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Your first sight of New York is like losing your virginity…………

20

Jul

July 20, 2013 by Karen

“Your first sight of New York is like losing your virginity. Although you've heard so much about it and seen it in countless movies- both Vaseline lenses and graphically depicted-you don't get it until you've finally had the experience.”

Kate Sekules 'City Pack New York'

I had been to New York before in the late 1990's but for Nick it was his first time. We were presented with the most amazing opportunity of living in an apartment in New York for the month of July, thanks to my gorgeous friend Milla and her extremely generous sister Sophie.

One of the first things we did was head to the roof terrace to check out the views.

Looking up 7th Avenue towards Times Square.

Looking downtown towards the new 'Freedom tower.'

We covered a lot of miles on foot during our first week exploring the local neighbourhood and a little future afield.

The Flatiron building, one of my favourites!

Having a coffee break at La Maison du macaron, a great French place famous for macaroons!

Check out all the window mounted air conditioner units!

We loved this approach to a lack of car parking space!

Back of the Flatiron building.

Yep – they really do have those fire escapes you see in the movies!

We met up with Brett and Elena for a walk on 'The High Line' and then a great dinner at Co, a great pizza place in our neighbourhood.

Another day we wandered down through Greenwich and Soho.

We spotted this ripper in the window of a shop on the way home and could not resist taking a photo!

Despite the sign we needed to loiter in this door way to shelter from the rain.

Loitering a little later again when the rain really came bucketing down.

After a few days we felt like we were really getting New York and were looking forward to experiencing every bit of it over the next month.

Birthdays are like beers……….

16

Jul

July 16, 2013 by Karen

“Birthdays are like beers…The more you have, the harder it is to get up in the morning”

On the 11th of July mum turned 70 and we planned a whole birthday bonanza of activities to celebrate. Dad lashed out with two dozen red roses, after a bit of persuasion!

The roses were beautiful and cheap at only $10 for 24.

First ride on the subway!

Chelsea Market was our first stop.

Some of the cupcakes available! I wonder if they taste as good as they look!

Checking out the chocolate shop!

Having coffee and macaroons!

Lobster Place, our designated lunch stop!

Lesley celebrated in style with a lobster roll.

My lobster Bisque bread bowl!

Back in the subway on our way to the afternoon boat cruise.

We saw these two crazies on the subway!

Waiting for the boat cruise at a cafe down by Pier 83.

We took a three our boat cruise around Manhattan with Circle Line Cruises .

The Manhattan Skyline

And with a bit more drama thanks to 'Snapseed'.

The Statue of Liberty

Brooklyn bridge

One of the 22 bridges we went under.

In the evening we celebrated on the roof terrace with drinks and nibbles for dinner.

It was a wonderful day and thankfully the beer and champagne ran out when it did or we would have all had trouble getting up in the morning!

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The ‘Pride’ Parade

14

Jul

July 14, 2013 by Karen

We were lucky enough to be in San Francisco for the Pride celebration. This year was particularly significant as same sex marriages were once again allowed in California with the Prop 8 Supreme Court ruling.

The theme of the parade this year was “Embrace, Encourage, Empower.”

It began with 'Dykes on bikes'.

The parade was colourful and emotional. We felt privileged to be there.

Check out the guy with the broom. He was working his stuff as part of a flash mob!

The crowd was just as interesting as the parade! I could have done without seeing the naked old men though!

San Francisco. Where worlds collide…

We ended our last day in San Francisco in a more mellow way, catching up with Tim who we randomly met on a boat trip in Ushuaia, Argentina over a year earlier. Thanks for the great company Tim and for the lift to the airport the following day! Next stop……….New York!

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“It’s out of order but that is the way the world is!”

14

Jul

July 14, 2013 by Karen

It was very busy in San Francisco as it was 'Pride' weekend and accommodation was hard to come by. We had a few moments of “we have been had” when we turned up at the address given to us by Our next Airbnb host.

The address pointed to one of these two houses, one of which was condemned and the other obviously no long there.

The neighbours were very helpful and many tried to help us find the number we were looking for.

“It's out of order but that is the way the world is!”

This comment was made by an old man living across the street when Nick knocked on his door and asked for help. We eventually found where we were meant to be staying. Seems she had recorded the wrong address and forgot to tell us!

The house was lovely and complete with a friendly dog….

And Neko, the 16 year old cat to keep us company!

The view from our back door.

We walked down lover's lane towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

We walked through Crissy Field and stopped to have lunch there, enjoying the view back over the city.

This is as much of the Golden Gate bridge as we saw due to the fog rolling in.

In the evening we took a walk through Castro.

We ended up in 'The Misson District' where we met Suzanne (a friend from our retreat on Gili Air) for dinner.

Mission is full of buildings and alley ways with murals and we enjoyed the tour Suzanne gave us.

Our fourth day was spent catching up with the lovely Nick Bursey, a friend of Nick's from ANZ. On Nick's recommendation we headed for Lomabard street in the afternoon.

This portion of Lombard Street is a section that has been dubbed “the crookedest street in the San Fransisco.”