Around the world in August and September 2011

Whilst on my latest travel adventure I will endeavour to keep a visual and written record of what I'm up to by posting daily - including three photos taken (roughly) at morning, noon and night!

Thursday 3 November 2011

Canada in three - part one, Vancouver

I arrived into Vancouver late on a Friday night and was met at the airport by then locals Allison and Nick as well as Kirsten who was fresh off the plane from Calgary. 

Nick and Alli were our hosts and we made the most of the stunning weather visiting Granville Island, walking along the beach, the aquarium and cycling around Stanley Park. Vancouver really is a very beautiful city. The park is amazing as is the water and the backdrop of mountains. Kirsten, Megan and I completed the Grouse Grind (more details with the photo) up in said mountains one morning....let us just say it was challenging.

I returned to Vancouver for one night on my way home after Alli and Nick had already left to go home to Australia. It was grey and rainy and I saw a different, more urban side to the city. I ate AMAZING tacos and one of the famous 'Japadog's' which are hotdogs with Japanese toppings. The seaweed flakes went surprisingly well!

Rollerblading - Still cool in Canada!
A beluga whale at the aquarium. Sadly the baby beluga Tiqa died 5 days after we were there. Pneumonia apparently.
Vancouver aquarium jellyfish

Stanley park bike trip

The Grouse (or gross in Kirsten's words) Grind is a steep trail that climbs 853 m (2,800 ft) over a distance of 2.9 km (1.8 mi), with an average grade of 17 degrees (or 31%) and short sections of up to 30 degrees. The trail, nicknamed "Mother Nature's Stairmaster", is notoriously grueling due to its steepness and mountainous terrain.

No Japadog, No Life! The slogan is a little extreme BUT I did find my beef terimayo hotdog delicious and I don't even like hotdogs!

Thursday 20 October 2011

New York Round Up

Morning
My last few hours in New York were spent taking photos in the Meat Packing District, before having a lobster sandwich at the Chelsea Market. I shared a table with an elderly man from Florida we talked about seafood and his family.

Here are a few of the photos.





Fashion Week bikes painted by different designers and available for the public to borrow

Eccentric much?


The Standard Hotel. The sculpture was a temporary installation.

Friday 7 October 2011

I want to be a part of it


Morning



Hang on a minute surely these aren't pictures of cosmopolitan, hip, happening, modern New York city but medieval provincial France? Actually it is both. The Cloisters is a branch of the Metropolitan Mueseum specialising in art, altars and architecture from Medieval times (another credit goes to Craig for this one). Located in a park at the very northern tip of Manhattan it is a peaceful world away from Broadway and Fifth Avenue and felt like I had travelled to a new country (once I had emerged from the filthy subway). The building itself is actually made up of parts of chapels, cloisters etc recovered from Europe. I particularly liked the old style vegie garden complete with apple and quince trees.

Noon



The new building that is in construction on the site of the world trade centre has apparently, after a long time getting going, been going up quite quickly. This photo is of where it is at now, a couple of days before the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.



In a move respected by tight dads everywhere I chose to take a closer look at the Statue of Liberty from the FREE ferry to Staten Island. Time didn't permit a look around the island and I had to hop straight back on the ferry returning to Manhattan. I decided the most curious person on this ferry was a man dressed in a tuxedo drinking a can of Fosters. It wasn't so much the 'why a tuxedo' but 'why on earth a Fosters?'.

Night

 
Free chips make for lean model figures!

Obviously eyes only for me!


The eve of the official start of New York fashion week is Fashion's Night Out, an event that sees retailers at various locations open late and basically just put on parties. As I was staying very near the Meat Packing District, Julian met me there and we wandered around people watching and soaking up the carnival vibe. Hearing music from a live band playing outside a shop, Julian realised it was none other than Melbourne band Miami Horror who he had tickets to see that weekend.

It's true what they say about New York, something is always happening and there is a surprise around every corner. I think I'm a little bit in love. Now to work out how New York and I can spend more time together....

Bar/restaurant the Spotted Pig was the perfect end to a great day, although busy the wait was justified with great food and atmosphere (the company was pretty good too, thanks Jules for the New York eat fest).

Thursday 6 October 2011

I can't believe it's not butter (or chicken, or spare ribs...)


Morning
The continuing rain not only made my morning run on the high line eerily peaceful but also served to take the 'must see as much as I can in the time I have, rush, rush etc' pressure off my time in New York and relax into a more holiday-esque attitude.

Did I say relax? Oops probably shouldn't have stopped by at the last day of the Barney's warehouse sale to fight with other shoppers trawling racks of sad and sale weary designer clothing. The security guard on my way out couldn't believe I didn't find anything I wanted to buy.
 


