To market, to market... to market...

What a day! Great weather lifts the spirits. At the moment, I’m sitting in my bedroom feeling inspired… Generally inspired. Inspired to cook and dance and travel (among other wonderfully creative things) and I think it’s all due to a bit of “fresh air and sunshine”.

This morning (after a respectable Sunday lie-in) Justin, Alanya, and I headed to East Finchley’s High Road to explore the French market.  I get the impression it takes place a few times a year.  It’s not very big, but there are plenty of samples and we came home laden with cheeses, bread, and jams (raspberry and rhubarb).  After dropping the goodies off, we set off in the opposite direction in search of a farmers market. 

The market itself was small, but I tasted a ginger cider (delicious) and bought myself a King Cheddar cheese toastie and fresh apple and raspberry juice for lunch.  The greatest discovery, however, was the grounds in which the markets were held.  Avenue House is surrounded by beautiful gardens and something of a forest walk.  If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought we were a good few hours out of London exploring the grounds of a grand old manor… Or something. 

The weather, as I mentioned, was incredible.  Unseasonably warm and not a cloud in the sky.  We sat on the grass, in the sunshine, drinking tea…  All this with the added beauty of scattered autumn leaves.

Feeling the day was not yet over (well, it was only 1:30 in the afternoon), we decided to continue with the market theme and caught the tube to Liverpool Street and walked to Brick Lane.  The atmosphere there was infectious.  Food, antiques, vintage clothing… We explored and indulged in vegan peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes. 

I feel that I’ll be making a few trips to Brick Lane during my time here.  And on those occasions I will make sure that I get my cash out before arriving at Liverpool Street station.  The lines for the ATMs are insane, beyond insane.  Littered with hipsters.  And although I had experienced that 5 years ago on my first visit to Spitalfields Market (also in the area and absolutely worth a visit… or ten), I had forgotten.

After a few hours we made our way back to the station and then set off home.  I’m now waiting for Josh to get home from work so that he, Justin, and I can indulge in French cheeses and bread. I hope he hurries back; I’m feeling quite hungry!

Sunshine-induced positivity and love, Jules xx

London calling...

Back to blogging! Apologies for my hiatus, it’s been quite a month (and a bit), but I’m here sitting in my very own bedroom in East Finchley, North London and ready to write again.  Let me give you a brief run down of my last two days in New York before we carry on...

Our last two days comprised of an awful lot of walking, shopping, and eating.  We saw Next To Normal with Marin Mazzie. What an incredible show. Such an emotional experience.  I wouldn’t have complained if there’d been one scene in the second act to give me a brief respite from sobbing (also allowing me to wipe the mascara off my cheeks), but it’s a small criticism. 

On our last day we went to MoMA and to the top of the Rockefeller Centre. You can get a combined pass and it’s well worth it!  We had been warned off scaling the Empire State Building on more than one occasion due to cost and crowds, and besides, if you go to the top of the Empire State Building you can’t see the Empire State Building… And it’s a fairly impressive view!

I had my last dinner at our local Thai restaurant and spent the evening cramming things into my suitcase and chatting with Josh.  After little-to-no sleep, I jumped a 4am cab to the airport, bid a fond farewell to the city of New York, and made my way to London (via Chicago).

Just briefly, avoid flying American Airlines where possible.

That said, I made it to London safe and sound.  The next month was a blur of job hunting, auditions, dinners, drinks, house hunting, a terrible cough, Christmas carols, bad hair days, good hair days, markets, shopping at Primark, and general revelry!

And now here I am. In our house (although part of first floor is still a building site) and employed to teach six singing classes (although they’re all on one day, so a couple of days working elsewhere wouldn’t be bad for my sanity! Anyway, I’m working on it).

I have seen Caroline O’Connor’s cabaret -The Showgirl Within, the 25^th Anniversary concert of Les Miserables at the O2 Arena, and Deathtrap.  All of these, for their own reasons, rate with some of my favourite theatrical experiences.  Les Mis in particular.  I still can’t quite believe that I was there.  They were spontaneous musical theatre tears, the likes of which, I’ve never known.

So, I’m here.  London is my home for the time being.  So far my days have ranged from intensely frustrating, to some of the best ever… Real life. Stay tuned for semi-regular updates of life in this city.

Sending some (long overdue) love back to you at home, Jules xx


PS. I promise, there will be pictures as soon as I have faster Internet! 

That place just over the Brooklyn Bridge...

Having a quiet night in after an emotional, theatrical experience… more about that in my next post, though. You may have noticed that my blogs are becoming shorter.  This holiday is wrapping up, and while I’ll be sad to leave, I’m ready for my next adventure.  Still, not getting ahead of myself, so here’s a little about Saturday.

The day began with brunch in Williamsburg, still one of my favourite places in New York (even after considerable exploration).  We ate at a café called Fabiane’s and I had incredible baked eggs with spinach and hollandaise and an amazingly light baguette. 

We spent about two hours perusing boutiques and the Artists & Fleas Markets, which were pretty awesome.  No purchases were made, which is fortunate for my purse and luggage weight limit.  I could have emptied and filled these respectively.

