE!

Slightly tipsy from the (one glass of) champagne and drunk from the atmosphere, we walked out onto 5th Avenue where we visited FAO Schwartz and the creepy baby nursery, with it's very own matron, and the build-your-own hot wheels car station. I needed to visit a bathroom and stumbled into Bergdorf Goodman and Good golly! My head just started spinning at the possibilities here. Not the potential purchases, just at the fact that a place like this would even exist in this world! While trying to find the bathrooms I traversed through some of the most beautiful rooms full of some of the most divine designer goods I have ever laid eyes upon. Suddenly my fake Max Mara coat and Witchery dress was not enough. I was greeted constantly with 'How you doin?' and 'Can I help you dear?' People stepped out to serve me in a symphony, and all I was doing was looking for a bathroom! I ended up in the basement, in a pink tiled confection, with free product samples everywhere and a very thoughtful 'ladies sitting room.' If I ever come into money, I promise that you will find me back here, with a personal shopper in tow.

After dragging Mark back in to look at the diamond watches we walked down 5th Avenue and into Saks, where he had to hold my hand to stop me from buying a cream Marc Jacobs Bag, lined in purple fabric, with a big gold frog charm on it with gleaming ruby eyes. We took the express elevator to the shoe floor where the first pair of shoes I picked up (a pair of tan Chanel riding boots) was US$1350. Somewhere around there my bubble burst and I knew it wasn't worth teasing myself any longer, at some point I would surely give in to these worldly delights! So we walked through Rockerfeller Plaza bound for the The Broadhurst Theatre to see the play Equus, with Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths.


Yes, I saw his willy!

The play was nothing short of amazing in my humble opinion, and an excellent career move for Daniel Radcliffe, who pulled off his (very difficult) role most convincingly. I believe the other main character, Martin Dysart, played by Richard Griffiths is just as crucial in the success of the play and I am still thinking about it all today. Being in New York really has been a one-off opportunity to see a production such as this and I rue Sydney's distance from this source of quality and exciting entertainment!

I came back home happy and exhausted, a bit of a sparkle in my eye. I really could do the very same thing all over again today, and tomorrow, in fact, every day for a month! For fear of American immigration reading this, I shouldn't say it, but I now understand why people come to America, and STAY.

x

The Empire State and...

Today we woke up and the sun was streaming in through the windows, so the first thing I thought was "Let's go to The Empire State Building!" Mark and I headed across and for the first time since arriving, Manhattan felt more like I was expecting, I even felt a wee bit excited!

That was until we joined the queue to go into The Empire State. And then the queue went into another room, and another, and they were renovating, and we chose to climb 6 flights of stairs to skip another 20min wait, and my jeans were falling down, and then suddenly, we were there!!

What an awesome sight, I kept thinking of all the people over the years who would have stood on that very platform. A cool breeze was blowing and the light was fairly bouncing off The Chrysler Building. Some brave soul had managed to get their child up there in a pram and could not move in the crowd. Other people were kissing, or marking their names on the bricks, or (over) posing for photos. I'm glad we did it; if you go to New York, I would put it down for one of the first things to do as it really gives you a sense of the enormity of the area (before you kill your feet pounding its pavements.) And buy your tickets first on the internet! It gave us a 5 minute advantage in the queue, and believe me, every minute counts.

Then the inevitable occurred - I started shopping. I was really pleased I had held off this long but I basically couldn't stand it any longer and went to a few places like Banana Republic, Gap, and Loft. Really pleased I did, because they still had end of summer racks and I didn't purchase a thing over $50. We ate lunch at Macys and then I went to Victoria's Secret and they measured me up and I bought some requested items for my sister. This store is AWESOME, just everything about it, you could never expect anything like it in Oz. From the level of service to product knowledge and efficiency of paying and packing and getting the hell out of there... suddenly, even after shopping in Europe, do I understand what this is all about.

We walked up to Columbus Circle which is sort of the closest thing to an actual 'mall' in New York where shops are close together, I think by the time we got there we were all tuckered out, and it was time to head back to Hoboken again! One good clue about Columbus Circle is there is a huge Wholefoods store in the basement that sells little picnic packs to take over to Central Park (which is opposite) and enjoy there. I am hoping to do it later in the week, particularly if the weather stays like this (sunny warm with easy cool breeze.)

Today Mark and I also got ripped off! We were on the corner of 33rd and Broadway, walking along with all the people, when some black guys all kitted out in hip hop gear approached us, waving CD demos in our face. At first it was free, and then it was a donation, then before you know it they are signing your name on it, then asking for a minimum of $10!! Mark and I just laughed it off, but there was a whole group of about 20 of these guys, spread out in the crowd doing this to lots of tourists and other unassuming people! People were arguing everywhere, some were very red in the face and indignant. I'm glad we didn't let it get us down, it was a pretty ridiculous situation... and could surely only happen in the US!

Some random thoughts and observations about New York so far:
- Fashion is non existent until night time (and I don't really go out.) The whole weekend seems like one extended gym session for most women here, and they seem to get around in gym gear and running shoes most of the time (I don't mean street wear, I mean actual gym gear.) I guess that saves alot of stress about 'what to wear!'
- Women here actually wear alot of make up though, and often quite badly, mostly while wearing above mentioned gym gear. Doesn't always look so good...
- People are generally more friendly than I first guessed, lots of 'sorrys' and 'excuse mes' when you get bumped on the subway or somebody dashes past on the street. I will put it out there and say i definitely find New Yorkers more friendly than Londoners.
- Clothes sizing is much the same as Australia, I am a 12 there and a 12 here. I think all of that size 0 bullshit etc. is for Asian chicks or the many neurotic New Yorkers who walk all day then obsess over dinner in the aisles at Wholefoods before actually eating... nothing (all after yet another 2 hour gym session.)
- There are lines everywhere but they are always moving, patience, patience.
- Ladies, be prepared to see leggings, and more leggings on a street near you, for like, the next 2 years.

Well that was my day! I'm quite excited about tomorrow as we are going to The Plaza Hotel for High Tea, then off to see Daniel Radcliffe in Equus... this is the life!

Mush love xxx