A snow covered Times Square
…it’s morning in New Orleans & I sit bolt upright in bed… See that the hotel issue clock radio clicks over to 0927 & panic!! I have to be on the Tour Bus, Toni’s going to kill me, we‘re going to be late for the next venue… then, peace settles in, I’m not on Tour anymore, I’m on holidays with my little Brother…
…0929 in New Orleans & I sit bolt upright in bed… the plane to New York leaves in 1hr & we were both supposed to be in a taxi an hour ago…!! Ever seen the start of “Four Weddings & A Funeral”…? That was us!!
Grand Central Station
Somehow we managed to get downstairs in around 2min - literally - & then there was a taxi just there, ready & waiting. That driver danced his way through the New Orleans traffic & man was he dancing… We arrived at New Orleans Airport with just over 30mins before we flew out, which in American terms, means “your flight is now boarding”!! I tipped our driver nicely as did Ric the Porter who ran our luggage into the Terminal at a rapid pace - gotta love curbside check-in in the States… Just to make it more fun, we had SSSS on our Boarding Pass!! Yes, time was tight but what better way to ensure more tension than having to open up your entire carry-on, all the while trying not to arouse suspicion by encouraging the TSA Official to work as quick as he can…! We were definitely being smiled on as the gate we were departing from (& yes, everyone else had boarded but they weren’t up to the point where they were paging people by name) was, literally, just around the corner from the Security Check!! Huzzah!
Ric, um, finding his footing in Central Park..!
Funnily enough Ric & I slept pretty much the entire flight to New York and awoke to some of the most violent turbulence I’ve ever encountered which was mainly due to all the snow that was falling on New York!! Upon collecting our luggage we decided to catch the public transport option & it was quite surreal to see New York covered in snow. We managed to get to our Hostel with out too much hassle & then decided to go out looking for food. We got slightly distracted & ended up heading into Central Park. It looked magical. Snow was still falling, quite heavily, & we just meandered our way through the Park. Ric went A over T once & lay on the ground laughing for a moment or two. Eventually we made our way down as far as Times Square before we decided that dinner was to be found in Little Italy.
Me with a cold Giz in pocket strolling through a snowy Central Park!
The next day we met up with Chuck, a great guy who had worked with Tango Fire on the Boston season. Chuck basically runs the AV Dept of the American Natural History Museum and had teed up with me to cross paths with him so he could get Ric & I in on guest passes. It was a cool afternoon, roaming around the museum again. Managed to see a few displays that I hadn’t seen the first time. We revisited the Planetarium & then went and saw “Dinosaurs” on the IMAX screen. We then hooked up with Chuck & went out for dinner and a few beers…
The main drag in Little Italy - also the title of a Billy Joel song, which now makes more sense!
…as he was departing, he steered us in the direction of a few more bars that were close to our Hostel. “Jakes Dilemma” was the first one we found and the last one we tried!! It was a great little bar, very similar to your ‘local’ in Brunswick or St Kilda. We met a bunch of people that night & for some reason, in a very un-me way, I didn’t take photos of the people we met…!! Which sucks as they were all really, really cool & majority of them were Foozball champions.
Foozball, for those of you who are unaware or due to my bad spelling is basically a soccer match for either two or four players. Kinda like Air Hockey except your ‘players’ are attached to wooded rods and you have to move them across the field and then spin them to hit the ball. It takes a whole lot of co-ordination far above my sporting skills in life when I have attempted it in the past but these guys - even Ric shied away!! They were insane!! They would pass from ‘player’ to ‘player’ on the same rod, stop the ball when it was going at crazy speeds and basically had their wooden guys operating as swiftly & deftly as Beckham (well maybe not anymore)!! Absolutely fantastic to watch as the games would carry on for quite some time.
Both myself & Ric were finally pulled into the game by our friends. I was sided with Todd, who was actually another Aussie who’d been living in the States for a number of years. As you’d expect, we lost!! The Yanks couldn’t believe that we didn’t have Foozball as standard in bars!! To Todd, Serena, Alisha, Gavin, Meena, the loud obnoxious guy & the one who looked like a friend of Ric’s, we salute you!!
