So I found a comfortable Hostel in Chelsea and kept going back. It may not be the cheapest in NYC but I loved the location, rooms were comfortable and met some great people there! After my Long Island adventure and my Brooklyn antics, it was back to Manhattan to eat, shop, sightsee and watch some serious World Cup matches and Broadway of course!
Meeting Stars after Of Mice and Men! No James Franco or Leighton Meister, but a great actor nonetheless! And meet my new friend Claire!
Chicago on Broadway…. and you know me- I just could not help myself 😉
So yes, Broadway. I had plans to see more shows, but time got the better of me (I know I was there 4 weeks but I just had too much fun!). So I saw Of Mice and Men which was BRILLIANT, some of my favourite stars who did a really great job. Chris O’Dowd played Lennie wonderfully! Also saw Chicago which I really enjoyed and had “All that Jazz” in my head for the next week!
Coney Island
Had a lovely day exploring with new pals Cynthia and Jair – we sweated it out in Washington Square Park (GORGEOUS, stand in the middle and you can see the Empire State Building to the North and turn South and voilà! The Freedom Tower!), Carrie’s house from Sex and the City (wahoooop!), cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery (have had better) and then ventured out on the air-conditioned train to Coney Island.
Train is stopped suddenly on the way to Coney Island by track workers. Turns out they just wanted a lift to the next station. Lunchtime!
So then there was 4th July antics – backpacker style! My roomie Mel (whoop! Aussies everywhere!) and I decided against paying $90 to see Matilda the Musical at Time Square and then spent the equivalent at the MAC Store. We did not partake in another Broadway musical but at least we looked the part for 4th July 😉 We did get some great tourist shots of us in Time Square!
Interesting names for our beauty products… Hailin’ taxis in Time Square and backpacker street antics. Standard July 4 celebrations! #Flatoutfabulous #girlabouttown
Then it was World Cup time, great thing about staying in Hostels is that you meet travellers from all locations, right? Well this made the Soccer games much more entertaining! France Vs Germany was a vocal game to watch, at the favourite destination Peter McManus’ around the corner. Brazil vs Argentina was equally entertaining, watched in an Irish Sports bar in Time Square (spent a lot of time there on July 4 it seems!).
A mixed bunch – international’s do 4th July!
Apologies if you guys don’t appreciate the use of the above photos…. suck it up or pay me to take it down, I like it! Met the most interesting and diverse group of people at the Hostel with made 4th July a tonne of fun. Don’t ask if we saw the fireworks… we got distracted playing cards, then I led everyone on a wild goose hunt which ended up with us watching in a bar LIVE on a big screen! Who needs to see that polluting entertainment when you have a fun bunch of internationals around!
Also entertaining are International UNO games. We had a ‘bonding’ night on Tuesday free pizza night at the Chelsea International Hostel. Now we had some fiery personalities partake (no offence meant Val/Mel, myself included in this!) and combine this with many many beers, let’s just say we cleared the common dining area of the Hostel pretty quickly! There are some interesting International rules for UNO, the Brazilians had some particularly good rules to adopt – Frenchies maybe not…. sorry 😉
Other fun adventures included but were not limited too:
– Prospect Park for another free gig – picnic and beers and dancing provided by Jair and Jess! Robert Glasper Experiment – really cool!
– Drunken photos in NYPD buggies with Val (I was fascinated by the 3 wheel buggies! They are seriously ugly and not intimidating machines at ALL, enforcing the law one squirrel at a time) – I wanted to post the photos up here but not sure if they will let me back in to the country on Wednesday!
– Smalls Jazz Club for late night Jazz jammin’ followed by late night pizza and garlic knots.
– Meeting “Robert De Niro” and the crew at Peter McManus’… seriously thank you for putting up with us! Though we did give you great business… and entertainment.
– Bathtub Gin with Jazz entertainment and difficult bouncers. (if you get a chance, go to this place in NYC – really cool!)
I had a lovely afternoon in a row boat on the Lake in Central Park. Many thanks to Aleks for providing beers and doing majority of the rowing, along with Ufuk and Jess! My rowing effort was pathetic despite my big guns… 😉
Central Park row boats and beers!
Secret sky messages from God. Or #Smartcrew
I should not have exclaimed loudly about my name on these bad souvenirs… the guy wanted to sell me 5. He should at least keep the time in line with Grand Central Station Clock!
Death by Junior’s…. Rubens and egg creams
So then it was my last day and night in this magical city. Did some last minute shopping (bad idea Lisa) with Jess and last minute eating… Ruben food comas don’t go well with shopping at Macy’s! Do not get egg creams. Milk and Seltzer (soda) do not mix well.
On top of the world! Well the Strand at least! Beautiful ladies!
I wanna say a HUGE thank you to the wonderful Jess, lovely Sarah and spectacular Aleks for waiting patiently as I attempted to send 8kgs of junk back to Australia… $130 and 1.5 hours later – beers and burgers! Seriously, you guys are fucking legends! My stuff arrived safely in Wollongong a week later FYI. Thank GOD.
(Great presents for Xmas friends and family!)
Time Square after midnight! Aleks, Sarah, Jess and I after too many cocktails at The Strand.
So the fun part of travelling. Making awesome quick friendships with complete strangers. (Makes me think of the song ‘Fast Friends’ by Paul Dempsey!) Some people you see again, others will be just part of the wonderful memories made.
All in all, Chelsea International Hostel crew.. CIH for short (just made that up, go me!) CIHeers…. all the best for your adventures in travel and life – I will be seeing some of you in Europe! Here’s looking at you Ufuk, Val, Felix!
So that’s the end to my NYC adventure… I will be back. Maybe sooner then expected 😉 hehehe
Lise
x