The plan was to make our way to Brooklyn Bridge Park and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.  Unfortunately the C train was running on the F train line (this was completely unsigned, by the way) and we ended up in Manhattan instead of Brooklyn.  We emerged from the subway station into the light, and with the help of Google maps and the remarkably handy iPhone compass found the bridge we were looking for…

The day was oppressively hot, the sun burned and the air offered no relief.  Not even a hint of breeze.  Looking up at the bridge, we mentally prepared to cross it… At one point, Josh suggested walking half way over and then back, as we needed to make our way to midtown after the trek.  We glared into the sun covered bridge and then past it to Pier 17.  Due to the subway error we’d had to walk quite a distance so we decided just stop there for a brief moment to have a drink and replenish ourselves before carrying on.

Pier 17 seems like it was lifted from the Gold Coast in 1991 and transported to New York to serve forever as a reminder of all things tacky.

However, entering the air conditioned building provided instant relief and all thoughts of making the cross evaporated as we sat on the balcony a restaurant eating burgers and looking out at an excellent view of the Brooklyn Bridge.  We could see from where we were that there was not a patch of shade on the beast and the sun was, quite frankly, vile.

Decision made, lunch eaten, Christmas store perused, we wandered up through Seaport (which was buzzing with life) and caught the subway to Times Square where we bought our tickets to Next to Normal (for Sunday evening).  The next hour or so was spent purchasing touristy things like ‘I (heart) NY’ t-shirts and Yankees caps and attempting to get rush tickets for a Saturday evening show…  We couldn't get tickets to anything and took it as a sign to save our money and take our tired, sundrenched bodies home.

We spent the rest of the night reading and writing, not a bad way to end the day.

Boundless love emanating from the red couch, Jules xx

In a New York state of mind...

Friday… This is when I started thinking about where I was three weeks ago, when I was just getting ready to leave Brisbane.  It’s amazing how much can change in three weeks.  Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, opinions… Teeth.  I guess, when one second can change everything, a period of three weeks actually consists of 1 814 400 potentially life-changing moments.  That said, a lot of things stay the same too.

I started to feel, as I moved towards my last weekend in New York, that even though it feels like I’ve been here for a minute, it also feels like I’ve been away from home for…  Well, to prevent myself from sounding even more over-dramatic, I’ll just say… A really long time.

And that’s more than enough musing on the passage of time.

On Friday, we continued our (brief) tradition of eating breakfast at home.  First stop was Bryant Park where we went to have a look around the New York Public Library.  Mostly, we wandered aimlessly for a while, until we found out that the original toys that inspired A.A Milne’s Winnie the Pooh stories were on display in the children’s centre.  So we took the time to visit Pooh Bear and his pals.

We made our way down 5^th pausing at a few stores (including another Barnes & Noble… Obsessed with books).  We were on our way to Central Park when we decided we should buy ourselves some Pret sandwiches and have a picnic.  And that’s exactly what we did.  We found a pretty, shady spot overlooking Bethesda and sat eating our lunch and reading our new books.  Perfection.

We set off to explore, wandering past the boathouse, and down to a body of water where people sail their model boats.  We saw part of an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm being shot and stopped to look at statues of Hans Christen Anderson and Alice in Wonderland.

Exiting the park we bough soft-serve from an ice-cream truck.  I had sprinkles and Josh had choc-dipped.  We ate these on the steps of The Met so we could feel like we were in Gossip Girl.  (Yes, it was very important that we did this).  Onward up Museum Mile we found The Guggenheim and then went back in to view a really beautiful part of the park, which I found out (again, post-visit) is the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Resevoir.  We stood for a while overlooking the massive expanse of water as the sun went down over the buildings on the opposite side of the park. 

Feeling it was time to rest, we caught the subway from Lexington back to Bryant Park.  We sat for a while and then went to have a few drinks at an open-air bar in the southwest corner of the park, aptly named, Southwest Porch.  The wine was less than perfect, but the atmosphere absolutely made up for it.  


After having my ID checked by a bartender much younger than myself (a good laugh was had), Joshie and I found ourselves a swinging seat, the kind you might find on a front porch… Hence the name of the place.  So we sat with our drinks, compulsively swinging, and catching a glimpse of our future…  (Apparently, in the future, we’re sitting on the porch swing together and I’m testing Josh on musical theatre trivia).

Not realising how late it had become (around 10pm), we went to Times Square to take some pictures of the lights and have some dinner.  We ate at Junior’s where we both started falling asleep at the table.  So, once again promising to eat less tomorrow, we fell onto the subway attached to one iPod and made our way home.

Lots of love, Jules xx

You're my Coney Island baby...

It’s Saturday night and I’m sitting on the red couch wearing my new Yankees cap.  It’s excellent.  It might be my new writing cap.  Now, where were we?  Thursday…

Thursday morning was exciting and joyous, my external hard drive arrived safely from Australia and I was able to set up my pretty new laptop.  The sky was blue, summer had returned, and the day was off to a good start.

We had breakfast at home and headed off on the epic journey to Coney Island.  You would think two people who recently travelled from Australia to the US could survive a train journey of less than two hours without feeling the need to call it epic, but it’s surprising how quickly you adjust to not needing to travel far to find your entertainment.  Anyway, after a lengthy wait at the station before our destination we finally arrived and exited our subway carriage to air that smelled like a mix of the ocean, rubbish, and public swimming pool.

The seaside carnival atmosphere is really concentrated to about two blocks and a pier, but it is crammed in there so tightly and with so much enthusiasm it feels like its own little solar system.