Ric & I spent the next day cruising around the town & some of it was wasted chasing up my new ‘Emergency Passport’ from the Aus Consulate. But it also meant that Ric & I got to walk through and explore Grand Central Station - which it is!! There’s also a fantastic fresh produce market hall within the station - similar but better than the section in David Jones in Bourke St Mall!! Ric walked off munching on a block of Jarlesberg cheese and I found a fantastic freshly made, chocolate milk!! Gold!!
"Avenue Q"
That night we went off to see “Avenue Q” on Broadway. “Q” is basically a version of Sesame Street but for adults. Not saying that it’s filthy & rude, they’ve just updated what you used to watch as a kid to the level that your mind has now developed - ok, ok there’s SOME dirty elements to it…!! One of the main songs is “The Internet Is For Porn”!! It’s a great show, very cleverly done & there’s a lot of laughs throughout. It’s very reminiscent of Sesame Street in regards to little cartoon segues that they display on TV screens side stage. All up, a very entertaining night out & gratefully, was a good guess re. theatre that Ric would enjoy.
The following day I started to feel the beginnings of “The Sickness” but we caught up with Chuck again in the arvo as he was working at Town Hall & had a quick beer when he was on a break. He gave Ric a few tips on where to go when he goes home via Tokyo & took me on a brief tour through the Town Hall. In the evening we caught up with The Joyce crew briefly and saw the performance that was showing by “Reflections : A Dance Company”. Was an all black, modern dance that combined African roots, including live music & singing, with current dance moves. Was quite good but I was literally falling asleep by the end. Said hello to the crew once the curtain flew out & it was great to see them again. We were supposed to have a beer with Kelly but he’d had some news during the day that he needed to attend to & the rest of the crew did have to front up for 2 x shows the following day. We got back to the Hostel around 2300 & I slept til 1500 on Saturday!!
Giz in his seat, on Broadway, ready to see 'Avenue Q'
From here on in New York was pretty much a write off for me - which sucked as over the weekend we’d planned to take the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue Of Liberty & the main event was to take Ric out on Bleeker St & we’d even made tentative plans to catch up with our new friends from Jakes Remorse! Ric still went out & explored, which I’m glad, but I was looking forward to our night out on Bleeker. There’s always next time I guess!!
…it’s morning in New Orleans & I sit bolt upright in bed… See that the hotel issue clock radio clicks over to 0927 & panic!! I have to be on the Tour Bus, Toni’s going to kill me, we‘re going to be late for the next venue… then, peace settles in, I’m not on Tour anymore, I’m on holidays with my little Brother…
…0929 in New Orleans & I sit bolt upright in bed… the plane to New York leaves in 1hr & we were both supposed to be in a taxi an hour ago…!! Ever seen the start of “Four Weddings & A Funeral”…? That was us!!
Grand Central Station
Somehow we managed to get downstairs in around 2min - literally - & then there was a taxi just there, ready & waiting. That driver danced his way through the New Orleans traffic & man was he dancing… We arrived at New Orleans Airport with just over 30mins before we flew out, which in American terms, means “your flight is now boarding”!! I tipped our driver nicely as did Ric the Porter who ran our luggage into the Terminal at a rapid pace - gotta love curbside check-in in the States… Just to make it more fun, we had SSSS on our Boarding Pass!! Yes, time was tight but what better way to ensure more tension than having to open up your entire carry-on, all the while trying not to arouse suspicion by encouraging the TSA Official to work as quick as he can…! We were definitely being smiled on as the gate we were departing from (& yes, everyone else had boarded but they weren’t up to the point where they were paging people by name) was, literally, just around the corner from the Security Check!! Huzzah!
Ric, um, finding his footing in Central Park..!Funnily enough Ric & I slept pretty much the entire flight to New York and awoke to some of the most violent turbulence I’ve ever encountered which was mainly due to all the snow that was falling on New York!! Upon collecting our luggage we decided to catch the public transport option & it was quite surreal to see New York covered in snow. We managed to get to our Hostel with out too much hassle & then decided to go out looking for food. We got slightly distracted & ended up heading into Central Park. It looked magical. Snow was still falling, quite heavily, & we just meandered our way through the Park. Ric went A over T once & lay on the ground laughing for a moment or two. Eventually we made our way down as far as Times Square before we decided that dinner was to be found in Little Italy.
