In the morning I decided to do
another walking tour with the hotel, as it covered Chelsea and the high line,
Meatpacking district and Greenwich Village – three areas I really wanted to
visit but simply didn’t have the time. The tours that the hotel offered were
also just fantastic. The guides were really cool and had some really
interesting stories, I would definitely recommend them if any of you decide to
visit NY (http://streetwisenewyork.com/). Thankfully the cool people I
met on the previous tour I did were there too so we had a little gang. It’s so
nice to meet other people, I’m fine with being alone, however sometimes you
want someone with you just so you can say “oh wow” or “that is so pretty” aloud
instead of just thinking it.
So the first stop was Chelsea,
again, we took the subway – yuss! We arrived outside the google building which
was HUGE and then we walked around to the Chelsea Market, which if I'd had
more time I would have spent all my time and money there.It’s a converted biscuit warehouse (and was
where oreos were invented), so all the walls are brick and it has a really cool
industrial vibe. But the best thing is the amount of retailers, FOOD retailers.
Cupcake shops, gelateries (is that a word?), delis etc etc. Food lovers paradise.
Inside Chelsea Market
We were hustled through, probably because our guide saw the pure food lust in
our eyes and knew that he wouldn’t be getting us out of there anytime soon, and
moved onto the high line. The high line is pretty incredible and it was nice to
learn that it is solely funded by rich people and celebrities (so they do actually use their money for good, occasionally). It’s only
relatively new, it was officially opened to the public in 2009 after years of planning. Prior to
being a public park, it was a railway track that had been abandoned for many
years. One day two architects/city planner type people noticed the plants
hanging from the lines and wondered what was up there. They explored and found
that the old overgrown railroad had fantastic views of different parts of
Manhattan, so with the help of lots of rich people, they started a fund and set
up the highline. It’s a really cool space, quite industrial (it is a railroad
after all) but it has wild flowers growing all along it (they tried to keep the
plants as natural as possible), water features, seating areas, viewing
platforms and windows. Every bench or window is placed with the intention of
getting the best view, and they did so well. My personal favourite was an
amphitheatre type set up that faced a large window looking straight down an
avenue. I don’t know why but I found it absolutely mesmerising, the guide
likened it to how when you’re by a fireplace you can’t help but stare at the
flames. It was a perfect analogy. I could have sat there for hours just staring
down the avenue, watching the taxis zoom by. At one point we walked past a
path that was covered in water (it was a hot, humid day) and there were
children playing in the water. We all walked past and looked on longingly, the
Canadian girls and myself discussed whether it would be socially acceptable to
just go and sit down in it/if we could stand having wet clothes for the next few
hours. We decided against it, but I found myself wishing I was a child again so
I could just go and sit in it and then my parents would have to deal with it
hahah. From the highline we also saw the port where the Titanic was supposed to
dock (and where the rescue boats were launched from), Diane Von Furstenburg’s
house (it’s right next to the highline, fair enough since she funded it)
and the hotel where Solange and Jay Z had the infamous elevator fight (just a
bit of pop culture thrown in there haha).
The window that you can't help but stare out at.
Horrible pic but you get the idea of the scale haha
Looking right down the avenue
One of the covered parts. You can see how much it still looks like a train track.
An old bridge, the train would go straight through the building.
Natural plants and epic views = highline
That bubble is Diane Von Furstenburg's home
Jay Z v Solange went down here
We left the highline and walked
into the Meatpacking district which is quiet during the day but apparently at
night it comes alive and it’s full of limos, celebrities and women trying to
navigate the cobblestone streets in stilettos, something I would loved to have
seen! The meatpacking is so called because it was once where all the butchers
were set up and many of the shop fronts still have the original storefronts.
