Day 21-23 (21-23/12/09) Toronto --> New York City (These streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you)

We flew into NYC the day after a two-day blizzard had covered most of the east coast in more than two feet of snow. Luckily we had missed the worst of it, so we arrived to a more serene New York; one blanketed in a thick layer of snow that covered just about every building, tree and street-parked car.


It took us a couple of hours to get from JFK to our hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn (Chelsea). The hotel room was much bigger than we had expected; having heard horror stories about NYC hotel rooms (stories involving words like "can't", "swing" and "cat") we were pleasantly surprised.

Being only two stops from Times Square was very convenient. We caught the subway up that afternoon to look around and pick up some show tickets. The TKTS booth in Times Square is a great place to score same-day tickets to on and off-Broadway shows at a fraction of the price. Although lining up in the cold for 20 minutes with every other tourist was not the best, we wound up with tickets to Avenue Q at 40% off their original price.


The show was a lot of fun: completely irreverent and outrageous in parts, but ultimately leaving you with a warm, "fuzzy" feeling. Without giving a synopsis, if you can imagine the bastard child of Sesame Street and South Park, you probably have a fairly good image of Avenue Q in your mind. And I know it's currently showing in Perth too, so if anyone back home gets a chance to see it you must!

After the show we indulged in overpriced slices of pizza in Times Square, then vowed never to return. It's difficult for me to see the allure of a place like that after a while. The lights are so intense, even at the street level, that they cast an unnatural blue glow over the area. It's not a natural light, but it doesn't feel like nighttime either.


Tuesday morning saw us head north again to Rockefeller Center, this time to visit the NBC studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza ("30 Rock") and take in the views from the Top of the Rock Observation Deck.

We shopped around at the NBC Experience Store, then took the one-hour studio tour that allows you on to various sets (including the Saturday Night Live and Football Night in America sets). I also got to read the weather in front of a green screen (and the rest of my tour group) at one of their news rooms, which was a whole lot of fun. Afterward I paid a ridiculous price for the DVD of said recording, but the show pony in me would not have left without it!

Top of the Rock provided beautiful views out over Central Park, the Empire State Building and other famous landmarks in Manhattan.


We hung around Rockefeller Plaza a little longer, watching the skaters on the rink, taking in the famous Christmas tree (with Swarovski crystal star atop) and pointing out every sculpture we recognised from one of our favourite NBC shows, 30 Rock.


After that we wandered along 5th Avenue to do some "shopping": which involved me walking through Saks 5th Avenue with my eyes popping out and then settling for H&M over the road.


We had tickets for the NY Knicks v Chicago Bulls basketball match that night. We had originally planned to go with Justin Tadros, but when he missed his flight in to NYC we ended up getting in touch with Jack Price, who is in New York visiting his fiancee. Jack met us at our hotel and we all had some beers before walking to Madison Square Garden. Whilst the two teams are not the greatest at the moment, the game was still awesome. I was happy to get into the screams of "Deeeeeee-FENCE!" and "Let's go Knicks!" - perhaps to the boys' embarrassment.

We saw a few fellow Aussies at the game too: Gin and Jacob, who we ran into during half-time, and Hugh Jackman - whom we spotted from afar. A few other celebrities were at the game, including Dustin Hoffman and John McEnroe.

The Knicks were leading by a decent margin for most of the game, then the Bulls suddenly caught up, leaving us ahead by only one point with 22 seconds left on the clock. It was intense, but the Knicks wound up on top, and everyone went home happy.


By the time we left MSG, Justin and Maddy had arrived. They, along with Jack's fiancee (Francesca) met us back at ours. The six of us then went to a great little shisha bar in the East Village. We stayed there until close, the boys consuming a lot of beer in the process.



Nik and I headed back around 3am, hoping it would still leave us with enough time to sleep and be up early the next morning.

We were wrong. Wednesday saw us rising from bed only at midday, after which we went to the New York University campus so that Nik could suss it out and I could pretend I was on Gossip Girl.



After NYU we caught the subway uptown again to the Guggenheim, where we saw the fantastic Kandinsky exhibit amongst other wonderful works of art.

That evening we met up with Justin and Maddy, and the four of us went to Broadway to see David Mamet's latest play, Race. James Spader and Kerry Washington were in the two lead roles, and both were excellent. What I was most impressed with was the sharpness of the script. It was witty and relevant, and Spader's delivery was equally snappy without detracting from the intensity of some of the scenes. Given the subject matter I will not detail the play here, but please read this article Mamet himself wrote on the play and the subject of race itself.

We wandered south of Times Square for dinner, and found ourselves at the West Bank Cafe, supposedly a New York institution. I was very happy with my food; in particular, the wild mushroom risotto balls with parmesan cheese and truffle aioli. I am sure the food buffs out there will appreciate that one.

Wine, food, conversation with friends...and it was another late night for us. But it is not everyday that one finds themselves in the city that never sleeps.