I took this photo of diverse varieties of tomatoes at the Union Square farmers market which had a great array of fresh produce (if only I had somewhere to cook it!)


Noon

 

Hey look I took a totally original picture of the Brooklyn Bridge! Ha! Well at least it is the first picture like this taken by me as I walked over it in the rain. The light misty rain meant I didn't get much of a view back to Manhattan but upped it's gothic charm.

Once over in Brooklyn I met Julian for another eating session. This time panelles (to be said in an American/Italian accent) at a third generation Southern Italian restaurant. Afterward we shopped (more successfully for me than the mornings efforts) at the renowned vintage store Beacon's Closet.
 

Shingle house in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY


Night
Williamsburg is an area of Brooklyn that has enough cafes, bars, hipsters and fixies that surely it is the Fitzroy (Melbourne's) of New York. On the recommendation of a friend I met Craig for dinner at Japanese tapas restaurant Bozu for sushi 'bombs' and this nearly too pretty to eat ceviche, washed down with sake.
 



Although not at all hungry, Craig wanted me to try the food across the street at Foodswings a vegan place that specialises in making dishes that taste like animals but aren't. Part of the appeal (amazement, fear, curiosity...) is trying to work out what the food could possibly be made of to make a 'chicken' drumstick so realisitic that bits get stuck in your teeth. The wooden stick 'bone' however wasn't fooling anyone. Cheers Craig for your New York recommendations and of course your company!

Tuesday 4 October 2011

I'll have what she's having....

Morning
It rained pretty much all day, often very heavily. Being a tourist and taking 
photos are not easy tasks in such downpours, luckily I was ready to take the 
rubber-necking down a notch and stay inside and eat.
 
Noon 


I'm not sure if it was the movie-famous location (Meg Ryan's famous scene in When 
Harry Met Sally) or that Craig said the food was as close to his Grandmother's home 
cooking (although the sandwiches aren't as big as they used to be!) that led Julian 
and I to meet for lunch at Katz's Deli, but I swear it wasn't the giant gherkins as 
I didn't find out about these until we got there.
 
After getting a grasp on the ticket/queue/ordering system we decided on half sandwiche 
(me corned beef, he pastrami) and matzo ball soup with sides of pickles and chips. 
We didn't get to sit at Meg's famous table but happily whiled away a couple hours 
catching up and working through layers and layers of meat (high meat to bread ratio) 
before deciding we needed to complete the feast with ice cream sundaes (in truth we 
probably didn't, have I mentioned how fat I'm getting?)
 
Night 
 
 
Still raining and wearing black to conceal how wet I was, I met a friend who I studied 
with at university who now lives in New York. A pre-dinner cocktail and a meal at a 
neighborhood restaurant (she lives close to the hotel where I was staying), made for a 
chilled night and a taste of what it might be like to live in this city.

Friday 23 September 2011

Times Square - not for epileptics

Morning

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Ever want to experience extreme visual overload? Crowd rage? A feeling that perhaps flashing lit up signs will not advance humanity? Come to Times Square for all this and much, much, more!

My morning began much more sedately than the extreme screaming advertising of Times Square, I went for a run in Central Park followed by the best bagel I have ever eaten from Murray's Bagels, both simple yet pleasing activities.

Noon
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Whether I was still a little overstimulated after Times Square I'm not sure but I felt the need to take in the MoMA at a leisurely pace which i ensured by a glass of wine with lunch from the fifth floor restaurant. As you can see from the photographs, I was also drawn to a big, calm, white, billowy curtain. Sometimes less is definitely more.




Night



Three days walking around this city have taken their toll and the night was spent nursing my blisters and taking it easy. The photo was taken on my way back to the hotel - a subway entrance, steam and my favourite building in the background (Chrysler Building).

Thursday 22 September 2011

Tourist overdrive

Morning

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I was seriously considering a breakfast margherita when perusing the brunch menu at The Rocking Horse Cafe in Chelsea. I see it as complete prejudice that the waiter offered me orange juice instead just because I was on my own. I forgave him though as I chomped my way through his recommendation of pancakes with peaches, plums, apple smoked bacon and spicy maple syrup. Afterward I checked out the exterior of the Chelsea Hotel, it is currently closed thwarting any plans I had to stay there and live a life of art, music and excess.

Noon

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On Craig's recommendation I went to check out Grand Central Station and encountered a movie set across the road, not sure what the film was but I'm guessing the genre is action judging by the pile up of wrecked cars, bricks and smoke.

