Part 2 - NYC Trip

More on our New York trip.
Of course, we had a list of things to see and do while we were in New York. A theme of NY sites seems to be observation decks. There was of course, the Empire State Building--86th floor and Rockefeller Centre--with great views of Central Park. And naturally, the Brooklyn Bridge.

Paulster, bravely posing atop the Brooklyn Bridge.


And me, on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Here's the Dalek on top of the Empire State Building.


And both of us from the top of the Empire State.


The thing that impressed me almost as much as much as the views from the top of the building was the building itself. The art deco features were just magnificent. I'm sure the other tourists thought I was nuts...but here are a few snaps of the building's features that I thought the most cool.









And a view to the street from the top of the Empire State.


Oh...I nearly forgot... the iconic Empire State is known for being a romantic spot. And this guy was being romantic, thinking he was getting away with it...until someone shouted--Oh, he's proposing!!! Of course, I went to snap a picture... I missed the kneeling part, but got the hug and big ol' diamond ring and all. How sweet!


And the view from Rockefeller Center was an amazing view of Central Park.




And the front of the building...you'll recognise if you watch 30 Rock--as it's set here. Yes, it's on our rotation and we've even started incorporating some Tracy Jordan phrases in our daily vocabs. Sad, yes.


We got to have dinner and visit with J&J... Mrs. J used to work with Paulster and is now working in the US, near NYC with Mr. J. We had lots of fun--thanks for coming into the city to meet us!


Here are a few shots of Central Park. What a gorgeous space. We were surprised how little green space there is in the city...like it's all just concentrated in this one spot. That's certainly a difference in NYC and London.













This is the obelisk who's twin is in London. If you look closely...there's some woman who's climbed into the plinth and is doing some sort of hocus pocus chanting/blessing on the obelisk. Weird.

And on one edge of the park is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We didn't go in...but we did eat a hot dog while sitting on the steps...Paulster ate 2, actually.


One unique place we went after our amazing brunch was the High Line park. As I mentioned, there isn't much green space in the city (except Central Park), and in an effort to combat this, there is a drive to turn disused space into parks and leisure facilities. This park is built on a disused train track that is elevated above the street. Very cool use of space--and it's definitely popular--it was packed!






We were fortunate with the weather. It was a bit muggy on Sunday, and Monday was perfect--sunny and cool. It started raining again as we headed to the airport. Perfect timing.
Can't wait to go back and explore more.

A Real Vacation! Part 1

As much as we've enjoyed this year's stay-cations...it was really, really great to get away to New York City for 4 nights/5 days. I worked away from home almost every week for the first 6 months of the year, and in return for all those nights at the Holiday Inn in Norwich, I earned 4 nights free hotel to use anywhere in the world. So I chose The Barclay Hotel in New York City. And it really was FREE. Not one cent--no taxes, no nothing...

Unbeknownst to us, the timing of our trip coincided with the 64th UN General Assembly. We figured it out when we arrived at the hotel and had to put our luggage through the X-ray machine and ourselves through a metal detector to even get into the hotel. The lobby was heaving with meaty men in suits with little earpieces looking for shifty eyed guests laden with suicide bombs. I am happy to report that no one managed to blow anything up while we were there.

We do suspect that the President of Iran was staying at our hotel--given the nightly protests outside. We never caught a glimpse of him, or any other political operatives.

But in true New York style, we did spot a few celebs. Brunch on Saturday at one of the recommended restaurants had us sitting two tables away from Ugly Betty's Amanda and Marc. And Kyle MacLachlan was on our flight home! Those were definitely fun celeb spots. Before you ask...no, I did not make a fool of myself by asking for a
photo with any of them.

Part of the fun of any of our trips is eating great food. Before we left, we tapped the fountain of all NYC local knowledge--Budman's brother, M. He's just moved from the Big Apple to London and was quite the source of great restaurant recommendations. In addition to the Cookshop, we also sampled the delights of Sevilla--fantastic Spanish paella! Yum. If only we'd had more time and clothes a size larger!

For me, the highlight was seeing the Statue of Liberty in person. Unfortunately, we did not get to climb up to the crown, but wow, just the sheer size of her sandals--made me feel OK about the size of my feet! ;)


But really, here are a few shots of Lady Liberty.


This time with people in it for scale.




And a shot of Paul as we toured Ellis Island's Registry Room.


Looking from the Registry Room on Ellis Island out to Liberty Island.




Actually, we "kinda" saw a political operative...while on Liberty Island, Airforce One flew overhead. So, we're going to say that President Obama was in there flying out of New York from the UN business.


There were some amazing stories of the number of new arrivals to the American shores and the conditions that they endured trying to enter the country. Quite fascinating.

No trip to New York City is complete without a visit to Times Square.




And here's the ball--not yet hoisted into position.


And one of the best things we found in Times Square was M&M World! Wow, what a feast for the eyes.
I asked this fellow if he was still toxic--which is why I have the goofy grin on my face! OK...it's actually just delirium at the thought of an M&M that large!

P.S. Paulster says to make sure you know that I'm the one on the right.







OK--more on the trip later!

The Big Apple!!!

Here's a preview of the next post...from our latest adventure!

Call the Fire Brigade?!

Paulster put Kenny on a low branch in the evergreen tree...and the silly boy climbed nearly to the top of the tree. Big deal, that's what cats do, right?!
The top of the tree is easily 40 feet high.


So, of course, I grabbed the camera and chided Paulster for putting Kenny in the tree to begin with...all the while hoping that Kenny could get himself down.
And he did.

Garden Update

This summer, in addition to the cucumbers (still producing!) and tomatoes, I hung my Mexican planter on the outside wall and planted some impatiens in it. The impatiens are called "Peppermint Ole"--very Mexican!
They bloomed and are still blooming.

That's the success story of the garden.

Drama and I planted some seeds a long while back and had one decent stem come up. It got pretty large and we transplanted it into a larger container with some of the impatiens. Turns out...that was a giant thistle-type weed. Oops! It's been uprooted and taken away by the bin men...


We did a bit more heavy duty work this summer...remember the pics of Paulster and the girls chopping down some trees/bushes? Well, those darn things had some serious roots.


For one entire weekend, we dug and dug, but the roots were too thick and deep. A trip to B&Q [Home Depot] to buy a chain saw and we decided that we might end up amputees if that was the tool of choice. So, we chose a big-@$$ reciprocating saw instead.

And we dug and cut those bad boys up! (With Sulley's help, of course)


Then, we levelled off the soil, compacted it and sowed grass seeds. Now, we have a nice, fuzzy new patch of grass...which makes the rest of the back yard grass look really crummy. Next spring, we'll plant new grass in the rest of the garden.
I'll update the post with a picture of the new grass soon...

...and then, summer was over. :(

The English Patient

I recently turned into Florence Nightingale, when Paulster pulled his calf muscle playing 5-A-Side football [soccer]. He was in extreme agony the first night even when pumped full of Aleve and on ice. The next morning was still painful, but he got an appointment with the doctor the next day, so I drove him 150 yards down the road to get it checked out.

Turns out that there's no surgical correction required and the estimate was that with a bit of physiotherapy and time, all would be fine.

So, he spent two days relatively off his feet--basically in this position--working.


I'm pleased to say that a week later and a physical therapy appointment upcoming, he's not sprinting around, but optimistic that he'll be back on the road with me soon.