It’s a pretty interesting contrast, the rich and the famous flock to clubs that
were once butchers…
Typical cobbled Meatpacking street
We moseyed on
to Greenwich Village, on the way one of the American ladies in the group
accosted me because I was from NZ and she loved NZ music and had apparently had
the Phoenix Foundation round for dinner. It’s funny because you either get
people who know nothing about NZ or people who know EVERYTHING about one aspect
of NZ culture or a place, so it makes the conversations pretty one-sided! I
digress…We got to Greenwich
Village, which wasn’t as cool as I expected. It’s cool and has tree lined
streets and brownstones etc but I much preferred the brownstones and tree lined
streets in Brooklyn, but as you all know I’m in love with Brooklyn haha. But it
was still cool, in fact (WARNING: SATC mention ahead), I was planning on
heading to the Village to find Carrie’s house and then the guide ended up
taking us there. Amazing! So naturally I got a picture outside, but sadly
there’s a chain to stop you going on the steps L
even though no-one actually lives there!!We visited the Stonewall Inn which was the place that basically
initiated the Gay Pride movement. The Gay Pride march was that weekend, sadly I
wouldn’t be there for it, as apparently it’s basically an amazing street
party!
Brownstones
Perry Street
CARRIE'S HOUSE OH EM GEE
Looking like a fool outside Carrie's apartment
Home of the Gay Pride movement in NYC
Greenwich street scene
From there we walked to
Washington Square Park which is at the heart of the NYU campus. The park is actually built on top of an old cemetary and burial site for yellow fever. So there’s about 20,000 bodies underneath it! In 1889 a huge
arch was built to commemorate George Washington - hence the name, Washington Square Park. The park is really
quaint though, and there are little chess tables set up where all the old men
sit playing for hours. So sweet. Also, for the first time in many, many years,
I saw a squirrel! I forgot how adorable they are! Once the tour ended I grabbed
a quick bite to eat at an amazing Felafel shop, which was ridiculously cheap, I
think it was like $2 for a felafel pita and it was HUGE. I did want to explore
more but I had to be uptown for a museum tour at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art.
Creepy to think there are 20,000 bodies under the park
The arch with the ESB peeking through
Museum Mile = Upper East Side and 5th Ave
Which leads me to:
The MET! So huge, I can’t get
over how huge it was! Firstly I HAD to take a picture of me on the MET steps,
as (WARNING: GG mention ahead) Blair and Serena on Gossip Girl would sit on the
MET steps at lunch, and the higher you sat, the more important you were. So
naturally, I sat at the top haha. However, there were so many people I had to
make do with taking a photo of only my legs on the steps, so you’ll have to
take my word for it that I was at the top haha. I’d booked a tour with a
company called Museum Hack (again, I would totally recommend them) because I
knew the MET was so huge and I probably would miss out on some cool stuff by
getting stuck (read: lost) in one wing.The tour focuses on the more scandalous/interesting/dodgy items in the
MET – my kind of tour! But I learnt so much stuff too. For example, there’s an
Egyptian temple there, which was offered to the USA when JFK was President.
However, there was competition between the MET and another museum over who
would get it. There were conditions too, the temple had to be placed in an area
similar to it’s natural environment, and it had to be able to be seen by the
public, for free, at any time of the day. So the MET built a whole new wing,
decked it out in sandstone, built a “Nile” around it and built a wall of
windows that face central park (so anyone can see it for free!). Sadly, JFK was
assassinated before the temple arrived and what’s cool but also really sad, is
that Jacqui Kennedy bought an apartment nearby so she could see the temple from
her window, and remember her husband every time she looked at it.
The temple, with the "Nile" in front and the desert vibe
You can just see Jacqui Kennedy's apartment through the window
1820 graffiti meets Ancient Egyptian
One of the most astounding and
stunning pieces was in the American Wing (I would have never ventured here had
it not been for the tour). It’s called “Washington Crosses the Danube” and it’s
HUGE! So huge! It’s possibly one of the most patriotic things I’ve ever seen,
even I was like, wow, AMERICA!! And this song was totally playing when I looked
at it (if
you’re a child reading this or offended by swear words, watch at your own risk
haha)...
So I found out that this painting is pretty much a giant piece of
propaganda, for a start, it was midnight when he crossed the Danube. There are
never giant shards of ice in the Danube. There would be no American Indian on
the boat. The boats would never hold that many people. George Washington would
not look that amazing as he’d been fighting for days prior… LOVE IT! I find
propaganda so interesting! The funniest part however is that when I looked at
old George, my eyes were immediately drawn to his cherries. Yes, it is as dodgy
as it sounds. Back in the day, they would carry their pocket watches in their
pants pockets, often decorated and hung out a bit for easy access (no matter
how I write this, it still sounds dodge). So George apparently had cherries in this
pic, but the placement makes it look like his balls, so much so that in school
textbooks and any other reproductions (so much innuendo in this paragraph haha)
they have to remove the cherries from the picture. I guess they don’t want
school children giggling at the cherries of the founding father of the USA!
