Day 56 - Rhode Island to Connecticut. Despite my fears, the kids slept well in the same bed. Which was great, as it meant Dan and I could start sorting out our route and the next lot of accommodation.
The arguments, however, started back up in the car:
"Alex has got my map!", yelled Abi.
"But you weren't reading it!", countered Alex.
"But I got it - if you wanted it you should have got one."
"But you weren't reading it!", Alex countered again.
"Give it to Alex," I directed.
"But I was the one who got it!"
"She just got it out now," Dan clarified.
"Well, then, Alex you don't need it," I amended.
"But she wasn't reading it!", Alex countered for a third time.
"Abi, were you reading it?"
"No, but I got it!!"
"Give it to Alex."
"NO!"
Following the map snatched out her hand and handed to Alex, and her newly stinging thigh, the car was silent, apart from a couple of muted sniffles.
We were spending the day and night with an old flight school buddy of Dan's, whom he hadn't seen in almost 25 years!
What an awesome and welcoming guy Denis was! Full of fantastic stories from his many years flying different planes, and his experiences in different countries.
Denis was good friends with a local restrateur named Chris, and we were invited to dinner at his house. We were treated to a delicious Greek platter and desserts that came from his restaurant. We had a wonderful evening, and didn't get back to Denis' house until after 11pm!
Day 57 - another day with Denis. We were awoken briefly at 6:20am by Denis saying goodbye, as he was off on a flight. The next time we woke up was 10am! We haven't slept that late in months!!
We had been invited to Chris' restaurant for breakfast pizza. Oh wow, it was so delicious; it was like bacon and eggs and sausage, but on a pizza base. So, so, soooo yummy!
Denis' daughter Sophia very kindly played tour guide around their town of Woodbury and surrounds while he was working. She took us to lots of local spots, and we really enjoyed seeing more of the area. One place in particular was a tiny Russian chapel, in a place called Churaevka (Russian Village).
The village was established by the son of Leo Tolstoy (of War and Peace fame) and another Russian author. Some other known names who were connected with the area are Sergei Rachmaninoff (composer), and Igor Sikorsky (helicopters).
Denis made it back just after 3pm. We were again invited to Chris' house for dinner, but feeling that we couldn't impose on his hospitality for a third time, together with Denis we brought the meat and Dan cooked it. Tomahawk steaks are MASSIVE! Three of them and two smaller cuts (which were still huge) easily fed the eight of us for dinner, as well as the delicious sides again from Chris' restaurant. We have been truly spoiled by his restaurant!
I let slip it was Dan's birthday tomorrow, so as a birthday treat Chris took us for a ride in his '68 cherry red Cadillac to get icecream at a shop that stayed open just for us! Oh my goodness...riding with the top down, looking at the stars, listening to Fleetwood Mac...memories like these are so precious. We were so privileged to have been invited into the homes of Chris and Denis, and to be welcomed so completely into their lives; the true testament of friendship is that Dan and Denis seemed to carry on right from when they left off 25 years ago.
Despite numerous entreaties from Denis, we sadly said goodbye at 11pm to drive to our accommodation an hour away. We'd already booked it, and it was unfortunately non-refundable. But we are positive we will see them all again one day.
Day 58 - Dan's 46th birthday. Our motel had breakfast as part of the package, but when we went to get our meal we found out it was only for two. However, the chef took pity on us when he saw the kids were the 'other two' and gave us their meals for free. An excellent start to Dan's birthday, as he tucked into toast and scrambled eggs and bacon!
On to New York! We weren't allowed to check-in to our accommodation for the week until 5pm, but we were able to park our car in the garage.
This was actually our second booking for NY. We'd already secured a place with three bedrooms close to a metro line, but when we got the pre-arrival email yesterday, it said there was no free parking, there was only parking at a nearby street, and we had to pay.
"There's no parking, Dan," I told him when I read the email.
