New York Day 4

On Saturday we took AmTrack train to Hudson to meet up with Miles's cousin Louisa and her family.



The family pooch.



A dress designer/maker friend's shop.



We had a drink in a place ("The Spotty Dog") that was a combination of a bar...



a bookshop...



...and an art supply shop. Killer combination in my world!



Last photo in Hudson (of Hudson lighthouse in the middle of Hudson river) just before we hopped on the train back to NYC.



Once we got back to New York...






...after a quick sneaky drink...



...in a bar (Bar 89) that had a Christmas tree made out of dollar bills...



...we headed for Greene Street where we saw Philip Glass (amongst other brilliant people)...



...in Roulette.



One of the other impressive performers was Shelley Hirsch (with Christian Marclay). Absolutely fantastically amusingly crazy, extremely talented woman. I'm glad Miles has introduced me to this madness.

New York Day 3

On Friday, after a very nice brunch, of course, we headed to the financial district.






On Wall Street, to be successful, you have to harden your soul. This one must be top notch man - he is more or less petrified all over.






Even the squirrels are tough there. This one was just about to deliver a Kung Fu manoeuvre on me, but I managed to get out of its way before it killed me.



Bloomberg building. Only slightly more surreal through the fisheye lens.






Skating in Central Park.



Naturally, I fell in love with the trees in Central Park.









I didn't make the effort to take a proper photo of the steaming New York streets... this is the only shot I've got.



For our evening entertainment we went to Greenwich Village and stumbled upon Terra Blues where I have been before a few years ago. Was a terrific gig.



I don't usually like guitarists, but this guy was fantastic. I wish I could remember his name. I'll update if I manage to find out who he is. UPDATE: Michael Powers!

New York Day 2

This story starts from day 2 because we didn't do much on day 1 apart from queueing to be chit-chatted to and finger printed by incompetent, half-witted officers at the JFK airport. Honestly. It took about two hours to get out of the airport.

Day 2 started on a good note, though. Just a short walk from our hotel on Broome Street near Little Italy, soon after the beautifully graffiti-decorated furniture shop -



...lovely breakfast at Cafe Habana.



BTW, there will be loads of fisheye photos. I chipped my Sigma 10-20mm lens some time ago; sent it to Sigma for them to replace the front element, and it didn't come back in time for our trip, so I used the fisheye a lot instead. (Miles lent his wide angle Sigma every now and then, though.)

After a short subway ride...



...resurfaced at Macy's.






After 10 long minutes of shopping at Macy's, Miles spotted a Wig Salon on the 5th floor. The next 30 minutes flew by!
























Back on street level...



...and higher up.









A closer-up.



Towards the other direction.



The Empire State from the bottom up.






Times Square, looking quite surreal through the fisheye lens.






I think we managed to find the most expensive bar in Manhattan (well, not quite - but still).



Subway back to downtown.



...to meet Marc in an Irish Pub.



Had a good time chatting with Marc, after which he escorted us to his recommended pizza restaurant, Lombardi. Miles has some photos from there, but I don't. Pizza was delicious. :-)

Little birdies

A spot of birdwatching in the afternoon before taking Zebedee to Marvin's.