Washington crosses the Danube or AMERICA F@#K YEAH
Look closely, you can see the cherries
Shitty photo but good for scale purposes haha
Continuing with the ball
related art history (It’s my blog and I can art history if I want to, so suck
it up)… this was another…questionable picture...
Crooked shot but it's gets all the goods in! haha
This was actually
commissioned by the young man with all the swag resting on the piano. The half
naked man next to him is the God of Music (Apollo) and the weird looking
man on the floor is the man who just challenged him to a musical duel. He lost,
he picked the bag pipes (which, lets face it, he was doomed from the beginning) Apollo had the much easier on the ear lyre. As a result of losing,
the man was skinned alive (explains the red tinge), tied up and castrated. The
bagpipe lying limply on the ground next to him is representative of his now sad
sack… too much?! Sorry, this is art people. The funny thing is, the dapper man
who commissioned this bizarre painting was actually one the top sopranos in
Italy at the time. And of course, to preserve their angelic voices the sopranos
were castrated before their balls dropped. Why on earth he would want a
painting like this I do not know… He’s like “So hey Guiseppe, I’d lika pictura
ova me, and Apollo where he wina a musical baaattle and the other guy ee getssss de
balls chopped offa becausa he picka de stupido bagpiiipes. And I ama there but
I justa looka magnifico” (note: this is not racist because I am part Italian haha).Art history class – over. I apologise
to my Grandmothers who may be reading this for the over usage of the word balls
and general innuendo. Sorry :)
Oh I forgot to mention they have a freaking rooftop bar with the best view of
Manhattan. It was packed and if I wasn’t such a loner it would have been the
coolest place to hang!
From the bar on the top of the MET - Amazing views
Entrance Hall
Some other personal favourites...
Taxidermy deer covered in glass balls...one of the strangest things I've ever seen
Look at the detail! Insane!
I took a sneaky pic of this man sketching one of the statues. Incredible talent.
Like a sir!
This was so scandalous when it was first painted - her strap was falling off her shoulder in the painting. They did another one so she didn't look like such a harlot.
Love the facials and the fact that the devil is actually what looks like a dinosaur from those claws
The face - amazing. She's got so much sass!
Unfortunate family portrait. The faces make me laugh so much - terrible scale and they all look the same!
On the MET steps, at the top, GG style.
Later I went to grab some food
and wine from the bar next door and I got freaking ID’d! Let’s not forget that
the drinking age in the USA is 21. Jeeeeeesus! Though I am writing this from
Europe where I NEVER get ID’d it’s fantastic! While I was at the bar, sat alone
just happily writing, the (drunk) couple next to me prodded me and the
conversation went something like this. Bare in mind that most of this was incohesive…
Also note that while one was talking to me, the other spent their time staring
intently at whoever was speaking.
HIM: You writing a novel?
ME: No just writing my travel
journal
HIM: You by yourself? (incredulously)
ME: Yep
HER: Wow that’s so cool
ME: Yep (politely trying to end
the convo and carry on eating my dinner)
HIM: You not got a man?!I hope you don’t mind, she don’t mind
(putting his arm round his girlfriend, she nods) but you’re an attractive girl.
You should have a man.
ME: (I give him a brief “why
I’m single” run down) I’m fine really!!
HIM: No, no! You deserve the
one, don’t give up! My ex wife cheated on me and then I found this one and I
love you, don’t I (to her; she nods enthusiastically) and you’ll find him and
don’t give up. A girl like you shouldn’t be here alone. You’ll find the one,
it’s ok. Don’t feel down. You’ll find him.
ME: (having just explained that
I’m not looking for a boyfriend currently and I’m happy alone) Umm thanks…
I really don’t know how that
escalated so quickly…ok I do – alcohol. On their part not mine haha. I just
love how so many people are so shocked when they find out I’m alone and don’t
have a man to “look after me”. So funny but also quite sad, are we still at
that point where women can’t do “scary” or “crazy” things without a man there
to save them?!
