I’ve got a couple of days off and have nothing planned apart from making the most of New York activities. Today I finally fulfilled my months-long aim of going to the Met; it’s somewhere I’d avoid completely at weekends. And even first thing on a Friday morning, the place was heaving. I made the trip …
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July 20, 2013
…saw Chicago from the water
When I’ve asked both Chicago natives and Chicago fans what’s the one thing I should do when I’m in the city, they’ve unanimously said the Architecture River Cruise. So today I took their advice. The open-topped boat tour leaves from the Magnificent Mile and, for 90 minutes, travels along the Y shape of the Chicago River. A …
Read MoreJuly 19, 2013
…saw Chicago from the sky
Today I popped to Chicago, where Bree is getting married tomorrow. After a delicious rehearsal dinner at Viand, I dodged the rain and skipped to the John Hancock Center to give the city a good look. I’ve only been to Chicago once before – for 4th July about five years ago – but I always include …
Read MoreJuly 13, 2013
…rode a vintage tractor
Yesterday’s trip to the Bluebell Railway clearly didn’t satisfy our need for old-fashioned Britain. Today Dyl, Mel and I headed to the South of England Showground in Ardingly for a Vintage Vehicle Show. This is another example of me finally making the most of the things on my doorstep. I went to high school in …
Read MoreJuly 9, 2013
…saw a Monkey at the Lincoln Center
The Lincoln Center has entertained me with a couple of brilliant evenings of classical music this year – the New York Ballet, the Philharmonic Orchestra. But tonight it showed me something very different: Singing monkeys, dancing pigs and starfish suspended from the ceiling. I headed to the David H. Koch Theater to watch the hotly …
Read MoreJune 21, 2013
…trekked to graffiti Mecca
Tonight after work, I jumped on the E train and, to my surprise, was in Long Island City only 25 minutes later. It was my first trip out there and worth it to see one of New York’s hidden gems: 5 Pointz. 5 Pointz – a nod to the five boroughs – is known as ‘graffiti Mecca’ …
Read MoreJune 17, 2013
…groped the Naked Cowboy
Forget the Empire State and the Statue of Liberty, a real New York sight to behold is the Naked Cowboy. This semi-clad stalwart of Times Square is a tourist favourite and yet I’d never before clasped my eyes on his instrument (he plays the guitar). His real name is Robert John Burck and he’s been doing this gig since …
Read MoreJune 2, 2013
…dodged zombies in Williamsburg
Instead of the bespectacled, bearded arty types that usually swarm the streets of Williamsburg, this afternoon there was a different kind of clone: Scores of bleeding, mangled zombies taking part in the Annual Zombie Crawl. Haha, I love New York. After getting help from make-up artists at the Knitting Factory, the zombies took to the streets with …
Read MoreMay 26, 2013
…visited the Whitney Museum (and Edward Hopper’s house)
For many of these new things, I feel like I’m in a rush. But this morning when I woke up groggy from last night’s karaoke fest, I had a glorious realisation: For the first time in many months, I had nothing to do and nowhere to be. It meant that when I scooted up to the …
Read MoreMay 10, 2013
…saw the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere
Today One World Trade Center was fitted with its spire, making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at a ridiculous 1,776 feet – an allusion to the year the US signed the Declaration of Independence. I was looking through pictures at work this morning and felt inspired to go and have a peek myself. …
Read MoreMay 5, 2013
…rode the Cyclone at Coney Island
New York boasts hundreds of national landmarks – but I never expected to find one among gaudy rides and neon prizes at an amusement park. Today Noah and I jumped on a train to Coney Island, where we headed to the Cyclone, a huge, rickety rollercoaster that was erected in 1927 – and which has landmark …
Read MoreApril 19, 2013
…visited Roosevelt Island
Today I spent a couple of hours on Roosevelt Island – a two-mile-long strip of land in the East River between Manhattan and Queens – and I don’t get it. Embarrassingly, I didn’t even know it existed until about two months ago, when I met a guy at a party who worked as a teacher on …
Read MoreMarch 31, 2013
…made Cadbury’s creme eggs
I don’t want to over-egg the Easter puns, but today was an eggstravaganza. One festive activity was making treats that nearly resembled Cadbury’s creme eggs with my friend Meghan (‘Megghan’). As devotees of Buzzfeed, we’d come across this cracker of a recipe a couple of weeks ago and decided to give it a go. It involved …
Read MoreFebruary 17, 2013
…watched the Chinese New Year Parade
Events celebrating Chinese New Year have been held across New York for a week now (including my dim sum making last Sunday), but today they reached a dramatic, colourful conclusion with the parade. The event was very nearly right on my doorstep. Furry dragons, sequined snakes and lantern-adorned floats left Chinatown, bobbed along Mott Street (parallel to …
Read MoreFebruary 12, 2013
…went to Westminster Kennel Club dog show
Another day, another bizarre activity. Tonight it was entering the surprisingly exhilarating world of dog shows. I headed to Madison Square Garden to watch the second and final night of the annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show, and I was immediately sucked in. For three hours, I joined the rest of the crowd in gasping …
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