Start Spreading The News.........

We're leaving tomorrow....
One final entry before we make the long and tedious journey home...
Yesterday was one of, if not the most, humid day we have had here. I guess we should have done something sensible like go to another museum or gallery where the air conditioning would have made the heat bearable but instead we shopped!  Just a few little things Richard needed to complete his wardrobe! As soon as we had done we headed for the local park and a picnic, found yet another brilliant store near the NYU with fantastic salads to take out. Sat and man and dog watched and got approached by students trying to find participants for their dissertations - reminded me of the 8 waiting for me to mark at home! Richard went for a stroll and noticed that they were setting up for some free Opera in the park later in the evening, so we decided to go home for a nap - the heat was really getting to us - and went back for the Opera. It would have been good if it wasn't for the fact that we were sat with this mad American woman who told the whole park her political views - democrat - her uncaring family - they never visit her and wont speak to her on the phone - we heard the one sided conversation and also a bloke who spent the whole time chatting up a young girl who had sat next to him! We eventually gave up and went for a late supper at an amazing Italian restaurant -Trattoria Spagetto on Bleaker, the linguini with clams and white wine sauce was the best. 
Today - our last full day we have spent mainly at the High Line - the park we went to last week. We walked the length of it, popping down to the Empire Diner for a burger and a beer - and then back up to complete the walk. They have talking water fountains and toilets - Richard paid a visit and came out laughing - apparently the voice says - "you can do it - you can do it" over and over - I wonder what it is referring to.......
Slow walk back home, stopping for another beer - it was very hot after all - and a quiet last night in.
Flight at 9.45 tomorrow evening - so shall make the most of the day - but you will have see us to hear about that!
Thanks for reading - hope we haven't bored you too much and see you all soon, so long as Mark remembers his foolish but very kind offer to collect us from the airport!
Love to you all 
Teresa
Love as always 

It's Deja Vu

Well, Derek Jeter duly got his 3000th hit on the day after our game was rained out. " It should have been us!"  He did it on his second at bat and with a home run. The fans went wild, the game stopped for 5 minutes while everybody hugged him, while we watched it on TV in our apartment. He is the first ever Yankee to do this and as you can imagine it was huge here in New York. We were passing through Time Square (AAAAAARGH, never go there!) and they were selling Jeter 3000 T shirts. We went into the Yankee Store it was jammed, and yes the hat did look ridiculous.

Went to Arthurs Tavern in the village on Sunday. The Hot Creole Cooking Band were playing to a crowd of 6. The music was good, Dixieland/Swing/Blues and the 6 musicians (cornet, trombone, clarinet, piano, double bass and drums) must have had a combined age of over 400, but we were getting ripped off at the bar by 2 gum chewing tarts. $30 for 3 beers! We made our excuses and left.

Monday was our anniversary, and it was a pretty perfect day, culture at MoMA, pastrami on rye and a beer for lunch, afternoon nap, jazz and dinner at the Blue Note, a few beers at the Half Pint and gelato in the park on the way home.

I've been looking for a silver bangle for Teresa, and we made the mistake of going to the diamond district, as recommended by Time Out. I thought there would be some artisan jewelers or stores that sold simple jewelry. But no, it is just a huge marketplace for gems, and everything is being bought and sold based on the weight of the metal and the carat of the diamond.Everyone is trying to entice you in. There are even pretty girls sitting near the windows, waving to you as you walk by. If this was Amsterdam, there would be a completely different transaction going on. It was also strangely dated. There were lots of elderly Jewish men in big hats, waistcoats and tailed coats walking from shop to shop. We could have been in the early 1900's. Interesting.

I was reading an article about Yogi Berra, the legendary Yankees catcher, who is better known for his Yogi-isms (pithy sayings that he probably never said, like, It ain't over till it's over) than for being the greatest winner in baseball history, and I was thinking about when we honeymooned here, and all the places that we have seen again. We were talking to the others at our table at the Blue Note about how NY has changed in the last 30 years. They were a diverse group. Two regulars, one in the music business and the other a personal trainer, and a couple from Austin, Texas. She is a Professor of Music at Austin University and he was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford. (I love the way they say things like, " I went to school near San Francisco" "Where was that then?" "Stanford"). School??? Diverse they may be but the Stanford guy and the trainer guy both hail from St. Kitts. Its a small world but I wouldn't want to paint it. Back to the story. I told them that I thought New York was safer now and that I felt less threatened here than I do in some parts of Guildford, and the reply was "Yeah, that stockbroker belt can be pretty rough."

