Oh No! Man Flu!!

A tragedy has occurred! Himself has the Man Flu! Actually, he does have a really nasty cold the poor dear, and American cold drugs don’t seem to cut it.  The first lot we bought (which he took during Jersey ‘Girls’ - as he likes to call it) almost put him to sleep but didn’t do much else to dry it up.  So we tried a different brand yesterday which weren’t strong enough.  We’re still looking for the Goldilocks version (just right) but not sure if we’re game to try any others.

But enough about Himself.  IT SNOWED YESTERDAY!!!!!! So excitement!!  It was on the weather report that it would but I wasn’t going to get my hopes up.  It was certainly cold enough though.  We had decided to go to The Metropolitan Museum due to the weather, so after a solid breakfast (French toast for me, scrambled eggs and potato pancake for him) from a tried and tested diner we caught the subway down.   Several blocks across we came to the museum.  It is HUGE!! Wow!! We walked past and up to The Guggenheim which is a modern art museum to admire it from the outside as it’s architecturally very cool, then back to The Met (totes into the local lingo me).  It’s also unbelievably big on the inside, so much to see.  The Egyptian section was one of my favourites.  Seeing granite statues that were 3,500 years old blew my mind.  Buy granite bench tops* peeps – they’re forever…

I also loved the Tiffany stained glass section, so beautiful! There was this huge autumn scene window insert which was amazing. Bought myself some fridge magnets of the same ;-)  Lots of other stuff to see, there were lots of religious paintings (Jebus is a very popular subject) and a couple of fairly risqué paintings – a. angel/cherub giving a woman a golden shower and b. a woman expressing breast milk for a man sitting beside her - What the‽‽  With the Jesus pictures they were all of him sad and stuff.  Shame, the should paint more of him hanging out with his homies instead of languishing looking sad bleeding… it gets you down after a while…

By the time we got to the Greek and Roman section it had started snowing outside and I was finding it very distracting J pressing my nose against all the windows and ignoring the ‘stuff’ inside - so Himself suggested it was time to finish up and go outside for a frolic.  So we walked (I skipped) to Central Park – that’s right peeps!! It doesn’t get any more awesomely awesome than that!  Lots of photos of course.  Hooray!!  I tried the ‘catch a flake on the tongue’ and the ‘crunch fresh snow under boots’.  There was not really enough for balls or men but I was happy.  So once we finished gamboling it was time for lunch.

As an aside, on the way to Central Park, some twenty-somethings walking behind us were chatting.  He said “Yeah, she was Australian, she had an Australian accent and everything!!” to which I turned around and responded “Yep, that is crazy; an Australian with an Australian accent”.  They all cracked up, and he was like, “how about that timing…”

So we went and found a Mexican place we’d seen the night before and had lunch there.  A couple of huge margaritas (on holidays! Cocktails for lunch! Huzzah!!) and Himself had quesadillas and I had enchiladas.  Both good.  Mine had a huge side of rice, refried beans and a salad.  They weren’t much for chopping – the one piece of cucumber was a centimetre thick…

Then home (via a golf shop) for a hard core nanna nap.  Himself was really going downhill and we were worried about making dinner – which was another much anticipated restaurant.  Maialino at the Gramercy Hotel – check out the hotel if you have time (online, I mean) it’s amazing.  And dinner was also fantastic – although we were both still struggling from our various ailments.  It was the meal with the most hits.  Every course delicious (although I still think the Gramercy Tavern was more beautiful to be in and all their take-aways, well…).  Himself had a suckling pig pasta to start and I went with fried artichokes with anchovy dipping sauce.  For antipasti mine was still too big – damn American serving sizes! The sauce was not particularly fishy and very yum.   Although I think Himself had the winning dish with his starter.  For our entrée (main) I had Sea Bass and Himself enjoyed Mackerel, both delish again.  We forwent dessert due to our poorly state and couldn’t even finish our bottle of wine!! Sacre Bleu!! Happily “Would you like that wine to go?” so we did, and we’ll enjoy it tomorrow afternoon with the cheese from the night before… Huzzah!!

