18 Jan

Our last day!

Woke up to tons of snow, but a much warmer day than it had been for the last two. I went out to get us bagels and coffee, and we had a tidying/packing frenzy. We then left our bags in the apartment and went off to Chelsea to see 'The Wrestler'. It was good, and I'm sure Mickey Rourke will be Oscar-nominated, but dear god, it was violent. The first half an hour was almost unwatchable for me. Really brutal.

Afterwards, we walked back to the Village, and had some lunch in the Grey Dog. James wasn't feeling hungry, but when my quesidallas arrived, he rediscovered his appetite and ate half, and then ordered a burger (which was also very good).

Just enough time to walk home, and pick up our stuff before getting the E train and the Air Train out to JFK. It was a 10.30pm flight, so we were both fairly tired  by that point. Our seats were not great, but we managed to swap into an empty exit row, which meant loads of leg room, and no-one sitting next to us. Also, when they found out it was our honeymoon, we were given £50 of vouchers to spend in Duty Free. Very nice :)

The plane was delayed because of snow, problems with the tug, power failure, de-icing and queuing, but just when we were starting to think it was all a sign we maybe shouldn't go, we took off, and the strong winds made up for some of the delay. We got into London about an hour late, and it was very nice to see the higgledy piggledy fields as we flew over England, and the familiar signs and sounds of London at the airport. Sacha kindly picked us up and drove us home, where our little furry cat was waiting for us with delight (ok, mild indifference).

And that's it! The honeymoon is, as they say, over :) 

17 Jan

For our final full day, we began with a last brunch at Deborah's. This time we both had the shirred eggs (delicious) as well as lattes and mimosas (bucks fizz). Very, very cold outside still, really not a day for wandering around too much. We went to the cinema to see 'Gran Torino', which was really good, if mainstream. Darkly comic while managing to address some serious issues. I'm a big fan of much of Clint's later work. And the man can growl.

Afterwards, we walked up 5th to the Empire State Building, because I was determined James wouldn't leave New York before seeing the view from the top. It was excellent timing - we saw it in (last) light and then waited inside for 20 minutes or so until it was dark, and then we outside round the observatory again. It was good doing it at the end of the trip as well, as we were able to see lots of the places we'd been to, and even more or less where our apartment was. We could also see the plane being pulled out of the Hudson (after that amazing water landing).

In the evening, we used our wedding gift from Alice, which was a gift card for Olives restaurant. I had the burgundy escargot flatbread (like a snail pizza!) and the lamb porterhouse with crispy spiced parsnip, and James had the carpetbagger oysters (oysters sitting on mashed potato, with beef carpaccio on top) and the Flatiron steak (not, disappointingly, shaped like a triangle). To finish, we shared the Cookies and Cream platter, which was an assortment of delicious homemade cookies and cakes and ice cream. We couldn't finish it all, which meant we got to take some home with us for the next day...

Photos from 17 Jan

Photos from 16 Jan

16 Jan

One of the only recommendations we had left to try was the one James was saving for last: best salt beef sandwich. Zoe and William told us to go to Katz's Deli - and go hungry, a sentiment echoes by Meredith and Woj last night. So we did, and the sandwich did not disappoint. (Side note: salt beef is called corned beef here. I guess they don't have what we call corned beef). Will post a picture of the giant sandwich, which James could have eaten all by himself but which I ate about a third of. It really was delicious. And it turned out to be the place in which that ridiculous fake orgasm scene was filmed in 'When Harry Met Sally'. Meg Ryan's following us around, I'm sure.

Afterwards, I realised we were in the right neighbourhood for my favourite NYC bookstore, Bluestockings, so we went there and both got a book. We continued our research into the perfect cupcake at Sugar Sweet Sunshine, where James had the Ooey Gooey chocolate cupcake, and I indulged in my new favourite, red velvet. Lattes as well meant that we were all hopped up on sugar and caffeine, which was just as well, as it was absolutely FREEZING (high of -5, and -16 with wind chill. Good God, it was cold). We did a little more shopping - James got some more jeans, and I got some very cool stuff in Free People, including a furry gilet which I am wearing right now, because even on full power heating, the apartment is not fully withstanding NYC's winter.

We were going to go out to Artisanal tonight, but we couldn't get a table. We've booked a Sunday lunchtime slot there for cheese (as well as tomorrow night's table at Olives - yum). So we just ordered some takeaway Indian food online, which hopefully is about to be delivered to our apartment. Don't judge us - if you were here, you wouldn't go out tonight either :)

Pictures from 15 Jan (and one from our bedroom window this morning)

15 Jan

ohhhhhhh so very hungover...

Spent most of the day being Very Very Quiet. However, we did have snow to look at.