As Yogi said, "It's deja vu, all over again"

Sunday the 10th July

Boy was I drunk on Friday night! I don't even remember the names of the two blokes we were talking to - Dave and Mike or something similar - but I have just remembered telling one of them that he shouldn't marry his long term girlfriend, who he has proposed to! I don't remember getting home or going to bed, so yes, a bad hangover on Saturday.
However, we had recovered enough to go out in the afternoon. We headed for Bryant Park and the New York Public Library. Again the library is somewhere I would really recommend - such a beautiful building and so many interesting things to see. Original books by Dickens annotated by him for public readings he gave, journals from Malcolm X and much more. We decided to call into the local Gap as there were a few things we wanted but got sidetracked and ended up doing a lot more shopping. The thing I can't quite get over is that Richard, who hates shopping in the UK seems to absolutely love it here. I can't get him out of the shops - he keeps seeing shops he wants to go into and buying clothes for himself - again something he hates doing in the UK. Having said that - the Americans do make the shopping experience a much nicer experience - air conditioned shops, helpful staff, and plenty of space to browse - apart from the Levi shop which was hell, being Saturday and a massive sale on.
Knackered when we got home - couldn't even face cooking - watched Harry Potter but gave up and went to bed early - our first day without booze - and on holiday!
Today we have been shopping again! Richard had found some specs he really liked and had located a shop in the East Village that stocked them (Fabulous Fannys)- these were going to be my belated birthday present for him. We took a cab there but arrived before the shop opened at noon - so found a great place for coffee and sat and read the New York Times and listened to some good music at the same time. We went back to the shop which has to be one of the amazing shops I have ever been in - they must have had about 5000 pairs of specs at least - vintage and new and really nice staff -  they also have a vintage clothes section, Alex you would just love this shop. Richard eventually decided on the original specs having tried on a number of pairs - very nice they are too.
More shopping - a book shop for me - and a couple of beers and lunch before home to do the blog. Off to a bar now for jazz and a couple.
Our 30th anniversary tomorrow and Farni's birthday - Happy Birthday Farn! We will be thinking of you. We plan to go to the Museum of Modern Art in the day and have booked tickets for jazz and dinner at the Blue Note for the evening. We will let you know how it goes.
Love to you all as always - 
Teresa x

Disappointed of NYC

I've nearly recovered from my disappointment of last night cancelled game. Several beers in the nearest pub have left me nursing a nice hangover today. The game ( v. Tampa Bay Rays) has been re-scheduled to the 22nd September. So we can either hang around here for a couple of months or fly back then. The tickets we have are still valid for that game, or if we cannot make that then we can exchange the ticket for a rain check, which entitles us to a ticket for any other home game in the next 12 months. Hence the term! I bought our tickets on a market place called StubHub, so I guess I will just have to put them up for sale again and hope they go. The same tickets for tonights game are going at double what I paid for them because of the Jeter effect. (Look it up).

I've been wanting to buy a hat for some time now. Unfortunately I have an enormous fat head (8 1/4 cap when I was at school) and according to Teresa I don't suit them. I've looked at the trilby - "No, it wont make you dance like Justin Timberlake" (I thought it was more Sinatra-like). I've tried baseball caps, apparently they don't work for me either. I was at the cricket with Teresa's dad last week (it rained then too!) and he looked very cool in his baseball cap. Why isn't it happening for me? Teresa suggested a do-rag but as Homer said, "I'll go with the muumuu, I don't want to look ridiculous" . The upshot of all this is that I've got a bright red beezer and a burnt forehead.

