The UK is great, Europe is even better, and Italy is the cream of the crop - which is why Claire and I recently decided to take advantage of the ridiculously cheap flights and spend a long weekend in Turin.
We flew out of the UK at on a reasonable 9:20am flight (usually the cheap ones are at 4 in the morning or something stupid like that, we lucked out this time) and arrived in Turin at about lunchtime.
Having arrived we headed straight to our swanky hotel, the Art Hotel Boston which had a special "Torino Weekend" rate which included a pass which got us into any museum or on any public transport all weekend for free!
After settling into our luxurious room we headed out to checkout the city, heading straight for the main shopping streets of via Garibaldi and via Roma, which were bustling with fellow shoppers all out looking for a bargain - most shops seemed to be peddling woman’s fashion and leather shoes, which suited Claire down to the ground.
After browsing the shops for a couple of hours, and making mental notes of where we wanted to return to tomorrow, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our next exciting Italian cultural experience, going to see the local football team Juventus!
We jumped on the bus and headed out to Stadio Delle Alpi, along with a couple of local supporters and handful of other Brit football tourists (ironically it’s cheaper to get a flight and a ticket to the football in Turin than it is to get a ticket to the football in London).
Once we arrived at the stadium and FINALLY got through the gates (took 30 minutes to get through the queue, missed the first 15 minutes of the game!) we took our seats and watched the remainder of the game.
The Fans were a noisy lot, they spent most of the game singing songs, banging drums and waving their flags. At the end we didn’t know what the final score was - we saw Juventus score (a great solo run from Del Piero resulting in a goal) but as there was nothing resembling a scoreboard in the ground, and we’d missed the first 15minutes – we couldn’t be sure...
The next day we headed back to Via Garibaldi to find that most of the shops were now closed (!!) but luckily the streets had been filled with local produce and the local food market was in full swing!
Claire and I spent ages wandering up and down the stalls buying loads of yummy Italian food, but the end of it we had a block of parmesan cheese, polenta, olive oil, pesto, honey etc etc - all in large quantities and at ridiculously cheap prices - we've been eating like Italian kings ever since!
That afternoon we went to the Museum of Cinema, which is situated in the Mole Antonelliana - the world’s tallest stone building.
The Mole is an interesting building in itself, originally built as a synagogue, construction was fraught with problems (apparently it’s not very clever to build tall buildings out of stone) but the end result is quite spectacular.
On entering the building you’re ushered downstairs to the basement and into the queue for the elevator to the viewing platform at the top of the building.
After a brief wait (nothing like the wait for the lifts in the Empire State!) you get into a glass elevator and go whooping up through the ceiling and into the main chamber of the building. It was an amazing first view of the museum, but I must admit the thought of being suspended by tiny steel wires whilst hurtling skyward and being able to see the ground below gave me a touch of vertigo... eek!
The viewing platform above was nothing to write home about (mainly due to not being able to see anything through the smog), but the rest of the museum was very good, taking us from the origins of cinema, through to some of the groundbreaking movies of last century - everything was presented in a very interesting and hands-on way, this was potentially the best museum I’ve ever been to, it’s well worth the visit if you ever find yourself in northern Italy.
That evening we wanted to go out for a slap-up meal, but unfortunately all the posh restaurants in Turin close on a Sunday night, so we had to go to the local pizzeria instead - luckily the food was still amazing - this seems to be a trend actually, I think you could stop at the grottiest service station in the back of beyond in Italy and the food would still be amazing, they certainly know what they’re doing food-wise.
The next day we headed back home, we actually got to stay in Italy a little longer that we expected, due to a four-hour delay, I do love airport departure lounges - luckily it was Italy, and they weren’t that concerned about us wandering backwards and forwards through security.
Stay tuned for more updates soon, as we’re off to Paris next month, on another European weekend break - Hooray!
Here are the pictures, for your viewing pleasure:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/1176127/
Monday, October 31, 2005
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Reading Festival 2005
Claire and I have been going to Glastonbury for a couple of years now, but I’ve always secretly harboured a desire to go to at least two festivals per summer - and this year we’ve finally managed to fulfil that dream!
