Category Archives: US 2013 with Lydia

What is it about the African American gene that makes these dudes so damn cool and such great dancers? You could ride around on the New York subway all day and be totally entertained for a couple of dollars. Between 125th in Harlem and Wall Street we had the gorgeous young man in the cap with the coolest moves and the classiest gold piercings, with Motown blaring from his IPAD, and a lecture on American history and why slavery is still alive and propagated by non-Obama voting descendants of the Deep South.

Off the train, it was apprentice Jordan’s on the basketball courts of Harlem. Yep, the cool dance moves translate to the basketball courts and the gorgeous little tots, with their cornrows and smiling faces all holding on to rings connected by a rope quietly crossing the road like very well behaved ducklings.

Wandered down past the dance clubs of the 20s and I reckon I could hear jazz music and the swinging of skirts. We hopped back on the subway in the depths of Harlem and headed for the Statue of Liberty.

The 46 metre regal lady who has welcomed immigrants since 1886 was still closed as Hurricane Sandy had slightly battered her but we stood on the edge of the water and admired her from afar.

The brass bull, the 3200kg symbol of Wall Street was still standing, despite the state of the economy, and looked slightly perturbed with kids climbing all over him.

I had a moment of hmmm where are we … but then looked up and saw the sturdy face of Mao next to a mafia suited godfather type character and knew we were walking in the right direction. A stroll through Chinatown and Little Italy. I now know why the suited men from Pakistan are selling copy watch, copy handbags in Hong Kong cause all the Chinese are in New York ‘missie missie, copy watch, copy handbag’. I felt like I was in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The train back to Washington was again uneventful. Laura had given us the front door key so we let ourselves into the calm of the Embassy. Our trip to Old Town Alexandria, Virginia was easy on the train. Across the Potomac River, the 1749 Old Town is now filled with great shops and restaurants but there are still signs of the part that it played in the American Civil War.

What does one do just before they leave the US – shop of course. To Pentagon City for serious retail therapy.

Monday May 13

Well it was Mother’s Day and it was damn good!

We are having a fantastic time in the Big Apple’s glorious sunshine. The hotel that we are staying in is fantastic. We are just below the Empire State Building on 35th and 6th in the Midtown, which is terrific for travel in either direction. The subway is just outside the door and really easy to navigate (although we did get stuck on an express train yesterday and ended up in the Bronx). The very large members of the NYPD had me slightly worried on the platform, but I remembered what Tom told me – people in NY are either wealthy or homeless … I think he may be right, with even the Bronx yuppified.

Lydia took some very cool photos in Times Square but I much prefer the quiet areas of The Villages. We caught the subway to Brooklyn for the obligatory walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. We did have a bit of rain that day but not enough to even get damp. We got off the train in Dumbo (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). It is quite a fascinating historic waterfront area and we recognized a streetscape that we have seen in many movies. They were shooting the next Spiderman movie there that day but we didn’t offer to be extras. Not sure I could really see myself hanging upside down on the Manhattan Bridge.

Apparently, the cardboard box was invented there, but now it seems home to very beautiful things to put in cardboard boxes. Really lovely shops, especially some wonderful looking furniture and lighting ones.

We walked up to Brooklyn Heights and found a great place for breakfast. Fantastic organic café, Siggys, (we were preparing ourselves for the chocolate and peanut butter milkshakes), where we munched our way through beautiful omelets with fresh herbs and goat cheese. As we drank our smoothies, we felt incredibly pious with our oh so healthy choices (hmm can’t quite say that about yesterday). The walk across the Brooklyn Bridge was lovely with views of the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

Lydia hit the shops whilst my head hit the pillow for a nap. We did Macy’s sale – the store is only a few minutes walk away and millions of New Yorkers (probably temporary New Yorker tourists) were collecting armfuls of bargains. I think clothes here are at least half of what we pay at home and we did manage to support the US economy. We keep getting reminded that we need to shop as we walk past massive electronic signs, constantly updating, telling us the size of the US debt. There are so many numbers and they seem to keep going up. Looks like our spending is not making one speck of difference.

Well we danced to Mamma Mia on Broadway and wandered home along Broadway with Lydia shaking her head at her mother singing the Dancing Queen. There are so many colourful characters (and quite a few unwell ones – I have found that a bit upsetting – the number of obviously really mentally unwell young things on the streets) me singing ABBA at the top of my voice seems quite normal (although I keep getting the ‘oh mother’ from my much more refined daughter).

We had a lovely Mother’s Day. Went in search of the supposedly best pancakes in New York. Not sure that the Jewish grandmothers of years past made buttermilk pancakes smothered in maple syrup (if they didn’t they should have) but found the bakery amongst the interesting migrant tenements of the 1940s. On the Lower East Side, the Clinton Street Bakery constantly wins awards for NY city’s best brunch. The queues can be up to 3 hours but we went for a bit of a walk and didn’t have that long to wait. Now, I have eaten at the cheapest Michelin starred restaurant in the world, now I think I can claim to have eaten at the one with the highest calories – but boy was it worth it! The chocolate and peanut butter milkshake was totally yum and we really should have stopped there. But no, Lydia and I managed to do a fair job of polishing off buttermilk pancakes and brioche French toast with banana and pecans. The staff wore t-shirts that said on the back ‘made with love and butter’… We know, we enthusiastically poured our maple syrup butter over everything.

Now before you start to worry that we will come back like whales (highly likely), we did then march across Central Park for four hours. My goodness, that park is so huge. The New York sunshine was out and our stroll, (well waddle for the first two hours with pancakes and brioche swishing around inside us) was just lovely. We both have a bit of a tan (or it could be the maple syrup leaking out our pores).  Some young smooth New Yorker said to Lydia last night, ‘I think you have dropped something’. When she turned he said ‘my heart’. Well it made her smile.

Anyway we traipsed throughout Central Park and sat for a while and were totally entertained by young African American street performers. They are so talented … I love the confidence they exude and their acrobatic skills were fantastic.  They did remind us that they rule, with Obama still in the White House. A bit more shopping, and by that time we were starving (yes hard to believe), so off to Carmines for family sized portions of hearty lasagna. We could have taken ten of our friends and there still would have been enough.

A beautiful morning in NY. Off for a boat ride to Staten Island and then a mosey around Harlem and then I suppose we might by hungry! No Tom .. I think we will bypass the macaroni and cheese ones at Shopsin’s!