I cant believe this is our last day in New York. The week has flown by so fast and while we havent been to any of the typical tourist attractions, we have done a tonne of stuff and we have had a blast. We would love to come back to New York one day. We never dreamed that we would be back so soon and we dont know when (if) we will be back again. But, stranger things have happened. Maybe if Kylie sells a heap of 'Project LIfe' items, we can have another incentive trip thanks to Stampin' Up! And while I'm mentioning 'Project Life', if you would like to order some products from Kylie, go to www.craftykylie,com and follow the links from there, 

I picked up the washing first up. I felt so bad that they did all of that washing for only $12. It was washed and folded and smelt so clean and fresh. Like I said in the last post - best $12 I spent all trip. 

We loved the French Creperie so much we went again today (Sandra - you would love this place, though maybe not love the neighborhood). I don't know how many times I can say it, but the crepes were just amazing. Mine was Salmon Crepe and Kylie's was Goats Cheese and Proscuittio. If you are ever in Brooklyn - look it up. Its called 'Petit Dakar.'

So, again, we stopped by at Walgreens. Kylie wanted to stock up on some more make-up. Its the same brand she uses at home, but its heaps cheaper here. In yesterdays post, I mentioned about the difficulty Kylie had finding her colour. These were the main colour suggestions - can you imagine if Kylie used them?

We had a lot of fun setting up the next few shots showing where Kylie had to look to have foundation for her lily-white skin.

Off into Manhattan again and our first stop was a second visit to Uniqlo. Kylie LOVED the undergarments, so she wanted to get some more, and I wanted to swap something I bought the day before. I cant wait to go again. It reminded me of Ikea for clothes. I know my sizing now, so I will take advantage of the new store in Melbourne and online. 

As we walked down fifth avenue towards the park, we stopped wherever we felt like. Ive really come to appreciate touring without planning. On our last trip, I made checklists and planned everything to the nth degree. This trip - we have just stumbled across things and its been awesome!!! We stopped at Godiva (chocolate) because they were dipping strawberries in chocolate. However, at $7 a strawberry - we could do without. We also stopped at the Lindt store. This was cool - you could buy LIndt balls (whichever flavour you wanted) for $14/lb (37 balls). That was an awesome buy! They had citrus, strawberry, sea salt and PEANUT BUTTER and a whole swag of other flavours. If we still have some when we get home, and you are nice to me, I might let you try one. lol.

From here, we were going to walk in Central Park, but the night before, I had googled 'Off the beaten track tourist attractions in NYC.' There was one thing that I found that we really wanted to see and that was the abandoned subway station at City Hall.

Unfortunately, you have to be a member to tour, and tickets are very rare, so it wasnt just something that we could rock up to - maybe next time? The above photo is thanks to Mr Google.

I found online this street in FiDi that is reminiscent of a typical European street.

We were about to leave to go there, but Google Maps said that it was going to take thirty four minutes and two subway transfers. The pic above is also thanks to Google. We really couldnt be bothered going that far. Then, I remembered an episode of Law and Order that involved a cable car in New York City. I googled it and was amazed that it was just a few blocks from where we were. They call this a tram and it goes to Roosevelt Island.

There isnt really anything to do on the Island. Its literally an Island and about 3000 people live there. There is an old hospital that they are in the process of knocking down and building a new University. The cherry blossoms are in bloom at the moment and they were just beautiful.

From here, we could see the image of the wild beast and so we decided that we would go visit and see if we could see this;

When I travelled to the US in 2001 on the trip that was memorable foe all the wrong reasons, I did a tour of the UN. So, I just assumed that we could do the same, or at least walk on the grounds. Not so. I noticed a guard at the gate and I notice a checkpoint just beyond the gate. So, I just casually walked towards the checkpoint. The guard had other ideas. He didnt attack me. But, he almost did. 

'Where are you going?' he barked at me in some Eastern European accent. 

'Inside' I replied. I wasnt being smart, I just couldnt understand why there was a problem.

'NO!' and he 'assisted' me in the direction that I should be going away from the gate.

