Thursday dad flew into the city. I met him at the apartment on my lunch break, and then he walked me back to work. After I got off, we went to McGee’s to grab some beers and talk before dinner. Well, we never made it to dinner. Little did we realize, it was 6 hours later when we were ready to leave, and it was past both of our bedtimes. We honestly had the best conversations that night then I think we have ever had. Thank you, dad.

Friday after work, our plan was to go to the Brooklyn Aquarium, since we both love aquariums. The aquarium is “pay what you will” after 3pm on Fridays, so naturally we figured we should go then. Well, so did the rest of New Yorkers. After getting lost coming out of the sketchy Subway station (do not get off here at night along), we showed up and the line was literally 2 hours long. So we decided to skip that and just go straight to the Coney Island Boardwalk. We walked up and down and looked at the rides and ocean. I always forget New York has an ocean and thousands of beaches (I think that’s the permanent midwestern in me). We stopped for a beer, then went over to Nathan’s Famous hotdogs, and had some hotdogs, diet pop, and shared some fries. We stayed in Coney Island for awhile, then decided to head back to the city. When we finally got back, we went to a local favorite bar, The Pony Bar, and had some great local wheat beers. We were so exhausted that we went home at 9pm. However, I suggested we should watch The Newsroom. And dad was hooked! Seriously, if I ever recommend a series to you (besides LOST), it would be The Newsroom. Intelligent, hilarious, and so spot on with where we are in today’s society.

Saturday dad got up early and I slept in (go figure!). Around 11ish, we headed over to the Irish Rogue to watch the Nebraska game. The Irish Rogue is the Nebraska bar in NYC, but it’s going through an identity change, so it’s now called Harley’s. Not as great. But still, great people, so that’s all that matters in the end. We drank at the bar, which was a good choice as we never had to wait for a drink (thank you bartender!). It was so fun to watch the game, drink, and meet new strangers with dad. After the game, I needed to go home and rest for awhile (oops). So we ended up watching more The Newsroom. We decided we should probably go to dinner, since we only had nachos all day (oops). So we went to this Italian place around the corner from my apartment, called Rino Trattoria. I thought it may not be as great as the italian food in Little Italy, but it was almost better! The noodles were handmade (delicious), fat, and covered with tomato-vodka sauce. Pair with wine and a salad, it was one of the best meals I’ve had. We came back after dinner to watch more The Newsroom.

Sunday dad got up early again and went to read his book down at the corner bagel place. We headed uptown around 10:30am to go to the Yankees game. We left early to get the free aprons that were handed out, just for mom (your welcome!). Our seats were great! High enough to see, but not at the top tiered level. There was also no one sitting to the right of me, so we had clear access to the aisle (always a plus). It was great weather. The only thing that was not good was the Yankees lost Again, we did more talking and eating. It was great! After the game, we came back, got ready, watched another episode of The Newsroom, and then left for dinner at Seaport. We ate at The Sequoia. Lucy’s mom took us there before, and I loved their food and location, so we ate there. The drinks are delicious! The food is tasty! And the view is so beautiful! You can see downtown NYC and Brooklyn. After Seaport, we got off the Subway early so we could do some people watching in Times Square. We grabbed some diet pops and parked it on the red chairs in the middle of Time Square. Lots of funny tourists, lots of performers, lots of lights, and lots of great conversations. When we went home, we watch more of The Newsroom. During one of the episodes, we heard this squeaky weird noise. Dad went over to look where it was coming from. Turns out, we had a mouse. Thank goodness dad was there! He was able to catch it with a cup and throw it outside.

