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...