The second festival this year was Reading, a three-day event situated a mere 25minute train ride away from London Paddington station (home of Paddington bear, of course).
I was lucky enough to get some guest/VIP tickets through work, which meant we had access to a backstage bar (good, cos there were seats - standing for three days straight can be tiresome), guest camping area with hot showers (there was a queue, but you can’t have everything) and proper flush loos that were cleaned daily - hooray!
Reading was quite different to Glastonbury, there’s less arts and crafts, not as many nice food places, loads more drunk 14 year olds, it’s set in a town instead of rolling green hills, there’s about a third less people etc.
Another key difference between the two festies is that all the stages are much closer together, which had its advantages, such as you can skip from the main stage to the second stage in about 5 minutes as apposed to about an hour at Glastonbury, making it much easier to see more bands. It also had its disadvantages, mainly that the sound bleeds between the stages so you can quite often hear the second stage from the main stage - basically the sound at Glastonbury is much better.
The last difference is that the camping is outside of the main arena, and they don’t let you in till about midday and kick you out at about midnight - luckily reading town center is about 15min walk away, this means there is a mass exodus to Reading every morning (and I imagine each night?) to stock up on supplies at the supermarket, buy cheap food at the cafes (everything was ridiculously priced in the arena) etc before heading back to the arena about lunchtime.
Saw some great bands over the course of the weekend, including: The Arcade Fire, Queens of the Stone Age, The Coral, The Pixies, Clor, 9 Black Alps, Maximo Park (they just walked past my desk as I typed this), Foo Fighters (who I’m not a massive fan of, but did put on a good live show) and probably a bunch more that I can’t remember.
The festival has a lot more metal bands that Glastonbury - so got the opportunity to see some great comedy bands (I don’t think they’re intentionally trying to be funny, but they are) such as Turbengro, sort of a cross between Black Sabbath and the Village People - look them up, they’re hilarious .
Iron Maiden headlined the final night, but Claire and I decided that it would be best to escape early to avoid the queues for the trains on Monday, a decision we may come to regret - but I notice that Iron Maiden released a live DVD called death on the road or something equally as silly, so I could always just buy that and pretend we were there.
Anyhoo, Claire and I had a belter of a weekend - it was a bit dreary and overcast on the Friday, but it fined up in the evening and then basically the rest of the weekend was beautiful and sunny, we didn’t end up taking many pictures - but here are the ones that we did:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/848916/
The second festival this year was Reading, a three-day event situated a mere 25minute train ride away from London Paddington station (home of Paddington bear, of course).
I was lucky enough to get some guest/VIP tickets through work, which meant we had access to a backstage bar (good, cos there were seats - standing for three days straight can be tiresome), guest camping area with hot showers (there was a queue, but you can’t have everything) and proper flush loos that were cleaned daily - hooray!
Reading was quite different to Glastonbury, there’s less arts and crafts, not as many nice food places, loads more drunk 14 year olds, it’s set in a town instead of rolling green hills, there’s about a third less people etc.
Another key difference between the two festies is that all the stages are much closer together, which had its advantages, such as you can skip from the main stage to the second stage in about 5 minutes as apposed to about an hour at Glastonbury, making it much easier to see more bands. It also had its disadvantages, mainly that the sound bleeds between the stages so you can quite often hear the second stage from the main stage - basically the sound at Glastonbury is much better.
The last difference is that the camping is outside of the main arena, and they don’t let you in till about midday and kick you out at about midnight - luckily reading town center is about 15min walk away, this means there is a mass exodus to Reading every morning (and I imagine each night?) to stock up on supplies at the supermarket, buy cheap food at the cafes (everything was ridiculously priced in the arena) etc before heading back to the arena about lunchtime.
Saw some great bands over the course of the weekend, including: The Arcade Fire, Queens of the Stone Age, The Coral, The Pixies, Clor, 9 Black Alps, Maximo Park (they just walked past my desk as I typed this), Foo Fighters (who I’m not a massive fan of, but did put on a good live show) and probably a bunch more that I can’t remember.
