Audience participation

Um so, at the bottom of each of these posts is a little, but very important word.
Comments.
You see, you can comment on what I say.
Because when I write these things, I imagine I’m talking to you. Yes, you.
But I’m starting to feel a bit like I’m just a crazy lady talking to herself.

So, if you are reading, please will you say hi? Help me feel like I’m having a conversation?
Thanks!

NYC - fashion capital of the world?

A guy on the subway today. He was about 27/28.

He was wearing:

Black loafers.
Beige, brown and grey golf socks, pulled up to mid calf.
Grey, knee length, casual shorts.
A white linen shirt, with a thick red line running either side of the buttons.
A beige, chord, collared jacket.

And no one else seemed to really notice.

Fire Island

May 24th is officially the start of beach season in NY and all the trains and ferry services start, so we decided to brave it and head out to Fire Island.
I have to admit I kind of had Brighton in my head when I was imagining what we would find.
Fire Island is off Long Island, which really is just a big residential suburb of NYC, so I assumed it would be nice, but in a “not really a real beach” sort of way.

It took us 2.5 hours to get there, which sounds a lot but it was really easy. You buy a package ticket at Penn Station which takes you on the train, the bus to the ferry and the ferry to the island and its all incredibly efficient.

The island is very small, and no cars are allowed. There a few towns dotted a long it, each smaller and more remote than the other. We went to Ocean Beach, which is the biggest town and has a few restaurants and shops. We picked it because we expected that we would need things to do, after we had had a walk on the no-doubt pebbley beach.

At Ocean Beach the island basically splits in half, the north side which is on Long Island Sound has the one road which constitutes the town, and the little streets with all the houses run across the island to the south side which is on the Atlantic and is just beach.
And what a beach!
It was an honest to goodness holiday beach with proper sand and shells and sea, and then just a whole lot of nothing on the horizon.

And it was a gorgeous day, about 24 degrees with a light breeze, so we just plonked ourselves down on the beach, sunbathed until we were hungry, went up to the town and found a table overlooking the Sound and all the boats there for lunch, and then went back to the beach for more sunbathing.
At about 5 we started making our way back to the ferry, and we were home in time for dinner.

It was an incredible day out, it really felt like we had gone on holiday and next time we will definitely make a weekend of it and stay over. The whole place is so laid back and relaxed it would only take a weekend to feel like you’d been away forever.

Overheard

A woman in her twenties, walking with her parents to the bike hire centre in Central Park.

“I need to wear a helmet mom, you cant raise me to be neurotic and then not let me wear a helmet.”

Central Park

Been there, done that, too bloody tired to buy the t-shirt.

We walked the whole way round the park today, and it is HUGE!

We took the subway up to 83rd St and started up by the big reservoir that basically cuts the park in two, and has a 1.5 mile running track round it. After we nearly got run over by several crazy running people we set off up the east side of the park.

It is so easy to get disorientated in there that we thought we were going north and then realized we were actually going west, once we were half way across!
There wasn’t a great deal in that middle bit though, apart from lots of people playing softball/baseball. So we headed back over to the east.

At 104th St we came to the Conservatory Garden which is really beautiful, looked a lot like an English Heritage/National Trust garden to me. They even had fox gloves which I haven’t seen in ages, it was lovely.

Slightly further north is Harlem Meer, where you can actually fish but you have to put back anything you catch. We stopped at a little food stand and got cream cheese bagels for lunch, delicious if not very nutritious.

Just up from there we hit the very north east corner of the park, which is pretty much where Harlem starts so looks rather different from the big apartment buildings we had previously passed.

We walked across the top and up a little hill to a fort called the Blockhouse, and then went down through the North Woods to Great Hill.
Of all the many things I expected to see when I got to the top of Great Hill, a group of Mexicans in traditional Mayan dress was not one of them. But there they were, with headdresses and colourful costumes, standing round an old guy who seemed to be smoking.
It was just like a dance/demonstration I saw when I was in Mexico City, but in central park. And then on the way down the hill we saw a raccoon, sticking his paw into a baguette to pull out the nice soft bread, and leaving his crusts! Its the first raccoon I've ever seen, and also it turns out they are nocturnal so he really shouldnt have been up.
Pictures of everything are up on Flickr because I don’t know how to put them here.

We headed back down to the west side of the runners' reservoir via North Meadow.
The northern half of the park is much wilder and less busy than the south, really pretty and peaceful. If you wanted to spend the day relaxing and reading then it would be worth the longer walk to get up there.

