the joy of the internet, of course, is that i can kid myself that anyone is interested in my photos, saving everyone the embarrasment of muttering "yes, yes, very nice, but would you kindly bugger off, i'm trying to watch this paint dry...". so for those of you who like this sort of thing, some random photos can be found at the following link:
ny and dc photos
for those of you who'd rather watch a loved one having an autopsy than sit through someone else's holiday photos, you can feel free to ignore it, safe in the knowledge that i won't bother you. or quiz you about them at a later date.
Monday, 2 April 2007
Saturday, 31 March 2007
pink is the new black, dahling
much as leaf-peeping being a national pass time seems a bit odd, it does seem a bit strange to devote a whole festival to the time of year when the cherry blossom appears. at least, it seems odd until you find yourself slap bang in the middle of it, and realise just how much it seems to transform the place. and the tat, too - teddy bears, plaques, lapel pins, etc, that would usually be red, white and blue suddenly become all pink.
trust me, it loses a lot in translation, but it's pretty damned cool:
and then if it all gets too much for you, you can always find somewhere dark and basementy for a swift drink or five. yesterday we made the bottom line our home for a couple of hours, and i discovered a new type of cider.
trust me, it loses a lot in translation, but it's pretty damned cool:
and then if it all gets too much for you, you can always find somewhere dark and basementy for a swift drink or five. yesterday we made the bottom line our home for a couple of hours, and i discovered a new type of cider.
Long live the Empire
Oh yes i have found Mecca!
Curry Mecca that is!!
What i fine establishment this is. If you are ever in Washington you must, i repeat must go here.
The restaurant in question is The Bombay Club.
As one review put it "The Bombay Club emulates characteristics of the old clubs of India.
The elegant environment with pale pastels, ceiling fans, and a profusion of greenery is designed to create a warm and inviting gathering place for relaxation and regeneration.
The cuisine is the finest of India, utilizing only the best quality ingredients to create a harmony of subtle flavors. Specialties prepared by Executive Chef Ramesh Kaundal, include tandoori salmon and green chili chicken. The sophisticated cuisine is enhanced by refine service and live piano music"
And i have to say that the piano music, low ceiling fans, wood paneling and window shutters really gives it an air of a club in the days of the British Raj.
Oh and the food is fantastic as well!
Curry Mecca that is!!
What i fine establishment this is. If you are ever in Washington you must, i repeat must go here.
The restaurant in question is The Bombay Club.
As one review put it "The Bombay Club emulates characteristics of the old clubs of India.
The elegant environment with pale pastels, ceiling fans, and a profusion of greenery is designed to create a warm and inviting gathering place for relaxation and regeneration.
The cuisine is the finest of India, utilizing only the best quality ingredients to create a harmony of subtle flavors. Specialties prepared by Executive Chef Ramesh Kaundal, include tandoori salmon and green chili chicken. The sophisticated cuisine is enhanced by refine service and live piano music"
And i have to say that the piano music, low ceiling fans, wood paneling and window shutters really gives it an air of a club in the days of the British Raj.
Oh and the food is fantastic as well!
Sober thoughts
Decided to do something cultural yesterday and walked to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum which is just behind the George Washington monument.
Although utterly depressing i believe it is good for us to experience such horror from time to time to make us understand how lucky we all are.
When i was in my younger youth i visited Dacau concentration camp on the outskirts of Munich and it left a real impression on me, today was no different.
After 3 or 4 hours in the darkness of the museum halls, coming out into the midday sunshine with all the cherry blossom trees in bloom and people from hundreds of different nations all mingling together in a big multi cultural soup, it really made us both think that we all lead a charmed life.
Long may it be so.
Although utterly depressing i believe it is good for us to experience such horror from time to time to make us understand how lucky we all are.
When i was in my younger youth i visited Dacau concentration camp on the outskirts of Munich and it left a real impression on me, today was no different.