The festival has a lot more metal bands that Glastonbury - so got the opportunity to see some great comedy bands (I don’t think they’re intentionally trying to be funny, but they are) such as Turbengro, sort of a cross between Black Sabbath and the Village People - look them up, they’re hilarious .
Iron Maiden headlined the final night, but Claire and I decided that it would be best to escape early to avoid the queues for the trains on Monday, a decision we may come to regret - but I notice that Iron Maiden released a live DVD called death on the road or something equally as silly, so I could always just buy that and pretend we were there.
Anyhoo, Claire and I had a belter of a weekend - it was a bit dreary and overcast on the Friday, but it fined up in the evening and then basically the rest of the weekend was beautiful and sunny, we didn’t end up taking many pictures - but here are the ones that we did:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/848916/
Glastonbury 2005
Oh man, it's been ages since an update again - anyhoo, here's our pictures from Glastonbury which was held in late June this year.
As you might have heard, we had torential rain with the entire expected rainfall for the month coming down in the early hours of the friday morning - threatening the start of the festival and leaving the site looking more like a dirty swimming pool than a farm.
Despite the water and mud everywhere, we still managed to have a great time. Claire and I were joined by claire's sister Laura and her fiance (now husband) steve, and our friends Josie and Becca.
Highlights of the weekend were the killers, coldplay (who I usually hate, but must admit did quite well headlining the saturday night), the futureheads and brian wilson pulling out some beach boys favourites in one of the few sunny moments during the festival.
Anyway, here's our pictures from the event, enjoy:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/534667/
As you might have heard, we had torential rain with the entire expected rainfall for the month coming down in the early hours of the friday morning - threatening the start of the festival and leaving the site looking more like a dirty swimming pool than a farm.
Despite the water and mud everywhere, we still managed to have a great time. Claire and I were joined by claire's sister Laura and her fiance (now husband) steve, and our friends Josie and Becca.
Highlights of the weekend were the killers, coldplay (who I usually hate, but must admit did quite well headlining the saturday night), the futureheads and brian wilson pulling out some beach boys favourites in one of the few sunny moments during the festival.
Anyway, here's our pictures from the event, enjoy:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/534667/
Sunday, July 03, 2005
the home of football ..
While I'm at it, may as well put these ones up, this is our the streets around our flat when arsenal won the FA cup this season (04/05):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/375478/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/375478/
Cheers ..
sorry about the lack of entries lately, I've been busy.
To tide you over, here's some pictures from a trip to Suffolk that we went on recently.
We were joined by Claire's sister Laura and her boyfriend Steve.
enjoy:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/299745/
To tide you over, here's some pictures from a trip to Suffolk that we went on recently.
We were joined by Claire's sister Laura and her boyfriend Steve.
enjoy:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/299745/
Monday, April 11, 2005
Carters Steam Fair - 10 April 2005 ..
Carters Steam Fair parked up in Highbury fields this weekend.
A quick bit of research revealed that this was a unique steam fair with most of the rides being refurbished 1950's vintage models.
Obviously, this sounded like it was worth investigating - so we grabbed our very own Carter (Merlin) and headed down.
Had a couple of goes on the dodgems and the "dive bomber", admired the vintageness of it all and then headed to the pub.
More photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/224902/
righto...
A quick bit of research revealed that this was a unique steam fair with most of the rides being refurbished 1950's vintage models.
Obviously, this sounded like it was worth investigating - so we grabbed our very own Carter (Merlin) and headed down.
Had a couple of goes on the dodgems and the "dive bomber", admired the vintageness of it all and then headed to the pub.
More photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/224902/
righto...
Monday, April 04, 2005
France and Austria Skiing Holiday - 22nd to 28th March 2005 ..
It wouldn't be a OE (overseas experience, for the non-kiwi of you out there) without the obligatory european skiing holiday. Claire and I were lucky enough to be invited to join Claire's Dad and his wife Dawn on their latest european skiing jaunt... it would be fair to say we didn't have to consider long before saying YES!!!!
We left a grey London town on the tuesday to fly into a grey St Ettiene at about 4pm, we were greeted of the plane by Neal and Dawn, it was the first time we'd been picked up from an airport in europe (they'd hired a car)... I could get used to this!