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Another recommendation was that if I felt the need to view NY from atop a really tall building, to make it the Rockafeller Centre rather than the Empire State Building. As well as the view, on my 'top of the Rock' tour I encountered perhaps the least genuine customer service I have ever experienced, I think maybe one gets tired of saying "welcome to the 67th  floor" and "thank you for visiting top of the rock" by 15 minutes into their shift. The man ushering tourists into the elevator sounded aggressive when asking people if they'd enjoyed their experience, or maybe it was just an example of the famous brashness of New Yorkers?

After viewing Central Park from above I got amongst it and can only agree that it is an amazing asset for the city. Resting on a park bench, I witnessed a group of about a dozen polish guys randomly breaking into dance as they walked along with a boom box playing polish hip hop, they may have been making an amateur music video but I like to think of it as an expression of the anything goes attitude of this city.

Night

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I will take this opportunity to express how revolting the New York subway is. In London the only time I look forward to riding the underground is when it is cold outside. In New York with its oppressive heat and humidity above ground the subway is even more muggy and dank (Julian describes it as going on a tropical holiday), although at least the trains themselves are air-conditioned. I watched a rat go through garbage on the tracks. After some time he chose a drinking straw as his prize although his choice of object was numerous.

Night image 2

On this evening I took the subway to the East Village to meet my Australian friend Juilan and watch Craig and Tom,(I had also met Tom years earlier in Cork) play at bar 2A. A taco from a street van and a ride home in a yellow taxi completed the day's NY experiences. I was a little disappointed that the taxi was a small SUV rather than a traditional preposterously long sedan but at least it wasn't a Prius (not fuel guzzling enough) of which there are some around.

Saturday 10 September 2011

New York - An introduction to dirty money, pretty parks and pizza Vanilla Ice style

Morning
A run south along the river was my first real introduction to the borough of Manhattan (there are after all four other distinct areas that make up New York as a city). Everything was where it should be, the statue of liberty standing out on her island, her appearance offering no element of surprise due to my saturation of NY film and television. The diversity of the small riverside parks I passed through I found surprising as well as the intense humidity in the air.

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With two stages complete and new sections still to come, the highline is a great example of how things can be done differently. A disused above street level railway previously used to transport goods from the ports on the river, a handful of individuals fought to save the structure from demolition and turn it into a narrow park set above the street. It is very cool and New Yorkers are embracing it as their own garden, the plantings are such that as the seasons change so does the high line. I also checked out the Chelsea Market, more of a place to go for a meal than fresh produce it is in another well preserved/thoughtfully renovated old building.

Noon

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Call me a restaurant/chef groupie (I am proudly so) I had my third meal in a restaurant that has at least one published cookbook - the Momofuku Ssam Bar (pork buns = yum!) then walked off the gluttonous feast watching break dancers in Washington Square and admiring the weird and wonderful that make up the city, including this guy dressed as a Venetian (mask included) on stilts who was just walking down the street talking to his friend. With a wallet already full of filthy one dollar bills and feet sore from pounding the pavement, I'm getting into the swing of this big vibrant city.

Night

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A real New Yorker! Well not for life but a real American and resident of Brooklyn for twelve years, Craig, a musician I met in Ireland a couple of years ago took me down Greenwich Village's famous Bleecker Street for pizza at one of the top five contenders for NY's best pizza places - John's Pizza. He showed me how to eat gigantic slices with one hand, a skill I didn't know I needed but am now glad I have. Amongst the pictures of celebrities on the wall was Vanilla Ice, if it's good enough for him then it's good enough for me!

Craig took me for a tour through Soho and Little Italy where things were shut or very quiet, it seems the city does sleep sometimes or more likely everyone was out of town (last gasp of summer in the Hamptons) for the Labour Day holiday weekend. My host was very apologetic and seemed somewhat embarrassed about the lack of action, like it is a local's responsibility to make sure that NY is happening 24/7 for visitors. I was just happy for a quieter introduction, I am a small town girl after all.

Friday 9 September 2011

Continental shift

Morning

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At this point in my trip I must say I am getting confused and once again weary of the moving on. Where do I live? How is that Ireland can still feel like a home even though I don't know when I'll be back? When will I see these people again? Will I see them again? Wouldn't it have been easier if I'd never gone travelling and everyone I knew was within an easy drive of where I grew up?

Anyway enough of the questions and emotional rant, farewell green place, I'll be thinking of you when I'm back in the red place (to my amazement it barely rained whilst I was in Ireland, that's four consecutive dry days!).

Noon
I think I've developed an 'autopilot' or 'flight' mode. I took two flights one from Cork to London and then a connection to New York yet I remember nothing about who sat next to me on the flights, whether I slept or not, watched films or ate the food. It is probably for the best, I am eight flights down, still six to go....