First stop?  Nathan’s Famous.  Some post-visit research has told me that this is the home of a famous, annual hotdog-eating contest.   This year’s winner ate 54 hotdogs and buns in 10 minutes.  That sounds horrific.  All that aside, this place seems to have earned the “famous” part of their name, having been a Coney Island institution since 1916.

Josh and I ate cheese and bacon dogs, medium (or enormous, depends how you choose to look at it) lemonades, and shared chilli cheese fries.  They, unfortunately, list the calories next to the items on the menu board.  Let’s just say we were both somewhat disgusted with ourselves, but not so much as to miss out on this atmospheric culinary experience.

After lunch (and having made the decision not to eat again for at least the next 24 hours), we went for a walk along the pier.  Here the air smelt of the sea and only that.  The sun was hot, but as we walked further out over the water a slight breeze rose.  We sat and took it all in, looking at the numerous locals fishing and throwing about nets for catching shellfish.  The water was glittering, it was in actual fact, a perfect day.  However, gazing from an expanse of ocean to the shoreline, the lure of the carnival atmosphere was too strong to resist.

We had promised ourselves rides on the ferris wheel and the famous Cyclone rollercoaster.  And that’s exactly what happened next.  The Wonder Wheel, which opened in 1920, is a ferris wheel that has carriages that swing in and out as the wheel goes around.  It was scarier than I expected.  We squealed a bit and gripped at the cage around us… All in all a reasonable adrenalin rush!

After the Wonder Wheel we wandered around Luna Park and ate some fairy floss (or, cotton candy, in this instance).  Coney Island is home to two amusement parks, the one where the wheel is and Luna Park.  They are each about half a block in size.  The Cyclone is an attraction all by itself and not a part of either park.

Now, this rollercoaster is classic.  It opened in 1927 and runs yearly from May to September.  It looks like the kind of rollercoaster you see in cartoons and books.  It’s so old and rickety and that’s kind of what makes it scary.  That and the constant run of steep drops.  The rollercoaster is set on a narrow block and it kind of feels like you’re wound up on the first incline and then unravelled for a few violent minutes.  We exited with exclamations of “Wow, ouch!” but we also agreed that it was totally worth it!

So we took some time to sit by on the boardwalk to let our heads settle again.  To one side we looked out upon a typical American beach scene, to the other we could watch as people on the boardwalk ambled by.  One guy came past sporting an interesting accessory… There, casually draped around his neck, was a massive snake.  A real one. 

After soaking up the afternoon sun for a while, we decided to head home, that we’d probably had enough excitement for one day.  We rode our train back towards midtown, but when we got to Union Square, decided we should get off to have a look.  Neither of us had seen it yet.  So we wandered around the park with the intention of making our way home immediately after.  This brief stop turned into an extended exploration of Barnes & Noble… It is always dangerous for this duo to enter a bookstore.

We perused the shelves on all four floors of the store and emerged some hours later, having met up with Mikey as well.  Now, you may remember that earlier in this blog I said we had sworn off food for at least 24 hours.  Not so, apparently.  Josh, Mikey, and I made our way to Times Square and had an exceptionally touristy meal at TGI Friday’s.  What were we thinking?  When I move to London next week, I’m going on a diet of only miso soup… Too much American food!  (Not seriously though, no need to email me your thoughts on this one).

By now, it was about getting cold, so I decided I would make my way home.  The boys carried on exploring and I paused at the MAC store in Times Square to pick up some more make-up.  It’s just so affordable!  The assistant who was showing me the new range, put a garish shade of plum on my lips that totally clashed with my “I’ve been cavorting around an amusement park all day” ensemble, so I purchased some eye shadows and nail polish and took the subway back to Woodside.

Needless to say, I had a well-earned shower and slept very well.

Wish you were (all) here…

Love, Jules xx

And Lady Liberty...

It’s Friday night and Josh and I just got home from a pretty massive day.  He’s playing a game on his iPhone and I’m going to tell you all about Wednesday.

In an effort to save money we had breakfast at home before heading out.  Now, the problem with having breakfast at home is that once we get to wherever we’re going we’re hungry again, kind of negating the original breakfast.  Anyway… It was cold and drizzly again so I dropped into H&M to buy a (purple) hoodie (the cardigan I brought with me wasn’t really cutting it) and then we ate again. 

So by now I was cosy and warm (and full of lunch) and ready to get on with the day.  We got on what we thought was an express train downtown.  While it bore the little red diamond of the express train we soon found out that it definitely was not an express train.  In fact, it was the strangest subway journey I’ve been on yet.  Very slow.  With lots of stops.  Nothing particularly unusual I guess, but my experience with the subway has been largely incident free so this was mildly unsettling.

You’ll be pleased, but most likely unsurprised, to know that we reached our destination safely.

We purchased tickets and passed through a fairly extensive security check before boarding a boat that would take us to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Our first stop was Liberty Island, where we spent approximately 30 minutes walking around and taking photos to prove that we were there.  She’s big, she’s impressive, and she’s surrounded by tourists.  The grounds are nicely kept…  And we learnt some interesting things about structure and design.  We found it an fascinating juxtaposition that a statue depicting liberty was placed on top of defensive military base, Fort Wood.  While it is no longer operational, there was a time (prior to 1944) when Liberty Island was both military base and vision of peace and hope.