'Can we not tour the facilty?' I asked

'Do you have tickets?' he barked

'No,' I sheepishly responded

'You must prebook online,' he informed.

Oh, I didnt know that. So, I stood there and tried to prebook. It was too late in the day. Needless to say, I didnt actually tell my wife that I had planned to actually go inside, so she was absolutely bewildered that I would attempt to enter the premises. In hindsight, its a funny story to tell. But, not so funny according to my wife. awe still managd to get some nice shots.

From here, we were tossing up - should we just go home and pack or should we go into Times Square and see if we can get some cheap tickets to see Aladdin? It JUST opened, so we were not confident that there would be cheap tickets, but you never do know. We got to the theatre and for some reason, there was about a hundred people waiting there, even though the show wasnt due to start for well over an hour. We found out that every night, a number of tickets are given at massively discounted prices. You apply and then you are selected at random. So, we gave it a go - it didnt cost anything to be involved. And, the tickets were going to be $30. We didnt get any. Though, we were offered $30 tickets to a Disney show called Newsies. And at $30 a ticket - it was a real steal!

See Greg - I didnt make up the word.

We stopped by at Grand Central food market.

Every Cheese you could imagine.

My dad makes better sausages than this!!!

We had eaten when we were at Roosevelt Island, so we werent that hungry before the show. But, I felt like a beer so we went into a restaurant an ordered a drink at the bar. Kylies phone was flat and mine was at 3% so we had to engage in person to person conversation. A guy sat down next to Kylie, so we started chatting to him. But, the conversation started because he had a battery pack that he was using to charge his phone and ho terrible the battery life is on the iPhone. So, we chatted for QST - he was off to see Aladdin that night. Nice guy. Anyway, at the end of the conversation, I gave him a card and later that night, he added me on Twitter. I clicked on his profile pic and it was taken on the red carpet at Nickelodeon and has hundreds of thousands of followers abd has a verfied account, which usually means that he is a celebrity of some sort. Turns out he is a disney child star from a show called iCarly.

He is now on some anti-obesity board with Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton and has a cookbook available. His name is Reed Alexander. He made no mention of this during the conversation, really humble and probably appreciated that we didnt recognize him - he might even read this post?? If so, it was nice to meet you Reed.

The show was so awesome. It was probably the most energetic show Ive ever seen. The dancing and singing was just out of this world. The moving stage was amazing. I knew nothing about the show and I was nothing but surprised,  

The show finished at about 11 and we hadn't eaten since about 3. We were going to grab a slice of pizza at our hometown subway station, but decided to grab a burger in Times Square. The place was called'Five Guys.' Hands down - THE BEST BURGER IVE EVER EATEN!!! The ambience was a little lacking, but the burger was great. Will DEFINITELY go back.

This image is thanks to Google.

It doesnt look much, but it was awesome.

Ended up getting home at 12:30. We packed and then off to sleep. I found an Indian Taxi driver that was going to pick us up in the morning and take us to JFK for our flight. 

The coolest thing happened on the subway on the way home - these two teenage kids asked for our attention. I immediately thought they were going to ask for money, but they pressed play on a boom box. The song 'The Way you Make me Feel' started playing and they them took turns dancing across the subway carriage. One of them even moonwalked past me. It was really cool - an awesome end to the night. 

Next morning, I texted the taxi driver reminding him of our arrangement and spoke to him, made clear arrangements. But, he was a no-show until almost 30 minutes after we agreed. We had already hailed another cab and were halfway there by the time he called me asking where I was. Funny thing - there is roadworks outside the front of where we stayed and so the traffic is single lane. We expected that the driver would just pull over to the side, or even pull up on the sidewalk (also known as a footpath). He just stopped in the middle of the road and stopped traffic for a couple of minutes while we loaded our bags in the car. It made me lol. Speaking of the place we stayed - now that we have left, I can tell you that our neighbourhood didnt feel like the safest place ive ever visited. But, it was genuine and authentic Brooklyn, NY and we loved it for that, 

So, we checked in for our flight - no problems this time. I had already checked in online and had trouble paying for the bags online (in the US, you have to pay for every bag that you check-in). So, we went to the check-in attendant at the airport and we chatted for a while and gave us the other bag for free, which was a total bonus. The girl who was working at security was Sheniqua (Sha-knee-kwa). The, the first store we walked past was a tech store, and we bought a battery pack for our phones so hopefully we never have the problem of our phone going flat (thanks Reed). 

