Day 4- was a food on foot tour, this
was a great way to meet some new people and explore an area – in this case
Midtown and mainly Hells Kitchen area. Our guide was very knowledgeable and
knew the local cheap eats that were still really good, this was also my first
taste of the famous NYC pizza – the verdict slices are huge, and it was pretty
tasty.
I also got to see Madison Square Garden for the first time and wander Penn
station and also my first look at a US kmart the things that stood out the most
were the fact they sold beer and alcohol, I was also able to finally see the
famous cheese whiz in a can – ewwwwww.
After my tour it was time to change hotels, and work out what I wanted to
do with myself that evening, I ended up getting cheap tickets to see Seminar
the broadway show with Alan Rickman and Jerry O’Connel. I was so glad I did
this, it was such a contrast to musicals and big shows. The show had a cast of
5 and they were all fantastic, there was no intermission or glitz and glamour.
Alan Rickman is fanfreakintastic at everything he does and no surprises he
delivers amazingly in this show as well.
After Seminar it was a slice of pizza to take back to the room before
calling it a night cause its Jersery in the morning!!
Day 5 – Superbowl Sunday the NYC Giants are in the superbowl so the city is
pretty much a buzz, I start my morning with my first bagel – OMG – strawberry
cream cheese on it and I am in heaven. Its not tooo cold today so I sit in
times square and am in awe of how quiet this usually buzzing hub can be early
on a Sunday morning. I meet Nicole and we start our adventure to Jersey – our
aim is Carlo’s Bakery but first we must find the path “insert Nicoles American
way of saying Path”.
By now Nicole and I have the subway under control we can get from point a to
b pretty easily with no dramas, insert a new line the path and confusing begins
it doesn’t help that everytime we ask someone to help us they don’t understand
until Nicole says Path in a fake American accent and all of a sudden we have
directions and are on our way.
New Jersey is across the river but the Path ride is relatively quick, we
hop off at Hobboken and I am in love, tv shows and movies (Kevin Smith
excluded) always make out that Jersey is this out of the way area that noone
really wants to go to and it must be horrible, it is so far from the truth. It
is such a beautiful place and I can see why people choose to bring families up
here, it is still so close to the city but you have your own little oasis with
actual parks – that’s right trees and grass, none of this concrete park
business.
It didn’t take us long to find Washington ave aka Carlos way and find the
bakery, the line was relatively short – I was expecting a huge line. I was also
super excited, poor Nicole had to put up with me dancing around and trying to
contain my excitement I didn’t do a very good job that is for sure.
WE lined up for maybe 45mins to an hour and then we were in, the system
works by getting a ticket number then you are free to wander the store and look
at the merchandise as well as the delicious cakes until your number is called.
When your number is called someone takes your order and then after you finish
they go and box it all up and then process your charge.
It really works quiet well, whilst this was going on one of the sisters –
going to say Mary from the top of my head is out on the floor meeting and
greeting people. Carlo is currently in Australia (yes just my luck), but
everyone was lovely. I ordered a Lobster tail, cannoli and 2 super bowl
cupcakes as well as a hoodie and a signed travel mug.
Once we had taken photos, purchased our goodies and I had no managed to
calm down we headed towards the water to find a nice place to try and try at
least one thing. The area we found was beautiful, we both tried the cannoli and
it ticks every box. We then enjoyed the sun and took some photos looking back
on NYC before navigating our way back to the city.
That afternoon we decided to do the full city circle cruise, this sailed
around the whole of Manhattan Island and showed us the statue of liberty,
Brooklyn Bridge and many wonderful other sights. We stayed out on the deck as
long as we could ie. Till we could no longer feel our fingers, noses and toes.
It was a great way to see the whole of the island and we were still back before
Superbowl Kick off.
Steak steak steak – it is funny the things you crave and tonight it was
most definitely steak! We decided to head to Ruby Tuesdays – after our first
choice was closed, we were also meeting up with some other contiki people, dinner
was great the steak was exactly what I needed. The rest of the night was spent
wandering with a drink here and there, picking up washing and waiting for Kasey
and Patricia to arrive. The Giants won the superbowl and it didn’t matter if
you were watching it or not, the noise that you heard throughout the city was
enough to ensure everyone knew the result of the game.
9/11 and staten island ferry on the agenda for tomorrow.