It took about an hour or so to drive from St Ettiene to Villard de Lans, the ski resort they were staying at. The journey route took us through the french countryside, and finally zigzagged it's way up the side of the french alps, we arrived in time for dinner and then chatted until late.
The next day the weather was beautiful and we decided it was a good idea to hit the road again and see some of the french countryside. We toured around the vecors? region, stopping to buy cheese from a local cheesery (they can't be called that?) admire the walnut groves, and to stop in at a french "grotto", effectively a hole in the side of the mountain that opened up into the most amazing underground caves - you'll have to take a look at the photos, it truly was amazing.
The next day, the weather looked like it was setting in, but we decided to hit the slopes anyway. After mucking about for a couple of hours trying to find "pantalon pour le ski" (ski trousers, no way were we going out on the slopes in jeans) and hiring skis etc, we finally made it up the mountain...
I'd attempted to ski once before on Mt Ruapehu, been up there for half a day and pretty much mastered the "ski plough".... I figured that was the basics and it really didn't look like there was much more to it? after about 15 minutes on the mountain and about 3 fairly spectacular falls.... I decided there was.
At this point I decided that I had to go back to the basics, retreated to the "bambi" fields and proceeded to practice the snow plough (I thought I had it mastered?) for the rest of the day. Luckily the bar was just at the bottom of the bambi field, so every time I felt disheartened, I could quickly dash indoors for a quick pick-me-up.
The weather wasn't helping much either, it had gone from slightly overcast and dreary, to can't see 1 meter infront of you and rainy... this wasn't putting off claire or her dad, they both had a great time tearing up and down the slopes.
We called it a day at about 3pm and went back to the chalet, to talk about the days skiing, eat, and sleep.
The next day the weather was much better, we headed to another slope nearby (autrans), and promptly split up, Claire, Dawn and Neal headed straight to the top of the mountain, and I went straight to the baby slopes to keep workin on that snow plough which was causing me so much trouble.
It was a beautiful day, and there was absolutely no-one on the ski field, we prettymuch had the entire place to ourselves, I'm told that skiing doesn't get much better than this.
After about 15min on the baby field, the poor guy operating the skitow told me that he thought I was good enough to graduate onto the green (beginner) slopes, and after some persuasion I headed over that way (as soon as I left he turned off the ski tow and went back to the office to kip).
He ended up being right, and by the end of the day I'd mastered the green slopes and was having a ball zinging down the mountain... skiing was fun again.
The next day we had to pack up and leave for Austria, we had a "suggested" journey guide that said it would take approximately 10 hours. However, on our map we could see a much more direct "scenic" route, which we decided to take.....
....1 alpine range, 1 accidental detour in Verona, about 5 service station stops and 15 hours(!!) later we finally arrived in the ski resort of Zell am See, where we were to stay for the remainder of our holiday.
The next day we awoke to take in the sights of Zell am See, turns out it's quite a pretty town, situated on the side of a frozen lake, in the foothills of the Austrian Alps... very nice, have to come here again.
We headed straight up the mountain again, as it was Claire and I's last full day in europe for this trip and Claire was eager to get out there and try the austrian slopes.
It was much busier on the ski fields today, as it was easter Sunday - the Australian guy we hired our skis off told us that there were 10,000 people on the mountain today and at least 5,000 of them had been to him..... OHoh....
we headed to the top of the mountain and had lunch and admired the views before attempting to ski down, the snow today was much "quicker" I was told and I found out just how quick it was on my first attempt at skiing that day which ended in a very spectacular high speed fall.
I wasn't having much fun with all the people and quickly packed it in, heading to the bottom of the mountain and the bars to wait for the other skiiers to finish.
Afterwards we joined Dawn's sister and her family for dinner, who were also staying in the same resort - before retiring for the night.
The next day we drove to Salzburg, where we were flying out of that night, and had a look around. The weather had packed in again and it was raining heavily.
After a brief and very wet walk around the city we headed to the Visitors center to see what there was that was dry that we could do.
There was a Sound of Music tour that Claire desperately wanted to do, but unfortunately it only started at two times during the day, and we'd just missed it.