We are en-route to Fort Lauderdale now, having been in the air for about an hour so far, ready for the next phase of our trip. Insetead of turbulence, they call it 'rough wind.' Its a weird name as it sound like the results of a dodgy Vindaloo.

One of the other women posted a picture of the cruise ships in Fort Lauderdale Harbour - see if you can pick which one is ours.

   

Thanks for reading.

This morning, we decided we needed to wash our clothes. We were really impressed with the amount that we packed (or, more correctly, how much we left at home). So, because we didn't pack the kitchen sink on this trip, we were running out of clean clothes to wear. Our plan was to walk around the corner to the laundromat and wash them. And, then we asked how much it would cost for them to wash it? The lady speaking what can loosely be called 'English' responded $12. Best $12 I've spent all holiday.

We went to Walgreens. The closest thing to Walgreens is Priceline. However, you can also buy cigarettes and alcohol. Kylie went off to look for foundation (make up). She was gone for ages. I came to find her and she was searching, almost on her hands and knees. The Colour she was looking for was ivory. How can I say this? Ivory is not a color foundation that is sold much in this area, so she had to search for it. The colours she saw were called toffee, mocha, spicy brown, sheer espresso, golden honey. She could have worn that color but looked like she had a spray tan. We went to the register - and the girl asked us if we had a Walgreens card. We didn't, so we signed up for one. It saved more than $10 off our purchase. 

So, we walked down the road to our cafe of choice. It's a  French creperie. Kylie has been wanting to go there since we arrive, but it really didn't interest me. However, it was just awesome. I had a savory crepe and Kylie had a sweet. We loved it so much, we are going again tomorrow.

We sat on the banquette seating by the window and watched the world go by.

An interesting thing happened - as Kylie and I have the practice of doing, we prayed before our meal. We said 'amen' at the end and this lady sitting on a nearby table said 'that was so beautiful, I wish I had taken a picture.' Then,because they heard that our accent was Australian, the guy who was with her asked if we lived in Melbourne, which we do. As it turns out, this guy has been to Melbourne a number of times as he plays bass in a band with - GEORGE BENSON. now, in case you didn't know, like us, George Benson (most well known for singing the song 'On Broadway') is also one of Jehovah's Witnesses. This gentlemen mentioned that George meets with his 'brothers and sisters after every concert. We chatted for a while longer and we asked him to send our regards to George. When he left, the waiter came up to us and told us that the guy was really famous.

Kylie had a nutella, strawberry and banana crepe and mine was mushrooms, spinach and cheese. It was amazing. Loved it so much we are going again tomorrow.

Then, into Manhattan and out first port of call was the Uniqlo Flagship store on Fifth Avenue.

Uniqlo just opened up in Melbourne, but we havent yet been. I was more interested in going than Kylie was but she humoured me. Ill rue the day I ever took her.

It made me feel like I had walked onto the set of a music video (which was a change, because over the last wekk, we have recognized places from Law and Order.)

So, how was it? We LOVED it! I know its a little TMI (too much information) but Kylie says that Uniqlo has changed her life. Why? She has found some of the most comfortable undergarments she has ever worn. I loved it too. I love that you can get things in any colour, any size. I held myself back, though we are going back again today.

Then, quite accidentally, we stumbled across Trump Tower, so we went inside to meet 'The Don.' Unfortunately, he had double booked for the afternoon meeting, so we went to Starbucks instead. Having said that, Ivanka says hello and we picked up a few things from the Gucci childrens store.

