We’ve been galivanting all over the place, from Greenwich Village to Chelsea to Soho to the Financial District to Brooklyn to Conneticut(!) to Chinatown and Little Italy to Harlem and finally Washington D.C., so please forgive me if I haven’t been updating more periodically. Hey, that’s what Twitter and Facebook are for.
(We’re also at the Hamptons for the weekend. What can I say?)
Between the travel, the eating, and the drinking – and my new and burgeoning wardrobe, it’s seen my savings shrink quicker than you can say sub-prime mortgage default. Basically all gone in less than a month then.
Commes des Garcons storefront, Chelsea
Also, as I like trying new foods, I’ve been trying new and unique American foods where ever I can. Unfortunately, American food is… all junk food. Pretzels – they’re pretty average. Had a crappy churro too, not at all like my glorious childhood memories from Disneyland. Basically a Mexican donut, the one I had down near Battery Park at the bottom tip of Manhattan tasted about a week old. That’s what you get eating vendor food from a tourist trap though I guess. However, the hotdogs from street vendors are great, as are the falafels, and the Philly Cheese Steak I had seriously hit the spot. I’m sold on them. PIzza in New York is everywhere, usually pretty cheap, usually pretty good, and is known as pie. Don’t ask why. Just stay away from any street vendors in an area filled with tourists.
We didn’t get much of a chance to explore Brooklyn, confining our visit to hipster central – Williamsburg. It’s very boho and so trendy it hurts. So after an informative and thirst quenching visit to the Brooklyn Brewery (the beers are fantastic) we struck out to the main street.
Tour guide inside the Brooklyn Brewery
Bursting with cafes, bars and vintage clothing stores, I found an excellent vinyl store called Ear Wax where I loaded up on soul, reggae and funk records.
Earwax Vinyl, Williamsburg
In desperate need of refreshment, we then found a chi chi restaurant and bar called Julliette which featured a fantastic rooftop seating area where we managed to while away a couple of balmy spring afternoon hours.
Juliette, Williamsburg
Then on the way back we came across some outstanding subway entertainment in a city that has an extremely high level of subway entertainment. In New Zealand they’d be asked to star on Dancing With The Stars and given a record deal. Here – they probably make more on the subway. Anyway, these guys were seriously rocking the party.
Lugging a piano around the subway can’t have been fun, but jamming with tap-dance accompaniement sure looked like it was.
I also have to add that the street that we’re living on is a kick-ass foodie’s heaven, with every amenity and convenience imaginable. Somehow we managed to land in the ground zero of cool on Manhattan, smack in the middle of the Lower East Side on Clinton street, where the rents are higher than the Upper East Side(!)
We love Clinton Street!
Basically, unless you just don’t like cities in general, I can’t see how you can come to this city and not fall in love with it.
‘Borrowed’ from the city of brotherly love, this street sculpture is quite popular with couples and young types
Next up: The Statue of Liberty, rooftop cinema, and Central Park.
Globalmitch 