Brooklyn

We went to Brooklyn today; it was an ideal day for a leisurely stroll over Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge was a little bit busy with people walking from Brooklyn into Manhattan (we should have expected this, it being the day after thanksgiving and the first real sunny day we’ve had this week), but it was a great way to see the city skyline in the sunshine.

Brooklyn Bridge from the park

We then walked over to Brooklyn Bridge Park. It’s great place for a hanging out, there’s a small beach and even better there’s a retro carousel, it looks like it’s jumped out of Mary Poppins (it's a refurbished 1920's carousel). I really wanted to have a go, but as we got closer we could see that all adults on the ride had small children with them and I really couldn’t get away with going it alone, without looking a bit simple! So I took some pictures instead...where are your little nieces when you need them!

Jane's Carousel

We then headed up to Prospect Park (Brooklyn’s answer to Central Park) and chilled out in the sunshine with some pizza.

Once you’re in Brooklyn, you definitely get the sense you are out of the hustle and bustle of the big city – the pavements are a lot quieter and it’s far easier to cross roads (you don’t have to make the pesky stop for traffic at the end of each street). The buildings are quite different too; more brownstone buildings with large staircases. I quite liked the vibe and slower pace in Brooklyn, if we had more time, it would be great to stay in Brooklyn for a bit and explore it a bit more; we just did the tip of the iceberg today I think.

Emily

Thanksgiving

Well, we woke up a bit late this morning, so we decided to watch the parade from the comfort of our cosy apartment (it was 4 degrees this morning!); we also realised that over 3.5 million people gathered for the parade and the majority started queuing around 7am.

This year’s parade included 11 marching bands, 800 clowns, 1,600 cheerleaders, dancers and singers, 27 floats and 15 giant balloons!

Don't see that everyday.

Macy’s Parade facts

• Live animals including camels, goats, elephants, and donkeys, were a part of the parade in the first year back in 1924.

• In 1925 and 1926, bears, lions, and tigers were added to the live animals used, but the use of these animals had to be discontinued because they scared children. Ha!

• Most of the clowns in the parade are actually Macy store employees. They have to attend a special Clown University and study the craft of “clowning around” for weeks beforehand.

• Macy's is the world's second largest consumer of helium. The United States government is the first.

After enjoying a semi-traditional thanksgiving dinner, we headed out to Rolf’s in the East Village – a German bar and restaurant, decorated in the most intrusive Christmas decorations all year round!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

Emily

 

The night before...Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

It's Thanksgiving tomorrow, which means the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Today we decided to head down to the south west corner of Central Park and join a throng of other folks, to see the balloons being inflated ahead of the parade.

Sonic returns to the parade - last seen in 93'.

Pretty good atmosphere in town, although after walking for around an hour, we decided to give the next avenue of balloons a miss and head home. Picked up some yummy things for a makeshift thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

Oh Yeah! Spongebob bringing up the rear there.

Heading out early tomorrow morning to get a good spot to watch the parade.

Emily

The best of Manhattan...Part 1

One of the most useful guide we’ve found is the Best of Manhattan 2011 (a free paper we picked up in Grenchwich Village). It recommends everything from the best place to eat a bagel to the best place to shop in Manhattan away from all the tourists (like us). It’s pretty much a guide for the locals.

We’ve spent this week working our way through some of the “best ofs”.

The best place to see a live band...Pianos

A great little bar in SoHo. From the outside, its not much too look at (it would easy to walk past it) but It was definitely the the place to be to see some great local bands, free of charge. The place filled up pretty quickly. We arrived just in time for happy hour, so we managed to have a few cheap beers and bar snacks before the first band started. I would definitely recommend this bar. Very laid back, indie feel and great happy hour prices! 

The best place to eat a Michelin star meal for under $70...Aldea

A restaurant on 17th Street, between 5th and Broadway. Instead of going for dinner, we decided to save some pennies and go for lunch. For 3-courses at $24.70, it was definitely worth it. The chocolate pudding with homemade gingersnap ice cream was the best bit.

Next week is our busy last week in New York, but we are going to try to fit in some more "best ofs" before we go!

Emily

Foo Fighters at Madison Square Garden

Just back from watching the Foo Fighters play their first gig at Madison Square Garden after 16 years and as Dave Grohl put it “Sixteen years, we’ve been practicing to get here.” And it's all been well worth it.

“We don’t play those insy-teensy two hour shows anymore” - Dave Grohl

No gimmicks rock & roll was the theme of the night. Supported by Welsh band The Joy Formidable (who Grohl heard playing on the radio one day) and veteran punk band Social Distortion, for your buck you got five hours of solid rock n’ roll. 

