Greetings from Times Square, New York

Greetings from Times Square, New York
Well, we're not really in Times Square at the moment...but we have been there all day. Now where were we last time we talked...oh yeah, it was Tuesday night and we were about to go out for dinner. We ended up going to our neighbourhood diner, just down the street where we have eaten quite often. It is very Seinfeld-esque...and we know this is true because the other day we actually did eat in the diner from Seinfeld which is really called Tom's Restaurant and we have photos to prove it. Anyway, I had the biggest bowl of pasta you have EVER seen and had to ask for a doggy bag when they looked so crestfallen that I could only eat about a third of it...this was handy as I ate more of it (still couldn't finish it off though) last night. Gary had American pot roast with potato pancakes which he said was great as well. (These people in the diner love us because we fessed up to being undercharged at an earlier meal and gave them an extra 5 bucks for the fruit salad they had not charged us for - perhaps they have not experienced this behaviour before??) Anyway, Wednesday morning we were back on the subway but this time had to change at Times Square for the train to Queens...sounds simple, but we managed to go up and down about 17 flights of stairs before we finally worked out where to go...Gary & I of course continually blame each other for both our total lack of any real sense of direction! (Example: Gary actually asked me yesterday at the tennis which direction the sun sets in, east or west - now, even I know that one!) We finally made it onto the train to Queens but we weren't sure which stop to get off so we asked some other passengers who said they had planned to ask us! Oh well, the whole carriage decided we were all in it together and would just wing it. Thankfully a BIG stadium with US Open appeared outside the window and answered all our questions, so off we got! As we went through the security line to get into the stadium we were told that my backpack could not be taken inside as it has 2 straps, (even though it is quite small), and would have to go in a locker - they gave me a plastic bag to carry all my junk in. While I was off doing this Gary had taken it upon himself to yell loudly at the security guys every time they let someone in with a 2 strap bag. Apparently he had become extremely ANGRY because the security guy said "have a nice day" after we argued the bag thing with him. Gary told him in no uncertain terms that he would NOT have a nice day...bla bla bla. Anyway, I escaped, checked the bag, and then came back to find the security guys extremely thankful that Gary was moving on to "have a nice day". The tennis was great - we saw 3 matches - a ladies doubles between a couple of Spanish chicks with unpronounceable surnames and a couple of US girls from California (the Spanish chicks won); a ladies match between Safina (Matt's sister I gather) and some other chick who lost pretty quickly; and a real hum dinger between Andy Murray (I cheered for him for you Davey) and del Potro (who finally lost after 4 sets). It was really hot and sunny but we managed to stay hydrated and didn't get sunburned, all a plus. The weirdest thing about the Open is that the ball boys aren't all boys (or girls). Bizarrely, they have grey haired men stumbling around scrambling after balls and passing towels to players etc - it reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer was a ball boy - quite strange. We were pretty tired after all that sitting in the sun yesterday so decided to take it easy today - went for a walk to Riverside Park, found a diner for breakfast (felt a bit guilty about deserting our local), and then decided to go and catch a movie. It was REALLY hot and humid today (92 degrees) so air conditioning seemed like a good place to be sooooo...back on the subway to Times Square where we watched not one but two movies - Babylon 2 (I think) and Pineapple Express - the second one was better as it was a comedy, but Gary liked the first one as well as there was mega violence. Actually, the second one also had mega violence...but it was FUNNY violence! So we have now picked up our laundry - $19 for 19 pounds - awesome - and we will soon head off for our last dinner in NY and then catch an early night as the shuttle bus is picking us up at 6.05am for our 10.15am flight from JFK. (I guess they're expecting A LOT of traffic!). We decided to give the free concert with Usher & co a miss as they were expecting 60,000 people and Gary and crowds...well you know all about that. We are off to Washington DC tomorrow - New York has been great but it's time to move on... Thanks again for your emails - keep 'em coming! Hope everyone is well - catch up soon, luvP&G