We finished off our 2 day bus tour, with a tour Downtown. We got off at Battery Park and swiftly got back on. It was packed with bloody tourists. The guides on the buses have varied. The bad ones are unintelligible (too fast, no pointing, heavy accents) but the good ones are brilliant. Their historical knowledge is really informative and they also share a bit about themselves, comparing their rental charges with those of the apartments we are passing, showing us where they met their wives or the concerts they had been to at MSG. Passing through all the districts it was interesting to learn about the original ethnic communities that had settled in each area and how this had changed over the years. Most immigrants from the late 1800's to the mid 1900's had come to NY to escape persecution in their own countries and had been welcomed with open arms by America. They seem genuinely proud of this fact, and rightly so. Thus the sonnet engraved on the Statue of Liberty:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Bit philosophical there, better move on. We finished off with a 90 minute boat tour from Midtown on the west to Midtown on the east side and back, via the Statue of Liberty. We didn't think we would be impressed by the Statue. We had never gone before for that reason, but it was very impressive. Also the view of the city from the sea/river? is outstanding. I will try to put up some photos later. I've taken nearly 1500 so far, I bet Pete can't wait to see them all. The 2 day bus/boat pass at $44 is an absolute bargain, it gives you the lie of the land loads of history and facts, it also allows you to get around the city for 2 days, without having to use the subway. Having been in Midtown and Downtown, it was a pleasure to get back to The Village. Its still pretty noisy and congested, but an oasis compared to the rest of the city.

We were in the Blind Tiger on Bleecker Street last night, managed to grab a seat and start drinking away the frustration of the wet journey to Yankee Stadium. They have 28 beers on tap, the lowest ABV was 5.3% and they went up to 12%! We had 3 pints (Teresa's was on one from CA @ 9.6%), we got talking to some guys, marriage, relationships Blair/Bush Obama, mid-term elections, baseball, the usual stuff. They bought us a drink, etc. etc.. No food, grabbed a couple of slices on the way home, more beer. Teresa was pretty drunk by now and went off to bed. I stayed up and watched 2 episodes of Frasier that I had never seen before (Amazing! I thought I'd seen them all). Thus you find me here with aforementioned hangover. Teresa just said to me, "I thought I was going to throw up last night, I had the spins and everything. But fortunately I passed out before I was ill". Thats my girl!

Yankees

Gutted, cant write anything today. Had great Yankees tickets, new Yankee Stadium, Jeter 2 hits away from 3000, got to Yankee Stadium at 6 for 7:00 start, game called off - raining. 40,000 people turning around to go home. Sad.

Wednesday 6th July

At last we have the internet again - it went down Friday - so a lot to update you all on - get a glass of wine/cup of coffee and chill while you read this!
Feeling really at home here now, such a cool place to be, the Americans do things so well - travel,  food, drink, entertainment, the only problem is the heat - it is is overwhelming - esp when you add a menopausal hot flush on to the situation! We are having a ball though - so lovely to have time for each other and relax. I do wonder if Richard is planning on loosing me though - every time we go out to our usual haunts he insists on going a new way - confusing and disorientating me - that's not difficult though...