That night I hung out on the hotel’s
rooptop with the walking group crew and just enjoyed the lights of my last
night in NYC.
Rooftop selfie
Day 5
My last day in NY was pretty
rushed, my flight was at 7:30pm to I had to leave pretty early to arrive on
time and avoid the crazy rush hour traffic! In the morning I took the subway
(of course) to soho expecting to find a hip neighbourhood. Sadly it was
Saturday morning so there was no-one around except for the bums. It’s kind of
funny, walking around soho that Saturday morning was the first and only time in
NY that I felt any kind of unease. It was probably just because NY is busy all
the time and there’s always people about but because of the time and day, it
was just me and a few early risers, and all the bums. Funny how things work,
walking around the streets, lost at midnight, I felt as safe as kittens (why is
that even a phrase?) but broad daylight, residential area, uneasy. Weird. Anyway
I spent the morning walking around, soho has some amazing buildings but I’d like
to go back and give it another try when it’s actually awake! Reluctantly I
caught a taxi to the airport where I got my first glimpse of living with
Spanish. The taxi driver was Mexican and he was playing Spanish music, then he
turned to another station and it was a world cup match, all in Spanish. I was
surprised and impressed that I picked up on it but then it’s not that hard when
people are screaming GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! I’ll give you one guess what that means
– yep, goal. Easy. Now I’m actually in Spain I just feel like a dumb arse. My
Spanish is so crap. Anyhow, I got to the airport and was gonna get Shakeshack
one last time but it was too far from my gate and I was so sad! I was planning
on sleeping on the plane but then I ended up sitting next to two Welsh boys who
were hilarious and we spent the whole 7 hours playing the in flight trivia. We
were the only people on the whole plane playing it… quite sad but we had a ball
haha. So when I finally arrived in London I was pooped. Hadn’t slept for about
a day and had to endure the torture that is Heathrow customs. I think I went
through about 6 different border control gates, and had my picture taken the
same amount of times. Before you think it, no it wasn’t just me haha. Heathrow
is just cray cray!
Old police building
Soho architecture
Very Parisian!
I love the water towers, they remind me of Looney Tunes
My fave - The Chrysler
Last glimpse of NY :(
Eventually I arrived in
Manchester where my Grandma and Uncle were waiting for me. It was so great to
see them! Two hours later I was in my hometown and ready to start the European
part of my adventure!
I’m sorry I’m a useless blogger!
I never know where my next internet connection is coming from and also, lets
face it, I’m just enjoying myself far too much to sit in front of my computer
for ages. And I like to write a lot (as you can probably tell) so it does take
me a while to write and then sift through my 100’s of pictures. Currently I am
writing this on the bus from Barcelona to Zaragoza where I will be living as an
au pair for a year. By the time I post this I will have met the family and
hopefully be happy haha. It’s a nice distraction writing this as the bus is 3h
45m and the man next to me has smelly breath hahahaha. Hope he can’t read
English! I’m super nervous about this…what do I do when I get off the bus? Are
we like HEEEEYYY! Are we like nice to meet you, shake hands and all that? Do we
do the Spanish kiss kiss thing? ARRRGGGGHHHH. Who knows?!One thing for sure though is that
Spanish countryside is amazing. So different to NZ and England. It’s mainly a
blur of sandy colours and green with the odd little town here and there. Each
one has a bell tower (campostela?), it’s pretty cute! This feels more authentic
than Barcelona did but that’s another post – once I catch up on the many others
I’ve missed eeeek!
This is a pretty tough call, but day three was probably the best day I had in New York... though you may wonder why after reading the title of this post haha. Let me break it down for you. WARNING: May be a lot of photos (so hard to chose out of my millions).
So - DUMBO. No, not the cartoon elephant and no, I'm not trying to insult you, my wonderful readers. DUMBO stands for Down Under (the) Manhattan Bridge Overpass, and is a suburb in Brooklyn. When I decided to come to NY I did think about visiting Brooklyn but didn't want to do it on my own since I figured I'd probably get lost and before I visited I thought Brooklyn was quite far away from Manhattan. It's not really... but as luck would have it, my hotel was doing a walking tour of Brooklyn so I was on it like a car bonnet. The first amazing part of the day was when the guide announced we'd be taking the subway. I was a bit clueless as how to use it so was so glad I'd have someone to show me/was so excited that I'd get to ride the subway like a real New Yorker. I'd read that you must avoid all eye contact and look unimpressed at all times so I was ready with "bitchy resting face".
