Sunday 10th – Monday 11th November 2019
The previous day we’d scoped out a chain of patisseries with delectable looking carbs, so brekkie was a quick stop for a quinoa scone and massive coffee. And that scone was worth writing home about!! But we weren’t in the financial district to just eat pastry, or even hunt for the wolves of Wall Street, we were there to visit the 911 Memorial and pay our respects. I don’t know about you but I remember seeing it all unfold on TV in the early hours of that day, watching in shock horror, a memory so clear it feels like it was yesterday. Walking onto the site of the twin towers, seeing their footprint now outlined in the names of those fallen with water flowing from the fountains seemingly into nowhere, the whole site leaves you speechless, and for most, including myself, in tears. My eyes are welling up just writing about it. I didn’t know anyone directly affected by the tragedy but live in a world that will forever be impacted by what unfolded that day. Seeing the names of all the people that lost their lives, those unknowingly going about their day and those that ran into the fire to help others makes something seen from afar a reality. Last time I visited NY, the site was still a rubble in the process of being rebuilt. This time it stood for all that was lost. Being there really puts your own life into perspective and for myself, grew into feelings of anger, that anyone would conspire to and carry out such a catastrophic event, mad that they thought this would achieve anything. But amongst all of the anger, hope for mankind, the names of people who jumped into action to help and put their own lives on the line gives hope that the human spirit is more kind and loving than evil. You can hope. That’s my take on it anyway.
The memorial site is equally beautiful as it is heartbreaking, the new One World Tower stands tall and proud and somehow it feels like there’s a cone of silence over the whole area, one that even the never ending honking of horns can’t seem to penetrate. Having taken in the site, we headed for a happy place, Tiffany’s!! Entering through a weird back entrance, we opted not to have a second breakfast at Tiffany’s, it was just two ladies ooing and ahhhing at some pretty pieces, but mostly oooing at the price tags!! To be honest, yes there are some stunning diamonds at Tiffany’s but there are also some real gaudy pieces too, worth enough to feed a small country. I could never justify spending that amount of money on jewelry, something no one actually needs. Too many starving and homeless people in the world to make it ok to walk around with a $50,000 ring on your finger. Once again, just my take on it!! Unlike most other Tiffany stores, the store in the heart of New York is about more than jewelry, there’s luggage, crockery, home wares and all kinds of knickknacks, all in Tiffany blue and with the Tiffany price tag!! Even a key ring sets you back 50 bucks, US bucks that is. I had gone there to see if I could pick up a birthday present for my sisters 40th but unfortunately my budget does not include Tiffany. And probs will never ever include this gorgeous Harley either, definitely my favourite thing in the entire store!!
Prior to our visit to the Big Apple, Katie and I had wanted to book in at the Blue Box Cafe at Tiffany’s for afternoon tea however it was booked out, months and months in advance. Which was kind of a blessing cos once there it didn’t look all that and the whopping $70 cost for afternoon tea could have been better spent on 10 quinoa scones that’d feed me for a week, ok, 2 days. Exiting Tiffany’s with our life savings still intact, we walked out into 5th Avenue to this…
What the hell is that you ask??? This is what a presidential visit to New York looks like, and Tiffany’s main entrance happens to be right next door to Trump Towers. The pictures don’t really show the scale of the blockade, look closely and you can see tip trucks lining the street, making sure nothing makes it through, didn’t think I should push my luck and get pics of all the cops in the area. The thing that perplexed me the most was the people, in that there were none, well not none, but not the crowds I expected to line the street to catch a glimpse of the President. People didn’t really to seem to give a shit, for a patriotic nation, this surprised me. But given the current president, maybe I shouldn’t have been. Can’t say I was inclined to wait and see him, lunch was more important!! Getting away from the blockages we found a place that promised pizza and pasta and wine. And by gosh, came good on that promise, the truffle cauliflower gnocchi was out of this world, as was the size of my growing stomach, but whatevs, it’s not everyday you’re in New York, well I guess it is if you live here… but on that, with both of us having a keen interest in real estate, we often perused the listings outside real estate agencies as we wandered the streets. It became very obvious that the only way you could ever afford to live in Manhattan would be if you’re filthy rich. Not even well off would make the cut. And there is no way in hell a struggling writer, a la Carrie Bradshaw from Sex & the City could have ever afforded the apartment she lived in, maybe if she shared it with 10 other people, and lived off a diet of dust and water. Unlike London where you can live in a decent suburb on an average income, there is no way that would cut it in Manhattan. And unlike after the first time I visited, I had no desire to live in the Big Apple, I really have turned into one of those people that prefer little apples still growing on the farm. And apparently this frame of mind was evident with every second person offering us a carriage ride or tour as we got closer and closer to Central Park, even Katie’s statement of “No, we live here!” wasn’t enough to convince the locals, we had tourist written all over our foreheads!