Immediately south of the reservoir is the Great Lawn where people seem to congregate if they want to play ball games and its very crowded. But its worth going that way because about level with 79th St right in the middle of the park is Belvedere Castle which is this weird little castle that looks like its straight out of a fairy tale, and is in fact the park’s weather station.

There is another wild and windy bit of the park which is supposed to allow nature to take its course, which we passed through on the way to the Boat House, where we had planned to have lunch but by now it was about 5pm so we settled for a pint and chips. And then some icecream!
And finally, we headed back home.

An excellent day out, but definitely a full day if you want to do the whole park. If you dont have much time I would recommend hiring bikes or taking one of the carriage trips, horse or bike, to see as much as possible.

The fatness of being

It has happened. The time has come. This evening, I went for a jog.

In fairness to it, it was a very nice jog.
The sun has been shining all day, so it was still warm but a lovely breeze was blowing and the low sun was turning all the skyscrapers beautiful shades of oranges, reds and pinks.
People were out, walking their dogs, taking a post work stroll, or jogging. Somewhat faster than me I might add.
All the rich bastards who don’t have to work were out on their pretty little sail boats, dotted along the Hudson River between me and the Stature of Liberty.
It was undeniably lovely.

But this is surely a sign of desperation on my part.
Everyone said moving to New York would make me thin.
“New Yorkers aren’t like other Americans. They walk everywhere. They are really health conscious. They all go to the gym. You wont be able to help it.”
But it seems I continue to be immune to the draw of the gym, and yet have discovered I am able to eat more and more of the enormous portions placed in front of me in restaurants here.
Where once I balked at a whole pizza, now I eat it and wonder what is for pudding.
I have come to think of pretzels as necessary to my survival, and a fat filled Starbucks trip is an every day essential.

Trust me to pick up the worst American trait I could.
So the belly is going to be dispatched, at great personal cost to me and great financial cost to Adrienne’s, purveyors of the finest pizza this side of the Atlantic.

Now I have announced it there is no going back.
Wish me luck.

San Fran - the final countdown

On Sunday morning we were pretty tired, the jet set life style was starting to catch up with us and we were running out of steam.
But our only plan was to go to the beach that morning so off we went. Not before both the receptionist and the taxi driver took the opportunity to look at us like we were totally insane, because it wasn’t sunny at that exact moment. But its not like we were in beach clothes with suncream in hand, we were dressed for the cold and goddammit we’re British, who needs sunshine to go to the beach, right?!
And anyway, the beach was gorgeous, the sand was all warm and the sun came out after about half an hour so it was perfect. I did of course put my toes in the Pacific Ocean, and it was absolutely freezing.

We walked along to the end where there is the best view yet of the Golden Gate Bridge, took lots of pictures and then just sat and watched the ocean for a while.
We had booked Marco to pick us up from there and take us to the airport, but just as we were getting in the car the airline rang to say that my flight had been delayed. Five minutes later they rang back to tell Simon that his flight had been cancelled. So they put us on the flight at 10pm, meaning we wouldnt get home till Monday.

So we went back to the hotel, booked Marco for later that night, and headed down to China Town for lunch. We found a place that had a little rickety balcony and sat out there watching the world go by, trying to decide who was and was not part of the mafia.

Since we were without a plan for the next few hours, we wandered into the town centre, where all the big department stores are.
We sat in the square in the middle in the sun until we got to hot and then went into the airconditioned shops.

I accidentally ended up buying two pairs of shoes and a new handbag, which I think I can safely say was not my fault, I should have been on a plane at the time, therefore I hold American Airlines entirely responsible, and will be sending them the bill!
(They are very good shoes though, one pair of nice peep toes, and one pair of ridiculous platform sandals like some I saw in YSL. And the bag was about 1/10th the price of another one I had my eye on in Coach, so really they were bargains. And so I had to have them.)

Then we found a really nice bar, in a huge restaurant opposite our hotel, and had a few drinks while we waited to go back to the airport.

All in all I was really grateful that our flight got cancelled and we got to spend a bit longer in lovely SF.

I was even more grateful when we got to the airport and found out that it was because of the turbulence caused by the tornados, and any flights that had gone that afternoon had been deeply unpleasant, and we saw people going out of the airport who were totally green.
So as you can imagine I was a little apprehensive despite assurances that it would all be over by the time we were in the air.
But it turned out to be fine, it was a totally smooth flight.