Luckily, they had a rough map of locations on the flyer for the tour, so we examined our map of austria and headed out into the countryside to do our own.
We managed to find the building that was the Von Trappe family home, and if it wasn't so overcast we would have seen the hills that were alive with the sound of music.
We stopped off at a little austrian pub for dinner on the way back to Salzburg airport to have a final dinner - then we headed to the airport, said our final goodbyes and headed back to London town.
More pictures of our week skiing in europe can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/196387/
Having now caught the skiing bug (sort of), I'm determined to not let it beat me, and I'm already planning our next skiing trip for 2006, look out european ski fields, you've not seen the last of us yet ..
We left a grey London town on the tuesday to fly into a grey St Ettiene at about 4pm, we were greeted of the plane by Neal and Dawn, it was the first time we'd been picked up from an airport in europe (they'd hired a car)... I could get used to this!
It took about an hour or so to drive from St Ettiene to Villard de Lans, the ski resort they were staying at. The journey route took us through the french countryside, and finally zigzagged it's way up the side of the french alps, we arrived in time for dinner and then chatted until late.
The next day the weather was beautiful and we decided it was a good idea to hit the road again and see some of the french countryside. We toured around the vecors? region, stopping to buy cheese from a local cheesery (they can't be called that?) admire the walnut groves, and to stop in at a french "grotto", effectively a hole in the side of the mountain that opened up into the most amazing underground caves - you'll have to take a look at the photos, it truly was amazing.
The next day, the weather looked like it was setting in, but we decided to hit the slopes anyway. After mucking about for a couple of hours trying to find "pantalon pour le ski" (ski trousers, no way were we going out on the slopes in jeans) and hiring skis etc, we finally made it up the mountain...
I'd attempted to ski once before on Mt Ruapehu, been up there for half a day and pretty much mastered the "ski plough".... I figured that was the basics and it really didn't look like there was much more to it? after about 15 minutes on the mountain and about 3 fairly spectacular falls.... I decided there was.
At this point I decided that I had to go back to the basics, retreated to the "bambi" fields and proceeded to practice the snow plough (I thought I had it mastered?) for the rest of the day. Luckily the bar was just at the bottom of the bambi field, so every time I felt disheartened, I could quickly dash indoors for a quick pick-me-up.
The weather wasn't helping much either, it had gone from slightly overcast and dreary, to can't see 1 meter infront of you and rainy... this wasn't putting off claire or her dad, they both had a great time tearing up and down the slopes.
We called it a day at about 3pm and went back to the chalet, to talk about the days skiing, eat, and sleep.
The next day the weather was much better, we headed to another slope nearby (autrans), and promptly split up, Claire, Dawn and Neal headed straight to the top of the mountain, and I went straight to the baby slopes to keep workin on that snow plough which was causing me so much trouble.
It was a beautiful day, and there was absolutely no-one on the ski field, we prettymuch had the entire place to ourselves, I'm told that skiing doesn't get much better than this.
After about 15min on the baby field, the poor guy operating the skitow told me that he thought I was good enough to graduate onto the green (beginner) slopes, and after some persuasion I headed over that way (as soon as I left he turned off the ski tow and went back to the office to kip).
He ended up being right, and by the end of the day I'd mastered the green slopes and was having a ball zinging down the mountain... skiing was fun again.
The next day we had to pack up and leave for Austria, we had a "suggested" journey guide that said it would take approximately 10 hours. However, on our map we could see a much more direct "scenic" route, which we decided to take.....
....1 alpine range, 1 accidental detour in Verona, about 5 service station stops and 15 hours(!!) later we finally arrived in the ski resort of Zell am See, where we were to stay for the remainder of our holiday.
The next day we awoke to take in the sights of Zell am See, turns out it's quite a pretty town, situated on the side of a frozen lake, in the foothills of the Austrian Alps... very nice, have to come here again.
We headed straight up the mountain again, as it was Claire and I's last full day in europe for this trip and Claire was eager to get out there and try the austrian slopes.