Monday was the first day we had no set plans. So naturally, I slept in. Someday I will learn to actually wake up before noon on days off, but clearly not now. We went to John’s Pizzeria for lunch, which was obviously so good (thanks Lucy!). After lunch, we went to Barnes and Noble to get another book for dad, and then walked back to my place. On the way, we stopped at the hardware store to get mouse traps (see above!) and some other handy things. Dad then turned into handyman when we got home. He installed a corner shelf, some insulation around our door, hung a mirror, and taught me how to set a mousetrap. Such a cool dad. Thank you again Dad! After fixing up the place, we got ready and headed down to Meatpacking district for dinner reservations. We stopped several blocks north of the Meatpacking district to walk The High Line. I’ve never walked it, but have heard such great things about it. It was absolutely beautiful and very well kept! I can’t wait to go back. We made reservations at The Standard Grill, due to my boss’s recommendation, for one final splurge. Though we didn’t see any celebs, it was so good! I had the Standard Waldorf Salad, the Flash Seared Lamb Chops a la Plancha and many glasses of wine. We had the best dessert. We asked the waiter what his favorite dessert was and he said it was the Banoffee Pie. One of the most delicious, and light desserts ever. I capped it off with a French Martini (obviously). Seriously, one of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to. Dad really enjoyed the Meatpacking district, so we’ll be coming back again for sure (get ready mom!). It was such a great meal, day and night to end dad’s trip.

Dad, I can’t thank you enough for coming. It was seriously one of the best weeks I’ve had with you.

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We left South Africa on the Wednesday afternoon…

View of Cape Town from the plane…

We saw a beautiful sunset over Malawi.

Our first stop was 41st Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues, where we had to leave our bags until we could check in to the apartment.  We had a few hours to kill so we decided to visit Grand Central Terminal, which was very close to where we were.

Afterwards, we explored the streets a bit and ended up getting very thirsty.  So we decided to find a place to have something to drink.  Something that we quickly learnt about New York is that their iced coffee and iced tea is not how we know it to be in South Africa.   Julia and Candice found this out the hard way.

All of us at Scotty’s…

We eventually checked in to our apartment (after our first taxi rides).  We were happy to see that Margie and Candice’s room had a traditional New York fire escape So their room quickly became our gathering spot for while we were at the apartment.

Our apartment block…

The fire escape…

This is us having a glass of wine to celebrate our arrival in New York City.  Read about how the wine got to New York here.

After unpacking and freshening up, we decided to head for Times Square.

After walking a couple of blocks and thinking we might be lost, it eventually hit us.  Times Square was bigger and brighter (and busier) then we’d imagined it to be.

For those of you who are How I Met Your Mother fans, after Times Square some of us went to McGee’s Pub.  McGee’s (or McGinty’s, as Margie called it) is the pub that McClaren’s Pub from How I Met Your Mother was based on.

On our (long) walk home…

After spending a long time travelling, we got to bed early to be ready for Day 2.

Love Caylin

More importantly, our goal is to show you how cool New York really is, whether it’s while riding on one of our famous bus tours, or while reading about it on our blog.  That is why every Friday we bring you ‘What’s Cool’, where we will tell you, well, you guessed it: something that’s pretty cool in New York City.  Get ready for the weekend because here’s what’s cool:

When your favorite team is playing, you know that you can walk into pretty much any bar in New York City and find them on TV.  Well, if you’re a New Yorker, that is.  Sometimes, when you’re from out of state, or even another country, it’s tough to find a bar showing your team.  As a University of Missouri alumnus, I figured this out quickly.

There is most likely a solution to your problem that’s simpler than you think: a watch party.  Earlier this year I was looking for a bar that was showing my Missouri Tigers play Texas A&M, a game the nobody outside of Columbia, MO or College Station, TX cared about.  I eventually found a watch party: a group of Missouri fans who came together in one bar to watch their team play.  It was incredible.  For a couple of hours, I felt like I was back in Mid-Mo, not NYC.

That’s one thing that is very cool about the great size of New York City.  There are over 8 Million people living here, I’m sure someone wants to watch the same thing as you.