And a long night it proved to be, as Grohl ripped through a career-spanning 15-track set list before returning to the stage for an unprecedented 7-song encore. The length of the encore was deliberated backstage on the big screens for all of us to join in. The more screams the more songs.

In addition to fan favourites “Everlong” (which inspired an ear-splitting sing-along) and “This Is A Call,” the Foo’s played several songs from this year’s Wasting Light, including “Walk” and the emotionally charged “These Days,” - the latter of which Grohl claimed to be the best song he’s ever written. It is pretty good. See

Other highlights of the evening included solo guitar battles between lead guitarist Shiflett and Dave Grohl and surprise appearances by rock legends Bob Mould (who is featured on Wasting Light’s “Dear Rosemary”) and Joan Jett.

This has to have been the best thing I've ever seen. 

Arran

Manhattan is barking!

A blog posting on the canines of New York City, as requested by Isla, for Lenny, the Jack Russell.

NYC is crawling with dogs; they really love their dogs here. Apparently there are over 1 million dog owners in the city. The most popular dog of choice appears to be a poodle, or those small, yappy handbag dogs.

A lot people tend to carry their dogs, while crossing the streets or at the end of a walk (I don’t really blame them, Central Park is massive, I sometimes wish I could get a piggy back home). I haven’t seen a dog bigger than a poodle being carried though; I hope to see someone carrying a German Sheppard before we go!

Is he wearing denim?

If you thought carrying a dog around the park is bizarre, nothing is a mad as the doggy fashion they adopt. There is an abundance of dog clothes shops here!

Gold body warmers are this seasons must have.

All the parks we have visited so far have specific walking arenas and ‘gyms’ for dogs. Apparently there is even a classification of New Yorkers called ‘doglers’ – those people who love dogs and would like to own one but can’t due to their lifestyle, so they get their dog fix by hanging out in dog parks now and again...

And if all this wasn’t barking enough, I even came across a specific blog for dogs this afternoon: http://ablogfordogs.tumblr.com/ ...woof!

Seriously?

Emily

No Trouble in Little China

Started our day in China Town. A very busy area of New York, with good shops and lots of interesting places to eat...although there was a dinstinct smell of wet dog in the air yesterday, which cut our visit a little short.
China town like Greenwich, doesn't follow the same city layout as uptown Manhattan, so is a little more difficult to navigate. But after a little walking around we managed to find Bret and Jemaine's apartment from Flight of the Conchords.

Bret and Jemaine's Apartment

Had lunch at the "five points" (which is now known as Columbus Park), whilst watching a basketball game. We then headed over to SoHo for some shopping and some ice cold beers.

Arran

A Day at the Museum

Went to the American Museum of Natural History today. It has a suggested entrance fee of $19, but you can grit your teeth and pay what you wish...so we did.
Took around 4 hours to see most of it, with the exception of a few closed exhibits. These were closed due to a special baquet for the Joint Chiefs of Staff later that evening. Not sure we should of overheard that.

Cheetahs in the African Savanna exhibition

The museum is well worth a visit and some of the exhibitions are exceptional.

Arran

Messing around on the river!

When the weather is fine then you know it's a sign...for messing about on the river!

The weather was fit fine (for the Aberdonian audience) on Tuesday, so we decided to take a row boat out on Central Park Lake.  Arran did most of the rowing - it was all I could to do to stay steady at some points (nearly fell out, getting into the boat!), but once I found my sea legs I paddled for a bit. Great way to see more of the Park; would definitely recommend it and at $12 it’s an absolute steal for an hour’s worth of entertainment!

Emily on Central Park Lake

Just before our boat ride, we settled down for some lunch under a tree. A word of warning for anyone looking to visit the Park in the autumn (actually, this could apply to any autumnal park), don’t sit under a tree...within seconds of us getting settled we heard a huge crashing noise. A massive football sized, acorn type thing, fell from the tree, inches from our heads. We nearly got taken out! It was honestly about the size of Arran’s head. We promptly moved from that spot and moved closer to the centre of the lawn with all the wise local New Yorkers. Shortly afterwards another mammoth acorn fell from the tree!

Can anyone tell us what the hell this is?

Finished our afternoon in the sun with some lovely cold beers in the Boathouse in the Park – so far, it’s the cheapest beer in town at $3.25!

Emily

New York City Marathon

Went down to Central Park today to watch some of the 46,000 runners of the New York City Marathon complete their ordeal of 26.2 miles through the five boroughs of New York.

Haven't seen so many sweaty americans struggling to breathe, since I was in McDonalds yesterday.

Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won in a record breaking time claiming a cool $130,000.

Arran