Greetings from Broadway, New York

Greetings from Broadway, New York
Well we did move rooms...to a much more modern room on the 11th floor but unfortunately we lost our view of Broadway...but at least our feet stay dry in the bathroom as this toilet doesn't leak! You would not believe what happened Sunday night! We took the subway to Times square, got in the line at 6.15 for the 7pm show, the line grew...and grew...got restless...got edgy...slow hand clapping started at 7.05...and then at 7.15 a rumour started spreading that the show was cancelled! The air conditioning had broken down! For those of you who know Gary, you know that I could now be canonised as a saint for standing in that line with him for an hour! We did get to listen to the TOTAL soundtrack of Grease while we waited so I guess that's something though Gary says if he ever hears any of those songs again he will not be responsible for his actions... Anyway there was not a lot of information on how to get money back etc so we went to the box office yesterday afternoon (as they told us to do) and the box office had closed early for the Memorial Day public holiday...once again sainthood is mine! Soooo today (third time lucky?) we took the subway back to times Square and were told they could not give us our money back as we bought the tickets from Australia and would have to follow it up there...did I mention I will be immortalised as a saint??? After dragging Gary away from the theatre he agreed that it might be best if we give Broadway shows a miss - maybe we'll catch something in London... Okay, so that was Sunday...Monday morning we headed off to catch our bus tour of Manhattan and Gary fell down the subway stairs. (OK, kids, I can hear you laughing...but it wasn't THAT funny and I had to use quite a few of my baby wipes (mysteriously purchased by Gary when I asked him to get Wet Ones before we left) to wipe the blood from his knee). Got a few weird looks from New Yorkers on the subway too which is a feat in itself! He is fine - we went and got some oversized band-aids from the pharmacy and patched him up...though there were mumblings about suing the city of NY. We had a great bus tour which also incorporated a 1 hour ferry ride on New York Harbour/East River/ Hudson River. We saw all the stuff you need to see here - Statue of Liberty, Staten Island, Ellis Island, Empire State Bldg, Central Park, 5th Avenue, Madison Av, Wall St, Brooklyn Bridge....you name it, we saw it! As we were driving down 5th Av, the tour guide was mentioning which celebrities lived in which buildings and said "Candice Bergen lives in this building and that might be her getting out of that car"...and it was! I took photos to prove it! We had a pretty quiet night in the hotel room watching James Bond films and episodes of Judge Judy...very entertaining! This morning I eventually woke Gary up at 10.50am as I thought he may have slipped into a coma - who knows, a delayed reaction to the baby wipes??? Anyway, just turned out he needed sleep, so we got a late start but went to the American Museum of Natural History which was amazing - you could spend a week there! Gary was impressed that they had a large exhibition of American Indians with all the tribes from his youth of watching western movies represented...though we didn't see the Hakowee tribe (F-Troop for those under 40...). We then walked down to the Dakota Bldg and saw the memorial for John Lennon - Strawberry field - in Central Park. Another trip on the subway and we were in Columbus Square where they are preparing for a free concert on Thursday by Usher (??? Gary tells me James would know him) & Keith Urban to mark the beginning of the NFL- American football season. That is one end of Central Park and we took a ride in a little peddle driven rickshaw thingy for 45 minutes around the park - saw the "Friends" fountain and lots of other recognisable landmarks from movies etc. We had a very nice (and fit) tour guide who peddled away while he talked about the park & its history. So here we are on Tuesday night - we will shortly go and grab some dinner - gotta be better than my effort of M&Ms and cheddar goldfish (strange choice of shape for biscuits but yummy nonetheless) which I had last night! It's off to the tennis (US Open) tomorrow which we are braving the subway (once again) to get to...but this time we will leave the island of Manhattan and venture into Flushing, Queens (that's where the Nanny comes from - for those over 40). Anyway, we continue to have a ball - Gary says he loves NY even more that Vegas...and that is saying something! We are getting our laundry done at a local place $1/lb sounded better than me slaving over the cramped bathtub and making the place look like a Chinese laundry! Hope you are all well - thanks so much for all your emails - it is great to hear from you all - sorry if I don't reply individually. Love to all,P&G