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