It was much busier on the ski fields today, as it was easter Sunday - the Australian guy we hired our skis off told us that there were 10,000 people on the mountain today and at least 5,000 of them had been to him..... OHoh....
we headed to the top of the mountain and had lunch and admired the views before attempting to ski down, the snow today was much "quicker" I was told and I found out just how quick it was on my first attempt at skiing that day which ended in a very spectacular high speed fall.
I wasn't having much fun with all the people and quickly packed it in, heading to the bottom of the mountain and the bars to wait for the other skiiers to finish.
Afterwards we joined Dawn's sister and her family for dinner, who were also staying in the same resort - before retiring for the night.
The next day we drove to Salzburg, where we were flying out of that night, and had a look around. The weather had packed in again and it was raining heavily.
After a brief and very wet walk around the city we headed to the Visitors center to see what there was that was dry that we could do.
There was a Sound of Music tour that Claire desperately wanted to do, but unfortunately it only started at two times during the day, and we'd just missed it.
Luckily, they had a rough map of locations on the flyer for the tour, so we examined our map of austria and headed out into the countryside to do our own.
We managed to find the building that was the Von Trappe family home, and if it wasn't so overcast we would have seen the hills that were alive with the sound of music.
We stopped off at a little austrian pub for dinner on the way back to Salzburg airport to have a final dinner - then we headed to the airport, said our final goodbyes and headed back to London town.
More pictures of our week skiing in europe can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/196387/
Having now caught the skiing bug (sort of), I'm determined to not let it beat me, and I'm already planning our next skiing trip for 2006, look out european ski fields, you've not seen the last of us yet ..
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
New York City - 5th to 13th Feb 2005 ..
Claire and I recently returned from a holiday in New York - we were there for a week, Laura (Claire's sister) and her friend Dean were also there for the fist three days.
Instead of the usual multipage spiel, this time I thought I'd just list the highlights, which are as follows:
Happy Hours - most bars and clubs had happy hours that started at 4pm and went to 6 or 7, not very good for your average Manhattanite, but perfect for your average kiwi on holiday... $5 for a cosmo! That's less than a pint in London... bring it on!
Basketball at Madison Square Gardens - we went and saw the Knicks play the Heat at Madison Square Gardens. The Knicks lost (apparently that's nothing new, I overheard another person say they'd won 3 of their last 20 games), but we still had a great time. Madison Square Gardens is an amazing venue, and to be there for a playoff game was a real treat.
Table Service - Everywhere you go you get table service, doesn't matter if it's a diner, restaurant, bar, or club - you don't go to the counter, you take a seat (or wait to be shown one) and a waiter will come and take your order. Obviously this is so they can justify the whopping tips that everyone has to pay (20%), but it seemed very civilised, and quite different from trying to fight your way to the bar in London.
Friendly People - Everyone we came across was incredibly friendly and polite, this could of course be down to the previously mentioned compulsory 20% tipping policy in NY, but again was quite contrasting from stinky old London. I could never get in the last word; I'd like to think of myself as quite a polite person - and I say thankyou for everything - in NY my thankyous were ALWAYS greeted with a "you're welcome"... How nice.
Broadway Shows - everyone's heard of Broadway, and everyone's heard of broadways show. We get a lot of the same shows in London - but in Broadway the bigger shows ALWAYS have some big name off the TV starring to pull in the punters. We went and saw The Producers, by Mel Brooks - it had two guys out of Spin City as the main characters, was a great laugh and a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
The view from the Empire State Building- we went in just before dusk, queued for the tickets and lift for an hour, and by the time we finally got up there - it was dark. Still, the view was amazing (as you'll see from the photos), we ended up spending about an hour checking out that famous skyline from the top of the empire state.
Single Slice Pizza (pie) - you can buy this on pertty much every street corner, they con you by charging twice as much for fancy toppings, but a slice of tomato and cheese on the way home at night does it for me everytime....