Subway time!
The subway was so much fun, I'm such a loser. I was so stoked and "bitchy resting face" went right out the window as soon as I got on. I never thought I'd get that much joy from a train ride, I had to stand too so felt extra cool hahaha. Anyway, moving on - we arrived in Brooklyn and had a walk around DUMBO and - OMG I LOVE BROOKLYN. I just love it. I want to live there. It's so cool, like so different to Manhattan. Shops don't open til like 10am cuz people are just so chilled out there. Yeah it's known as a "hipster" place and I can tell you I am so damn sick of hipsters after living in Wellington but DUMBO is less hipster than Williamsburg (which I didn't get to but I was told it's hipster central). DUMBO has a really interesting history, it's full of old factories that have been turned into apartments and lofts etc. In the 60's or whatever (man I'd be a good tour guide huh?!) there were artists living in the lofts and things and then all of sudden rich people got wind of how there were lofts with amazing views of Manhattan and wanted to buy the buildings. The artists were scared of losing their lofts and so when people came to look they decided they would call the area Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass (DUMBO) because they thought no-one would want to buy property in area called DUMBO. They were wrong...it happened haha. So now it's one of the most expensive areas in Brooklyn. Anne Hathaway lives in one of the buildings just near the bridge (there's a pic below) and the penthouse of that building is worth around $18 million. That's cheap in Manhattan terms but you can see how Brooklyn has become property gold, and I'm sold. I freaking love it! In fact, next time I visit NY (hopefully it's sooner rather than later) I'm definitely staying in Brooklyn.
Of one the cute little plazas in DUMBO
The money shot. ESB through the Manhattan Bridge.
Looking like a dumbo in DUMBO
One of the many old factory spaces in Brooklyn
This piece of "street art" has made a guy a millionaire. He sued Victoria's Secret for using LOVE because it's his street mark. Pretty amazing!
Anne Hathaway lives here, this is the penthouse that's worth $18 mil.
I do!
Brooklyn is full of street art
The house where Truman Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's
Getting close!!
We explored Brooklyn heights (so pretty and I want to live there!) and the area around the bridge and then our guide left us. I met an Australian couple and two Canadian girls on the tour so we hung around in Brooklyn for a bit and got pizza from a place called Juilana's which was a tip off from our guide. In the Brooklyn pizza wars, Juliana's and Grimaldi's are the main parties. Grimaldi's is in all the tour guides but has recently moved to a larger shop to accommodate this popularity...when it moved shops it left behind its coal pizza oven and it's new home has the new regulations on ovens so it's lost the authenticity. Juliana's has moved into the old Grimaldi's shop so they now have the secret weapon (the coal oven) - cue pizza wars. The battle is fought on the sidewalk and it's pretty entertaining.
This was just on the boundary where Juliana's ends and the pavement begins.
Juliana's response
We took our pizza over to the water and sat and looked out over the bridge and Manhattan and it was just perfection.
Amazing.
So happy!
After filling up on pizza and amazing fresh pineapple, watermelon and lemonade drinks we set off over the Brooklyn Bridge, woohoo!
I've decided I'm retiring this singlet because it makes me look fat!! ON THE BRIDGE!
It was so hard to get a picture with no one else in it!
This is not rope, this is a steel cable. AMAZING!
Incredible feat of engineering!
