Once again I write to you from our apartment *cough “shoebox” cough* above 14th Avenue. It has again been a crazy few days. Since the last update we haven’t left New York, still just taking it all in, and we only have 2 days left to do so before we are off to Spain.
We have probably not covered that much more ground. The areas we are right near are amazing. We are right around the corner from Greenwich Village so have walked a lot around this area. The other night we went out – not to do much really, we had to find somewhere with free entry, but we just chilled in a dingy bar for a while listening to a couple of bands, drinking our coke. We did go down to Café Wha? But couldn’t afford to pay to be seated, they let us look in though.
We have been up the Empire State Building and overlooked New York. It was really interesting actually, Manhattan is huge, that’s no surprise, but because we could see the ends in all directions it was a fascinating way to take it in.
We have also taken the Ferry to Staten Island. We were going to do the traditional Ellis/Liberty island but as we didn’t want to spend all our money on the generic tourist attractions, we looked around for other ideas. The Staten Island ferry is Free and takes you right past it, so we were close enough and it was a nice trip across the water.
We have had a few hiccups in the road since we have been here. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame @ Annex had closed and we didn’t know, so we were all excited to go down there. The posters for the Lennon Exhibit are still up and everything, but it has been closed for a few months. So that sucked. Was disappointing, but not much we could do!
We also noticed while checking our flight details that the car hire in the UK was booked for the wrong day, well month. So we had to email the Travel Agent who took care of that. We also had a mini heart attack when we looked up online what to do if we lost out 1-94W form. I can’t remember if we explained this earlier but we had issues on the Bahamas cruise, and customs told us that we had to have one, and wouldn’t have gotten into the country otherwise. Originally both me & Benny couldn’t remember having one at all but after 2 officials telling us the same thing, I guess we were talked into thinking we had lost it, so while Benny searched, I looked up what to do. It was going to cost over $300 to file for a new one, and we would be able to leave, but it would affect us returning to the states as until the form was returned they would see it as an overstay on our “visa”. We were freaking. Luckily Benny found his white slip explaining that as we had filled out our online forms & had the chip in our passports that we were part of a new trial on paperless 1-94W submissions. Phewf!
Its interesting how no matter how hard you try and be organized, things always go wrong. Luckily this all panned out but there were a few stressful moments.
Aside from all of this I should get back to talking about New York. We have also visited Wall Street & Battery Park, both iconic. And yesterday we went to the Rockefeller Centre/Plaza & Grad Central Terminal. It was huuuge.
Today we plan to revisit Central park as we have had some decent weather & hope that it is green, and also plan to finally get a slice of ‘New York Style” pizza. They are also ridiculously big, hopefully as tasty as well.
I have been trying, very hard to learn bits & pieces of Spanish & bought a phrasebook the other day to help us while we are there. We are looking forward to getting a new stamp on the passport & moving on, Though it is a little sad. We’ve been in the states for nearly 3 months now, so it has got a comfortable feel, especially in New York. We know we will have new challenges ahead with the language barrier & not understanding everything, so we are excitet, yet feel completely under prepared.
Well that’s it for now, hope everyone at home is well & happy.
Blog Soon
xxx
Once again - we will upload Pics. We may wait til Spain though where we ave internet in the room, its too frustrating this way!
1 comment:
Point Break - A Perfect Bar Experience in NYC
A local friend recommended and took my Cali group to this amazing bar. He said that mostly locals came here so I didn't really know what to expect ambiance wise... but screw it, the view at this bar was absolutely breathtaking! No joke. I felt like a celebrity w/ superstar treatment as the staff are friendly and amazing to say the very least.
I don't know who the house DJ was but he definitely was playing music right up my alley. It would've been my dream for people to start dancing, but it's all good.
It's a bit sceney for my taste, but it really didn't bother me much. the bartenders knew their stuff, although their 1st cocktail was a little weak, when he saw i understood cocktails the next 2 were stronger. I also liked that even though the place was really hopping the bartender remembered what i was drinking when i came to order another. (he also understood how good a gin hendricks is, and not to overpower it with the mixer). It was amazing to see their “das boot” which is shaped like a boot filled with beer. Don’t get me wrong, I am not drunk…it’s an actual boot shaped beer container ready to be emptied..try it ..you will love it!! Oh..how can I forget, they even have a wheel o' shots where you just have to spin it and have to drink whatever shot it lands on!! Now call that bar creativity at its best!!!
We ordered the Veal and Fish Tacos. They were delicious. Mm! We ended up asking for spoons to polish off whatever remained in the platter. (Faux pas? Who cares as long as it gets in my tummy.) The fries were crispy, but not overcooked, just the way that I like them.
So take in this scene: You walk in to what seems like an overly crowded place, but soon fine an empty table. Time seems to stop and the only indicator of the night moving on is the moon and your brain cells slowly going to bed forever. The music is not to loud and the people around look good, the only thing left for you to do is to enjoy that drink you paid ridiculously low for and laugh at the joke your co-worker just told.
The vibe of the place just never seems to die out and if you happen to spot some NYC socialite, sports player, or star, don't let it get to you... because for that moment, this night they are no long more important than then you. In fact go up to them and introduce yourself!
All in all just a great place to meet new people, or just have drinks with people you already know. I've been to numerous bars in the city but i would say this place is just great. Very welcoming staff, very laid back ambiance. I’ve been here twice after my first visit with my Cali group . I would say its worth the every penny you spend!!
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