The watch party fad isn’t one directly based around sports, though.  When Mad Men came after its infamous 18-month hiatus, there were watch parties all over Manhattan.  The Tribeca Grand opened the doors to their movie theater and served an open bar for the event.  Every Monday night, Mcgee’s Pub and Restaurant shows the newest episode of How I Met Your Mother to loyal fans.  After all, it is the bar that inspired the show’s McLaren’s Pub.  With season finales all week, there is sure to be a bar somewhere in Manhattan watching your favorite show.

Tribeca grand Cinema, where every Sunday they throw a free watch party! (via tribecagrand.com)

This weekend, watch parties will be in full swing again.  The Champions League Final, Europe’s biggest soccer match of the year, will be on TV’s throughout New York.  Are you’re a Chelsea fan looking for a place to watch the game with other die hard Blues supporters?  Surely, there is a watch party somewhere in the city for you.

Do you know of any watch parties for the Champions League Final on Saturday?  How about for any other events/TV shows?  Share with us in the comments section.

Heute geht es in den Central Park!
Die ganzen statistischen Daten erwähne ich hier mal nicht, bei Wikipedia kann man über die Entstehung und Geschichte viel lesen.
Mit einem Wort: gigantisch.

Wir fuhren ein paar Stationen mit der Subway Richtung Uptown, zur 81st Street / Museum of National History.
Hier betraten wir die grüne Lunge New Yorks.

Wenn man den Park betritt und soweit von den Straßen entfernt ist, dass man sie nicht mehr hören kann, dann kann man nur noch an den Wolkenkratzern feststellen, dass man sich mitten in einer Millionenmetropole befindet.

Auch die Einheimischen nutzen diese einmalige Location für Freizeitaktivitäten wie Joggen, Football, Gitarrenspiel, Saxofonspiel und sogar eine Harfenspielerin sahen wir.

Wir schauten uns ein wenig um. Mit einem Mal war lautes Getrommel zu hören, und Stimmen die immer wieder etwas skandierten.
Beim Boatshouse war ein Streik der Angestellten gegen den Besitzer, wohl wegen mieser Arbeitsbedingungen, Betrug, Ausnutzen der Angestellten und vieler anderer Dinge. Trotzdem wagte sich ein Mann ins Boatshouse, was sofort den Hass der Demonstranten auf ihn zog.

Wir gingen weiter und kamen dann dort vorbei, wo im Sommer kostenlose Shakespeare-Vorstellungen stattfinden, die Central Park Summerstage.
Noch ein Stück weiter kamen wir dann zu unserem Ziel, der Sheep Meadow.

Eine große Wiese, darauf ist – nichts.
Und das ist das geniale, einer der wenigen Orte wo Platz ist… Kein geschäftiges Treiben… Einfach ein Ort zum Erholen.
Und das haben wir genutzt.
Bewaffnet mit Picknickdecke, Buch und einem Apfel für den kleinen Hunger zwischendurch.

Das Wetter war heute ideal dafür, trocken und knapp 30C. Sonne und Wölkchen wechselten sich ab, sehr angenehm, so war es nie zu heiß.

Gegen 3 pm machten wir uns wieder auf den Heimweg.
Auf den bekannten Felsen machten wir noch ein paar Bilder, dann ging es zu Fuß zur 55th Street.

Was gibt’s da zu sehen? McGee’s Pub.

Sagt mir nun nichts, dem geneigten Serienfan dürfte dieser Irish Pub jedoch als Mac Laren’s Pub aus “How I met your mother” bekannt sein.

Von dort ging es dann wieder zur Subway und zum Hotel.

Tuesdays through Thursdays gibt es im Hotel netterweise Abends noch eine Art Empfang, mit kostenlosen kleineren Gerichten und Trinken. Netterweise kommt man so auch an Bier und Wein, welche hier sonst nur für unangemessen viel Geld zu haben sind .

Den Abend werden wir heute a weng früher beenden, denn wir wollen morgen eher aufstehen.
Warum? Nun… Fortsetzung folgt

Viele Grüße,
Markus und Eva