I managed to get a couple of hours sleep, then went back to the flat, dropped my bag, had a quick shower and then headed off for a rubbish Monday.
That was the down side of our delay, if we’d been on our original flight we’d have got back to NYC on Sunday night, but it was worth it!

So if you ever get the chance, go, and be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.
It’s a really pretty, friendly, fun city.

News

This is just one little excerpt from an article in the Metro (which I read each morning on the Subway mainly because its there and its free. And I am attempting to learn about Baseball.):

"Housing advocates last week launched the "Real Rent Reform Campaign" to require City Council approval of mayoral appointments to the city rent board and would change the board's composition from two tenants, two landlords and five public members to three each, among other changes."

Isn't someone supposed to check these things? I might be guilty of the same thing, but I think its irresponsible of a newspaper to teach people that making sense doesn’t matter.

Part two

On Saturday we had a leisurely breakfast in our hotel, because we booked on a tour to Muir Woods which meant being collected at 11am.
We have never done a “tour” before, and it took a lot to persuade Simon to agree to it, but I really wanted to see the woods, which are about an hours drive out of town, so it was our only option.
We picked up lots of old people on the way to the tour office and I was starting to feel very afraid. And when we arrived to pay there was a HUGE coach outside and I could tell Simon was considering doing a runner, rather than spending the afternoon with 300 OAPs. But there was also a little mini bus which thank god turned out to be for us, two other couples and a family.
Our tour guide (from tower tours) was Larry and he was ace. Never has there been a man who was more proud of his city, or enjoyed his job more. He was hilarious and took a bit of getting used to, but by the end I loved him.
At one point he was telling us about how you can see a certain famous image in the local hills if you smoke some weed, so you know, it was entertaining!

We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to get to Muir Woods which was fun but the view was slightly blocked by thousands of Girl Guides on a sponsored walk.
When we got to the woods we had an hour to walk around, so we just stuck to the little paved trail, but you can go on full hikes if you have more time and the right kind of shoes. Simon was in loafers so there wasn’t much chance of that for us!
I also had a run in with the woman at the counter who was adament that I couldn’t take a picnic in, so I mentioned I just had some crisps, full international miscommunication ensued, until Simon stepped in and just told me to say I had no food. So I did.
The woods are amazing, very very tall trees and its really peaceful and beautiful, so much so that a fawn was nonchalantly having a bite to eat right by the pathway.
It was well worth going on a guided tour for.

Larry then gave us a bit of a drive around the area, with some stories about famous locals as well as local history, before dropping us off in Sausalito. He also took us via the actual house boats where Otis Reading wrote “Dock of the Bay”, and was very proud to actually have it on CD ready for us as we went past.

Sausalito is a really sweet town in Marin county, which pretty much feels like a lazy Sunday afternoon. There were lots of restaurants, ice cream parlours, shops and people driving around in convertibles.
We had another great lunch, at Poggio, with lots of nice wine, watching the world go by.
Then we had a quick stroll round town before heading back for our ferry home.
It was a great ferry ride as it goes right between the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, so even though we didn’t have time to do that tour as well we went right past the island and got a pretty good view.
And coming back into San Fran you get a really good view of the whole town, and it looks much more city like from the water than it does when you are in it.

Back at the ferry port we saw all the seals who hang out in Pier 39, there were so many of them they barely fit on the pontoons.
We took an electric bus to the end of all the piers to wait for the cable car.
This was quite possibly the best bit of the whole trip. It was so exciting.
I stood on one of the side platforms, hanging onto a bar and literally leaning out into the traffic. They don’t go that fast, but they go up and down those huge, steep hills and looking backwards is quite frightening, I wasn’t sure we’d make it to the top!
And the guard still has a hand bell, to go “ding ding” when they are ready to move, its all very old fashioned and sweet and I loved it. I could have gone up and down for hours.

But instead we went back to the hotel before going to Sutro at the Cliff House for dinner.
It is, surprisingly, right on the cliffs looking over the Pacific, and we were there in time to see the sun set and enjoy the view before the fog came rolling in.
Another really nice place, a bit less cosy than the night before but the food was great.

San Francisco baby! Part One

So bright and early on Friday morning, or rather an hour late because I over slept, I rushed to the airport for my flight to San Fran.
Its a 5.5 hour flight, which makes it also the same as coming home, but the difference is no stupid customs and no long check in time, so its a lot quicker. Also the time difference is only three hours, easier to get used to.
Anyway, on my way through airport security I lost one of my rings, and then on the plane I lost part of my watch buckle so it now doesnt do up, so really I should have been quite grumpy.