"What? That's not what the ad said, see?"
Sure enough, the ad clearly said free parking. Panicking, we quickly looked online for somewhere else to stay; available places in New York (in our budget) were at a premium, and finding somewhere with just one day to go was obviously less than ideal.
Dan booked our new (non-refundable) place, and cancelled the existing booking. Then we got a message from the hosts querying why we've cancelled, as there was indeed parking.
Turned out the automated message we received was for their Florida property, not the NY one. We were then amused by a flurry of messages between our host and the co-host, some with expletives, about a lost booking.
We regretted our hasty decision once we arrived. Our new place was in New Jersey - not a problem in and of itself, but it was an unplanned for 18 minute walk to the train station, then an unplanned for 20-30 minute train ride into NY. This train ride also cost us unplanned for $42USD return.
The subway weekly pass was a mission to get. The machine wouldn't accept our credit card because it was from overseas, and we didn't have an appropriate zip code. Eventually, after 15 minutes of switching between credit cards back and forth, the machine finally accepted it and gave us our tickets. Turns out NY issues kids tickets based on their height, so we had to buy four adult tickets, so that was an annoying expense too.
Negotiating the vast and interconnected NY subway lines was also a bit confusing!
"Their lines use every bloody letter of the alphabet, and numbers too!"
Nothing like making split second decisions about getting on the right train...
Our destination for today was Central Park, the 843 acre green space in the middle of the city. The 34°C heat was an unexpected change from Connecticut. By the time we made it from New Jersey to the Park, we were all hot and bothered, we hadn't had any lunch, and had limited drinks on hand.
It was pretty crazy to be standing in Central Park and looking at the New York skyline.
We walked past the Jackie Kennedy Onassis reservoir, which supplied a welcome breeze from the water's surface, and then made our way to the famous Bow Bridge.
Not long after that we came to the Bethesda Fountain and terrace, the scene of many a movie set in New York.
There were numerous fresh fruit stalls dotted around the park, and after letting the kids get one each filled with three types of melon, mango, strawberry, kiwifruit, and cucumber, (and then staring enviously at them), I treated myself to one filled with only mango; so juicy, and sweet, and oh so delicious! Worth EVERY cent of its $5 price.
After this, we worked our way back through the network of subways, back to the train station, and walked back to our accommodation via a nearby supermarket for some food for dinner, and a birthday cake (selection of cheesecake) for Dan. We were all pretty shattered and hot and sweaty, but Dan later said that spending his birthday in Central Park, and seeing the fountain, was a surreal moment for him.
Day 59 - Fifth Avenue and Empire State. We decided to drive to the train station today: one, to remove the need to walk home afterwards, and two, because we planned on going to the supermarket afterwards to grab some supplies.
"What's wrong?" I asked Dan, who looked pissed off.
"Nothing," came the reply.
"Something," I answered.
"I'm just annoyed with myself."
"Because we cancelled the other place, and now have to pay for car parking at the train station, and pay for train tickets, and spend up to 40 minutes getting into the city?"
"Yes!"
It annoyed me too, but I said it couldn't be helped, and it is what it is, so no point in dwelling on it every day. Yes, the train tickets are an extra expense. Yes, the time to get into the city, and back home again, is painful. But it's now just too bad.
We started at the world famous 5th Avenue. Holy crap, there are a LOT of expensive shops on that street.
Gucci, Luis Vuitton, Harry Winston, Bergdorf and Goodman, Armani, Dolce and Gabbana, Tiffany and Co., Bulgari... Even the Bulgari building had gold on it!
We also saw Trump Tower, Saks Fifth Avenue, and The Plaza hotel. No famous people though.
"Do you want to go in the shops?" Dan asked me.
"Are you kidding?? I'd look like an idiot in there!"
"No, you'd look like Nicola."
"An idiot called Nicola."
To be able to go shopping in any one of those establishments is an entirely foreign concept, and is one, I imagine, highly likely to remain as such.