We were heading towards Central Park, and quite accidentally this enormous glass cube attracted my attention. From street, level, you could see about seven people at the top of the glass circular stair leading down into the store - 

From then, as we walked down the stair, there was probably about six hundred people playing with iPads and others in blue t-shirts buzzing around assisting them. Kylie unplugged a display iPad and started charging her phone (we do that in every store we go into) while I looked for and purchased a waterproof cover for my phone. It was 80 bucks (which was a little more than I was expecting), but here is my gripe - if the price tag says $80, I want to pay $80. I dont want a suprise and have to pay $90.42 (including tax). If you want to charge $87.43, put $87.43 on the price tag. This doesnt apply just to the Apple store, this applies to every purchase in the US but unfortunately, the guy that served me at the Apple store had to hear all about it.

Then, we got to Central Park. Its such an amazing place. The city is crazy busy - and then within a few steps, its peaceful and tranquil.

We stumbled across a 'wedding'

We found the fountain that we have seen on so many movies.

Before you judge, the bags are no all filled with our shopping. We left home with coats, jumpers and scarves and uneqpectedly (ie. we didnt check the forecast), despite the fact that it was freezing when we left home, it was sunny by this stage, so we got a few extra bags from uniqlo and filled them with our excess clothing.

I saw this little kid with a Spiderman Icy Pole and I had to have it. It was really nice.

Yes, I was spinning around.

Time flies by so quickly in this city - we were meeting for tea at Carmines. While we waited to go in, we looked at the menu. Carmines was an italian place, and I felt like a chicken parma. The prices were $$$$$$$. When we ordered, the waiter told us that you order meals to share. So, the prices went from being expensive to ridiculously cheap. And, ENORMOUS!!!!

This was the parma that Kylie and I ordered. Can you see the size of the plate, sorry, I should say platter? On the subway, Kylie and I were just having a conversation about how everyone talks about how big meals in the US are and how we had never experienced it. Well, now we have. Our friends also ordered this bread dish (no idea what its called).

It was basically bread with cheese and oil and chives. I hate chives. But, I LOVED this dish. Quick dinner as we were off to see Les Miserables.

While I enjoyed the show immensely, there were parts that I didn't and since I shelled out a packet to see it, I feel as though I have a right to pass judgement. I didn't enjoy every performer and every song and every aspect of the story. But, in all the good outweighed the not-so-good. The guy who played Jean ValJean was out of this world. I could listen to him sing all day. He sounds like me (joke). The staging was amazing. I always feel bad for Eponine and her unrequited love. And, then Kylie reminds me that it's just a story. The scene where the policeman dies was brilliantly staged. The songs are just so beautiful and gave me goosies a number of times. My fave song is still 'One Day. More.' Just thinking about that last note of that song gives me goosies. And, this is symbolic because we have 'one Day More' in. New York City. 

We are missing our fur babies. This was taken before we left. 

They seem to be having fun with Nonno and Nonna and their cousins Lucy and Scottie.

Today, it rained. And rained. And rained. From the window of our apartment, we can see the rain still teeming down, so we were in no hurry to get moving. We had been invited to lunch by one of the 'friends' (Emily Vann) from the local congregation invited us to lunch.

We had to pick up a few things to take from the store, so we braved the rain. We were going to walk the 10 blocks, but decided against it. Our trusty umbrellas that I bought before we left (mind you, they were NOT CHEAP) are not coping too well in this weather - they are turning inside out and not really doing what they are designed to do (that is - keep the water off). So, we caught a cab. Best $6 I've spent so far. We got in the cab and asked 'Kya aap Hindi samajte hai?' and the driver had this look of bewilderment as if to say 'Why are those words coming out of your mouth?' In case you didnt know, Kylie and I are learning Hindi back home, and this taxi driver looked Indian, so I thought I would give it a go. Turns out, he was from Bangladesh, but he knew Hindi. He was amazed! 

Emily had quite a small apartment and had invited about 14 people including the CO and his wife, so we had a nice time meeting everyone. There was a large spread of many different dishes - but one that caught my eye was Cornbread. 

