By 'eck. 'Tis bloody waam, 'ere translates as 'We are hot and sticky in places."
Greetings frog fans and all others from the Large Orange. Er, Big Apple. Temperatures continue to be in the high 80s although we had a great thunderstorm yesterday which sounded really weird compared to our thunder storms. The high buildings seem to knock out most of the rumble so you just get the high-end bit. Plenty flashing.
First things first for yesterday - brekkie in a classic NY diner (more cawfee?) followed by (as you do) a helicopter ride around New York over the that Statue thingy, the Hudson River, Ground Zero and Central Park and Madison Square Gardens. Trish chickened out after her experiences on the Auckland/Rotorua flight and sat and watched with Kermit, who was banned from flying on safety grounds (?) Only in Americky...) This was followed by a yellow taxi ride to Ground Zero so Trish could say a prayer. There were many people there taking pictures of the site and next to 'World Trade Centre' signs that had been salvaged. Is it us or is that just a bit sick? There is a list of those that died which is labelled as WTC 'heroes' Don't think they would class themsleves as that, perhaps unlucky to be in the wrong place but we will never know. In one corner of the site as part of a staircase from the collapsed buildings. It is a scary thought thinking how many did not get down that stairway.
There are also signs everywhere asking not to give to beggars so it must be assumed that many are trying to cash in on this. New York, like L.A. seems to have a high number of homeless people - Not something expected in the richest country in the world. Then again, it depends on how you define 'rich. We passed a begger as few minutes ago washing his hair under a fire hydrant and a young man sleeping next to his wheelchair with his McDonalds breakfast next to him. Bastard wouldn't give me a frie...
Blimey, this blog is getting us depressed!
Onto more cheerful things...Our hotel is very central (just minutes from the Empire State Building) so getting to anywhere is easy. On Tuesday we strolled up 5th Avenue to Times Square which actually isn't a square. It's just a forking road. One fork this way, one that way. We were trying to find the theatre on Broadway that has 'The Producers 'on it. As we got to the place we spotted 'Spamalot' in the theatre opposite. Never one's to make a firm decision (Well, Trish!) we decided to try and get tickets for both. 'The Producers', no problem and we are seeing that tonight (Thursday) and we were also lucky to get very good seats for 'Spamalot' for Friday.
The box office told us that hey had had a cancellation on seats that the press had booked. Friday is Bastille Day and the cast have apparently changed part of the show to have as many digs at the French as possible, hence the anti-French flavour and newspaper interest. (Pardon Laurence, l'amour du Dan, la frere de Trish). This is America after all, no great fan of our Gallic buddies.
Trish got me in to an armlock and we headed for Macy's department store for a mooch around. Trish's opinion is 'it's rather like going in to New Look on a Saturday and I wouldn't buy the stuff if they gave it away'. Money saved there then.
In the hotel, a few doors down, there appears to be an elderly lady who we think is a hotel resident. We have seen her wandering about in her nightie a couple of times and at night heard the occasional groaning noises. We though she was being murdered at first but as we saw her next morning alive and kicking we presume it was a nightmare.
Today is a lazy day (think the drugs are kicking back in to my system. B*^%$#*s!) and we will also continue our quest to find a book shop. We have been 3 days without literature and are having a real hard time trying to find a bookshop anywhere. Don't Americans read anything apart fro mthe baseball pages in newspapers? Our quest is made tougher by the road layout system here. As they have a system of horiozontal and vertical streets every junction is a crossroads with traffic lights for cars and us pedestrians. This means stopping and waiting at almost every intersection. Has nobody worked out what roundabouts are?
Gotta go. Lunchtime here and we both need one of those watery US beers.
Yours, desperately in need of a pint of Spitfire
Paul and Trish
XXXX
3 comments:
Large Orange? Big Apple? New Yolk, New Yolk - sounds like a hug egg.
Hey guys - your blog was down for a while - thought you'd done a Richey Manic on us, for cheap tickets to the theatre, shows, musicals you name it head down to Times Square around 5 - you'll see a couple of red portakabin thingies and they sell tickets for evening shows halfprice and cheaper....Never mind what Dan wants from New York, bring me back a BLT from the Carnegie Deli....pure class, but you'll most likely have to book an extra seat for it on the way home.....I'll check in again in a couple of days....All the best Anthony
I still deny John Denver susceptibilities ("It’s a long way home from starwood in Aspen" or words to that effect). And, yes, you guessed, porch is still not finished. ("Oh my sweet Rocky Mountain paradise something or other …") You could head over to the Lincoln Center later on. Romeo and Juliet is on at The Met – performed by American Ballet Theater - and the world’s best dancer in this role, Angel Corella, is one of the principals dancing tonight.
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