After 3 or 4 hours in the darkness of the museum halls, coming out into the midday sunshine with all the cherry blossom trees in bloom and people from hundreds of different nations all mingling together in a big multi cultural soup, it really made us both think that we all lead a charmed life.
Long may it be so.
Friday, 30 March 2007
dc in the springtime...
today we indulged in one of my favourite ever passtimes - ie, wandering aimlessly around some of the sites in dc in the sunshine. there were some unexpected sites (including nicholas cage, john voigt, and some actress filming outside the white house) but also some more familiar ones. like these...
party on, dudes!
party on, dudes!
we ended up a little sun burned by the end of it. d'oh!
Great big chopper!
Yesterday whilst wandering around the reflecting pool, George W'yas helicopter flew overhead really low but i didn't have my camera cued.
Its huge!
Ice Cream Sunday & Monday & Tuesday & Wednesday & Thur.....
...yes Liz ordered the biggest ice cream i've ever seen in my life, and here's a snap of the offender.
I have to say that she made a damn fine attempt at it, but in the end it beat her.
Tuesday, 27 March 2007
the empire (state building) strikes back
today - in a desperate (yet ultimately failed) attempt to stop melting credit cards at the tills at macy's - we decided to go up the empire state building. if you're not familiar with it, it's the tall pointy tower, pictured below:
incidentally, the empire state building is almost exactly the same size as the stack of pancakes i had for breakfast this morning. but i digress. after queuing for nowhere near as long as expected, we hopped in the express elevator up 80 floors, then the slightly less express elevator for the final 6 floors, before arriving at the observatory deck. it seems that new york has suddenly been hit by what is locally known as "the big warm up", which i believe is a technical meteorol...metero...mete...weather term for the start of spring. it was a gorgeous hot sunny day, if a little breezy, and there were some fantastic views to be had, such as:
there are also some of those telescopes where you can pay 50c to look down at the exact spot you've just paid $14 to climb 86 floors up from. to be fair, though, the only thing anyone was really interested in were the very curious pigeons who liked having their pictures taken:
it's well worth the trip up to the top. but after all that fresh air out on the observation deck, we'd worked up a bit of a thirst. and so began the eternal cycle of drink-wander-"oooo, look, shops!"-spend-drink-wander-"ooooo, look, shops!"...
incidentally, the empire state building is almost exactly the same size as the stack of pancakes i had for breakfast this morning. but i digress. after queuing for nowhere near as long as expected, we hopped in the express elevator up 80 floors, then the slightly less express elevator for the final 6 floors, before arriving at the observatory deck. it seems that new york has suddenly been hit by what is locally known as "the big warm up", which i believe is a technical meteorol...metero...mete...weather term for the start of spring. it was a gorgeous hot sunny day, if a little breezy, and there were some fantastic views to be had, such as:
there are also some of those telescopes where you can pay 50c to look down at the exact spot you've just paid $14 to climb 86 floors up from. to be fair, though, the only thing anyone was really interested in were the very curious pigeons who liked having their pictures taken:
it's well worth the trip up to the top. but after all that fresh air out on the observation deck, we'd worked up a bit of a thirst. and so began the eternal cycle of drink-wander-"oooo, look, shops!"-spend-drink-wander-"ooooo, look, shops!"...
a-macy-ing grace...
(sorry)
spent much of the last two days shopping - mainly for clothes, partly for bits of tat. currently in the position of having lots of nice clothes to wear, but unable to afford to go anywhere to wear them. d'oh!
also, it seems that we have entered into some form of competitive-spending-poker, which tends to unfold as follows:
"Look at this nice new shirt that I've bought!"
"I see your nice new shirt, and I raise you a pair of shoes and 2 black tops."
"Hmmmmm. I see your shoes and tops, and I raise you a jacket. Follow that if you dare..."