I was excited to try it. In case you havent tried it before, its like cake, but made out of cornmeal (I guess.) So, it was nice to have cake during the meal before waiting for dessert. We had a great time with the friends, but then it was time to go.

On the way back home, I decided that I wanted to go into one of the mens clothing stores that we have walked past every time we go to the subway. Its really strange - the windows are dressed in a way that mens clothing stores used to be dressed in the olden days, so it looks really old fashioned. But, the clothes are really cool. And, in this street, there are three of these stores - and I have seen NO ONE in the street wearing a suit (except me). It just seems so out of place. So, I went in and there was a well dressed gentleman from the Côte d'Ivoire (via France) who spoke English very well and another girl who thought she was speaking English, but I couldnt understand a word and an Eastern European gentleman who was on the phone the whole time. I really wasnt in the mood to try anything on because it was so cold, so I ended up buying two shirts for $30. I asked Kylie 'Do you like them??' Her response? 'Only you could get away with wearing those Bruno!' I guess thats a compliment. There is a sign on the suits that says 'Buy 1 get 2 free' so I will have to investigate further over the next 2 days.

We were going to go home, but decided to venture into Manhattan and look for some items that Kylie needed an what better place to go to get out of the rain than Macys? What did Kylie need? Despite my protestations, Kylie didnt bring a scarf - so I allowed her the use of my scarf (I know, I am a good husband). Additionally, this morning, after we crossed the first road, Kylies shoes filled with water, leaving her squelching around for the rest of the day. She noticed that a lot of women wear gumboots, so she needed a pair to wear. And, her head was getting cold, so she needed a hat of sorts. So, we made our way to Macys. Did I mention that it was still raining? A lot?

Our flimsy umbrellas are about to end up in the bin.

Have you been to Macys in Manhattan? Its the biggest store Ive ever been in. Its like shopping on a vastly different scale that I have ever seen. There were THOUSANDS of people in the store, and probably more than usualy because of the rain. It was CRAZY!!! Having said all that, it was not really conducive for 'shopping' so we didnt buy anything (strange, I know). 

It was too much for some!

We'd had enough of the rain, so we headed underground (along with the tens of thousands of others with the same idea) and saw a sign for KFC. We were craving some KFC chips, so Kylie ordered what we would usually order at home of a snack - a large chips and a pack of chicken bites. What came back to us was not what we were used to.

First of all, the size - the large in the US is about three times the size that we are used it. I would estimate that there was about a kilo inside the box. It was unbelievable. You know when you order 10 pieces of chicken and it comes in a box? That was the size of the box.

Secondly - we opened the box and they were not chips, but wedges. 

This is what we were expecting to recieve. The box in Australia is a little different, but these are chips (we even said fries to make sure that they knew what we were talking about.)

This is what we received. A kilo of them. They were ok, but they were not what we wanted. We ate a few and left the rest, thouroughly disappointed! Weve been googling images of them to post in this blog and we have come to understand that you can get a cheese sauce over the top (sorry, I just vomited in my throat). 

Back on the train and back home by 6. We were really really tired (sorry, I know that you are getting sick of hearing about my first-world problem) so I went to bed for a nap at 6:30 and didnt wake up until 5 the next morning. It rained all night, and we slept through dinner too.

Today, we are going to try a French Patisserie near the subway station for brekky and then head into Manhattan again. Hopefully the rain holds out - we really want to explore Central Park, so hopefully we can do over our last 2 days. We are seeing Les Miserables which I am really excited about!!! 

Ill get to the title of the post later...... today, it seemed like we were running late all day. Our tour had a respectable start time of 10:30am. But, it wasnt on our train line, so it involved a transfer. And, the closest subway station to the MET is at 86th street and is a brisk 20 (or so) minute walk from the station. So, we didnt arrive until 10:45, but our guide waited for us which was nice.

The tour we took was called 'Integrity.' It is designed as a follow-up to the previous tour we took last year called 'The Woman and the Seed' and takes up from Greek and Roman world powers. Was really interesting. We had an enthusiastic tour guide (Pedro) who was very knowledgable and the tour was very compelling. It was like a three (ish) hour public talk.