So, after perusing and mocking products in the gift shop (while waiting for our boat) we caught the ferry to Ellis Island.

Our first stop was Cinema 1 where we watched a movie about immigrants and the process of immigration at Ellis Island.  It was interesting and moving and it really sets the scene as you walk out into the museum.

In the restoration of the building they have left some of the damages made to tiles and walls unchanged.  It really gives the place an eerie feel and you become aware that you’re walking the steps of the people who came to New York so many years ago. 

There was an excellent exhibition of photography taken while the building was left to decay between the years of being operational and being restored to it’s current state and there were awesome examples of graffiti left by immigrants who were kept overnight.  Through all of the halls of information and artefacts I couldn’t help but pause to read every excerpt of any personal account I could find.  I really found the whole experience very interesting.

At 6pm the security guards came around to tell people the museum was closing.  I’ve never been asked to leave a museum before.  We had to leave through a back staircase.  Interesting.  Josh and I decided that it would be quite easy to hide and stay on the island overnight if you wanted to…  But why would you want to?  It’s ghostly enough when it’s full of people during the day. 

Keeping this in mind, we boarded our boat to go back to Manhattan and I spent the trip watching different groups of people take photographs of each other.  I often wonder how many people in the world have me in the background of their holiday pictures.  Think about it.  It’s an interesting thought to ponder over, particularly with a bit of imagination!

We caught the subway home, had some of our local Thai, and did a bit of web-based job-hunting before bed.

Speaking of bed, that’s where I’m headed now.

Love from here to where you are… Jules xx

Have you been inside the museum? We should go...

It’s about 11:30 on Tuesday night, Josh is reading my book on the couch and I’m sitting on the bed with his computer.  We’re listening to music.

I was woken up this morning at some unknown hour, possibly around 4am by a phone call from London.  My lovely friend Laura quickly realised I was in New York, not Australia and promised to call me back at a more reasonable hour.  She called at around 9:30am and the good news is, I have somewhere to stay for my first month in London.  That’s a relief, seeing as this time next week, I’ll be there.

So after that piece of good news, Josh and I got up and assessed the weather.  The autumn winds of yesterday looked like hanging around so we came up with a rainy day itinerary, got ready, and went to Aubergine for breakfast.

Our mission for the day was to hit the American Museum of Natural History, including the Rose Centre for Earth and Space.  When you get off the subway at 81^st Street you walk straight into the lower ground entrance.  The suggested adult ticket price is $16, but we decided to pay $10 each…  Weird and a little awkward to tell them you don’t want to pay the full price, but we’re on a budget so it was worth it.

We spent a while in the Rose Centre learning about space and meteorites and finding out what our weight would be if we lived on the Moon or Mars or Halley’s Comet.  We walked along a timeline that ran for 3billion years.  Space was tiring, so after conquering the Hall of Planet Earth we went in search of the rest of the museum through a series of hallways, cafes, and the endless stream of gift shops.

We were enlightened on theories of evolution; genetics and gems; minerals and mammals from Africa, Asia, and North America.  We spent a lot of time looking at sea creatures and marvelling at the giant whale suspended from the ceiling… Still not sure what’s keeping it up there.  That was slightly disconcerting. We walked through a model rainforest and looked at the world’s biggest tree stump.  Finally, we made our way to the top floor to meet the dinosaurs.

The museum swallowed us whole and kept us entertained for a good 4-5 hours.  It’s such a remarkable building.  Unfortunately, the entrance hall was under construction.  I imagine it’s a very impressive room.  We chose to focus of seeing the animals today, but looking back at the map, we didn’t actually miss too much (just through our meandering).  Of course, it’s the kind of museum you could visit again and again if you really wanted to absorb every detail.  So much learning.

Afterwards, sitting in Theodore Roosevelt Park we made a decision to see another show, so we caught the subway 39 blocks south and bought $27 rush tickets to A Little Night Music with Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch.  So much excitement.

We had dinner at Chipotle, yes it’s a fast food chain, but I can’t believe I only discovered it today.  Basically, you purchase a burrito and then they pile any Mexican themed food item onto it, wrap it up in alfoil and hand it to you in a little basket.  I had chicken, rice with lime, black beans, mild salsa, sour cream, and cheese.  It was so delicious I nearly fainted with delight.  I need more.  I could eat another now… I’m making myself hungry.  I’ll move on.

Sitting on the steps of the Hilton Theatre (it’s unoccupied until Spiderman – The Musical goes up) we shared a ridiculous creation from Cold Stone, which is pretty much just like Cold Rock.  We had cake batter flavoured ice cream with sprinkles, brownies, and fudge mixed in.  I told you it was ridiculous.  And delicious.  

In the theatre we climbed the stairs towards the very top, to seating they clearly just decided to cram in around the follow-spot operators.  Still, I can’t complain, aside from a little (mocked) vertigo and some concern for Josh’s centre of gravity with regard to the low railing, they were perfectly good seats.

I absolutely loved this production.  It was so beautiful.  Everything about it.  Elaine Stritch was incredible and hilarious and Bernadette Peters was perfectly idiosyncratic (and therefore excellent)…  Everyone, everything was perfect.  Gush, gush, gush.  Aside from the fact that I want to play every female role in that show, it was just… I don’t know. I’m back in that awe struck place.  I loved it so much that I can’t articulate my view. 