In the evening, we finally made it out to Joe's Pub where we were meeting up with Meredith and Woj to see Amy Speace's record release party gig. She kept it quiet to surprise us, but Rachael turned up too, with Micah, and it was lovely to see her. The gig was excellent. The new CD wasn't quite ready but I pre-ordered it and also bought her last one. Very Lucinda Williams-ish.

Then Meredith and Woj took us to their favourite local haunt, ACME, which looks like a big sports bar but which specialises in Southern/Cajun cooking. It was excellent. I had the St Louis pork ribs with corn on the cob and mac & cheese, and James had the seafood gumbo, followed by pecan pie. They also brought hot cornbread (which tastes like cake) and butter. Mmm...

Pictures from 14 Jan

14 Jan

Had a slightly slow start to the day but eventually made it to MoMA. I think it's my favourite of the museums. I love the design section especially, but it was also great to see the Rothkos, especially the one we have the giant print of in our dining room! 

In the evening, we headed over to Elyse's incredible penthouse apartment in the Gramercy building, where we had some wine and hung out for a while with her and also with Pete. Elyse then took us to Artichoke to get a slice of pizza. She recommended the Sicilian, which was absolutely delicious. Best pizza we've had so far. The crust was baked in such a way that the slice stayed perfectly firm...very buttery and delicious. Would definitely go back there, worth the wait for sure.

We then headed to KGB bar in the hope of meeting up with Gwen, but when we got there at 9pm there was no sign of her, and I couldn't get hold of her cellphone number to contact her, so it was a shame we didn't get to meet up.

We jumped in a cab to the Duplex, and as we walked in, Brian was singing 'Purple Rain'. A very enjoyable evening was had, although perhaps too much fun in retrospect, given that the abundance of beer gave me a giant hangover, and the abundance of singing made me lose my voice again. Highlights included covers of 'Parting Gift' by Fiona Apple, Elyse guest-singing on 4 Non Blondes' 'What's Up' and Tori's 'Cool On Your Island'. Plus the obligatory Britney of course.

It was pretty late by the time we got in. If only I had drunk water. Sigh.

13 Jan

Oops...running a little behind. So here's a catch up for Tuesday - while I can still remember it. Also writing with a hangover, so don't expect too much :) 

Woke up feeling slightly annoyed to still be ill, but decided that Central Park Zoo would be a cheery destination (no one can be aggrieved while watching a sea-lion or a red panda). The water in the park was completely frozen over, which looked amazing. The zoo was fun, although the penguin enclosure was fishier than I remembered, in fact it was completely honking. The children's zoo was also sweet. Felt sorry for the rabbits on such a cold day though. I think they might have preferred to be indoors.

After the zoo, we went for lunch at BLT, a burger place recommended by the guidebook. We both had the classic burger with bacon and cheese, and shared onion rings. The fries were very, very good - super crunchy. I tried to fight the plague with the triumvirate: sugar, alcohol and caffeine (milkshake, beer, coffee), but sadly the plague won. In the evening, we went to the cinema to see Milk. The cinema had extremely comfortable seats which you could rock slightly... quite a departure from Hammersmith's offerings. The film was amazing. Sean Penn is always good, but he was SO SO good in this, and it was just such a good film too. I cried my eyes out at the end. We both agreed it should probably be shown in schools. High recommendation anyway.

Came back to the apartment and had a glass of wine before bed (see, that's how you do it. ONE glass, Deborah, would have been a better idea last night)

Photos from yesterday

12 Jan

Sorry for the tardiness of this post... think we are both more jet-lagged/post-wedding-lagged than we thought.

I woke up at 6.30am yesterday, still feeling rubbish, but determined not to be ill another day. So I jumped into the magic shower, dressed and went out in search of breakfast to bring back. Went to Bagels on the Square on Carmine Street, where I got a sesame bagel with strawberry cream cheese for me, and a wholewheat everything bagel with bacon and horseradish cream cheese for James (a good choice, as it turned out) and picked up coffee from Cafe Esperanto on MacDougal Street. 

After breakfast, we decided to hit up the art world and head for the Guggenheim (stopping at Grand Central Station on the way so James could see it). Sadly, they were in the middle of installing their new exhibit, so hardly any of the museum was open. Still, it's hard to call a visit where you see some Kandinsky, Picasso, Cezanne and Van Gogh a wasted one, and the building itself is so great anyway. Afterwards, we walked through Central Park (which is still all snowy and lovely) to the American Museum of Natural History. The dinosaur wing was fabulous, and you can actually touch some dinosaur bones, as well as seeing the huge skeletons. Our City Pass ticket also let us into the planetarium there, which was really cool. Narrated by Robert Redford, it did have a somewhat gung-ho American-ness about it, but it was actually fun.