Night
Impressed that you can see that famous Manhattan skyline from JFK airport I caught the subway (not the underground or tube now I'm on this side of the pond) to my digs in the very west of the West Village. If you want to get very specific it could also be called the Lower Meatpacking District or Upper Greenwich Village so little is the distance between these defined areas. Right on the Hudson River the Jane Hotel was built to accommodate sailors whilst ashore, I thought that when on dry land they would prefer rooms that were a little less cabin-like but hey the single bed and petite proportions suited me perfectly! The hotel housed survivors from the Titanic and has a quirky mix of taxidermied animals in the foyer and hotel bar and rich marble and brass fittings throughout. I love it!

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Wednesday 7 September 2011

Oh my! What good english you have?

Morning

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Taking Raleigh for her longest cruise yet, I headed to The Mahon Point Farmers Market where I used to work, to catch up with my ex employer and see if any of the rest of the stall holders remembered me. 

Noon

I went to see a doctor for a minor health query/check/put my mind at ease appointment (which you may hear about further later in this blog). The appointment was very quick and I said to the receptionist on the way out that I might just be their briefest patient on record (or not actually on record as she hadn't entered my details in yet), explaining that I didn't live in Cork but was just visiting friends from when I did live in Ireland two years previous. She commented "well yes you have very good English", which I let slide. She then asked which country I was from originally and when I replied "Australia" the poor woman looked most embarrassed. A classic case of the trouble being an exotic name imposter brings me.

Night

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"A pint is it? Well sure I'll just have the one."

I cannot drink Murphy's stout in many other places around the world so it was paramount that I 'maketh hay whilst the sun shineth'. Also when/where else could I see the band The Trans Fatty Acids play? Young skinny guys without haircuts at their best!

Tuesday 6 September 2011

Yellow, cake, love

Morning

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Whilst in Cork I am staying with Shane and Jerry (part staffy, part seal) up on a steep hill on the edge of town. A couple of days before I arrived Shane had an unfortunate accident. While cycling with a hangover and distracted by removing his shorts from his most secret spot, he crashed breaking his collarbone and grazing his forehead. The upside in coordination terms are his yellow bruised shoulder now matches his yellow bike, also he has been able to get back in good 'couch sitting' form. He kept apologising for being Ireland's most boring host but I very much enjoyed his company AND he cooked me potatoes.

Noon

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My friend Marianne has had a very busy couple of years and was busy printing work for a show in Austria. She is a print artist and had recently been commissioned to produce artwork for a window display at Brown Thomas (Ireland's premier department store).

Noon image 2

I had been very disappointed on my first visit to Charlie's Bar that, standing in my usual place up the back near the men's toilets I couldn't smell the familiar odour of urinal cake. When stopping in for a couple of cheeky afternoon ciders Eimear was kind enough to let me get my fix and even restocked the gents so when I returned later that night it was all pine-o-lemon fresh to cut through the smell of stout flatulence and stale urine.

Night

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This photo I title 'Young love in an Irish night club'. You may assume that there was kissing and fondling taking place that was unable to be captured in the photograph, you would assume wrong! They were simply sitting motionless holding on to each other - true love or one too many?

Fiddle dee dee potatoes (& artichokes, kale, broad beans...)

Morning

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I found it quite difficult to leave the house, the circles I moved in when I lived in Cork never were known for being early risers. Eventually I did get going, pedalling in on the gorgeous bike that Shane had for me.

Noon

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Dropping in on the crew in Crowley's Music centre and visiting the Old English Market were highlights of the afternoon as was a run along the river Lee into the countryside. Unfortunately I spent way too much time wandering around Patrick St, the main shopping area, which does not show off the best of Irish culture.

Night

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When I lived in Cork i worked at a renowned vegetarian restaurant called Cafe Paradiso the food was always great and returning with my friend Mary for yet another three course meal was no exception. For food nerds out there I had black kale ravioli, stuffed artichokes and we shared a great chocolate mousse and THE BEST custard ever (flavoured ever so subtly with rosemary). Seriously an absolute sensation.

Saturday 3 September 2011

Goodbye London, hello Cork

Morning
My final morning in London was spent having breakfast with Meika at a cafe at the end of the street. It feels so much like I've settled in during my two stints in London that it doesn't sink in that once I leave I don't know when I'll be back.

Noon
Oh how times have changed! After searching for how I could travel to Heathrow Airport via public transport and being told by the TFL (transport for London) website that it would involve overground trains, a bus and underground trains, meaning A LOT of lugging of my luggage (although it seems this is what it was meant for and I AM getting quite good at it), I took a taxi. A fitting end to my non-povo trip to London.

