Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Feeding ducks in the park...

Sunday 25th February - the last of the long weekends


It seems rather unlikely I admit. Yet as we enjoyed our champagne brunch in the west village, I looked upon our return to London as no bad thing. Indeed, our jaunt around some of the finest places on the planet reinforced my high opinion of that dirty grey stain over the River Thames*.

The day was likely to be more successful than most; it was a Sunday, it was New York and the only thing we had to do was pick up a flight home later that evening. It was a day destined to be spent sitting, eating and drinking. After a several hours of Mimosas and some incredible Eggs Benedict, we retired to an old fashion bar to watch our remaining hours slip away through the bottom of our glasses. Perfect.

Still, it seems that such good times must often be followed by a grotty 6 hour flight. And this flight was not improved by a snowstorm on the runway and a 4 hour delay (although it meant that some cool Japanese robots arrived to blast snow off the wings). The journey would have been considerably worse had it not been for the BA flight crew who were professional and very British, in a good way.

We landed the next morning and passing through the bowels of Heathrow, we emerged, slightly dazed, into a sunny english springtime. It was not the worst of times, just the end of something really cool.


* As I write this, sitting in south London and with that great gift of hindsight, I realise that I might have been mistaken.

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Saturday, March 03, 2007

Holiday!

18th - 25th February: New York

The final week of our round the world trip was spent in New York. You may think that the last six months for us has been one long holiday, which in some ways is true, but we decided to treat our stay in New York as a proper holiday; i.e. stay in a hotel rather than hostel or tent, and the word 'budget' not to cross our minds or mentioned at the very least.

The mission for the week was to get decked out in some decent gear. Our first day saw temperatures dropping below freezing, with wind chills making it even colder. Even with fleeces, hat, scarf and gloves, I don't think I have ever been so cold. And there was also our vanity to think of; walking round in one of the fashion capitals of the world in our travelling gear was not a good look.

In between all our shopping expeditions (we both had to buy new suitcases at the end of the week) we also managed to squeeze in the usual tourist sights; Central Park, the Financial District, the Met and MOMA. In the evenings we made the most of staying downtown and were out every night in Greenwich, Soho, the East Village and Alphabet city enjoying cocktails, jazz (above at 55 bar), comedy, views from the Marriott revolving restaurant and everything else that New York has to offer. An awesome week.

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