bigapplecrumble

The weather in New York has definitely started to turn this week, and you can no longer count on it being a balmy 20-25 degrees when you step outside, even if the sun is out. I learnt that this morning and found myself shivering on the way back to my apartment from church, ready to tuck up with a film and hot chocolate.

My week was pretty sociable and I went to a couple of cool places – I had a great steak at a restaurant called The Smith and also went out to a bar called Cannibal (which was much more understated than you would think with a name like that), where we sat next to some people eating a pig’s head for dinner… (not sure what the etiquette is on asking to take a picture of someone else’s food so sadly I can’t show you but it had the full snout, ears etc…) It did actually look quite tasty but I’m still not sure I’ll be queuing up to order it any time soon.

My dad was in town again this week so we went for dinner on Friday. It turns out there is a cheese factory in Manhattan which happened to be right near where we were having dinner so we popped in for a starter of mac’n’cheese using cheese made right there on site! It was amazing and definitely worth a visit if you are in New York (Beecher’s Handmade Cheese)

And then on Saturday, this happened…..

Some serious New York rain… that put an end to my plans of taking the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty so we decided to go eat instead at the Caracas Arepa Bar. We used to eat arepas in Venezuela so it was nice to find somewhere that serves them and we were definitely not disappointed! We went for shredded beef, cheese, jalapeños and black beans. I think the place gets quite lively in the evenings so I’m definitely going to come back another time.

A trip to the Met was our next rainy day activity, although lots of people had the same idea, but I saw a few new parts of the museum and this was my favourite painting this time of depression-era New York.

I also found my next musical instrument to tackle… a drum with attitude…

The sun did finally come out around 4pm so we were able to take a stroll through central park via Turtle Pond- which it turns out actually has turtles swimming in it! I was very excited by this! Look how cute they are.

Here’s a picture of me and my dad in the sunshine which rounded off our day nicely. I’d like to say that’s a high speed turtle zooming towards us in the background but sadly I think it’s a duck.

The last food item of the day contained .. you’ve guessed it … more cheese! We met up with some family friends for dinner and ordered the 15-cheese selection, with each cheese coming with a special chutney or preserve. The waiter then proceeded to give us a 2 minute explanation on each cheese and the accompaniment – we admired his dedication but we really just wanted to eat the cheese!

Also, look what we saw on the way to the restaurant- a fire station with a Dalmatian! Apparently dalmatians are traditional dogs for firefighters to have as they used to keep the horses calm when they had to use horse drawn carriages.

I went to my first New York house party after dinner which was pretty fun, in a loft in TriBeCa (Triangle Below Canal Street- inventive naming there) and then today have just been catching up on life admin and ready for an early night! This place is definitely starting to feel a lot more like home though!

As the author Tom Wolfe said, “One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years.”

I definitely feel like I am beginning to see the charms of New York more and more, and starting to feel more at home here. It is getting a bit colder in the mornings but generally the weather is still great which always lifts my mood and means you can keep doing outdoor activities.

I went for a drink with a co-worker on Friday at a really cute Italian wine bar where you can sit in the courtyard and then go up for amazing food. We had artichoke and spinach dip (which, for something that sounds reasonably healthy, is basically cheese fondue), as well as pizza and a meat platter, all of which was delicious, along with some Rose wine- very welcome at the end of a week at work! I am also slowly becoming accustomed to the fact that when water drips on you here, it is more likely to be from an air conditioning unit than the first few drops of rain- not something I ever experienced in London….

On Saturday morning, I went to brunch with some friends at a place called Jacob’s Pickles on the Upper West Side, which makes their own pickles on site. The place was fun although I have to admit I wasn’t blown away by the food- the portions were huge but I felt it was more quantity over quality (as a lot of things are here).