After our gawking, we carried on to the obligatory Empire State Building. An eye-watering $180USD later (yes, that much) we were up on the 86th floor observation deck, the one you see in aaaallll the movies.
It was a remarkably still day, not a single breath of wind for the first 20 minutes we were outside. And even though we were high up, it was incredible to see how tall the other buildings were. We could see a miniature Statue of Liberty from one side , and glimpses of Central Park from the other, and when you thought of the size of the Park, it made you realise exactly how big New York City was.
It was incredible to think of the builders of this tower, which took just 13 months to go up, working on the steel beams without any harnesses, throwing and catching hot rivets across the vast nothingness between them.
After Empire State, we went to Macy's (the world's largest store) for some Macdonald's for lunch, as you do. Even walking around the children's clothing section in this store was crazy - imagine dressing your three-month-old in Ralph Lauren!
Our last stop of the day was the New York Public Library. It has also featured in lots of movies, including The Day After Tomorrow, where they burn books in the Rose Main Reading Room (but avoiding the Gutenberg Bible).
This bible, which is dated at 1455, was on display with some other awesome exhibits; Winnie the Pooh and his friends, the American Declaration of Independence, a first edition King James Bible, and a collection of William Shakespeare folios, complete with printing errors!
I absolutely love that libraries collect rare books and other literary works, and display them free for people to look at.
We decided to go to Times Square to see the lights, since we were near enough and it was getting dark enough to make it look more vibrant. The lights are actually on all day long!
Boy, was it busy - busy with people, with vehicles, with sound, and with the constantly changing billboards.
There was a DJ running a free session in the middle of the pedestrian area, so Abi and I had a dance to a couple of songs - 'dance like there's nobody watching' I told her when she said she didn't know the songs, and everyone was watching. I didn't care - why would I? I knew nobody, and I was DANCING IN TIMES SQUARE!!!
Day 60 - Guggenheim. I had a list of places to go while in New York, and we were quickly crossing them off, having started on a 'travelling' day. So, today we decided to make it a little quieter, and just do one or two things.
First stop was the well-known Guggenheim museum. This is the building that looks like a gymnast's ribbon, coiled in a spiral.
Frank Lloyd Wright designed it totally differently to the normal museum, where you walk from room to room, and potentially skip sections. This museum was smaller than it seemed on the inside, and you started at the top of the building, taking the lift up and then walking slowly down the circular ramp. This meant you saw everything, and all the time, as you only had to look across the middle to see where you'd been and where you still had to go.
However, that is where our wonder ceased. No, that's not strictly true. We wondered why we'd bought tickets, and we also wondered how people could come up with reasons for some of the things (and yes, I mean 'things') to be on display.
Things such as the hooks of three coat hangers, in a line, with one pointing up while two point down. Or things such as a singular piece of wire, bent into an incomplete rectangle, or little pieces of curling ribbon stuck in cellophane bags and tied to a piece of wire, so that it resembled the lolly lei Abi got at the end of her Pasifika concert. Or even things like woven paper, the likes of which Alex did in art at school last year (and which was pretty damn good).
Incidentally, the not-quite-a-rectangle piece of 'art' was entitled "Untitled"; I'm guessing that's because the 'artist' got to this stage of the bending and thought, "man this is shit, I got my measurements all wrong, and if I try again it will look even more shit, so I won't bother giving it a name, I'll just sell it for loads of dosh, and tell people it means something-or-other".
Both Dan and I had silent laughs, thinking of all the pretentious idiots who proclaim to find some meaning behind things like this. We can look at paintings, and admire the subtle lighting or the detailed brushwork or the emotions portrayed or the action captured in a moment, but we just can't see anything in cellophane and curling ribbon. Maybe it's just us?
(And yes, I do appreciate the irony of me discussing this 'art'!).
