New York, New York (Part 2)

Sunday was so sunny, so we spent the day strolling around Central Park. Aaron got his revenge from our last Checkers game in a game longer than time itself, as we joined the old men at the tables. We also went for a ramble through the woods and took in the great view from the top of Belvedere Castle. A bus ride up the upper east side and we were enjoying a huge milkshake in Tom's Restaurant, which is the coffee shop in my new favourite show Seinfeld! As the day was so clear, we went to the 'top of the rock', i.e. the Rockefeller Center, to get the best view of New York. It was fantastic, Empire State Building looked massive (although I was disappointed no gorillas were climbing it that day) and you could see for miles! Oh, and the funniest thing happened, some guy trying to sell us stuff genuinely thought Aaron was my father! Now either I look 12 or Aaron looks 50! And do other people see us and think my 'father' is rather too touchy-feely with me?! After that, we were lucky enough to go to eat at Lombardi's, the oldest pizza place in NY. And it tastes the best too...

New York, New York (Part 1)

Despite the name at the bottom of the entry, this is written by Liz: I LOVE New York! I love the fact that you can do anything and everything any time, day or night. A bit like London, I like the mix of old and new buildings, and everywhere you walk feels like a film set. That said, the reputation of New Yorkers being a teensy bit brash seems to be true - as evidenced by the dragon our hostel employed as a receptionist. Anyway, our hostel was in a great location to get around Manhattan - Chelsea, not only the name of a horrible football team but a neighbourhood gayer than Julian Clary sitting on a Christmas tree. Anyway, on the first day, we couldn't check in until the afternoon so Aaron managed to watch his football in a pub called Nevada Smith's, home to the New York branch of Arsenal America. It was the randomest bunch of people - some American male cheerleaders who lead every Arsenal song (but don't know who Liam Brady is), British lads who look like extras from 'This Is England' and one poor Man City fan on holiday. After non-stop chanting and pints of Guinness at ten in the morning (after failing to sleep on the Megabus), we headed to the famous Katz Deli which is where Harry Met Sally for some delicious chicken noodle soup! Times Square is the equivalent of Leicester Square, although 10 times bigger and with a million more photosnapping tourists - we tried to avoid it for the rest of our stay...

The Falls Came Tumbling Down...

We're just about to leave New York so here's a quick blog entry about Niagara Falls as I try to catch up. If you're thinking of going there anytime soon, don't. It's only worthwhile going in summer when things are actually open. Also on the American side, there's nothing to do and not much more other than gaudy tourist holes on the Canadian side. While I'm at it, the Falls themselves aren't that amazing. Impressive sure, but after seeing the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, etc., we were expecting something bigger. Maybe we've been spoilt on this trip. The rainbow coming out of the Falls is a nice touch though. Anyway, we spent the evening in Buffalo eating their famed chicken wings before another overnight bus to New York - which is great of course, and we'll write about it next time...

I almost forgot...

By the way, we went from sweltering heat in the South to this in Chicago. It's pretty cold there, although not that windy.

Sweet Home Chicago.

10 hours overnight on a Megabus is no way to start a week in Chicago - but it's so great there it didn't matter. We celebrated Elizabeth's birthday while there - we started at the Shedd Aquarium, which has a coral reef, sharks, kids shouting 'look, it's Nemo!' and some strange creatures I'd never seen before. We then got amazing views of the city at the John Hancock Center before we went to see the world-famous Second City comedy show (where Bill Murray, John Belushi, Steve Carrell and Tina Fey started). We saw some great sketches as well as amazing improv - look out for Tim Robinson in 5 years time! While in Chi-Town, we also saw the T-Rex at the Natural History Museum, ate 'cheezborgers' at the Billy Goat Tavern, induced heart disease eating deep dish pizza pie at Giordiano's and found the silver bean sculpture in the park Barack Obama celebrated being made president. But before we left, we went to watch The Jerry Springer Show live. As you can see above, we met the show's on-stage security guard - unfortunately the old security guy Steve has left to host his own show, counselling the victims of domestic abuse. Anyway, it's even more bizarre in real life - we were sat next to a mannerquin with a rotating head, and constantly wondering (hoping?) that these people were actors. All the regulars were there- hillbillies getting drunk on moonshine, a woman's wig getting pulled off and plenty of fights. And at the end, a fat guy with a pair of E cups ran onto the stage and showed us his ass. So he could win some beads. Only in America folks.