Being just around the corner from Central Park, I decided to wander over to the reservoir which looked clear enough to dive into in the sunlight- sadly I don’t think you can though…

And then the highlight of my weekend… prepare to be jealous. A colleague had a spare ticket for the Global Citizen Festival taking place in Central Park, which is aiming to raise awareness about poverty and drive change. I jumped at the chance to go along, looking at the eclectic line up of Tiesto, Fun, No Doubt, Carrie Underwood and Jay Z. We got there a bit late so missed the first couple of acts but we saw Carrie Underwood, No Doubt and Jay Z, as well as Ban Ki Moon, Prime Minister Modi, Hugh Jackman, Jessica Alba and many other politicians and celebrities involved in the cause.

Jay Z started his set by playing New York, New York, before breaking into Empire State of Mind so I felt very lucky to be in this city. If you turned around, this was the view…

And then to top it all off, look who came on stage to join Jay Z!!

So far, a pretty awesome weekend!

This weekend, I took a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and I have to admit I was blown away by it, so it is getting a blog post of its own – something other New York sights can only aspire to. I did get slightly distracted en-route to the museum, making a couple of stop offs at Banana Republic and Bloomingdales on the Upper East Side (a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do- I couldn’t not go in…)

Slightly more laden down with shopping bags, I walked through Central Park up to the Met, passing by Conservatory Pond where people sail model motor boats and the famous Alice in Wonderland statue, which had about 10 kids balanced on it at the time.

I eventually made it to the museum and decided to start off with what was, in my mind, the reason I went- the roof garden. It has great views over Central Park and of the New York skyline and even has a bar- what more do you need?! Little did I know at this point how much more the Met had to offer…

I eventually decided it was time to actually go and see the art and headed back down. What took me by surprise was the sheer variety of exhibitions the museum has. The first section I went to had recreations of rooms from countries around the world at different times in history- similar to what you would find if you went to Versailles or any European palace. I was getting all sorts of interior design ideas for my future house, like the pale green walks with gold in the picture below- although I can see that this might not be to everyone’s taste in a modern day home …

My favourite bit by far (of the small section I managed to cover) was the courtyard of the American Wing. It’s a huge open space with a glass roof and is overlooked by the façade from No 3 Wall Street which dates back to the 1800s and was saved by the museum when the Bank it housed was torn down in 1915.

They also have a section of items which aren’t on display but are just in glass cases- testament to just how many items it has. I love homeware and antique shopping so I was in heaven wondering through these- it even topped a trip to Zara Home, which, as lame as it is, is one of my favourite places to wander round and always lifts my mood.

In the 3 hours or so I was there, I barely touched the surface of what the Met has to offer, so I’ll definitely be coming back here. Who knows, I might even look at some paintings next time!

My dad was in town at the start of the week so this was a great excuse to do some more New York activities.

We met for dinner on Monday evening, starting off at the Grand Central Oyster Bar, which first opened in 1913. I pass it most days on my way off the train from work and had put it on my list to try. It’s an amazing space with a huge selection of oysters and a great wine list. I am a fairly recent convert to oysters but I definitely enjoyed eating a selection from the surrounding states in such a famous setting.

We then went on to a French restaurant on the Upper East Side called l’Absinthe where we had a terrine followed by a rack of lamb, which was delicious, although I think we both substantially brought down the average age of the clientele…

On Tuesday, we went to Café Carlyle to watch Jeff Goldblum and his jazz band, the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. You start off with dinner (I had my first New York steak- amazing and about twice as big as you would get in the UK!) and then the performance. It was fairly laid back, considering how dressed up some people were, with Jeff Goldblum alternating between playing jazz and hosting movie trivia! The jazz was great and they also brought on a guest singer so plenty of variety in the performance. I’ve been recommended a couple of other jazz venues in New York so watch this space!

On Thursday, I was encouraged / forced to leave work at 5pm… the reason for this? I had tickets for the Yankees game that evening, and according to everyone on my desk, I had to be there by the time the game started to make the most of the experience. I began my trek to the Bronx, where the Yankee stadium is located, and, arriving at 6.30pm, was lucky enough to get this beautiful piece of headgear for free! I’m a true New Yorker now.