There was one section in the Guggenheim that was more to our tastes. Paintings from Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Renoir, and Picasso! What a change in Picasso's art over a 26 year period, from a 'classical' portraiture to the more famous style he later adopted.
After this we had lunch in Central Park, which was just across the road. We walked around for a bit, and came across Cleopatra's Needle, an obelisk first erected in 1600BC before being moved to Alexandria in 12BC, and then later to New York in 1881. It is incredible how well the heiroglyphs have endured on one side of the obelisk, and less so on other sides, indicative of prevailing weather.
Once we'd finished our lunch, we walked back down 5th Avenue, past all the high-ends shops again, to go to the Rockefeller Centre (which we'd missed yesterday while walking on the other side of the road).
Right before we got there, we were waylaid by an impromptu trip into the Lego store. Yesterday, this store had a queue out the door and around the corner, but today there was no queue at all.
Oh my goodness - what a fun store! So many awesome Lego displays of superheroes and castles and Disney characters!
Alex couldn't wipe the smile from his face, and both kids were super excited when we told them they could make their own Lego mini figure. Not just pick the head and hair and body like they've done in Auckland, but actually design their own body that got printed, and came with a block with their name! How cool is that?! (Although, Alex wasn't too impressed when I pointed out his spelling mistake of 'monsters' - No Regerts, son!).
Following the Lego store with the Rockefeller Centre may have been a bit of a come-down (ha ha ha), but the statue of Atlas outside looking towards St. Patrick's Cathedral, was still an incredible sight.
Day 61 - Yankee Stadium. Today was a cruise day, with just one thing on the schedule - a game at the Yankee Stadium!
However, we were a bit early for the game by the time we arrived in the city, so went back to the Rockefeller Centre to see the famous part of it that we missed yesterday. This is the bit that has a massive Christmas tree and an ice rink in winter, and is in lots of New York-based Christmas movies.
We hopped back on the subway, along with a WHOLE lot of other people, and headed to Yankee Stadium. The New York Yankees were playing the Washington Nationals, a team we had never heard of before, having not had anything to do with Major League Baseball.
What an amazing experience! Dan and I have been to lots of rugby games, and even took the kids to watch a 20/20 cricket match once, but this was something else entirely.
Having played rounders in primary school (and broken a few lunchbox 'bats', sorry again mum!), I had a fair idea of how the game would work, but neither Dan nor I were prepared for the speed at which the game was run.
We were there for three hours, and yet it didn't feel longer than one; conversely, we've both sat through rugby games that felt twice as long as their 90 minute reality. The energy and the atmosphere and the crowd interaction were off the chart, and this was just a Thursday afternoon regular match!
Everything is timed: two minutes to switch innings, 20 seconds between strikes, 15 seconds between foul balls. This speed kept things moving super quickly. And the music and noise and things constantly flashing on the screens, kept the crowd amped and engaged right up to the last pitch.
Of course, we HAD to have hotdogs, as that's what you do at a ball game, according to every single movie and TV show we've ever seen!
It started raining at the 8th inning, but we were high enough up in the stands (the uppermost section) that we didn't get wet until we left, which was perfect.
Can't wait to do it again one day, and we've still got basketball and ice hockey to go see!
Day 62 - a quiet day to end the week. It was raining when we got up, and by the time it cleared, it was after lunch. Faced with a $42USD train ride into town plus the $10USD parking fee for just half a day's benefit, we decided to stay at home. This gave the kids a chance for them to write more on their blog, and for me to actually load their blog posts and save the photos to them (which I've neglected to do for ages). Plus, we also started planning our next lot of accommodation on our route.
We did leave the unit briefly to go to the supermarket, before coming back and watching a movie on Netflix. 'Why aren't you making the most of your time in New York? Put on your raincoats and get going!' I hear you cry. Yes, there's loads still to see and do here, but sometimes a day of nothing is okay too. Besides, we've still got two days here, and we were never going to be able to see everything, anyway!
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