"Nifty. Well, I raise you two dresses and a jacket of my own."
etc, etc. Repeat once every couple of hours over a few days. So far, no-one has folded.
spent much of the last two days shopping - mainly for clothes, partly for bits of tat. currently in the position of having lots of nice clothes to wear, but unable to afford to go anywhere to wear them. d'oh!
also, it seems that we have entered into some form of competitive-spending-poker, which tends to unfold as follows:
"Look at this nice new shirt that I've bought!"
"I see your nice new shirt, and I raise you a pair of shoes and 2 black tops."
"Hmmmmm. I see your shoes and tops, and I raise you a jacket. Follow that if you dare..."
"Nifty. Well, I raise you two dresses and a jacket of my own."
etc, etc. Repeat once every couple of hours over a few days. So far, no-one has folded.
Monday, 26 March 2007
Beer beer we want more beer...
After a couple of hours tramming around shops, on which i will let Liz elaborate, we finally came to rest in one of my favourite types of American establishments, the independent brewpub.
The place in question was the Heartland Brewery underneath the Empire State building.
We settled in for the afternoon and was soon on, as they put it, a 'Voyage of Beer' discovery.
Liz started with the Farmer Jon's Oatmeal Stout, a hearty creamy oatmeal stout with hints of espresso and a chocolate finish. I went for the Red Rooster Ale which was an extremely malty affair, deep red in colour but a bit rich for my taste so i went on to the Indiana Pale Ale, which they advertised as having 'aggressive hopping', which made the beer extremely astringent, which i like.
I eventually had a pint of the stout and Liz turned to cider but we had both eaten way too much to continue so sadly we retired to our hotel room for the inevitable afternoon recovery snooze.
I love holidays!!
The place in question was the Heartland Brewery underneath the Empire State building.
We settled in for the afternoon and was soon on, as they put it, a 'Voyage of Beer' discovery.
Liz started with the Farmer Jon's Oatmeal Stout, a hearty creamy oatmeal stout with hints of espresso and a chocolate finish. I went for the Red Rooster Ale which was an extremely malty affair, deep red in colour but a bit rich for my taste so i went on to the Indiana Pale Ale, which they advertised as having 'aggressive hopping', which made the beer extremely astringent, which i like.
I eventually had a pint of the stout and Liz turned to cider but we had both eaten way too much to continue so sadly we retired to our hotel room for the inevitable afternoon recovery snooze.
I love holidays!!
U.S Airlines - the sons of bitches!
Arose at 7am to catch a short hop flight to Rochester in up state New York firstly to get off Manhattan for the day and see some beautiful country side, and secondly to visit The Old Toad Pub which is co-owned by David Wickett of Kelham Island Brewery fame.
However the SOB's at U.S Airlines had different plans and decided to cancel our flight but only after we had obviously made the cab ride there.
This ride in itself was fraught to say the least as we skipped out of the hotel and into what we assumed was the pre booked taxi which, it was not.
Having figured this out, asked cabbie to pull over and paid him $3 for the privilege we ran back two blocks and jumped in the pre booked town car waiting for us with a some what bemused chauffer!
A $40 1/2 an hour ride later and then a cancelled flight and a $40 ride back to Manhattan really put me in the mood to bitch slap anyone who got in my way, but you know Manhattan... every fucker is in your God damn way!
However the SOB's at U.S Airlines had different plans and decided to cancel our flight but only after we had obviously made the cab ride there.
This ride in itself was fraught to say the least as we skipped out of the hotel and into what we assumed was the pre booked taxi which, it was not.
Having figured this out, asked cabbie to pull over and paid him $3 for the privilege we ran back two blocks and jumped in the pre booked town car waiting for us with a some what bemused chauffer!