But, back to the title.

This is an Ionic capital from Ancient Greece. The moulding right at the top is very common, even in homes today - its called Egg-and-dart moulding. The column was 58 feet high. The name gives it away - egg. It has origins in mother worship and the eggs are shown coming out of the Fallopian tubes (look closely - its gross). So, this is just one of the examples of things that we saw on the tour - but it was a good example of modern traditions just reusing and rebranding beliefs from the ancient world.

Here is a sampling of some of the things we saw;

This is an athlete. He was a victor from the games (as seem by the band around his head). Who is he? Do we know his name? Nope.

We saw a tonne of these pottery urns. 

This is a head of Socrates. 

This was part of our tour group. Interestingly, on our tour were seven couples that were graduates from the 21st Class of the BSCC in the US. 

This room was amazing. It was an original room that had been reinstalled in the MET.

This was an amazing view - looking down directly into the Roman room, through to Greece and then further you can just see Egypt - like looking down over thousands of years of human history. So much to process - Kylie took some good notes and we will have to review them to make sure we dont forget.

Oh, i forgot one thing about the tour - halfway through, there is a break where we can have lunch at the MET cafeteria. So far, its the most expensive meal in New York that we have had. I had Sushi in a pack and that was $13. Kylie wasnt sure what she would order, so I suggested she have the chicken curry. Its based on weight and Kylies plate of food (plate was about 3/4 filled) was $21.50. It was hilarious! As we were leaving, we were watching the reaction of people at the price of their food - Kylie saw one person whose total meal came to $109. So, here is the tip - the lightest option if you are eating is spinach leaves. And, there is free water for you to drink as you pass through the registers in the dining room. 

Then, after this, we went outside and it was RAINING! Spew! We did our brisk walk back to the subway station, got lost and then ended up in a cafe. Since we were running late this morning, we had no time for breakfast and no time for coffee. Here in the US, the coffee is not great. But, somehow, ive gotten used to drip filter coffee. And, I think that its slowly weaned me off, which is a good thing. So, when I saw this cafe, I was more than happy to order a short black. It was terrible, but I was still happy. Kylie ordered a small latte.

When it came on the counter, I asked 'is this mine?' and she said that it was a small latte. I think there was about a liter of warm milk in the drink, with a measely shot of coffee. How was it Kylie? Her words "It wasnt repulsive, but I endured it." Imagine if she ordered a medium? Or a large? It was totes cray cray (that one is for you Greg).

So, on the way back to the subway, we stopped in at H&M - that shop seems to be on every street here in NYC and we both bought some stuff. Then, Kylie asked an innocent question - 'What time is it?' And, we continued on with our theme of running late for the day. It was 5:30, the meeting we were heading to was at 7 back in Brooklyn and we had to eat something for tea. So, it was going to be tight. Added to that, our feet were literally about to fall off, it was raining and it was cold. So, down into the subway but not before an agressive hispanic lady told me I was a sinner and needed to repent. It was rush hour by now and the platforms were teeming with literally thousands of people. Trains would arrive, trains would departs, within seconds, the platform would go from being packed to being empty and then packed again within minutes. Was just amazing. The train ride was interesting. Kylie starts talking to everyone. In NYC, people are just in their own world, minding their own business, ignoring the homeless person asking them for money. So, when Kylie asks them a genuine question - it really takes them by suprise and they arent sure how to react. We got into a few discussions about health care in Australia, a lady saw me playing 2048 and said that he nephew sent her a screen capture of how he had gotten to 4096 and we met an Aussie ex-pat who moved to NYC in Feb this year. We eventually got on the A line and got to our stop (Nostrand Av) and made the quick walk to our apartment, got changed, scoffed our dinner and got to the meeting (it was the CO visit). Had a nice time with the friends, came home and by 9:45 we were fast asleep.

Tomorrow is rainy again, so might be a good oppportunity give the feet a rest....