It was both musically and visually beautiful with such clever characterisation.  I cried for half of the second act.  This time they were a mix of spontaneous musical theatre tears and tears of emotion… And I may also have cried due to the beauty of the closing image.  I’m spending half of my trip sitting in theatres crying.  I'm ok with that.

I was left in a daze afterwards, the last time I felt this way was after seeing Parade at The Donmar in 2007.

And here I am, basking in the afterglow of an amazing theatrical experience.

While it’s nice to sleep in comfort with a quilt and listen to the wind outside, I’m hoping summer returns before I leave New York next week.  I know all too well that I’m heading to the land of eternal winter (at least that’s what it feels like) and I’d like one more hit of sunshine… Please?

Love, Jules xx

Give my regards to Broadway, remember me to Herald Square...

When we woke up on Sunday Justin was already gone, Josh and I both slept through his departure. Now, Sunday was meant to be all about Coney Island, but the weather was looking less than perfect for a day of riding rollercoasters and eating junk food so we made a new plan.

This plan involved getting to the West Village for brunch, which given subway issues wasn’t easy, but it was achievable.  We found a café on Cornelia Street, simply named Cornelia Street Café with a pre fixe brunch menu.  So we sat and had a leisurely brunch of chocolate bread, blueberry muffin, tea/coffee, mimosas and eggs Florentine (for me) and an omelette for Joshie.  It was so enjoyable.  I love breakfast so much!

I popped into an American Apparel store to look for a dress I already own in a different colour, I found it in green, but when we went to leave we found that it was absolutely pouring with rain.  We were trapped in American Apparel for about 20 minutes… Josh was slowly going crazy.  Finally is slowed down a little and we made a dash from awning to awning for about 5 blocks before we hit Broadway and Crate & Barrel.

Josh and I explored the furniture department for ages and picked our favourite pieces.  We then continued on a retail tour of Broadway, ducking into shops when the weather worsened.  I looked a bit of a tragic, rain-soaked mess, but at least I wasn’t wearing a poncho.

Our day carried on much the same as that.  We went to Herald Square and Macy’s (which is pretty average) and walked to Times Square where we explored the massive Toys R Us (which is super fun) and then on to have some dinner.

Now, dinner was somewhat special.  We had dinner at Ellen’s Stardust Diner (which features in The Battery’s Down); it’s a classic 1950s style American diner and the staff sing.  Not just shows at 7 and 10pm, it’s a constant stream of entertainment.  And they sing everything from Katie Perry to Frank Sinatra to Javert’s Suicide from Les Mis.  We stayed there for a good 2 hours, maybe more eating our diner food, enjoying the interactive entertainment, and soaking up the atmosphere.  The place was full of people.  The food is expensive, but the experience makes it worth the cost.

Dragging ourselves away during a particularly rousing rendition of Disco Inferno we went in search of somewhere to sit and have a few (cheaper) drinks.  The next 4-5 hours belong to an Irish pub, some beer, and Sean the Irish singer (who threw in a rendition of The Wild Colonial Boy just for us).  A day that looked like going nowhere ended up being massive, we made it home at about half past three this morning…

Which is why I’ll tell you about today in this blog as well…  We slept in (and in and in and in), dragged ourselves to the West Village for Mexican food from Tortilla Flats (the sparkliest Mexican restaurant in the world, I’m sure).  It’s almost entirely lit by fairy lights, glittery streamers hang from the ceiling, and lots of pictures of faces are printed onto paper and coloured in with even more glitter.  It was kind of awesome.  And the burrito was so incredible, just what we needed! 

We walked away, past a model on a photo shoot, and up along The High Line, which is like something you might see in Brisbane.  It’s a pedestrian overpass that winds through the arches of buildings past an excellent collection of architecture (old and new) and all landscaped.  It’s pretty cool, but as we walked along it was like autumn came suddenly and with full fervour.  The wind buffeted and the drizzle started… All of a sudden my jeans and t-shirt weren’t enough to keep me warm. 

Joshie stayed out to play and I headed home to the warmth where I’ve been for the last few hours, writing, enjoying the warmth of the red couch, and listening to the premature autumn winds outside.

Thinking about home and the future… With love, Jules xx

PS. Joshie came home.

The Battery's down...

Just so you’re aware, I spent most of Saturday checking election results on the ABC website on my phone, an activity that was both frustrating and ultimately unsatisfying….  So that’s the last time I’m mentioning the election.

I woke up with a massive craving for breakfast food (good timing, I suppose), so I rallied the boys and headed to Aubergine.  Fruit salad and a sesame bagel quelled the desperation and I was ready to face the day.  This was Justin’s last day in NYC, so we decided to get about and see a few things.

We caught the subway all the way downtown and got onto the Staten Island Ferry.  Standing and looking over the side we had decent views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.  It was nice to be out on the water watching the boats.  Our ferry was called John F. Kennedy and when we arrived at Staten Island we turned around and got right back on to JFK to complete the second leg of our journey.  We did consider staying on Staten Island, but given the choice, I’d take Manhattan… We all would.  And so we did.

Back on the exciting island (and seriously contemplating heading to Ellis Island in my final week) we stopped for lunch at the Battery Park Beer Garden, which was a BBQ, a tarpaulin, and a refrigerator.  Here, I had my first New York City hotdog with ketchup and mustard… And it did not disappoint. 