Bagels - if single slice pizza was my meal of choice in the evenings, bagels were what I was eating in the mornings, lightly toasted with a schmeer (of cream cheese) - yum
Shopping - the shopping was so good!!!! The US$ is really weak against the pound at the minute, so £1 was getting us $2. I ended up spending not much, and getting heaps!!! We're talking £15 for jeans, £15 for shoes, £20 for a nice bag, £20 for a nice sweater - the list goes on and on,
The Architecture - New York is a city that exploded skywards in the last 100 or so years, visitors can't help but walk around staring upwards when they first arrive, I mean - I've seen skyscrapers before, but never ones that are 100+ storeys, and so many of them right next to each other - it really is a sight to behold. Also, there are some serious Art Deco influences in Manhattan, every second building seemed to have an elaborate art deco foyer, I can only imagine what the decor would be if you went further... truly amazing.
Anyway, that's it - but you don't have to take my word for it - here's some pictures of our trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/201299/
And here's some basic videos (been reading the camera manual) for those that can be bothered - they're not so spectacular, so don't panic if you can't see 'em:
http://dmalpas.bulldoghome.com
Righto, that's your lot.
Instead of the usual multipage spiel, this time I thought I'd just list the highlights, which are as follows:
Happy Hours - most bars and clubs had happy hours that started at 4pm and went to 6 or 7, not very good for your average Manhattanite, but perfect for your average kiwi on holiday... $5 for a cosmo! That's less than a pint in London... bring it on!
Basketball at Madison Square Gardens - we went and saw the Knicks play the Heat at Madison Square Gardens. The Knicks lost (apparently that's nothing new, I overheard another person say they'd won 3 of their last 20 games), but we still had a great time. Madison Square Gardens is an amazing venue, and to be there for a playoff game was a real treat.
Table Service - Everywhere you go you get table service, doesn't matter if it's a diner, restaurant, bar, or club - you don't go to the counter, you take a seat (or wait to be shown one) and a waiter will come and take your order. Obviously this is so they can justify the whopping tips that everyone has to pay (20%), but it seemed very civilised, and quite different from trying to fight your way to the bar in London.
Friendly People - Everyone we came across was incredibly friendly and polite, this could of course be down to the previously mentioned compulsory 20% tipping policy in NY, but again was quite contrasting from stinky old London. I could never get in the last word; I'd like to think of myself as quite a polite person - and I say thankyou for everything - in NY my thankyous were ALWAYS greeted with a "you're welcome"... How nice.
Broadway Shows - everyone's heard of Broadway, and everyone's heard of broadways show. We get a lot of the same shows in London - but in Broadway the bigger shows ALWAYS have some big name off the TV starring to pull in the punters. We went and saw The Producers, by Mel Brooks - it had two guys out of Spin City as the main characters, was a great laugh and a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
The view from the Empire State Building- we went in just before dusk, queued for the tickets and lift for an hour, and by the time we finally got up there - it was dark. Still, the view was amazing (as you'll see from the photos), we ended up spending about an hour checking out that famous skyline from the top of the empire state.
Single Slice Pizza (pie) - you can buy this on pertty much every street corner, they con you by charging twice as much for fancy toppings, but a slice of tomato and cheese on the way home at night does it for me everytime....
Bagels - if single slice pizza was my meal of choice in the evenings, bagels were what I was eating in the mornings, lightly toasted with a schmeer (of cream cheese) - yum
Shopping - the shopping was so good!!!! The US$ is really weak against the pound at the minute, so £1 was getting us $2. I ended up spending not much, and getting heaps!!! We're talking £15 for jeans, £15 for shoes, £20 for a nice bag, £20 for a nice sweater - the list goes on and on,
The Architecture - New York is a city that exploded skywards in the last 100 or so years, visitors can't help but walk around staring upwards when they first arrive, I mean - I've seen skyscrapers before, but never ones that are 100+ storeys, and so many of them right next to each other - it really is a sight to behold. Also, there are some serious Art Deco influences in Manhattan, every second building seemed to have an elaborate art deco foyer, I can only imagine what the decor would be if you went further... truly amazing.
Anyway, that's it - but you don't have to take my word for it - here's some pictures of our trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drivebytourism/sets/201299/
And here's some basic videos (been reading the camera manual) for those that can be bothered - they're not so spectacular, so don't panic if you can't see 'em:
http://dmalpas.bulldoghome.com
Righto, that's your lot.
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