back in the uk :(

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.

...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...