A $40 1/2 an hour ride later and then a cancelled flight and a $40 ride back to Manhattan really put me in the mood to bitch slap anyone who got in my way, but you know Manhattan... every fucker is in your God damn way!
god bless america, and their liberal drinking laws
you've got to love a place that lets you drink until 4am. in a bar. legally. and where the gin and tonics come in fancy old fashioned glasses, with only a faint whiff of tonic.
this was in the slightly-more-authentically-irish-than-the-other-oirish-pub-on-the-same-block. in this one - the amusingly named Molly Wee - there were proper irish barmen and classic rock on the juke box. in the other one (whose name escapes me) there was drum and bass disco going on.
the molly wee was so nice that - despite pretences of "just-because-it's-open-until-4-it-doesn't-mean-we-have-to-stay-until-4" - we ordered another drink. almost identical to the first, but less colourful:
and then another. and another. you get the picture, i'm sure.
this was in the slightly-more-authentically-irish-than-the-other-oirish-pub-on-the-same-block. in this one - the amusingly named Molly Wee - there were proper irish barmen and classic rock on the juke box. in the other one (whose name escapes me) there was drum and bass disco going on.
the molly wee was so nice that - despite pretences of "just-because-it's-open-until-4-it-doesn't-mean-we-have-to-stay-until-4" - we ordered another drink. almost identical to the first, but less colourful:
and then another. and another. you get the picture, i'm sure.
It's curtains for you, Elizabeth my dear...
A quote from his music master the great Mr Ian Brown which leads me nicely onto the show we went to see yesterday called Curtains.
An excellent musical comedy staring David Hyde Pierce who plays 'Niles' in the sitcom Frasier.
A co star from Frasier fame was also in the play, the ever so English Edward Hibbert
If you are ever in NYC its worth straying off Broadway down the less flashy side streets which have many excellent theatres hosting great productions like this.
It was a laugh from start to finish which was some 3 hours long.
Well worth the money.
An excellent musical comedy staring David Hyde Pierce who plays 'Niles' in the sitcom Frasier.
A co star from Frasier fame was also in the play, the ever so English Edward Hibbert
If you are ever in NYC its worth straying off Broadway down the less flashy side streets which have many excellent theatres hosting great productions like this.
It was a laugh from start to finish which was some 3 hours long.
Well worth the money.
...a walk in the park...
woke up on saturday to find a surprisingly clear and sunny day, so decided (after a spot of breakfast in the hotel's skyline bar to take a stroll down to central park. 16 hours later, we managed to make it half way through the park, so decided to head back before we missed our flight to DC in 4 days time.
it really is a lovely park to walk around (if you have the time) and very different from last October when it was freezing cold. the only thing that spoils it really are the hundreds of people who are trying to be fit and healthy. really, guys, if you want to get that sweaty, please do it in the privacy of your own homes. or a gym. and really, really, really, if it's getting so hard to breathe that you have to make unnecessary 'ehhhheeeeeeeeehhaaaaaaa' noises every two seconds, sit down. have a break. unless of course the reason you're running is because you're paranoid you're being chased by the other 697 sweaty people who are inexplicably following you.
following our epic hike, we stopped for a couple of beers in a bar, and settled on a light afternoon snack. and here began my first (but certainly not last) non-vegetarian experience of the trip. i'm all for dressing salads up to make them more interesting, but a green salad with chopped up cheese, accompanied by bits of chopped up bacon, with a topping of rolls of pastrami-wrapped-in-turkey-wrapped-in-bacon...at first i thought the bacon was little bits of red onion - ooooops! luckily, i was all full up from the 3lbs of deep fried mozzarella sticks, so didn't really need the salad after all.
...bring me your snowglobes, your key chains, and your 'i heart ny' shot glasses...
i've said it before, and i'll say it again - they don't half know good tat over here. haven't indulged as yet - after last october's extravaganza, i think it's wise to check out the options first before impulse buying and peaking too early. still, nice to see an increasingly inventive range of stuff.
get thee behind me, credit cards...
get thee behind me, credit cards...
here we are again...
...and those damned barstools just won't stay put.
back in the good old u.s. of a for a short trip, taking in NY & DC.
back in the good old u.s. of a for a short trip, taking in NY & DC.
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