I was feeling pretty rough by then, so I left James in the museum with the shark display, and headed home. We met up again at 5pm, and went out to John's Pizzeria on Bleecker Street, nice and close to home. We had two giant pizzas (one with pepperoni and one with mushroom and onion) and a bottle of very nice red wine served in tumblers. We got home to watch the next two episodes of the premiere of 24, but sadly James conked out half way through the first one, and I only made it a small way into the second one. 

Today we will do better!

11 Jan

Unfortunately, yesterday I had to admit that I really was sick :( We didn't make it to Artisanal, but went for the nearer Wild Ginger instead. The spicy soup was just what I needed, but by the time the main course arrived, I was pretty gone, and couldn't eat it at all. They boxed it up for us, and we went home and watched the only DVD in the apartment, 'Serendipity'. If you haven't seen it, I beg you not to. Possibly the worst 'rom-com' ever. It's only saving grace was being set in NYC so that we could point out the bits we recognised.

Woke up at about 5am with no voice at all, feeling really rough. We decided to just have a day at home to try and rest as much as possible, which was probably for the best. Had to have a small expedition this morning in order to pick up some DVDs (Grey's Anatomy Season 4), and treats in the form of cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery. Once we were outside, I felt ok enough for us to go and have brunch in Deborah's, which was absolutely delicious. James was very excited to try grits (a sort of gloopy corn starch) and buttermilk biscuits (scones) for the first time, along with his breakfast of spicy scrambled eggs and fennel sausage. I had the shirred eggs, which came in a giant bowl with mashed potato, cheese, spring onions, bacon and salad. Plus a spicy apple cider which really hit the spot.

The woman who served us in Magnolia Bakery took pity on my lack of voice when we were choosing our cakes, and made me tea and gave me a cough drop. Very sweet. Speaking of sweet, the cupcakes are pretty damn good. My favourite so far is the red velvet one with the vanilla frosting, although James preferred the vanilla with chocolate frosting.

James has gone out to pick up some wine and beer for our evening watching the 2 hour season premiere of 24 (and maybe a little of the Golden Globe awards). Definitely feeling looked after. Hopefully tomorrow, our NYC adventures can recommence!

10 Jan

Had virtually no voice at all when I woke up this morning, and had to communicate with a variety of squeaks. Felt much better after having a shower - the shower here is quite a force of nature. James said 'oh I bet that will only be a trickle' when we looked at it when we first got here, but was quite surprised by its ferocity! Anyway, the day proper started with coffee and breakfast in Cafe Reggio. More famous than 'ino, but not as nice, in my opinion. Still, the coffee was much needed after a night on the Lemsip...how very rock 'n' roll.

A few flakes of snow were starting to fall as we left to wander around SoHo for a little while. James bought some Levis (well, you kind of have to, don't you?) in the sale, and I picked up some moisturiser, having stupidly left mine at home. In this weather, it's definitely not a luxury! The snow was beginning to get heavier, so we decided to head into the Angelika for a movie, 'Doubt'. It was pretty good, as you can imagine from the cast (Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams), and the Angelika's always fun because you can hear and feel the subway rumbling beneath you while you watch the film.

We have dinner reservations for this evening, but were pretty hungry when we came out of the film, so we made a beeline for Peanut Butter & Co, where we ordered, on the advice of the reviews, 'The Elvis'. The 'Elvis' is a giant sandwich (do they make bigger bread here?!), filled with peanut butter, banana, honey and bacon. Good lord, it was good. No wonder Elvis turned into such a porker in his later years. They serve the sandwich with a few carrot sticks so that you can pretend you've eaten something healthy. Ha!

Luckily, our apartment was only a minute's walk away, so we managed to roll ourselves home through the snow, which, as I write, is quite the blizzard. The city views from our windows are almost totally obscured by it, and everything is looking pretty white outside. It's nice to look at it from the comfort of the heated apartment, but I'm not sure we'll brave the walk to Artisanal tonight, not with so many cabs around to tempt us...

Photos so far...

9 Jan

No photos so far. I just tried to upload and realised that I brought the cable to attach an external hard drive to my computer instead of the one that attaches my camera. They look very similar and I must have just grabbed for the wrong one. So, we'll get a new lead tomorrow hopefully, and then there will be pictures. Shame, seeing as I probably took about 15 pictures today as we were super-touristy.

The day began in a somewhat cooler fashion, however. On Jackie's recommendation, we went to the very tiny, but lovely 'Ino for breakfast. No sooner had we ordered our coffee and breakfast (BLT for James, truffled egg toast for me) than who should amble in and sit down just across from us but PATTI SMITH! Now, I don't normally approve of capital letters for emphasis, but it was PATTI FREAKING SMITH! Thank goodness I was sitting in a prime viewing position (James, who was less excited, had his back to her), seeing as it would have been very uncool to actually fall at her feet and start babbling. Besides, which makes for a worse opening gambit: 'hey, I named one of the tables at my wedding at the weekend after you!' or 'oh, hi... I'm writing some of my PhD about you'...? It's a close call. Anyway, after I'd totally ignored everything James said for half an hour because I was so excited (she was actually sitting there WRITING. She's just like you imagine she would be but think she probably isn't really. She is!), we finally left to start our day proper.

