Whoops

It's been a while, huh? Sorry about that. I guess as I do fewer touristy things and more 'normal life' things, I don't really want to bore everyone with the details of my everyday life.

So, on Sunday 8th I got to experience a proper New York brunch. I met JC at his in Alphabet City and we walked down the river front and across, through Little Italy to Chelsea. There, we met up with some of his work coleagues, who had been drinking since midday (this must have been about four o'clock) at an oyster and champagne bar that had the interior of a cruise ship. It was also playing 80s hair rock, mostly, so a lot of fun was had there. Three of us then moved on to a hotel straddling the High Line Park - it was a German bierhaus, so the bar staff had t-shirts with leiderhosen on - like the t-shirts from the 80s with tuxedos on them. Odd, but good. We rounded off the night by eating some deep fried chicken with rice and beans, Argentinian-style - really very good, but I probably shouldn't have been eating it at midnight. So, I went out for brunch and got home in the small hours. I'm not sure how people do that and still go to work the next day.

The next day I met up with my sister's friend Jenny, who lives in DUMBO with her husband and baby. It was lovely to see her, actually - she appears to have taken on the big sister/motherly role for my time in NY. I didn't realise I was missing that until I saw her. DUMBO is lovely - really nice to be by the water, lots of art galleries. Jenny has promised to have me round for dinner to meet her baby, who according to my sister, is like a mini Duncan Bannatyne. This I have to see.

On Wednesday, I went back to the Met to see their second floor, which is mostly the paintings and sculptures. They have a large modern art wing, which has two paintings by one of my very favourite artists, Chuck Close. He was actually tucked away in a deserted mezzanine floor with no one there looking at his work, which is a shame. His photo-realistic work is actually awe-inspiring. Go. See his stuff.

On Thursday I took ‘the best bargain in New York’ – the Staten Island Ferry. Completely free, and used by commuters from Staten Island who work in Manhattan, it gives great views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. But Staten Island itself – hmm. I was determined to do more than just get off one ferry and straight back on another, but probably found things to entertain me for about half an hour. I wandered along the promenade, looked at the (admittedly very moving) September 11th memorial (yes, I had a bit of a weep – I make no bones about the fact that I am becoming my mother) and, well, ran out of things to do. I’m sure if I had a map and a bus map and was more prepared, there could be more exploring to do, but otherwise, it was vastly underwhelming. The ferry was well worth it, though. And, yes mum, I sat near the life-jackets.

On Saturday, I did a volunteer stint for Housing Works – a chain of thrift stores that raise money for HIV/AIDS charities, especially focusing on homeless people. I was helping to sort clothes at their clothing warehouse in Queens, which meant I got to tick off another borough. This was fairly tedious work, though notable for being run by Joe, who was a Queens native born and bred, and basically like a kindly uncle. If I had any Italian-American uncles from Queens. What a lovely man. On Saturday night, I went out with some friends in Williamsburg, and was once again slightly underwhelmed by the place. It wasn’t TOO hipster-y, and maybe it was the places we were going or the time of year, but everywhere was very quiet. Not the people-spilling-out-onto-the-streets feel you get in Shoreditch, for example.