Walking in Memphis.

Unfortunately, we've had no internet access for a while, and even here I have to write this on my tiny mobile phone, so it shall be short! Anyway, we went to the home of Rock n Roll - Memphis, Tennessee - and saw Graceland. We have a whole new appreciation for Elvis' music - if not his decor. The 'Jungle Room' has green shag-pile on the ceiling and he has his own logo on the walls. He even has two planes! We also went to the great Stax museum, where we saw Issac Hayes' gold Cadillac and we've been listening to Otis Redding ever since. We even saw the site of Martin Luther King's assassination at the National Civil Rights Museum, listened to live Blues and tasted delicious pulled pork before our 10 hour overnight journey to Chicago...

N'Awlins...

It's our last day in New Orleans - and it's been somewhat of a blur. They're not lying when they see it's a party town. My sore head and emptier wallet attests to that. Bourbon Street is one long pub basically, where the 'Hand Grenade' and the 'Hurricane' compete for yard-long cocktail supremacy (personally I prefer the Hurricane). Our first night in town was supposed to be a quiet one, just a couple of beers in Pat O'Briens after dinner. That all changed when Al joined us.

Al is a podgy, middle-aged 'wacky' guy, who was wearing beads, holding a cocktail and shouting "Woo hoo!" a lot. He asked if there was room at our table for two crazy guys and two hot girls, and being polite Brits, we said there was. We were joined by one 'crazy' guy, one fairly drunk guy, one hot girl and a rather large lady. Over the next half an hour, we found out Al had met this larger lady on the internet, she had sent him nude photos, and this was their first date. They had hooked up with this other couple during the night, and we were fortunate enough for the woman to show us her new fake breasts, which were a present from her boyfriend. Al was encouraging us to join them all for some kind of party back at his, which I believe may have had sexual connotations (the phrase "wild animal sex" led me to believe this).

The other couple and their fake breasts made a quick exit and we needed an escape route; little did we know it would come in the form of projectile vomit. After a minute of talking amongst ourselves, we looked over to see Al patting his date with ice, as she was sweating profusely. I simply put this down to her size; but the sight of her throwing up all over her own ample bosom, as well as our table changed my mind. Suffice to say, Al took her home at this point - well, back to his home. There was still some wild animal sex to be had.

In other news, Liz took me on a very interesting walking tour of the French Quarter and we rode the only existing steam-powered paddlewheeler on the Missisippi, Steamboat Natchez. We've tasted gumbo (tasty), jamalaya (also tasty), po boys (soggy and meaty), beignets (lovely french doughnuts in powdered sugar) and real southern fried chicken (it's not quite the same as KFC). We've been in our first Walmart, where you can pick up your groceries as well as fishing rods and rifles. There are beads literally everywhere as well as live music, whether it's brass bands in the street, mini-orchestras on the riverfront, or cool blues bands playing in the bars. And we even saw a street wedding, complete with trumpeters marching them through the cobbled streets...

Outside the French Quarter, it's a different story; our local convenience store resembled a scene from The Wire (the oriental storeowner shouting at her customers, a group of drunks attempting to get 'credit' to buy alcohol, while a man pushes scrap metal around in a shopping trolley outside). The pavements are broken all over the place and many of the amazing grandiose Southern houses have been neglected, presumably after flood damage. It's a beautiful city, but it needs some help to reclaim former glories.

It's off to Memphis, Tennessee tomorrow on our first Amtrak - it will take the entire day so we will have to wait a while for another blog entry - unless you want to hear what we listened to on our iPod...