The stadium was rebuilt in 2009 and boasts great views over the city , which were further showcased when we had the national anthem and two fighter jets flew over the stadium.

The game was fun- baseball is the kind of sport I’ve decided I enjoy watching as you don’t have to watch it meticulously but it’s more about the overall experience. There is also less aggressiveness as it’s basically only fans of the home team- I guess the distances are a bit further here so it’s much harder to follow your team around. One of the best bits of the evening is the crowd sing-along to “Take Me Out To the Ball Game”: Lyrics below in case you fancy trying it out:

Take me out to the ball game,

Take me out with the crowd;

Just buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,

I don’t care if I never get back.

Let me root, root, root for the Yankees,

If they don’t win, it’s a shame.

For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out,

At the old ball game.

All in all, a very American week. More to come of my adventures this weekend…

I can’t believe I’m now 2 weeks into my time in New York. In a way, it has flown by, but at the same time, London feels like a whole world away. I’m sitting down now looking out of my window at pink and blue skies reflecting off the glass skyscrapers, tired and happy as the weekend draws to a close.

This week was pretty busy at work so I didn’t get up to much in the evenings but I will share a very American photo of a view I see every evening, just in case I ever forgot which country I was living in…

Empire State Building

On Friday night, I went out for drinks with an old friend who I knew when we lived in Venezuela (when I was aged 2-4!) who now lives in New York. We started off with whiskey sours at the Brass Monkey which is in the Meatpacking district, just off the high line which has a great atmosphere.

Me and Cristina at Brass Monkey

We then went on to the Sky Room which is a rooftop bar in Midtown and has some amazing views of the city.

Saturday was pretty rainy which gave me less incentive to venture out, but I met up with some friends in the evening to go to Brooklyn. We started off with pizza, with two “small” pizzas feeding five of us!

We then went on to some birthday drinks at a really cool bar called Union Hall (http://www.unionhallny.com), which has a couple of lanes where you can play boule- like what old men play in France but still it was a good focal point for the bar and I felt like it had a more relaxed atmosphere than some of the Manhattan bars. This is a pretty bad photo but you get the idea…

Today, with better weather, I was determined to make the most of the day. I got up early to go to church, and then met my friend Cristina to go back to Brooklyn. We walked over Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan, so I went to see the 9-11 memorial beforehand. It is very  humbling to go, and feels strange when are standing there as there is suddenly so much sky.

From there, we walked over Brooklyn Bridge which is a really impressive sight and has some beautiful views with the blue sky and boats out on the Hudson – just pretty tricky navigating between the pedestrians, cyclists and tourists taking photos (us included).

Eventually we made it to the other side and headed towards our final destination- the Smorgasburg food market! It happens every weekend in Brooklyn and has a huge choice of street food vendors.

After looking around, we decided we wanted to eat everything there, but had to narrow it down somehow… In the end, we started off with corn on the cob Mexican style, rolled in butter, cheese, chilli and lime- it was as good (and as difficult to eat gracefully) as it sounds! Next we had pulled pork in brioche buns and we rounded our feast off with some kind of fried beef and coriander roll- I don’t know what it was but it was delicious.

Deciding we needed to walk off our lunch, we took a stroll along the waterfront and then headed back across the bridge, with the views even more impressive this way round as you approach Manhattan.

We pretty much ended walking back up to Midtown from there, strolling through Soho (where I am definitely coming back to go shopping next weekend!) and Greenwich village, which is really cute and feels much more neighbourhoody than where I live. I was enjoying all the fire escapes! However, I have now collapsed as I think we must have walked at least 8 miles today! A glimpse below of some of the cute streets with coloured houses and fire escapes that we walked past – it just makes me think of Ross and Joey in the fire escape scene in Friends.

Have a great week!

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own 

Well, I survived my first week at work in the new office (and 2 hours a day of commuting!) but at the end of the week, I was left with the niggling feeling that when it came to food, I had not yet truly experienced what New York had to offer.