Once we were over the bridge, even though it was stinking hot and I'd already been walking for three hours, I decided to explore the Financial District and lower Manhattan, home of Wall Street and the World Trade Center. I didn't really know what to expect from this area, as yes it's been 13 years since 9/11 but you know, it was a big deal. But I actually adored this area, it was the only part of NY where I experienced the whole "canyons of steel" feeling. In Midtown there are lots of high rises and a few skyscrapers but the streets are quite wide and you don't feel eclipsed by them, but downtown is a whole other story. The streets are shaded and buildings tower over you, it's incredible. I've heard people say this makes them feel a bit claustrophobic and I thought, coming from the wide open spaces of NZ, I would feel the same but it was the opposite. I would love to spend more time there. I didn't go to the 9/11 memorial partly because I couldn't really find it, and also it all seemed a bit depressing and I wanted to remember NY in a positive light and not dwell on the sad parts. Is that insensitive? Next time I'll stay for longer and then I definitely will try to visit. The biggest of the new world trade centre buildings is pretty incredible, it mirrors the sky and blends in so it's almost invisible at times. Apparently they are building 7 world trade centres to replace the 7 buildings that were destroyed in 9/11. In the next few years the top of the most recent one will have an observation deck which I bet will be such an incredible place to visit, as it's currently the tallest building in the Western hemisphere!
The newest world trade center
Trinity Church was an amazing place to see too, it was the only buidling in the vicinity that survived 9/11 relatively unscathed. A lot of people took shelter here and the only thing that was damaged was a tree in the churchyard. It's always the old buildings that stand the test of time, they don't make em like they used to! Sadly, I couldn't explore the inside as there was some kind of graduation ceremony going on but it was nice to just wander around the graveyard. It's a surreal experience being in this churchyard that feels like it should be sitting in an old English village somewhere, yet it's surrounded by gigantic buildings. From here I walked down to Wall Street which is where the bulls balls can be explained haha. There's a charging bull sculpture on Wall Street which is supposed to represent the power of the American people, which is weird cuz I associate bulls with Spain, not the USA haha. But anyway it's a pretty popular spot for a photo, there were people everywhere! The front of the bull was really hard to get to...but there was one area which was a little less populated and I'd heard touching this part brought good luck, so I went ahead and instead of "grabbing the bull by the horns" as they say, I grabbed the bull by the balls!
Looking far too happy here!
Trinity Church
Wall Street, didn't see any wolves
Chilling with George and the moron who climbed up there and ruined my photo hahaha
Trinity church peeking out from the tiny gaps
I got the subway back (yay!) from Wall Street to the hotel, just so I could freshen up (I averaged about 3 showers a day in NY, it was so hot!) and then I headed out to Broadway to go see sad french people singing a.k.a Les Miserables!!! AHHHHHHH amazing, I got 50% off at the TKTS booth and the guy got me a sweeeet ticket, 13th row from the front! I was sat amongst the people who'd paid $140 for their tickets and I got it for half that, so stoked! It was such an incredible show, I've seen live DVDs of Les Miz but never the live show and omg, I had goosebumps the whole way through and almost cried about a dozen times (admitting this isn't gonna do anything for my street cred hahah). Two women in front of me found out the main part of Jean Valjean was being played by the understudy that night and they proceeded to have a conversation about whether or not they should just walk out and how pissed off they were. They stayed, but when everyone else was giving the cast a standing ovation, they just walked out. I can't stand people like that, there are people in the world who have so much less than them and their whole night is ruined because they have to watch someone they didn't expect on stage - get over yourselves!! Ok, rant over hahaha.
So close to the stage!
LES MIZ!
After the show I took a walk to Times Square. I was expecting it to be super touristy, and it was, but I did think it was really cool. It was actually a "wow" moment. I don't think it would be that impressive in the day but the lights are amazing. One moment you're bathed in bright light, then the next moment it's "dark" and the billboards are HUGE. Also the main reason I loved it was cuz there was an NYPD station with neon lights on it and that's pretty much just perfection to me hahah.
I LOVE IT!
On the way back I kind of got lost (Mum: Stop reading here hahah). It was like 11:30pm and I started walking and then realised that the street numbers were going down instead of up...also I was on the West side, but didn't know how far West. So I kind of had a mini freak out, but there were TONS of people around and I just asked someone and I was back on the right track. But the thing is, I was walking around alone at midnight in New York City and I felt totally safe, there were people everywhere and one thing about NY is that there are police everywhere too. I guess NY used to be quite a dangerous place but then again I could just be lucky/I wasn't in a dodgy area. Mum you can start reading again hahaha. Once I saw Radio City Music Hall I got a massive feeling of relief because I knew I was almost home, I really love the lights on that place, so pretty!
And then I got home and realised I was insanely sunburnt...with fantastic tanlines...awesome.
Wow that was a lot... Obviously my favourite day!! haha