*Stone – it’s a granite bench top…

A Beautiful Day to have a Sore Stomach

Yesterday I woke up with my stomach sore but not sick any more (queue angel chorus… hallelujah!) Himself pointed out it was a gorgeous sunny day (it was) so we should sight-see (we should).  I agreed with trepidation as I wasn’t sure gambolling around with a still precious stomach was the way forward for me.

We went down to a diner for breakfast (we’d tried it the night before where I’d had my first solids of the day - dry toasted bagel and French onion soup mmmm; Himself had ordered a chilli burger. Do you want to know what that is? It’s a hamburger (with patty) and chilli con carne then poured over the top. With fries.  Apparently the con carne was delicious so I’ll need to try it (sans the patty and bun) for lunch soon.  Still being cautious I ordered a plain waffle with fresh strawberries.  The best part of breakfast was an American couple who came in and the man ordered pancakes… with a side of fries.  Brilliant.

After breakfast we walked (slowly) over the Brooklyn Bridge; then had a little break for the old invalid. Then across to the 9/11 sight which is still a construction site.  There’s a very beautiful building going up there plus a really zen memorial. Then (slowly) down to Wall Street.  There’s a barricade around the New York Stock Exchange to keep all the annoying tourists away.   Then another rest and lunch then down to Battery Park.  We saw the Statue of Liberty from afar and were very disappointed to find out that you can’t visit Liberty Island at the moment due to Hurricane Sandy damage.  As the lines for the ferry cruise around the island were snaking around the park we decided to come back another morning first thing for that particular experience.

Back to the apartment (slowly) for a rest.  A two and a half hour nanna for the invalid then some mooching around before our evening’s activity.  I was a bit worried, it was Jersey Boys and then a very late dinner.  Would I survive?? This is one of the highlights of my trip!!  So we got dressed and caught a taxi uptown.

As an aside, the taxi drivers in New York are CRAZY! Buckle up kids – you’re in for a bumpy ride.  Argh!!  We decided on a small snack before the show so we weren’t chewing each other’s arms off before dinner so we went to a Mexican fast food place for a burrito.  We decided to have one between the two of us and it was still HUGE.  I think even on a normal day we could share one for lunch.  Himself is starting to feel the effects of New York food.  Happily, due to my 24 hour crash diet I’m okay.

Jersey Boys was fantastic for me, okay for Himself.  The guy who played Frankie Valli had the most amazing voice, the harmonies were divine and you spend half the time not quite believing the music is live.  Even Himself who can’t stand musicals admitted that yes, it was very good (but remains unmoved on his anti-musical stance).

Dinner afterwards was after another exciting taxi ride closer to home.  It was at a restaurant called One if by Land, Two if by Sea.  Great name.  When we arrived (at 11:15pm) there were still quite a few people there but plenty of tables.  They proceeded to take us to an upstairs bit that smelt of kitchen grease with a rockin’ table.  One of the bus boys noticed us playing with table and when he came to fix it I asked politely to be moved.  So duly we were moved (thank goodness) to the much more attractive (and much less stinky) downstairs.  Dinner was nice. Nothing special, slightly under seasoned.  Are we utter food snobs? Yes, alas I think so. Our waiter was lovely though.

By the time dessert came we were totally stuffed due to the burrito earlier – why dessert you ask? It was three course fixed price (or fixe prix as they say here) so no choice.  But the brilliant thing about NY is they always offer to pack things to go.  They have lovely bags and containers to put it all in.  Brilliant! Will you pack my cheese? Of course ma’am.  So we trotted home with a lovely bag full of cheese for tomorrow’s afternoon mooch around the apartment.

  

Here’s a picture of my ‘to go’ bag in our ‘gourmet’ kitchen… I laugh whenever I see our ‘gourmet’ (as per the advertising speil) kitchen.  Three cups on the bench and there won’t be much room for no gourmet cookin’…

The Bar Has Been Set – the high one, and the low one

For those of you who woke up yesterday morning and immediately logged in to check out my latest blog I’m sorry there wasn’t one for you to read, but alas, I came down with a fantastic poochuck virus.  So I spent yesterday in bed (or in the bathroom) feeling extremely nauseous and sorry for myself.  Just after lunch Himself had to track down a medical centre and half carry me to it.  So at least we got to experience the American Health System at its finest.  Expensive.  One hundred dollars to see an intern who then consulted with a doctor and then gave me some drugs…  The drugs by the way were very cheap.

