untold blisses

Probably one of the most amazing moments happened as we slowly woke up on the Friday morning.  Pulling back the curtains and just seeing New York right there in front of us was stunning and we were so glad we booked this hotel.

I turned on the TV almost immediately so we could watch as much Good Day New York as possible.  Watching Greg Kelly live was definitely something I had been looking forward to (if you watch The Soup, you know why).  It is just one of the worst/best TV news shows I have ever seen, and it was such a shame that we were here over the weekend as it meant we missed out on two days of Greg’s nonsense!

We very quickly learnt this morning that Americans know nothing about their own weather.  Shortly before we arrived in NYC, they were talking about snow showers and temperatures of -9.  This turned out to be completely wrong.  We watched the weather on GDNY and they were promising cold temperatures again but clear skies, so we both went out with our coats to walk the High Line.  Never again would we listen to their reports.

First up – find some breakfast.  We were still quite full from McGees last night so only wanted something light, and thought we’d find somewhere on Sixth Avenue.  We peered in coffee shops for a few blocks but they were all rammed with people and very little seating – their cafes are all so small!  We eventually found a Starbucks which didn’t have much of a queue, and decided to get a morning bun and some coffee to take away, finding a seating area a couple of blocks down.

We cut across Manhattan to get to the start of the High Line, down at 10th Avenue and 30th Street (probably about 2 miles).  I was quite hot by this point, so had resorted to dragging my coat behind me but pretty much as soon as we stepped foot on the incredibly busy High Line, it started to rain.  Rain which had not been predicated.  Stupid weather.  We continued our walk from 30th down to Gansevoort Street, underneath The Standard (we didn’t see any nudies).  I did really enjoy the walk, but the rain ruined any photo opportunities, and the fact that all the plants were dead didn’t help either.  Everything was grey.  Boo 😦

We had a bit of a wander through Greenwich Village, stumbled across a film set which had taken a break in the rain – we think it was Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll so not that exciting – and then we found Co Bigelow.  The last time we were in Las Vegas, we stayed at the Cosmopolitan which had amazing Co Bigelow toiletries.  Since then, I’ve desperately wanted to stock up on my favourite conditioner, so now was my opportunity.  Of all the places in New York, the one I was most excited about was a drug store.  WOO!

Happy with my purchases, we made our way back up Sixth Avenue, stopping at Old Navy so I could buy a couple of t-shirts and a lightweight hoodie as my coat was already irritating me.  We realised we’d gone passed the Kiehl’s flagship store  (Husband is a fan) so we turned back to visit and spend a ridiculous amount on skincare.  We found another Starbucks and had a very quick lunch before setting off again back up Sixth.

It was a long old walk, through the Flatiron district and Madison Square Park – we thought about having a Shack Shake but the queue was insane – passed the Empire State Building, the New York Public Library and the Rockefeller Center.  You’ll notice I’m saying we went passed all of these things, but it had already been an incredibly long day in the rain so we didn’t stop.  Except when we got to Uniqlo on 5th Avenue, but this was only a brief stop as Husband hadn’t prepared himself for a spree.

We got back to the hotel where I has a lovely bath, then passed out for several hours.  Husband researched where we’d be going for dinner, then gently woke me up in time to do my hair and make up for our Off Broadway adventure.

My legs had stopped working after our earlier traipse around the city, so we jumped on the R train for the 20 minute subway ride to the East Village.  We found Paprika which was a gorgeous little Italian, where I filled up on mozzarella salad, and Husband had some kind of meaty, cheesy fettuccine, with a tiramisu to finish.  I really liked our waiter – he was so cheery – and it was a really great meal.

We then went over to Theatre 80 for the Friday night production of Bayside the Musical.  Yes, an unofficial Saved By the Bell Musical.  I’ve given the musical it’s own post so won’t go into it now, but we were initially quite confused as it appeared we had to queue in the bar next door.  Husband thought he’d prepare himself by getting a drink, where the interesting bar woman gave him a menu purely of absinthe.  And then wandered off.  Not wanting to get that drunk, we asked if he could have just a JD and coke.  The answer was yes, thank goodness, and the bar woman proceed to pour a metric ton of whisky into his coke.  She then didn’t know how much it was – it was very bewildering for everyone involved.

We didn’t have to wait too long for the production to start and it was amazing (as my next post will explain!).  After the play, we went straight back to the subway forgetting that the Big Gay Ice Cream shop was the next street over and got the R train back up to our hotel, then collapsed into bed ready to start the next day in New York.

It doesn’t actually sound like a lot, but my pedometer says we did over 13 miles in total.  No wonder my legs nearly fell off.