Kate's Last Night in NYC

Sunday 18/9

We started the night with Pizza at Lombardi's in SoHo. According to Kate, I failed at life by not finishing my half of the pizza... It was really good, but seriously WAY TOO MUCH!!

We followed that up with a walk through a street fair down Mulberry St... I'd love to tell you what street fair it was, but I have no idea!!

We then jumped on the subway and headed down to the Staten Island ferry and took in the magical sights of the city at night.

We followed that up with a trip back to McGees. While we were there the first time, the staff told us that every year to celebrate the new season, the writers and cast drink at McGees. So we thought we would do a little stalking, and see if they showed up. (The new season started the next day).

They didn't, but nonetheless we had an awesome night.

Kate ordered a pitcher of beer for herself. The look on the bartenders face was priceless!

I stuck to cocktails. They have this whole "How I Met Your Mother" inspired cocktail list with drinks such as "The Pineapple Incident", "Robin Sparkles" and "The Naked Man".

My favourite was "The Pineapple Incident"

On the way out, I noticed this hanging above the stairs. I just had to take a photo!

I had a fab night out that night!

Broncos v Dragons

So not only were the Broncos and Dragons playing, but the Australian's were playing in the Ruby World Cup. Needless to say, the bar was packed. So I sat down at a table and waited...

Just before kick-off, Andy Lee and a bunch of mates walked in. They were sitting down the back in a booth. At half time of the Rugby League, the AFL (Carlton v West Coast) started. With the league and union on, there was only one TV that had the AFL on that was the TV near their booth.

Now anyone who knows me, knows I am sports obsessed. And from where I was sitting I couldn't see the AFL. So I sucked it up, marched down the back of the pub and asked if I could sit at the spare seat so I could watch both sports.

It was a great night (or early morning) of sport watching! My beloved Broncos won, in extra time, with Locky kicking the winning field goal. As it turns out, that would be the last game he ever played for the Broncos. So I was a) glad I sat up and watched it, and b) that he kicked the winning field goal. Was a great way for him to go out!!

AFL wise, it was a cracker! Went right to the wire with West Coast getting up by 3.

In the end I left the pub at 9.30am. It was such a fabulous night of sport. A night I will definitely remember for a long time to come.

Kate's Last Friday Night in NYC

Friday (16 Sept)

To celebrate Kate's last weekend in NYC we decided to go out for dinner and drinks. We headed up to McGee's Irish Pub, which is the inspiration behind the bar in one of my favourite shows - How I Met Your Mother.

On our way up to the pub we went through Times Square. While walking past, I saw this sign:

My friends and I have a bit of an inside joke regarding "goodtimes". So when I saw this, I just had to take a photo and send it to them!!

Kate and I ate dinner and had a few drinks at the bar, before heading off. We were planning to head down and catch the Staten Island Ferry so that we could could see the Statue of Liberty at night. But, we ended up at a comedy show instead. I'll be honest, the first one we went to was WAY better than this one. But it was still fun, nonetheless.

After that we thought we'd head down and jump on the ferry, but once we got on the Subway Kate decided she was tired and so we decided to pass on the ferry.

I had been planning all day to stay up all night and hang out for 3.45am when the Australian bar in NYC was showing the Broncos v Dragons game live. It was about 1am when Kate called it a night, so I decided to head to the bar and wait it out...

Luckily, very early into the wait my beautiful friend Siany back home in Aus texted me and said she was home if I wanted to call! So 2 hours of conversation later, I headed back into the bar with only 45mins to wait until kickoff!!

More to come...

Magnolia Bakery

I went for a walk through the West Village in search of Magnolia!

Clearly, a trip to NY isn't complete without a cupcake from Magnolia.

I was very lucky, there wasn't a line when I got there, which from all reports is rare!

I purchased a Red Velvet cupcake and a Coconut one.

They were delicious!

While I was in the West Village, and in keeping with the Sex and the City theme, I walked past the stoop they used as Carrie's stoop in SATC.

Serendipity

My friend Mel told me that I HAD to go and have a frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity. So I trekked up to the Upper East Side and ordered one...

It was huge!

And way too much for me, but nonetheless it was VERY good!! I definitely enjoyed it!!

Sorry...

Ok, so I've been pretty terrible at updating this! But it's only because I've been so busy exploring! I promise I will update more regularly. New updates coming soon... Stay tuned!

Comedy Show

On Wednesday night, Kate and I had planned to see a broadway show... until, she scored free tickets to a comedy show.

So instead we met up and went to that!!