We wandered through Washington Square Park and then up Fifth Avenue by way of a few shops. I bought a pretty dress at 75% off in the sale at Anthropologie and some Bare Escentuals make up in Sephora. James was almost seduced by a 1960s leather motorbike jacket in a huge vintage clothing store, but managed to resist. I got a hat, which is really cute, and wore it for the rest of the day (so you will see when the photos finally appear). We gawped at the Flatiron building, and the Empire State Building (from the ground), and mocked Trump Towers for its cheesy decor and rubbish name. Fun in FAO Schwarz (huge toy store) where I had my picture taken next to the Barbie Catwalk (dear God) and we saw giant dinosaur soft toys.

Took a left to walk past the bottom of Central Park and into the Time Warner building on Columbus Circle, which has quite the view. Feeling a little hungry, we decided to walk back through Hell's Kitchen on a search for pizza. Finally found some in the form of Nizza, where I ate the La Mia pizza and James had the Piccante. Both very nice, and a little red wine did wonders to warm us up for the walk ahead. 

Walked through Chelsea. Sadly too full to have anything from Murray's Bagels, which I remember fondly, but perhaps we'll go there hungry at some point this week. Did take a slight detour so I could show James the Chelsea Hotel. I think it's impossible to even see it without humming the Leonard Cohen song of the same name, but if anyone's managed it, do speak up. We got back to the apartment by way of the deli (for a few supplies) and a pharmacy (for the US version of Lemsip and throat sweets for me. Don't worry - I simply refuse to be ill - it's not that I woke up with hardly any voice this morning... more that I was precognitively dumbstruck about seeing Patti Smith. Ho hum, perhaps it will all be gone tomorrow).

After a couple of minutes in the apartment to pick up glasses and check cinema locations, we headed out to the movies at Union Square to see 'Rachel Getting Married'. I thought it was an excellent film, and Anne Hathaway's performance particularly special. I highly recommend it. It doesn't mean much to call it my film of the year so far, but I think it will have some tough competition this week as we rush to see as many of the Oscar buzz films as possible. 'The Wrestler', 'Benjamin Button', and 'Doubt' are all on the 'to see' list. 

Anyway, we must have walked at least a million miles today, and it feels very good to be warm and still right now. And we've already made it up later than we did last night, so an extra gold star there. Keep your fingers crossed that tomorrow I wake up plague-free. We're going to have a quiet weekend in the Village, I think. Coffee, newspapers, backgammon, wine and food. And maybe some music on Sunday night. And apparently, it's going to snow. Hurrah!

8 Jan

The day started well when Sacha very kindly picked us up to take us to the airport. A minor glitch when I realised I had left our gift card for Olives restaurant behind, but as we were still in Chiswick, it was easy to turn round and go back in for it. Left a million notes on kitten-tips for Andrew who is house and Yoko-sitting in our absence.

When we got to the airport, we played the honeymoon card to try to change our rubbish seats on the plane. Sadly economy was totally full, so we couldn't, but then Virgin very kindly offered us a half-price upgrade to premium economy, which was wonderful. Huge seats, tons of leg-room, champagne, menu choices and no-one sitting in front of us. James read his book ('Everyday Survival', which I gave him for Christmas) the whole way here. I took the opportunity to watch movies that no one else would ever watch with me. 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist' had a good premise, but was not good, and certainly nowhere near the standard of 'Juno' for Michael Cera. 'The Women' was truly terrible and made me realise that I pretty much hate all films with Meg Ryan in them. Finally, 'The Duchess' was pretty good. I like Ralph Fiennes playing it mean, and Keira Knightley was almost good enough for me to forgive the horror that was her version of 'Pride and Prejudice'.

Anyway, once we arrived we took a cab to our apartment. Much to James' delight, the cab was yellow and the taxi driver was grumpy. So far, so New York. We were met at the apartment and shown around before being left to our own devices. The apartment is lovely. It's on the 8th floor of a building called The Atrium in Bleecker Street. It has long thin windows with an amazing view - we can see the Empire State Building from the bedroom, which is fabulous. We went out to the very nearby Deborah restaurant, which is one of my favourite places in NYC, and it didn't disappoint. James had a spicy seafood bouillabaisse and I had the BBQ half glazed duck with spicy sweet potato mash. Both dishes were absolutely stunning, and the service was super-friendly and just what James had imagined it might be. We didn't really have room for dessert, but ordered the red velvet cake with frosting anyway, and it was so delicious that it soon disappeared too. 

We were going to try and stay up longer, but by 9.30pm we were both so tired that we just crashed out. Will take pictures and add them as I go along...