Night
I must say that on the plane to Cork (Ireland) it was really sinking in just how much travel I am fitting in to this six weeks and how being on the plane is a necessary step to mentally prepare for the next leg. I was also nervous about returning to Cork, when I'd left two years before, it was under emotional circumstances.




Expecting everything to be just the same I went to my favorite pub where the same two musicians have played every Monday night for years, only this Monday they were playing a wedding instead. At least the Murphys was still good, I got along with my ex boyfriend's girlfriend and Aaron still eats biscuits (although he used to wash them down with tea rather than cider).

Friday 2 September 2011

Farm talk, Bbqs...have I gone home?

So I've just arrived in New York and feeling quite overwhelmed with how much there is to see and I have only walked from the subway to my hotel and not only have I not blogged at all about Ireland, I haven't even finished with London! So before I collapse into bed after a long day travelling I will at least do one!

Morning


The cycle of breakfast/lunch/drinks/dinner dates continued on Sunday, meeting Amy Norris and her parents for an early lunch. They are from the same town that I grew up in and had been travelling around rural England (Amy is living in London her parents were visiting), at least they'd been trying to, mostly what they saw were motorways and the back of other cars. We laughed at the size of British farms and their punitive machinery (but at least they can actually grow stuff).

Noon


Even though I intended on avoiding all London tourist traps I did have a small wander through Covent Garden and found this fun graffiti in Neals Yard. I didn't have the stamina or patience for Notting Hill Carnival.

Night



My last English pints (as practice for Irish ones) were had with Tara who I used to work with at a camping shop in Soho. See I do know and visit real actual people who grew up in England, just not many. We ended up back at her house to cash in on the BBQ her housemate was having, much better than the one I went to at her house four years ago during which everyone huddled under some tarpaulin strung between two trees that sagged with water from torrential rain.

Tuesday 30 August 2011

A balls (and blocks) up

Morning
I seem to be slightly losing control over the whole calories in must equal calories out equation but a long hard run this morning should help even things up a little.

Noon

That was until I was exposed to the culinary delights at Borough Market, London's premier artisan food destination whilst meeting my friend Chris for lunch. Amongst my purchases was a 'fig block' from Croatia which consisted of dried fig with some herbs and lemon zest (at the stall I mistakenly read their sign as 'fig balls and bollocks', when it actually said balls and blocks).

Night


Is there an anymore confusing pedestrian crossing in london for drivers than the one outside Abbey Road Studios, where tourists congregate on the footpath waiting for their moment to recreate that Beatles album cover? Leah and her boyfriend live right around the corner and I made my way to their house for dinner, the only person on the street to cross at the other crossing (I actually think neither of them are the one in the iconic photograph).

This blog doesn't write itself

Morning
Packing, driving, airport rigmarole on minimal sleep, fun times.

Noon
"This is your captain speaking, we are now beginning our descent into Gatwick where the temperature is currently 15 degrees with a light mist." Hmmm can you turn around and go back to Spain please? We were not greeted with the nicest of summer days but I guess it was nice that the holiday within the holiday was concluded in the same way as it started, walking with luggage from the station in the rain.

Night

Like a naughty kid behind on their homework, I spent much of the rest of the rainy day on the couch working on what I'd been putting off - this blog. That makes it sound like I find it a chore, please understand it is not, that I am writing this first and foremost for my own entertainment, an opportunity to record the experience of travel and life away from day to day routine.

Back on top with a better bottom

Morning

Take off those toning shoes, step off the stair master, purchase these pants (in a choice of colours) from San Pedro markets and instantly improve your rear assets! Note. Does not come with cellulite free thighs.

Noon

Hitting the beach for one last time I was quite impressed with my progress reading the lengthy novel Anna Karenina. That is until Susan asked me where I was up to and I told her that Anna had just told her husband of her affair with Vronsky. She said that was where you said you were up to yesterday. Turns out I'd spent the afternoon reading 70 odd pages on the intricacies of Russian farming in the 1870's. Tolstoy - I'm sure he gets there in the end!

Night

When in Rome...ok so we weren't in Rome but as Marbella is a party hotspot we thought we'd embrace this culture on our last night and booked a table for dinner at the Nikki Beach Club. Delicious food - tick, camp waiter sashaying in culottes - tick, Kid Creole & the Coconuts entertaining the crowd with tropical tunes & back up dancers - tick, mum dancing - tick, DJ set by Sophie Ellis-Baxter and her husband - tick, going to bed only 3.5 hours before having to get up, pack, clean, drive, catch a flight - tick.