The good ones, were really good.

The bad ones, were really bad!

It was definitely a strange mix...

Nonetheless, we had a great night out!

The Rest of September 11

So after spending the morning at Ground Zero, I headed back to the hostel to meet up with Kate. Talking to Kate on Friday night I had said to her that if Sam Stosur made the US Open final, then I would probably go out and watch! Kate said she wanted to come, so I grabbed us tickets and we headed out to watch the final.

Queen Latifah came out to sing the national anthem:

Then the match started!

Obviously, Sam was playing Serena Williams... And clearly the American crowd was pro-Serena!

So I cheered as loudly as I possibly could.

I didn't really think she could beat her... not because she can't beat her, but because she was playing Serena in the final of Serena's home town Grand Slam. The crowd was against her, and she'd only ever made one Grand Slam final before... Serena has won 13 or so Grand Slam titles... So the odds were definitely stacked against her...

BUT SHE DID IT, SHE WON THE US OPEN!

It is so exciting to be able to say that I was there to witness the first Australian woman in 31 years to win a Grand Slam title!!

I am so glad I went!!

As Kate and I were leaving, we noticed the lights on at the Mets Baseball Stadium. Basically, the train station is in the middle with the tennis centre on one side and the baseball stadium on the other. So Kate and I decided to head over and check it out! We had no idea if the game had started, was finished, or was still coming... (it was 7pm by this stage!)

So we headed over to the stadium

We were approaching the ticket windows when one of their guests services staff approached us and asked if she could help. We explained that we were at the tennis, saw the lights and thought we'd come and see if the game had started, if there were tickets available etc etc. She pulled two tickets out of the pocket and said - "this ones on me!"

Kate and I were gobsmacked! So we went in and not only had she given us free tickets, but they were awesome tickets!!

The game started just after 8, and it was all tied-up at the end of the 9th so they kept going... In the end the match finished at like 1am on the Monday morning!

It was an awesome experience!

So all in all, I had an absolute blast!

September 11 Service

I woke up on the morning of September 11, and headed down to Ground Zero to check out the service. As you can imagine, security was very tight.

I've already told you about the ceremony, but I will include these photos.

I had to watch on a big TV screen as the service was only for family and friends.

They constructed two MASIVE water fountains. The names of those who died are etched into the edges of the fountain.

This is the New World Trade Center. It is already the tallest building, and it's not finished yet..

After the service, I headed back to the hostel to meet up with Kate. Details of what came next, coming soon!

Staten Island Ferry - Ground Zero

On Saturday morning (10/9), I decided to go down and catch the Staten Island Ferry. I was planning to pay for a trip to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, when my friends Sian and Donna advised me that the Staten Island ferry goes straight past the Statue of Liberty, and it's free!!

So I caught the subway down, jumped on the ferry and enjoyed the ride over and back!

There had been whispers that another terror attack was possible. The police presence in the City, was incredible. There were police stopping and searching vehicles everywhere. There were helicopters flying over the city. At one point, I counted 5 choppers flying over Manhattan! And the Staten Island Ferry had police escorts...

On the way over, there was just a simple police boat floating along beside us...

On the way back, it was a Coast Guard boat with a machine gun attached to the front... There was even someone standing there manning the machine gun....

It certainly made the threat seem very real!

After that, I walked up to Ground Zero. I had planned to check it out on September 11, so I wanted to suss it out, find it and have a look before the actual day... That and Century 21 is literally RIGHT THERE!!

I walked around the closed off section, where all the construction is going on. And came across a little fire station... The Station wall bore this memorial:

Being there was very emotional. It is so hard to fathom what once stood there, the number of people who lost their lives there (and elsewhere that day). The idea to me, that a plane could fly into the buildings that once stood there and not come out... it just doesn't seem real.

After that, I ducked into Century 21. Didn't want to actually purchase anything, but thought I'd check it out and  see what the big deal is!

I did find one gorgeous Michael Kors skirt that I would have at least tried on, and possibly purchased, had I not seen the price tag... It was still $500... Hmm, maybe not my style after all!!

After that I headed up to the Australian Pub to watch Sam Stosur's semi-final and catch the replay of the Broncos win. However the college football was on, so I headed to the Irish Pub next door. In there I met a really lovely Australian guy. He is definitely someone who reminded me a lot of my male friends back home. And with my love of sport, the conversation flowed very easily!

I left the Irish pub about 8, headed back to the Australian, watched the first half of the Broncos game and then went home and crashed!

It was a big day, but a good one!!