A quick re cap on the days since Richard last wrote:
Sunday
Thunder and lightening big time - so a quiet morning in with the New York Times, then the rain stopped, so we walked down to our fantastic supermarket to buy some supplies and as it was Sunday and raining again a sunday lunch time drink seemed in order. Tried a new place - the GMT - empty and soulless so back to our favourite bar - the Half Pint  for a couple.
Monday - July the 4th!
As the weatherman/woman predicted the rain cleared for a glorious Independence Day. Went shopping in Soho - sale in the Levi shop ( good news for Jonny!) - Alex would so love the shops in Soho - a bit sad she wasn't with us to enjoy. A few hours in my favourite park taking photographs and man and dog watching. Some incredible entertainment  - hopefully Richard will put some pics up soon. Then down to the Hudson river to watch the fireworks - spectacular - and just great to be with the local people - sat with some really nice people - a couple of gay black guys - who gave us a brilliant running commentary of everyone arriving!
Tuesday
No internet still - so pretty fed up with the situation - the owner was away for the holiday - but contacted him after an incident with a cockroach in the kitchen - don't ask! Found a cool cafe (Think Coffee) with Wi Fi, brilliant coffee, lots of space, very chilled and lots of beautiful rich Uni kids - all with Apple Notebooks, and  so able to contact Alex and Jonny and see one of the photos of the wedding - sounds a lovely day for all concerned and it looks as if our girl did a brilliant job as a bridesmaid! Another boiling day and feeling a bit exhausted from the heat so went to the movies to see the new Woody Alan film  - Midnight In Paris - absolutely brilliant - funny, romantic, would really recommend it if you like Woody Alan. The cinema was really lovely and cool too! Tried to get tickets to see Ricki Lee Jones but sold out so went to a bar near the venue - awful - so back to the Half Pint - are you seeing a trend here? They almost know us now!
Wednesday
Today - what a brilliant day - booked tickets for the uptown/downtown bus tour - well worth doing - travelled on the bus to the MET - and walked straight into the Alexander McQueen exhibition - no queue!
It was absolutely brilliant - much better than I had expected and my expectations were high. It was a very large exhibition and so well displayed - you could get up very close to the clothes, very few behind glass - so you were able to see the detail of the cut and craftsmanship really well. There was also videos of his shows and lots of really good information. Needless to say I spent a fortune in the shop - with Alex very firmly in mind - I so hope this show comes to the UK it was amazing! We then had lunch at the MET and decided to see some more of the work there - where to begin? It is an incredible museum, so much to see, we were strolling past amazing works of art to get to the Art deco and modern and contemporary art section - I would really recommend a trip there - if you are ever in NY. Back onto the bus - a really good guide this time  (they were variable and some difficult to understand) home for a rest and then dinner at....yes you guessed - the Half Pint!
Well I think that's it for now - sorry its been a long post but the internet is back on now so we should be able to write more frequently.
Thinking of you all, but having such a good time and not missing work at all - will I come back???? Do they have jobs a NYU????
Love to you all
Teresa

First Impressions

So, we leave early to avoid the queues caused by the PCS strike, walk into Term 4, pretty empty, check-in, no-one there, walk straight up to passport control and zoom through the baggage scan. Mmm, what to do for 3 hours?? That bit was easy, but getting on the plane proved more difficult with no regard for the queuing tradition, and a one hour delay. Anyway, Kuwait Air was not up to much. No booze (should have thought of that before) and only what appeared to be middle eastern TV dramas. I try not to drink on flights anyway, cause I end up feeling like M. Creosote, with sausages for fingers and chipolatas for toes. My monitor wasn't working and Teresa's headphones only produced static. Can't wait for the return flight.  Still, JFK was a breeze as well (what's going on?) and soon a cab was dropping us off outside the apartment. Struggled up four flights of stairs of an ancient building, with attractive brown and magnolia decor, (lungs bursting now) and entered our mini domain. 

It is small, but brilliantly located. We seem to be right on the cusp of Greenwich Village, SoHo and West Village. I love these acronyms?? for the districts. SoHo is South of Houston Street. Tribeca is the Triangle Below Canal, Nolita is North of Little Italy, and one I hadn't heard before is DUMBO, Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. Brilliant! We have walked in all the three districts now, despite the heat and humidity. The parks are a godsend, especially Washington Square which is fairly large and nicely shaded, being surrounded by the massive academic and social buildings of NYU and having loads of trees and benches to chill out on. Great for man and dog watching. Noticed loads of dogs here. Not sure how Ralph wool cope with city life. Always on a lead no rabbits.......

Day 2 or is it 3?

Although Greenwich Village is pretty and tree lined, it is not what we would call a city village as it is intersected by the massive Avenues, which take about 3 minutes to cross. But it does have a village/community feel with lots of sidewalk cafes and bars. We found a nice pub first time out, The Half Pint, good selection of craft and other beers. Sierra Nevada Summerfest was my favorite and Teresa managed to neck several Brooklyn Summer ales too. We popped into the small market downstairs on our first night for essential supplies (you know what I'm talking about) and bought the most disgusting pint of milk ever. It tasted like across between UHT and vanilla yoghourt. We thought that the lack of decent fare was going to be a problem for the self catering aspect, but just around the corner from the pub is " The Best Supermarket in the World!". Morton Williams  - "The Fresh Marketplace". Wow, everything was fresh and they sell the same Castelvetrano olives you can get in Jamie's Italian. Food to go included roast beef, gravy and mash, moussaka, pasta dishes, rice dishes, fish dishes and meatloaf!. So no cooking for me this holiday, its either eat out or self serve ready cooked meals.

