...and back to New York

Back in NYC for dinner with Jem.

We (sadly) woke to our last day in New Orleans.  We ended up going for a last walk around the French Quarter and breakfast in a local café opposite Café du Monde, before going for a walk along the Mississippi.  New Orleans certainly hasn’t disappointed – we have had a fabulous time here and there have been many amazing things;

-        The always friendly and polite people of New Orleans that seem to have a constant smile on their faces.  We were amazed that you might be stopped in the street just because someone wanted to say hello and “how y’all doin’ today?”.

-        The unique and vibrant food that was bursting with flavor and was something quite unlike anything we had tasted elsewhere in the world.

-        The vibrant history of the town and the state, that fused so many cultures and ways of life into the melting pot that has become synonymous with New Orleans.

-        THE MUSIC!  It truly is the place to come and hear Jazz  It is everywhere…. Every busker on every street corner, every bar at some time of the day, and the established jazz halls…. The place was full of it – and we only feel like we scratched the surface in our week here.

And there was much more.  It certainly was an experience

After spending our last morning on the streets of New Orleans, we headed to the airport for the flight back to New York.  12 degrees when we landed….!  So quite a bit cooler than the Big Easy.  After a painful cab ride in the peak hour traffic of NYC, we caught up with Jem and Ian in our hotel….. upgraded to a suite, which would be bigger than most New York apartments! 

While Ian had to go off to his show, Jem stayed with us for dinner on 2^nd Avenue – walking distance from our hotel.  Although we missed New Orleans, it was good to be back in the Big Apple again for a couple of days, before the long trip home.

Kellie at Astoria Park (with the almost Harbour Bridge in the background).

We woke this morning to some considerably chillier weather in the Big Apple… 8 degrees at 7am!  Once we were out and walking around, the we noticed the wind, which felt like it was going straight through everything we had on.  We walked north up to 59^th Street to catch the train up to Astoria to see Jem and Ians apartment and to have brunch with Ian (Jem had a singing student that he had to teach in at Manhattan mid morning).  We went to a local café near Jem and Ian called the Thirsty Koala, owned by an Australian and with plenty of Aussie (sounding) dishes and paintings of Bondi Beach on the walls.

Ian then had to leave to go to work, and we walked down to Astoria Park on the East River to look at the view and have a walk while we waited for Jem to return from work – the wind was fierce, and we ended up being two ice cubes by the end of the walk!  Along the park was a view of a railway bridge, which looked remarkably like the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  When we caught up with Jem, we walked back to his apartment for a cup of tea, before heading off to Jackson Heights on the train.

Jackson Heights is the area that Jem and Ian are most likely to get a new apartment once their current apartment in Astoria sells.  It is a great district with lots of great amenities, restaurants and tree lined streets (although most of them had lost their leaves at this time of the year).  The subway line is excellent too – as the line (express) we took back to Manhattan was only a 12 minute ride.

After we had a relax and catch up with Jem in our hotel room, we took the subway down to the East Village to catch up with Joff & Des Pearce at their place for dinner with Sara Grace as well.  As luck would have it we were still going when  we got a text from Ian to say his show had finished, so he was able to join us for desert.  It was a great night and an excellent chance to catch up with friends.  We then caught the subway home a few stops to our hotel and crashed.

The iconic Empirre State Building.

We woke early this morning to catch a subway down to the Empire State Building to try and beat the queues.  It was a great time to get there as there wasn’t a lot of people and the skies were clear and bright – so we could see for miles.  The building is very impressive and beautiful with its Art Deco design – a truly iconic building.

On our walk back to the hotel to meet up with Jem and Ian, we stopped off to see the half-decorated Christmas Tree at the Rockerfeller Center… the Ice Rink was in full swing though, with lots of children enjoying the fun.  The four of us then headed down to Soho for our last brunch with Jem and Ian in NYC before having a walk around Soho and looking at the cobble-stone streets (and keeping out of the way of the film crew that was blocking off a few of the streets!).  We then caught the train up to Grand Central Station for a quick look before saying goodbye to Ian, who had to go to work at the Theatre.  Jem, Kellie and Tim then went up to near the top of the park to see the Guggenheim and walk through Central Park one more time – it had changed even since one week ago, with the trees nearly all bare and ready for winter.

We then caught the train back to the hotel (dropping Jem off at one of the stations on the way) before making our way out to JFK Airport for the long journey home.  This blog is being finished while we are waiting in the lounge for our flight home. 

It has been a great holiday experience, but we are also looking forward to get home.  See you all soon!