Day 1 - 11th June 2007
Well, the adventure finally begins! It has seemed like an age we have had to wait since initially planning our round the world trip so it was amazing when the date finally arrived. Firstly we would both like to thank all of you who made it up for our leaving do - it was a fantastic evening and we were grateful to so many of you for making the long trip up - we hope you all had as much fun as us!
So, the morning of the 11th finally arrived and after saying goodbye to parents at the airport we made our way through to board. After sitting around for a while we decided it must be about time to board the plane upon which we were told they had put a couple of call outs for us as we were he last to board the plane - whoops! Anyway, we finally got going and a few in flight beers and films put in in good spirits for our arrival in New York.
After negotiating the airport and making our way 'downtown' we were then charged with the task of finding a suitable hotel for the next two evenings - we had a couple in mind but these went belly up so there we were wandering round NY in the blistering heat with our backpacks on! Anyway, we were guided to the Madison Hotel which had some rooms free at a reasonable price - looked a lot like Fawlty Towers from the outside and they even had a Manuel working on the desk but it was clean and we were ensuite so happy days.
After dumping our bags we headed up to Time Square and managed to bag some cheap tickets for a Broadway show that evening - Rent for the more cultured out there! We then headed up for a chill out in Central Park to watch some soft ball before heading back into the city as it was most definitely Miller Time!
The show was amazing and definitely worth the ticket price. It was an all singing all dancing affair and had been a big hit over here. The second act proved a challenge for both of us however as we had been up for 22 hours and the eyelids were drooping somewhat - I think we both had a couple of nodding off incidents however this is not a reflection of the show!
Day 2 - June 12th 2007
So, expecting to be staying in bed until at least 9am, we are both wide awake by 7am so it is an early start to the day for us. After recently watching a travel programme, we had seen an amazing looking deli sandwich shop over in Brooklyn so we decided to head across that way. The weather was once again roasting hot and we chose to walk to the Brooklyn Bridge and over into Brooklyn itself. It was a pretty good walk with plenty to see and take in however after wandering aimlessly around Brooklyn for over an hour we decided that there was no way to know where the deli shop was so our mission came to an end - we settled for a couple of smoothies instead before heading back over into Manhattan.
We then ambled over into the financial district and down to Battery Park for lunch - had an amazing meat sandwich which must have had about 10 slices of meat in it - they are not shy on their portions out here that's for sure! After wandering about in the financial district for a while, we decide to head back up to Central Park to soak up some afternoon sun. After watching some softball, we decide on a trip to the Natural History Museum however on the way there the heavens open and we are stuck in the middle of a huge thunder storm. Thankfully we manage to find some cover and sit it our for 45 minutes whilst watching people getting soaked!
We decide to sack of the history museum and go for a beer instead. We wander around a bit more then head back to get changed before going out for some tea. We stumble across a fantastic seafood bar a couple of hundred yards from the hotel which turns out to be a bobby dazzler of a place. We manage to get a couple of Sam Adams beers in then we have some lovely fresh seafood - some king size shrimps and a seafood jambalaya which turns out to be a combination of all types of seafood served over dirrty rice (spicy rice with peppers and onions etc). We then decide to try another beer - Anchor Steam beer which turns out to be rank so I have to take one for the team and drink them both - ugghh!
Day 3 - 13th June 2007
So our final day in New York and the weather has turned a bit pear shaped as Carly is forced into wearing her hoody - not good that. Anyway, we head out to Chelsea Village and check out the meat packing district before heading across to Union square to have look around the market. After a coffee and a smoothie it is time to go and pick our bags up as we are catching the bus up to Boston at 3pm.
We wander down to Chinatown to catch the cheapo bus to Boston - it only costs $15 for a 4 and a half hour journey although we later find out there have recently been a spate of crashes involving the Chinatown buses - whoops!
We leave plenty of time to get some food in before the journey and once again come up trumps as we find a really nice Vietnamese restaurant. They serve us an absolute mountain of food which is all delicious and is all washed down with a couple of Saigon's which went down really well.
We manage to catch the bus on time for Boston and after an uneventful journey, arrive in Boston at around 7.30pm that evening to be greeted by our good friend Ned who is to be our host for the next week.
We head back to his and Kat's place out in the leafy suburbs and we are treated to yet another feast - a combination of homecooked carbonara and some lovely pizza - all washed down obviously with the champagne of American beers - Miller High Life! The rest of the evening is spent catching up as it has been a couple of years since we were last here and there is a lot to get through - it also sounds as though we have some hectic times coming up during the next week so everything is definitely turning out Millhouse!