Me with a cold Giz in pocket strolling through a snowy Central Park!The next day we met up with Chuck, a great guy who had worked with Tango Fire on the Boston season. Chuck basically runs the AV Dept of the American Natural History Museum and had teed up with me to cross paths with him so he could get Ric & I in on guest passes. It was a cool afternoon, roaming around the museum again. Managed to see a few displays that I hadn’t seen the first time. We revisited the Planetarium & then went and saw “Dinosaurs” on the IMAX screen. We then hooked up with Chuck & went out for dinner and a few beers…
The main drag in Little Italy - also the title of a Billy Joel song, which now makes more sense!…as he was departing, he steered us in the direction of a few more bars that were close to our Hostel. “Jakes Dilemma” was the first one we found and the last one we tried!! It was a great little bar, very similar to your ‘local’ in Brunswick or St Kilda. We met a bunch of people that night & for some reason, in a very un-me way, I didn’t take photos of the people we met…!! Which sucks as they were all really, really cool & majority of them were Foozball champions.
Foozball, for those of you who are unaware or due to my bad spelling is basically a soccer match for either two or four players. Kinda like Air Hockey except your ‘players’ are attached to wooded rods and you have to move them across the field and then spin them to hit the ball. It takes a whole lot of co-ordination far above my sporting skills in life when I have attempted it in the past but these guys - even Ric shied away!! They were insane!! They would pass from ‘player’ to ‘player’ on the same rod, stop the ball when it was going at crazy speeds and basically had their wooden guys operating as swiftly & deftly as Beckham (well maybe not anymore)!! Absolutely fantastic to watch as the games would carry on for quite some time.
Both myself & Ric were finally pulled into the game by our friends. I was sided with Todd, who was actually another Aussie who’d been living in the States for a number of years. As you’d expect, we lost!! The Yanks couldn’t believe that we didn’t have Foozball as standard in bars!! To Todd, Serena, Alisha, Gavin, Meena, the loud obnoxious guy & the one who looked like a friend of Ric’s, we salute you!!
Ric & I spent the next day cruising around the town & some of it was wasted chasing up my new ‘Emergency Passport’ from the Aus Consulate. But it also meant that Ric & I got to walk through and explore Grand Central Station - which it is!! There’s also a fantastic fresh produce market hall within the station - similar but better than the section in David Jones in Bourke St Mall!! Ric walked off munching on a block of Jarlesberg cheese and I found a fantastic freshly made, chocolate milk!! Gold!!
"Avenue Q"That night we went off to see “Avenue Q” on Broadway. “Q” is basically a version of Sesame Street but for adults. Not saying that it’s filthy & rude, they’ve just updated what you used to watch as a kid to the level that your mind has now developed - ok, ok there’s SOME dirty elements to it…!! One of the main songs is “The Internet Is For Porn”!! It’s a great show, very cleverly done & there’s a lot of laughs throughout. It’s very reminiscent of Sesame Street in regards to little cartoon segues that they display on TV screens side stage. All up, a very entertaining night out & gratefully, was a good guess re. theatre that Ric would enjoy.
The following day I started to feel the beginnings of “The Sickness” but we caught up with Chuck again in the arvo as he was working at Town Hall & had a quick beer when he was on a break. He gave Ric a few tips on where to go when he goes home via Tokyo & took me on a brief tour through the Town Hall. In the evening we caught up with The Joyce crew briefly and saw the performance that was showing by “Reflections : A Dance Company”. Was an all black, modern dance that combined African roots, including live music & singing, with current dance moves. Was quite good but I was literally falling asleep by the end. Said hello to the crew once the curtain flew out & it was great to see them again. We were supposed to have a beer with Kelly but he’d had some news during the day that he needed to attend to & the rest of the crew did have to front up for 2 x shows the following day. We got back to the Hostel around 2300 & I slept til 1500 on Saturday!!
Giz in his seat, on Broadway, ready to see 'Avenue Q'
From here on in New York was pretty much a write off for me - which sucked as over the weekend we’d planned to take the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue Of Liberty & the main event was to take Ric out on Bleeker St & we’d even made tentative plans to catch up with our new friends from Jakes Remorse! Ric still went out & explored, which I’m glad, but I was looking forward to our night out on Bleeker. There’s always next time I guess!!
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