My feel is that without Central Park, New York wouldn’t be quite the amaze balls place it is. To have all the sky scrapers surround a green park of its magnitude really does blow your mind. But living in New York amongst all the crazy hectic people and road traffic, without this safe haven of green you may literally want to blow your mind, so kudos to whoever thought this was a good idea. They probs at the time didn’t realise what each square meter of green would be worth one day, the real estate of the whole park is worth a cool $35 billion says google but you can’t put a price tag on mental health and the environment… Enough ranting, even I’m getting sick of it. Instead here’s some cool pics and video of the Central Park skating rink, lookin all Christmas and joyful…
With time up our sleeves to lose ourselves in the park, we wandered. A pit stop at the gift shop, past street performers and their oversized bubbles, browsing market stalls, checking out the baseball fields and wandering in the general direction of the Bethesda Fountain. Don’t know what that is? Bet you’ve seen it a million times in movies and on TV shows…
Unfortunately being winter, there wasn’t water in the fountain which meant you could swing your legs over the side, or hunt for dimes as this gentleman did.
He seemed to be picking up quite a few so more fool us for just watching. Of course, the boyfriends of Instagram were out in full force, couldn’t help but giggle at a couple, after posing for 10 minutes, the chick checked out the pictures, then made her BF go again, apparently she didn’t like her pose in the first 100. Sorry love, but that’s how you look! If you don’t look any better after the first three then you’re stuck with that face, my rule anyway! Wandering around the park, the hype of New York just makes sense, there’s no other city like it, and I feel like I can say that having been to a few.
Feeling nearly pooped, we were stoked to find the infamous Serendipity dessert place was just a stones throw away. Famous for not only the rom com, but also for its over the top desserts, who says you can’t have dessert for dinner?? Unfortunately there was a 45 minute wait for a table but we were in luck, across the road there was a nail parlor, you really are living the life when you can get a pedicure while waiting for your dinner reservation!! Yes it was in a cheaper style nail salon where the ladies didn’t speak a word of English and we managed to get sucked into thinking the neck massages were part of our package, not the extra $10 we got charged at the end, but anyway. An hourish later with pretty toes now hidden in grubby shoes, we headed across to Serendipity ready for our sugar intake. Now I’m not a massive cake fan, but cheesecake, that’s another story!! Love me some cheesecake any day, any time. Almost love cheesecake as much as I love castles. So obviously I ordered the New York cheesecake and Katie ordered apple pie, what better for a cold night in New York. Unfortunately for us, the apple pie was served cold and by the fact there were remnants left on the plate, wasn’t very tasty. Same same but different, my cheesecake was underwhelming but there was nothing left, sacrilege not to finish cheesecake!! Well at least we can say we’ve been there, home of the worlds most expensive milkshake ($100) and most expensive foot long haute dog ($69), I don’t recall seeing either on the menu!
While finishing and not finishing off dessert for dinner, we pondered what to do with our night and found the movie Harriet playing in 10 minutes about 15 minutes away. After a hustle to get there, we settled back to watch a movie I’d heard nothing about but so massively loved. See it. An inspiring story of a courageous young African American women who when life gave her lemons, smuggled out hundreds of slaves to freedom across the border in Pennsylvania. Absolutely brilliant and a true story. Also helped that the cinema was all recliners, not so much that the dude next to Katie fell asleep and snored rather loudly.