Refreshed and feeling more energetic we wandered through Battery Park looking at various war memorials.  As we walked a man brushed past me and muttered something that sounded like “sunglasses”.  Surely he wasn’t offering to sell me counterfeit or stolen goods, was he?  However, a few moments later when I was propositioned again, this time with “Handbags?”  I realised I was being targeted.  No, I did not want counterfeit or stolen goods, it would be detrimental to an industry I respect, fear, and admire.  The fashion industry.  Back off pedlars.

A little taken aback, my attention was soon taken by a certain tour guide.  He was earnestly relaying information to his group regarding a certain sculpture in the park.  It's called The Sphere and it used to sit at the base of the two towers in the World Trade Centre.  When the attacks occurred, the towers actually fell on top of the sculpture (that symbolises peace through world trade).  It now stands in Battery Park behind an eternal flame.  It has been left in its damaged state.  Mind blowing.

We got back on the subway and headed uptown to the death place of John Lennon, well the approximate death place of John Lennon; The Dakota Hotel has no sign.  We listened to Imagine on Justin’s iPod as we reboarded the subway to make our way even further uptown.

Next tourist stop was Tom’s Restaurant.  The diner from Seinfeld.  Photos taken, we went inside to the most pleasant customer service experience in history.  Our waitress was absolutely lovely and helpful and attentive.  On her recommendation we chose epic malted shakes and fries, a combination that made us deathly full, but also really quite satisfied.

Last stop for the day was the Apple store again, this time to buy my new laptop.  Pleasingly, the staff were as efficient and friendly as they were the day before.  The whole process was over in less than 20 minutes and we started home so Justin could pack and get a decent night’s sleep before his flight.  This was somewhat interrupted by a friendly (and lengthy) catch-up with our host, Sarah and four-year-old Chester who was keen to say goodbye to Justin the Pirate before he departed on his Pirate Ship the following morning.

Almost up to date, loads of love… Jules xx

Come to the Life Cafe after Maureen's show...

Josh is out, I’m sitting and feeling entirely encapsulated by the red couch, listening to Jamie Cullum.  Things are pretty good.  Time to catch up on some blogging…

Last Friday.

The day began in a less than satisfactory way, while I awoke feeling motivated and keen to tackle the Brooklyn Bridge, my motivation soon waned when I realised my laptop was refusing to turn on.  Nothing kills the mood like a broken computer.  The devastating possibility that you might lose precious photos and documents (not to mention the cast recording of American Idiot I downloaded from iTunes the night before).  The day was not off to a good start.  I made an appointment with a Mac “genius” at the 5^th Avenue store for 7:40pm and tried to get on with my holiday.

Josh, Justin, and I were waiting (as a favour to our host) for new tenants to arrive so we sat in our room eating cheese, bread, and grapes, which was not at all unpleasant.

New Canadian tenants checked in, old German tenant checked out we were free to roam.  We went to the East Village for coffee at Ost Cafe on the corner of Avenue A and 12^th.  The day was stupidly hot, so when Mikey arrived to meet us, we went in search of a café with a garden so we could sit and have an extended lunch…  It was really all the day was good for.  Sitting.  And eating.  And not being in direct sunlight.

On Avenue B we happened to walk past the Life Café of RENT fame.  You know, “come to the Life Café after Maureen’s show” and frenzied calls of “wine and beer.”  That one.  So we went in and as a total bonus it also had a shady garden area out the back.  The staff there are friendly, the food comes in enormous portions and is really great (sweet potato chips a big winner), and the atmosphere is totally relaxed and perfect for a hazy summer afternoon.  And Benny did not come to bother us, not even a little bit.

With a few hours to kill before my appointment with the genius and all the energy of sweaty, tired people we decided the only thing to do with ourselves was to go and sit in Central Park.  We found a shady spot (that became sunny and then returned to shady again) and sat watching people and absorbing New York.  I wandered off on my own for a while to take some photos.  Central Park is one of the most amazing places in the world.  I’ve explored parks in other cities (most notably, London), but this is more than a park.  It’s a snapshot of what New York would be if it weren’t a thriving metropolis.  It’s wild, beautiful, and even a little frightening.

I walked across that bridge that features in about a million movies, took some awesome photos with the playful afternoon sun, and went back to sit and watch personal trainers whip their charges into shape.  So many people, Central Park is a true hub of diversity.  I think you could legitimately visit New York for a month and sit in one spot day after day just observing and not feel like you didn’t have a fulfilling experience.  Maybe I’ll do that one-day… There might be a book in it.

And finally it was time for my appointment with the Mac genius.  The 5^th Avenue Apple store is the most organised glass cube in history and being open 24/7, I suppose they have to be.  They have so many procedures in place and amazingly, as the team members tap away on their iPads, everything seems to fall into place.

Now, I was hoping for a bit of taptaptaptap “oh yeah, this is what’s wrong… let me just… there all done” and to walk away with my baby completely fine.  Unfortunately, my genius hooked my laptop up to some kind of computer life support system, did the taptaptaptap and pointed to the screen, “see that?”  I nodded.  “That means there’s no way to make it work.  It’s dead.”  Dead?  Sadly, I packed my computer away, ambled through the crowds and exited the glass cube.

I decided at this point, to make my way back to Queens and left the boys to go on to dinner.  I spent the rest of the evening arranging for my mum to send over the back-up I did before I left home and reloading photos onto Justin’s computer so I could put them on my external hard drive.