But the power of SF is that it cheered me up immediately, beginning with flying in over the water. I was quite glad not to be in a window seat seeing it more clearly as it would have really scared me!
I hopped in a cab to town, which is only about 20 mins from the airport and enjoyed the view.
All the houses on the hills on the way into town are very Mediterranean looking, lots of pretty colours and flat rooves like in Greece, and the sun was shining and the sky was blue and it just cheered me up completely.

The other place SF reminded me and Simon of was Cape Town.
Its a proper city, by the sea, with hills, with such a great atmosphere that you feel at home straight away, it doesnt feel like a city.

First stop was lunch, we wondered through Japan Town, which didnt seem to be very developed, maybe it hasnt been there very long?
And at the top of the hill got to Fillmore St which is famous for its boutique shops.
We stopped in a really nice place called SPOR for some Italian tapas which were delicious.
Italian food in SF is much more interesting and exciting than we tend to get in the UK, well worth trying.
Then we wondered around the shops a bit more before heading back to our hotel via China Town which was fab. It was brightly coloured and busy and bustley and full of, unsurprisingly, Chinese people. But it was like a proper little town all of its own, not just a street somewhere with a few Chinese restaurants, its was a whole community.
We ended up buying a beautiful embroidery of some blossom, and a few little chinese brushwork pictures.

Then we went back to the hotel and changed for dinner. I had booked places for both nights, just found them on the internet.
The first was Chez Spencer which was a really sweet, little place with a woodburning stove in the middle. It was quite cosy and dark and romantic but still had a great atmosphere.
The food was lovely as well, as was the service.
The only problem was at the end of the night when we asked them to book us a taxi. They did, but what we didnt find out till later is that this just means a general call gets put out to the yellow cabs, not that one is definitely coming.
So half an hour later when we were pretty much falling asleep we gave up waiting and went to hail one outside. Where thank god we found a limo driver (Marco) taking a break, and persuaded him to drive us. Otherwise I think it could have been a pretty long walk home, we were kind of in the middle of nowhere!
But still, it was a great night.

My fabulous brother

is doing the 3 Peaks Challenge, to raise money in honour of another fabulous brother, who sadly was killed in Afghanistan.
If you want to know more, or even would like to sponsor him, go to this link:

www.captainjim.org/donate.html

Please remember how badly Ross has abused his body over the years, he really deserves your sponsorship!!!

Just like a film set

I have just been to my first diner, and I honestly felt like I had stepped onto a set, or back in time!
I am going to put pictures up on Flickr because really, I cant do it justice.
From outside it looks like it was in Back to the Future, and inside are proper little booths, all in a disgusting pale pink, and stools at the bar.
There was also a little juke box at each table, I really wanted to put a song on but I didnt think that was a very kind way to repay the lovely lady who took me there.
They have the most enourmous menu, and pretty much serve anything, as long as its of the egg/salad/sandwich/burger variety.
I loved it.

Release the Monica within

Before things go any further I think I should just get this out of my system and fully reveal my inner geek.
I have always been a little obsessed by cleaning, but it has got much worse over here.

Firstly, our cleaners.
We had a cleaner for a while in the UK, but I sacked her because she never cleaned as well as me, so what was the point of giving her money???
But the cleaners here are like a little team of angels, or fairy godmothers.
(Speaking of which, I am going to be a godmother to Poppy Laurie - yay!)
Anyway, you book them in, and two or three show up and clean. Until its done. Same price, no matter how long it takes. (So we live by the motto "make sure the place is properly dirty by the time they come".)
If there is laundry in the laundry basket they put it on, they put the dishwasher on and then they clean everything. They take everything off the shelves, dust the shelves and then dust the things before putting them back.
I'm telling you, its a miracle. Even I think the flat is clean whenever they have been.
And as much as I have to admit that I love to clean...I really love to not clean as well!

But secondly, the products.
I am going to bring a whole suitcase full of these things home and set up a market stall because I'm telling you they are amazing.
Swiffers have just about changed my life. There are swiffer dusters and swiffer brooms.
The dusters start off all fluffy and then as they fill with dirt they get kind of matted, so you know exactly when to throw them away, and you know all that dust is going in the bin with them.
The brooms come in many exciting varieties. I just got the standard one to start with and its so amazing I cant even imagine what the fancy ones must be like.
You get dry covers to sweep with, which dust literally sticks to. And then you get wet ones, which mop and freshen and you just chuck them all away when you are done.
Tra la!