Opting for the Metro back to Williamsburg we unfortunately hoped off too early in Green Park. After bagels and donuts for second dinner we walked the 2.5km to Williamsburg, was actually quite a scenic walk looking at houses that normal people could actually afford.
Waking to our last day in New York, we did what normal people do, run across the Williamsburg Bridge!! Well mine was more of a walk/shuffle with lots of photo stops, running on the correct side this time, knowing better than to try play chicken with crazy New York cyclists.
Katie got in a decent 5km run, me not so much, I probs didn’t deserve the grilled cheese sandwich I had for brekkie at this too cool for school place called The West in Williamsburg. Katie’s defs deserved her French toast!!
Anyhoo, unfortunately being our last day in NY we had to check out of our Air BNB, which these days means leave the key on the bench on the way out, then head to Penn Station for our 2pm train. Having previously experienced some pretty significant life events in New York, I was keen to return to one particular place not generally on the tourist road map, the Irish pub where Brett proposed. So the story goes that we arrived in New York a few days before my 30th birthday. Unbeknown to me, before we left he had asked my Dad for my hand in marriage, my Mum didn’t find out until we were on the plane and away, we all know she can’t keep a secret (sorry Mum!). For my 30th, Brett planned a whole day of amazing, a limousine to take us on a tour of New York then drop us off at the Boathouse restaurant in Central Park then a final spin of the Big Apple before finishing at a bar for birthday cocktails. A perfect 30th birthday that would be made even more special with his proposal at lunch. But once in New York, he couldn’t wait, two nights before my 30th, we were at an Irish pub, having a few wee drinks, dancing to INXS ’Never Tear Us Apart’ (ironic!) on the jukebox when he felt the need to propose. With our apartment just around the corner, he ran back to get the ring then proposed on a bar stool in the pub. I know the Boathouse proposal sounds more romantic but if you know me at all, you know I’d prefer the spontaneous, private proposal as it happened to unfold. So back in New York with Katie, I was determined to find the Irish pub. I knew the general vicinity it was in, not the name, but vaguely how it looked inside and strangely the weird double door entry. Having thought I’d found the one on the map, as we approached, the butterflies in my stomach told me this was it. We entered and there it was, the jukebox, the green back lit bar and wall of booze, just as I remembered. This place was it. I thought I’d lose my shit being back there and while my eyes welled up with tears when we entered, for the rest of the time I sat there with a dorky grin on my face, grateful that someone had loved me enough, and I them, to want to spend the rest of our lives together. The Molly Wee pub in New York, my own little happy place! P.S. Never Tear Us Apart was our wedding song, and now the rallying anthem of my football team Port Adelaide, pulls at the heart strings every game…
Unfortunately with a train to catch, we couldn’t sit there all day while I replayed that night in my head so off we were to Penn Station, a station in a building that looked way too pretty to be a station…
With enough time to gather snacks and sushi for the 4 hour train ride home, we were then herded onto the train. And I mean herded. You know how on Western movies you see all the cattle in a pen being pushed through one exit gate while they all shove and push? Yep… a room full of people being herded down one escalator to the train platform, where two trains waited. Lucky for us we got on the right one, not so much for the dude opposite who had to get off at the next stop and go back. After a busy but brilliant few days in New York, the train ride back to Baltimore was time to unwind, think back on the weekend adventures and think fondly of what the city of New York means to me. For Katie it may have been the calm before the storm returning home to three kids but she looked happy, I’d miss those little ones if they were mine too, in fact, I did miss them and they aren’t even mine!!! Back in Baltimore, Katie had the tough job of driving us an hour and a half back to California. No idea how she did it, I was wrecked and could hardly muster a sentence the whole ride let alone concentrate on the road, the other side of the road. But she’s Wonder Woman so got us home safely and to a yummo pulled beef dinner cooked by Jules. Being pretty late we crashed quickly, New York really does take it out of you but then also puts it back in with a weekend of great memories of the current life and of one past.
Holly vs the world 