But the day before all of this drama was a shopping day, so the plan was to go to Macy’s and check it out.  We had a non-descript breakfast at a café down the road (where Himself was given a cup of coffee the size of… well, I dunno, but it was ridiculously huge…) once we finished up we walked up to Macy’s.  It was freezing and of course I’d forgotten my hat and gloves…

I get the coffee doesn't look huge due to big hands there, but it was...

We stopped at the Empire State Building on the way because the line was non-existent.  Fantastic! We went up to the observation deck on the 80th floor and stepped outside… where I immediately snap froze. The view is amazing though, but so cold!! So after a few mandatory photos (and a few more by Himself just to prove how manly and tough he was out there in the cold) we shot back down to earth via the gift shop.  I may have bought the Wee Girl something but I can’t say what as she’s reading this too…

We then went onward to Macy’s, which was packed!  But unlike Myer where you have to go hunter gathering for an attendant there were more than you could poke a stick at, and all bar one incredibly helpful*.  Himself spent some money on shoes then we found a docking station for him while I did some serious clothes shopping (I shop alone).  Two hundred dollars later I went and collected him and we headed out to lunch.   We stopped at the Shake Shack which Himself wanted to try.  Apparently they’re quite famous, the burgers were yum but their slogan should be “A Heart Attack in Every Bun”.  The buns had this weird squidgy texture; I suspect containing 70% lard would do that to bread.  The chips were yum too.  But as it was an outdoor eating area by the time we were finished I looked like I was suffering from some kind of palsy and my legs were sticking to my jeans (ouch! An all new cold experience for me) so we figured it was time to go.

Just time for an afternoon nap before dinner.  The rain was teaming down when we left and the *&^%$$!@!! Taxi driver took us to the wrong restaurant (huzzah!) which would have been okay, as the correct place was only a five minute walk away, except that as it was pissing it down it was not.  So we arrived at the Grammercy Tavern looking like a couple of wet, angry rats.

They more than made up for it.  The food was divine as was the service.  To start I had a cauliflower custard and Himself had a beetroot and radicchio salad (he said it was a bit too bitter – wrong radicchio to beetroot ratio), then I had fish for main – he had lamb and we finished with cheese.  ALL DELICIOUS and including tip $170 less than the night before…  there were also gorgeous looking and tasting petit fours plus a couple of amuse bouche slipped in there.  And the place was also beautiful.  It got better; they gave us a complementary umbrella on the way out, and not just a cheap one, a really lovely big one.  I suspect Himself will call dibs on it when we get home.  We also grabbed some matches which came in really handy the next day in the loo, what with my stomach…

Oh, and a breakfast muffin for the next day.  Love the food here on the whole, although all a tiny bit salty for my taste…

*Maybe she didn't like having a stick poked at her, I get that...

Day One and the Disappointment of the Bull(sh1t) and (un)Bear(able)

Ahhh jetlag… what a drag right? Here I am at 6am writing this; can’t say I’m looking forward to it again on our return to Australia. Glad we’ve got a couple of days before we start back at work.  So Christmas Day and my 40^th are actually a bit of a blur.  We did some exploring and a lot of eating.

Breakfast was at a local café in the East Village, I had the Cheddar Grits with poached eggs and himself had Corned Beef Hash with eggs over easy and a potato pancake (you can take the boy out of Ireland and all that).  We also had a side of bacon.  Happily the meal was not as huge as I thought it might be... 

So grits, right? I know the concept; it’s a corn grain porridge jobbie, so I figured it would be like polenta which I love and besides, you need to try all this stuff right? To be honest, a bit bland, I didn’t get the Cheddar at all and it was runnier than I thought it would be so it was like a gritty (hah! I see what they did there…) porridge.  Himself enjoyed his well enough, he’d not tried corned beef hash before, but neither of us would rush out to try those particular dishes again.