The final thing, which I dont actually have yet but have seen in action, is Magic Erazors.
And they are just that.
If you have any marks on walls or floors or doors you just rub them with this thing and, as if by magic, the mark is gone.
Love it.

Tips

It seems to me that practically no one in the service industry here actually gets a wage, they all just live off tips.
So, for those of you like me who might have thought you just need to give a little, you would end up having your food spat in quite a lot.
For a fairly cheap and cheerful restaurant, doubling the tax is a good (and mathematically easy) guideline.
In somewhere a bit nicer they will expect at least 20% of the total bill, which is slightly more than twice the tax.
In bars, and this is really important, you should tip $1 for every drink you order.
So if you order a big round it adds a lot to your total!!!
And in taxis under $10 its ok to just round up to the nearest dollor, after that give change and $1.
We also tip delivery guys $2, but some of them seem a little confused by this, so I need to investigate if that is too little.

Trash

Who knew that taking the rubbish out could be so much fun?
But our trash chute is just up the corridor, and you select what kind of rubbish you are putting in and then open the chute and you can hear the bag go bounding down, down ,down.
I love it!

Walking

One of the funniest things I've heard since being here is that New Yorkers are the thinnest Americans because they walk everywhere.
And after today I can see how it might be true.
We walked all the way up Broadway to Spring St where we came across a street market. There were handbags and clothes and food and drink and jewelry stalls. It went on for about 5 blocks, but it turned out most of it just repeated as you went further down.
So we had yummy pitas and watermelon smoothies for lunch.
Then we walked across town, to Hudson St, so we could check out all the many things called Hudson. And there were many!
When we got to the top, almost at the bottom west corner of Central Park, we went one block over and walked back down Greenwhich Street.
It was lovely, there were lots and lots of really nice bars and brunch places and the name West Village was very appropriate, as it had a lovely "local" feeling to it.
But by the time we got home we had been walking for about 5 hours, my feet were filthy (flipflops) and we were exhausted.
At least we found lots of nice places to go back to.

Arriving in the US of A

So, arriving. The first thing to note is that if you arrive at the same time as lots of other flights there will be a loooong queue in immigration and it will take a loooong time. And its very hot in there so be prepared.

Once through you must rush outside as fast as you can to get towards the front of the taxi queue. The yellow taxi queue!
It moves very quickly unless you happen to have to so much luggage that you need to wait for one of the bigger vehicles!!
And its a flat $45 rate into the city, so do your best to sit back and enjoy the view in what is probably the least comfortable car you'll ever sit in. With some crazy driving thrown in for fun.
And dont forget to tip. Its all about the tips over here.
If you are fancy you can book a limo instead, which is just what they call nice taxis, either in advance or from a free phone in the airport. They are twice the price but are all big Lincoln's with blacked out windows that make you feel like a movie star.
And if you are really lucky all the traffic will be stopped on the freeway and you will have to take the local roads, because the Pope is going past and apparently needs the entire police force of America to escort him.

Most likely you'll arrive at night from the UK, so you will get to look out over that famous skyline and see all the skyscrapers as you drive into town, its pretty cool.

And then, if you are visiting us at least, you will have to go through yet another police check with sniffer dogs at our building because the whole area is closed to traffic and heavily guarded.
I tried to tell them I dont need that much protection but what can you do?!?!
Or I suppose it could be because of the Stock Exchange or something. Whatever.
Anyway, they will sniffer your cab and then you will be greeted by one of our lovely doormen, walk past the third largest chandelier in the world, and get to our lifts.
In this building there are express lifts for people going to the top floors, so once again, FANCY!
There is also a lovely waiting room by the lifts, which is entirely gold. I am not joking. I cant even begin to imagine what they were thinking, but I can only hope there were drugs invovled in the decision.

And then you get to our always hot despite there being no heating on and the windows being open flat and take off lots of clothes.

And go to sleep in our fancy spare room. Which currently only has a blow up bed, but soon will have a proper Murphy bed, which folds away into the wardrobe!

So you see, you really should come and visit.

Welcome to America

So, I am going to attempt to actually record my stay in NYC for posterity, and to create a useful to do list for you guys if and when you come here!
But first, I am going to go and drink some wine.
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