We headed off in the direction of the West Village along Bleecker Street. Bleecker seems to have everything going for it. Lively, bohemian and classy. The further north you go the classier the shops become (Marc Jacobs, von Furstenberg). We were heading for the High Line, a new park opened last year which has been developed out of the disused overhead railway line that used to serve the meat packing industry. Its a brilliant idea and beautifully carried out. The original railway was raised above street level in the 1930's to ease the carnage of freight trains, horses carts and pedestrians competing for the same space. In the 60's chunks were removed and the trains finally stopped running in the 80's. Local residents saved the line from further destruction and developed it into this long sinuous walkway with lawns, trees, benches and fantastic plantings of grasses and plants. The views of the Hudson and down onto 10th Ave. are great, but it is the calm feel of the High Line itself, a garden in the sky, that really makes it stand out. We walked as far as Chelsea and the Meatpacking District. Walking back on terra firma we passed the Empire Diner (will check that out later) and eventually back through East Village and into Washington Square again. 3 piece Jazz band playing in one corner (bit too free form for me) and a group of youngsters (mostly percussion and a sax and guitar) at the other end. Loads of people compared to the other day. Lots of Street Fairs today (Independence Day Weekend). Streets blocked of by NYPD cars. You can buy lots of junk food, hats or have a back massage (thats all - nothing else). No internet since Friday night - bummer. Cutting and pasting this when we get back on line.

Walked into SoHo in the evening. Big shops, fantastic cast iron architecture, and very arty. Nice feel if you want to clothes shop or buy some art. Stopped at Fanelli's for a brew and a burger ( drew the line at a BIson Burger, but may be tempted next week). Teresa has turned into some "mad cannibal woman", her words, she bought a pack of salami yesterday and is nuts over the burger (lots of grease running through your fingers, yum). Checked out the local cinema, Woody Allen new film Midnight In Paris is playing. Hope to see that before long, also Ricki Lee Jones is playing in SoHo Tuesday, will try for tickets. New York - noisy,crowded, yellow cabs, sirens, hot & steamy. Love it.

Arrival and congratulations to Jonny!

Well we are here! Not a very pleasant flight with Kuwait airlines - no booze - no films - but at least we knew the direction of Mecca at all times!
We eventually found the apartment - after lugging our suitcases up and down Houston Street a few times. It is very very very tiny - I feel as if I am living in a dolls house or a 60's movie where a young couple (!) move into their first home together in Greenwich Village and are able to run up the five flights of stairs with their heavy suitcases - I wish - it is the sort of place I would like to fill with flowers and candles and Richard would like to fill with beer cans and bottles - do candles work with beer bottles as well as wine bottles?
It is lovely though and has everything we need and is much better than a hotel from our point of view.
After a very short nights sleep - we woke at 5.00 - and thought of Jonny, waiting for his results. He rang to say he got a 2:1 - we are extraordinarily proud of him, knowing how hard he has worked for this. Many thanks to those of you who have texted us with your congratulations - we hope he is out celebrating as we type and look forward to celebrating with him when we return. Well done Jonny BA (Hons)!
 After we wiped away our tears of happiness for our boy -  we decided to explore (not at 5.00 though). We found lots of lovely bars, cafes and restaurants, far too many for even us to try our in our two week stay. We had breakfast in The Grey Dog on Carmine Street - brilliant - a bit like Bills in Brighton for those of you who know it - had a huge breakfast of pancakes with bananas, blueberries and maple syrup, (sorry Alex forgot to take photo but will do next time). I may need two seats on the way home if I carry on eating in this way!
Also found Washington Square Park, very close to us and absolutely perfect for me - I plan to spend a lot of time there reading the many books I have on my list. It has a fountain and lots of dogs for us to watch and think of Ralph at home, beautiful trees and is surrounded by the lovely NY University buildings - perfect!
Well thats me for now - missing you all  - but not too much! Alex and Jonny, we hope you have fun at Kelly and Dan's wedding tomorrow - we will be thinking of you and having a few drinks to celebrate for them.
Love to you all
Teresa