After a few hours (and making the decision to buy a new laptop the next day), I was feeling better.  It wouldn’t be a travel adventure without some kind of minor drama, and this one was pretty manageable.

From the keys of Josh’s laptop with love, Jules xx 

You can always go downtown...

Justin is in San Fran and Josh and I are still in bed after a rather late night, it’s rainy and I have absolutely no inclination to get out of bed for a while, so I thought I’d write.  Now where were we?  Thursday.

On Wednesday night we made the decision to stop wasting our mornings and to get up before midday, so at about 9:30 we got out of bed, gathered our washing and went to the local Laundromat.  If you’re a regular reader, you’ll already know that while we waited for our washing we had breakfast at Aubergine and I wrote a blog.  Then we headed home to put our clean clothes away and get on with our exploration of the city.

 

A quick stop in midtown to buy tickets to American Idiot and we jumped on a subway downtown.  We wandered up Broadway and onto Wall Street, which is quite impressive, but not as long as I expected.  We turned into Broad Street, past the New York stock exchange (an imposing display of Americana) and went in search of the fabled “Wall Street McDonald’s”.  A McDonald’s restaurant rumoured to have table service and a grand piano.  Some Googling and wandering proved to us that this McDonald’s no longer exists, so we had Pret instead.

We continued down Wall Street towards the water where we spotted the Brooklyn Bridge and then made our way back up, across Broadway and towards the World Trade Centre site.  Right now, it’s a building site that doesn’t really stir a great amount of the emotion, but the preview site gives you some idea of what the eventual effect will be.  While we were in the visitors centre I started reading some poetry from a book called Bikeman by Thomas Flynn, a journalist who was present at the site on the day of the attacks.  It gave me goosebumps.  If you get a chance to read some, I strongly recommend it; it is a totally unique account.

We walked past the building site amid hordes of inner-city business-types and I guess you can’t help but wonder what it would have been like with all the panic and fear. 

Our next stop was the World Financial Centre a building that allows you to view Ground Zero on one side and shop at Gap on the other.  It’s quite a spectacle of a building on the inside, all marble and glass domes and giant palm trees.  We bought shakes from a gelato shop on the ground floor and sat in the sun by the water for a while.

Intelligently… or not, we decided to head back to midtown at 5pm, just when there is a mass exodus of work-weary people from the business district.  It was an interesting subway experience, well mostly unpleasant, but also great for a bit of eavesdropping.

Safely back in Times Square I hit MAC and Walgreens to replace my make-up, all of which seemed to run out at once.  MAC is so cheap here, $14 mascara, that is an absolute miracle.  My cheaper Cover Girl foundation however, is about the same price at home, so that was less exciting.

Then after about an hour sitting in a somewhat grimy, touristy café, Justin went home and Josh and I went to see American Idiot.

90 minute show, no interval, constant energy.  This show was absolutely brilliant, thus far the best thing I have seen on Broadway.  Ok, so the message is pretty much, “make whatever choice you like you’ll screw it up and end up back in your hometown anyway”, but this is one of the most unique and incredible pieces of theatre (and example of storytelling) I have ever seen.  And the lighting was amazing.  And the finale… was actually one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  I don’t want to give it away, but if you choose to try and find it on YouTube, I can’t stop you.  See this show (if you can), this one made me cry with actual emotion, not just spontaneous musical theatre tears and it left me totally buzzed.

And then, as at the end of each day, we made our way back to our tiny room for fun and silliness before bed.

Miss you all lots today… Love, Jules xx

NYC. What is it about you?

I’m sitting in the dark.  It’s a little before midnight and Justin leaves early tomorrow morning to go back to San Fran for one more week so I said he could turn the light off to get some sleep.  I’m going to tell you about Wednesday.

We left the apartment and headed west in search of breakfast.  We found some on the corner of 7^th and Waverly Place at a diner with no name.  No, really.  I looked everywhere and all I could find was a flashing neon sign that said “restaurant”.  Helpful.  Anyway, this “restaurant” had the most extensive breakfast menu I have ever seen.  I went with French toast and bacon.  And it was incredible.

After a brief stop at Urban Outfitters we continued down Waverly to find Washington Square Park.  It’s so pretty and full of equally pretty people, mostly student-types from NYU.  It was a particularly warm day, sunny, and with a really chilled holiday vibe.  New York, at least, this part of New York was smiling lazily.  We stopped to look at the fountain and take some pictures and while we sat and soaked up some sun I decided to put my feet in the cool water… Now, let’s get one thing straight.  People swim in fountains in New York and from what I’ve heard; this phenomenon is something you can view all over the USA.  They really do.  An interesting cultural difference.

 

Anyway, I was watching these kids play and thought, “Just for a second, to cool off a bit…” So I walked down the steps and took a step… So. Nice.  My body temperature may have lowered instantly.  “Just a little deeper, maybe.”  So I took another step…  Seconds later, I’m sitting fully clothed, legs akimbo, waist deep in water… Josh was laughing.  I was laughing.  It’s possible that other people were laughing.  This being a hot, sunny day and all, the place was packed.  I gathered myself up and got out of the fountain.

Hilarious.  Possibly the single funniest event in my personal travel history.  I removed my soaking leggings and sat in the sun to let my (thankfully, thin-but-not-see-through) dress dry.

