22/9/22 Rain and Baseball

 The day started off pretty cloudy and grey so it was time for a proper breakfast - corned beef hash, eggs, potatoes, sausages and toast. It was a bit of a gamble on the corned beef hash but this was from the Malibu Diner across from the hotel which hasn’t put me wrong yet. I am looking forward to not paying a small fortune for meals though - given the crappy exchange rate this is about $60 NZD.

No, you don’t need a passport for breakfast but it is evidence that I haven’t lost it this time. I did the dreaded NZ entry tracing online form thing. It took about 5 minutes, and if it means I don’t have to fill in a stupid card on the flight I’m happy.

Because the weather was a bit rubbish I headed for the NY Aquarium to stay out of the rain. Which I found out is about 10 minutes walk from the subway and only about half indoors. Yay. 

The scenic Brooklyn, and where the subway isn’t underground.

Lots of Dori fish. The tanks here were all amazing, really well laid out and seemed interesting for both people to look at and the beasties to live in.

A Piranah, just waiting for someone to put the hand in.

One of my favourite parts, I spent ages in here.

Cuttlefish are so cool, they had a whole bunch cursing around.

The outdoor displays were pretty cool, penguins, otters and different seals. The best bit was the underground areas where you could see the water areas from below.

Organised chaos, but I managed to get in and find my way to my seat. I didn’t get to have a hot dog here, not too disappointed though, I get to sleep without fear of a code brown.

The seat was pretty much directly behind home base, and I had somebody on either side of me so I knew when to cheer, clap, stand etc. There was a bit of half-way bullshit with some joker singing God Bless American but I kept my opinion that enough damage has been done here in his name already to myself.

The guy whose number and name is on the back of my Yankees jersey. I only realised this after I bought it, but luckily he’s really good and scored the only Yankees home run in the game.

There is some other guy called Aaron Judge that everyone seems to make a big deal about, standing when he’s batting and all sorts. He was rubbish, got three walks to first and caught out.

The crowd seemed pretty happy with the win.

I thought it was all over after the 9th innings but apparently they don’t do tied games. I was a bit worried when the 10 - 18 innings showed up, but luckily it was won in the 10th.

Look at me, dressed like a local. Blending right in I was…

Tomorrow is my last full day here, I’m off to the Bronx Zoo which is supposed to be world class and the residents are probably far better behaved than the ones in the Manhattan Zoo.

21/9/22 The Bridge & the Park

 Today was the day to walk the Brooklyn Bridge! I needed energy for this epic hike so a decent mid-morning breakfast was in order.

I’m getting to like these bagel things, especially when they’re paired with fresh sliced roast beef.

I am really going to miss having the subway when I leave - once you get the hang of getting the right one, and which side of the street to go down to get the one going in the proper direction it’s so easy and quick to get around. A 5 minute walk to the C line and I was able to subway right to the Brooklyn side of the bridge. A sign proudly stated that the new escalator for the station would be ready by March 2023. In the meantime, I was faced with 5 flights of stairs one after another, only 2 people wide so not much room to stop and quietly die half way up. Luckily the park outside the station had some nice seats to recover on.

It’s a very easy walk, and the walkway is pretty wide so there was plenty of room to stop and take photos without getting in everyone’s way.

I’m pretty sure this guy was being “artistic” with his camera angles, pretty sure I’d remember if there was some break dancing going on.

There are cables. Lots and lots of cables.

It’s a lot bigger than I imagined

Padlocks seem to be popular on the bridge, so much that you can be fined $100 for leaving one.

A nice park I spend an hour at after the bridge, almost as if I was on holiday

Central Park is an amazing place

A fountain complete with man dipping head first into the pond to fish out coins people had chucked in

The Jackie Onassis Reservoir, looks very serene…

This is what is going on on the other side of the photo - people everywhere and a lot of them running!

Diner was pastrami and cheese on toast, was supposed to be a Reuben but it tasted great.

Lots of walking done today so I’m so tired, happily able to nod off now. Tomorrow is the NY Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

20/9/22 Back to History

Last night after I posted my daily ramblings I went out for some dinner to a fish & chip shop a few blocks down. It was in a very old part of the city but the hospital on the corner had valet parking so it was pretty upmarket.

It felt so good to be able to order chips and get chips.

A great recommendation Sarah!

 Today was a bit of a bits & pieces day, mixed in with some good and some appalling food.

I started the day with a subway up to the Upper West Side and breakfast at Zabar’s - a deli and market that I bookmarked for visiting. I can’t remember where I heard about it but it was a good source because it definitely delivered. I had another go at a bagel, this time with just a cream cheese spread, scallion (spring onion) variety.

I understood most of the words on the menu board but didn’t really know what they meant. One day I‘ll find out what a cold brew is and how it’s different from iced coffee.

The cornerstone of a great breakfast, and the only edible thing I’d be faced with for the next 10 hours.

The cream cheese was so much nicer than the NZ type, the taste was a lot milder.

After lunch I wandered through the neighbourhood to the Museum of Natural History. It was very well to do with lots of Latino ladies pushing white children in prams.

I passed by a dog park too - it was separated with an area for small dogs and one for big dogs. Dogs don’t care, they love mixing it up!

The inside of the Hayden Planetarium - we weren’t allowed to film the action. It was a big dome with a half hour show about the planets projected onto the entire surface. Luckily the seats were fairly upwards looking to save everyone’s neck.

The outside of the Planetarium, which cunningly looks like a planet.

According to the label, the white stuff is some of the oldest substances in the solar system. It is aluminium and calcium oxide and is from the first solid grains of dust when the solar system started to form 4.5 billion years ago.

A Blue Whale, hopefully securely attached. There were several old men wandering about with a large “Explainer” badge on. After my run-in with the cochineal enthusiast in Tucson I keenly avoided them. I was standing next to a woman reading about some display when I heard “would you like to see a part of a whale?”. She blinked first and had something handed to her. As I made my escape I heard “that’s the baleen, now the interesting thing is…” she’s probably still there now.

Rocks, chunks, samples and gems - lots and lots of them.

A 9ft tall Amethyst geode

The Star of India, a 563 carat Sapphire

I thought they had missed out the Tyrannosaurus Rex’s arms until I went back and had another look.

Allosaurus eating an Apatosaurus 

What was about to be the scene of a culinary crime…

After a few hours at the museum for some reason I decided I wanted a hot dog. I don’t know why, they are almost always shit apart from the ones outside the Met. Anyway, I got a drink and hotdog from one of the carts and I’m pretty sure I was charged tourist rates. Needless to say a tip was not forthcoming.

I didn’t even bother taking a photo of the thing, I just chucked it into the next bin I walked past, it was the saddest, palest boiled piece of rubber. To add insult to injury I didn’t put the cap on my drink properly so halfway to the subway I felt wet on my leg. It had leaked all through my bag and managed to soak into every pocket. So that was lunch (at about 4pm), fun times.

After getting back to the hotel and giving the bag a wash I also discovered it was falling apart a bit, had a tub of Chick-fil-a sauce squashed in a pocket (I’d forgotten about that) and the washing water was a bit manky after being on my back for 4 1/2 weeks through some pretty hot and sweaty days. I now have a new bag, thank you Macy’s.

Takeaways, New York style

Finally, some food that was good! Shack Shack chicken burger, pretty much a good bet.

New York drowning out a sunset

It always amazes me that in a city with so many skyscrapers you can often see almost to the horizon.

A New York cycling event. Slightly less impressive than the Los Angeles one.

Tomorrow is the Brooklyn Bridge walk, and depending on my feet afterwards some looking around the lower part of Manhattan and Soho area (which is short for South of Houston St).