We then strolled up town (I think that’s the correct ‘I’m a local and totes blending in with my NY lingo’) along Broadway.  Now there’s a drag, everywhere we go there’s some road, or sign, or whatever that pops a song into my head, so of course we were On Broadwaaaaayyyy da da da dada… but I digress.  We found Macy’s and the famed window displays, they were okay but Himself reckoned last years were better.  I’m looking forward to going in and shopping tomorrow…  More exciting were the squirrels in Madison Park and Union Square.  We met this guy who was walking through the park with about four squirrels were following him, when he noticed us giggling he explained he was making a tutting noise and the squirrels think he’s opening nuts so they were following him! Ha! True story, we tried it, does work… They also were happy to take bits of pretzels off me.

We got up to Times Square which was not as big I expected, it’s a sort of junction where a few roads cross, not an actual square, but there are as many lights and signs as you’d think though.  Also, I’m not sure how they film anything there for TV and movies, as it was heaving with tourists.  Very glad we’re staying where we are it was really touristy and busy up that end of town.  Also very, very glad we’re not going the Times Square NYE ball drop thingy, the ball was quite small, and the crowd will be very large.  We’re going to a Speak Easy instead…

Up that end of town there’s lots of guys selling tour bus tickets so aside from the one time I foolishly pulled out my pop-up-pocket-new-york-map (thank you D&G – it’s AWESOME) in full view so we had one guy do the “only $60 for a jump on jump off tour special for you today!!!!!” spiel we managed to blend in with the locals and avoid the constant hard sell that most gormless tourists seem to be bombarded with (check us out, livin’ like the locals…)

By now I was speaking a language that was kind of English but mainly braille so we strolled back down our way and went to Little Italy for a pizza lunch.  We found a place that was open on Christmas Day and enjoyed a delicious pizza plus some starters (well, I think we enjoyed it, Himself assures me we did but my brain was done).  So then back to the apartment for an hour snooze which seemed to do the trick – so off to dinner!!

As mentioned yesterday we went to the Waldorf for dinner at their steakhouse called the Bull & Bear.  It was nice. It was a set menu so no Waldorf salad for me alas.  They did give me a free glass of champagne as it was my birthday; that was nice, but back to the food.  For starter I had Jerusalem artichoke soup with truffle oil and Maine lobster (wafer thin slices).  Himself got the foie gras.  His came as the whole liver on a plate, grilled with a postage stamp sized piece of toast beside it…. Hmmm bread to gras ratio fail.  One mouthful and by the peculiar look on his face I could tell it wasn’t for him.  My soup was delicious so I did the magnanimous thing and offered to swap.  I’ve never had it like that, just a big lump on your plate.  To be fair it’s not offally at all but it was cold in the middle – not sure if it was meant to be but I can’t say I enjoyed the warm-on-the-outside-cold-in-the-middle-is-this-damn-thing-cooked-properly?? feeling … 

So on to the second which was risotto for him and cod in a clam broth for me.  Happily I didn’t have to man up again and eat his second course for him as well (just saying).  He said the risotto was stodgy and bland and mine wasn’t much better, couldn’t taste the fish at all, just the clams so it was a clam-and-cotton-wool dish for me. 

Ah well, on to the main (or entrée as they call it here) we both went with the fillet as it is a steak house.  Mine was an over cooked medium but Himself’s was the correct medium rare.  I have to say, the highlight of that particular dish was the beans… they were nice…  The steak was hardly F&B quality but acceptable.  We won’t even discuss dessert, the waiter declared that yes, pinot noir does go beautifully with dessert so she’d arrange for it in 5 minutes (this was after we’d said we’d finish our wine BEFORE dessert – she appeared to know better).  Dessert was stodge and ice-cream.  The wine did not go, we were not surprised.  We were, however, surprised at the bill… $570!!! They had helpfully added their own tip of $80 in and we did not feel the need to add any more.  We decided that while the meal was nice it was maybe only $200 worth of nice, definitely not over $550 worth of nice and will be sharing that opinion on various food forums.

Back to the apartment for a better night sleep – I woke to the symphony of gurgling that is the heating a couple of times but aside from that, a much better night’s sleep.  Today’s a shopping day – can’t wait!!