Still snickering (and damp) we walked through NYU on our way to the New Museum where I perused a wall full of wishes printed on ribbons and selected on to keep.  The idea is to tie it around your wrist and when the ribbon wears out and falls off, the wish will come true.  Mine is lime green and says ‘I wish wishes came true’.  I figure this leaves it open for what I want to wish for when it eventually falls off.  Another favourite of mine was, ‘I wish to remain curious’ and also, ‘I wish I had a turtle and that there were no wars’.  You may notice that this is the second wish-related activity I’ve taken part in on my trip to NYC, (third if you count falling in the fountain, that’s got to be better than throwing in a penny). I guess everyone needs wishes. Can’t hurt, right?

Anyway, the design of New Museum building is so creative.  It’s supposed to have the aesthetic of a New York City trash can and it’s designed to have completely different looks dependant on whether the day is sunny or overcast.  Very cool.

And then we walked a lot.  Prince Street (cute boutiques), Bleeker Street (more cupcakes), the Meat Packing District (where we saw Diane von Furstenberg’s glass ceilinged bedroom… from the street), past the bar that inspired Coyote Ugly, and then the Chelsea Food Markets…

Chelsea Food Markets. Sigh.  So amazing.  Cheese, bread, chocolate, seafood, cakes, spices… Raw warehouse, original architecture with a little more… polish.  A well, you know the kind with water.  Artwork.  And books.  This place is amazing! Bliss.

We met up with Mikey before heading to Whole Foods in the East Village.  I could gush about Whole Foods for a good… oh, I don’t know, at least 20 minutes.  (Apparently I’ve become quite emotional about groceries).  We picked up some cheeses, baguettes, and (from Bowery and Wine) a bottle of Beaujolais.

Then it was on to Jake and James’s teeny apartment for cheese, bread, drinks, and of course clams.  James prepared them with ale, fresh mixed herbs and garlic and they were absolutely incredible.  Of course, the place being so small, pretty much all kitchen, and crammed with six fully-grown (some quite large) adults it was becoming quite warm.  And if you can’t stand the heat… Well, you know what to do.

So we went to a bar called Elsa where we drank some more wine, met some of James’s American friends, talked about life, dreamt about the future, and made some plans for artistic fulfilment.  And it was getting late…

James suggested the four of us (Josh, Justin, Mikey, and I) share a taxi back to Queens, as it would be safer and not too expensive.  So I did it.  I hailed my first New York City cab and asked him if he’d go to Queens.  He did.  So much power!  I don’t know that I’ve ever felt more powerful in all of my life!  And as we drove across the Queensboro Bridge looking out at the New York City lights, I couldn’t help but think that life was turning out to be a pretty awesome adventure.

(In case you’re wondering, the cab ride from the East Village to Woodside in Queens will set you back about $17).

One of my all-time favourite days.

Sending all of the love of a woman who falls into fountains hails cabs in New York City… Jules xx

It's lovely going to the zoo... (?)

I’m sitting in The Aubergine Café.  I have just finished eating breakfast with the boys and they’ve run across to the Laundromat to see if our washing is ready to be put into the dryer.  It’s about a quarter past 11.  It’s a miracle.  We’re awake and functioning before midday, in fact, we were awake and functioning before 10.  Simply amazing.

Now as I sit here listening to Vivaldi’s Spring, feeling very serene, I’ll tell you all about Tuesday.

If you read my blog about Monday you may feel, as I did, that Tuesday would be something of a write-off.  And to some degree it was, but we still managed to cram in some tourist activity.

We started the… uh… afternoon with breakfast and caught the train to Grand Central Station.  We walked down Madison Avenue and across to 5th towards Central Park.  We went went into Trump Tower again, this time in search of a public bathroom.  The place is a labyrinth.  Everything is mirrored and the escalators and… Look.  I was pretty tired, but I’m still baffled as to why any building not specifically designed to be a carnivalesque “funhouse” would need to be so confusing.

We carried on towards the park.

When we got to Central Park, we found ourselves heading towards the zoo and with an entry fee of only $12 we thought, “Why not? Spontaneous zoo trip.”

We saw sea lions, penguins, puffins, one lonely snow leopard, snow monkeys having a family argument, lots of turtles, and abundance tropical birds, lemurs, and a toucan.

We did not see polar bears or red pandas, and while we searched the tropical enclosure, we could not find the sloth.  We did discover that Josh is actually a snake charmer as he guided a python around its enclosure…  Not to worry, they remained safely on opposite sides of the glass.

While I enjoyed the snow monkeys (and their uncommonly modern, spacious enclosure), Central Park Zoo is mostly sad.  The animals, when visible, don’t look happy or particularly well looked after.

So, after an uninspiring visit to the children’s zoo we went to lie in the shade in Central Park and rest our weary heads.  (A note to travellers everywhere… Avoid the pre-packaged snow cones in Central Park.  They are bitterly disappointing).  Still, it was lovely to lie in the shade of the trees, a gentle breeze blowing and time to rest the eyes and feet.

After an hour or so, we decided to head home for a nap, and after some vague and tired subway hopping and backtracking we fell onto the bed in our room.

The evening consisted of (more) Thai food… (yes, it’s kind of an obsession), and watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland on Justin’s computer.

And it looks like our washing is nearly done.  On with the day!

Love, Jules xx