I set out to change that this weekend…

 On Friday, I met up with an American friend from London who recently moved back here and we headed down to Stone St in the financial district. It is a cute pedestrianized cobbled street where we had a great time catching up over pizza and salad at Adrienne’s pizzabar.

Stone Street

Being just round the corner from Wall Street, we couldn’t resist going to see the famous bull of Wall St (featured in Hitch) and snapping a photo!

I had a fair bit of admin to do on Saturday but I now have an American bank account and phone contract (with unlimited international calls so no excuse not to keep in touch)! I am avoiding the subway as it’s around 30 degrees most days here so I have been going everywhere on foot. This is much more do-able in New York than London, and means you discover a lot more places.

There are loads of little gardens dotted around- I discovered these two up around 53^rd street, with people trying to escape the sun!

I also followed lonely planet and went to a place called Lucky Cat on 53^rd Street for lunch. It doesn’t look like much from the outside but I had the most amazing bowl of pork ramen there which gave me the energy to keep exploring for the rest of the afternoon. 

Today, armed with my new bank card and phone, I headed out for more exploring. I started off with breakfast at Birch Coffee, where you can sit and relax with excellent coffee and a book from the “library” they have there, and then went back to the church I went to last week. 

I had spotted a food market next to Madison Square Park on my way up to church – and I LOVE a good food market as most people know from my frequent trips to Sloane Square, so I headed back there for some lunch. 

I went for fish tacos and lime iced tea. The market is here until the end of September so a few more trips are definitely in order…

Rejuvenated, I decided to go to the High Line, which is an urban park made from the old railway that used to go above the city. You can just wander, or sunbathe and soak up the atmosphere, as I did.  

 I then spotted Anthropologie and had to go in… I emerged an hour later, my purse considerably lighter…

By this point, I didn’t have the energy to take more than a quick stroll through Chelsea market but I definitely plan to come back. 

I’m ashamed to say I went back to the food market to get dinner on my way home but there were so many more things to try. This time, I went for a Lobster BLT. I don’t know why no-one ever thought of this before! It was amazing!! 

Back to work tomorrow – Have a great week!     

“Hey! Blue Shoes!” That was my first greeting this morning as I headed out to Central Park, embracing my inner American and ditching my flip flops for more comfortable (and very blue) Nike trainers.  

Today I learnt two valuable lessons for New York life. Firstly, how to work the coffee machine in my apartment (it only took me two attempts and one YouTube tutorial). Anyone who has ever lived with me will recognise the mug in the picture below- one nostalgic item from home. 

 My second lesson was about the subway, or more specifically, the existence of about Express trains, which can go 75 blocks without stopping, as I learnt when my train travelled non-stop from 59^th St to 125^th St (my plan being to get off at 72^nd…). After doubling back on myself, I made it to Central Park, where I took a stroll past the many runners, cyclists and occasional roller skater braving the humidity. Further into the park, you can barely hear the traffic and you do forget you are in the middle of New York. Catch a glimpse of the “blue shoes” below. 

 I walked past the lake where you can hire boats- hopefully I’ll get a chance to do that before it’s shut for the winter, and up to the Shakespeare Garden and Belvedere Castle, which was originally built as a look out point and is now used to record the official temperature in Central Park by the National Weather Service- bet you didn’t know that! I must admit it was strange seeing an American flag fly from a castle as to me, that is a very British thing.

 The temperature was around 30 degrees by this point, so in desperate need of some air conditioning, I decided to check out the Museum of Natural History. It definitely did not disappoint , with dinosaurs, vast quantities of stuffed animals and a planetarium. 

Later on, I met up with Alex and Andrew (two of my colleagues) for a couple of beers (and some deep fried mac ‘n’cheese balls) in Tribeca and managed a stroll through Chinatown and Little Italy afterwards. It felt quite touristy but I would like to go back and explore a bit more.

 It’s my first day in the new office tomorrow so wish me luck!