City by the bay

I've been high

I've been low

I've been yes and I've been oh hell no

I've been rock 'n roll and disco

Won't you save me San Fransisco

I love New York - so it's no surprise that in September when I reached the end of my first stint in the city I realized that I hadn't seen much else of the country. Before I went back to Sydney I had to break out of my New York bubble. But where would I go? Easy. San Fransisco! 

To my delight Noodles decided to join me on my San Fran adventure and with that we were off!

We left early on a Friday morning. The flight over was fine, but by the time we arrived we were exhausted. Adrenaline kicked in and we were ready to roll. We dropped our bags off at the hotel and hit the streets. That when we saw it. Our first San Fran hill. It was hardly a hill and more of a 90 degree angle. We were going to need a rope and picks to tackle this. We did manage and were reward at the top by... another hill. Luckily the second had stairs cut into it. Phew! 

When we reach the local high (because in San Fransisco you can always see a higher peak in the distance) we discovered a magnificent view.

It is such a beautiful city. The streets are winding and house are so cute. They look like something out of a fairy tale. Bright colors, arches and hidden entries. Windows and walls covered in flowers and climbing plants.  I took so many photos because none of them could do the magnificent details of the city justice.

The father of all San Fran hills is Lombard Street. The famous stretch of the street has eight sharp turns to compensate for the steepness. The sharp turns in the street create an impressive and gorgeous site. At the bottom the the hill tourists crowd to take pictures. Cars line up for miles to make the drive down. As a result the traffic moves very slowly. One girl in a car descending the hill was hanging out of the sun roof screaming "Woooohooo" as the car crawled down... 

Having heard the view from the top of Lombard is amazing, Noodles and I were not satisfied with taking pictures from the bottom. We made the short, albeit steep, trek up. As we climbed two men walking back down warned us "It's not worth it! Go back now!"


They were wrong. It was worth it. Amazing. We had a view of the entire bay area. I took another million pictures.


The sun was out and the city was stunning. To bad it was freezing cold. We had been expecting something out Katy Perry's California Girls. Sunshine, warmth, seaside. What we got was an Aussie winter. "California lied to us." Clearly, we weren't the only people taken aback by the weather. Tourists flocked into souvenir stores coming out adorned in San Francisco branded jerseys, gloves, scarves and hats... and still looking cold. 

When cruising around on top a tour bus Noodles and I were forced to rug up with three blankets and scarves wrapped around our heads. I was surprised when the guide started his spiel with "It's such a nice day. This is about as warm as it gets!" We were going to need to stock up on scarves.

We learned later that San Francisco doesn't really have seasons. Because of the location of the bay in relation to the mountain range they experience micro climates. This means it might be sunny and warm in one place, but five blocks over there is a thunderstorm. 

Next stop was the Painted ladies at Alamo Square Park. 

A number of movies, television shows and commercials have been filmed in or around Alamo Square. The opening sequence of the American sitcom Full House (1987-1995) features a romp in Alamo Square Park with the famous row of Victorians in the background.[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamo_Square

The park is lovely - something of a suburban dream. People walking their dogs and playing tennis. Birds singing... children laughing. The whole bit!

The "painted ladies" are a row of Victorian houses which can be seen from the park. They attract many tourists and are beautifully perfect. We learnt in our guide book that a lot of the Victorian houses in the area were destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake making these remaining houses all the more special. 

We spent a long time in the park discussing the houses and watching the people who live there come and go. The sun was wonderfully warm which felt amazing given how cold the day had been. We laid down on the grass for just a moment.... and fell asleep! A little crazy of us?

I took this as a cultural experience as San Fransisco has her fair share of interesting people. There is a huge population of homeless people and I found it very confronting. To a greater extent than in New York, in San Fran, homeless people approach people. They heckle and try to get attention. It's quite scary and on more than one occasion I found myself turning around or avoiding even busy streets because I felt uncomfortable. 

Of course, part of the appeal of the city is the crazy people... that is, pretty much everyone there. There is a quirky style to San Francisco folk and they have a loud, fun sense of humor.

One morning we saw this fat pigeon having a feast on the side of the road. He was eating about five broken up bagels. We watched and laughed for a while. The best bit was when a hippy looking guy stopped in his tracks and shouted very loudly - "Oh my god that fat pigeon is pigging out!"

I was very eager was to walk across the Golden Gate bridge. I'm not really sure why I had this dream. Probably too many sitcoms. Nevertheless, it's always been something I have wanted to experience. It's a beautiful bridge and just as stunning in real life. It's quite mysterious and often cannot be seen from a distance (or even up close) because of the intensity of the San Francisco fog. 


The bridge is actually quite far from the city center. We were staying at Union Square, and despite the long distance to Golden Gate park, we decided that walking was the way to go. The plan was to walk to and over the bridge, then across to Sausalito. Turns out it was a long walk. Over ten miles. Perhaps we were a little over ambitious. It was worth it though. Whilst the walk was long and cold, it was nice. It was a really interesting experience to walk the along the Golden Gate bridge suspended in the fog.

The most concerning part of the walk was the section between the bridge and Sausalito. It was along the highway and in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps not such a great idea...

Of course, no trip to San Fransisco Alcatraz would be complete without a visit to Alcatraz. Tickets must be purchased in advanced, so I had snagged us a couple a few weeks before. 

Alcatraz Island is an island located in the San Francisco Bay, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) offshore from San Francisco, California, United States.[1] Often referred to as "The Rock" or simply "Traz", the small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a Federal Bureau of Prisons federal prison until 1963. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcatraz_Island

I was really excited about this. Alcatraz was one of the reasons I wanted to go to San Fran. The boat ride over was freezing cold, but really nice. We had a view of Alcatraz as well as of the San Fransisco skyline. I spent the trip ducking between the inside and outside parts of the boat. I would try and stay outside taking pictures until it was too cold to stand it anymore.

On arriving they give an introductory speech. There were free tours focused on different aspects of life in the prison. In addition there is an audio tour which was great. It was enjoyable and gave me a good understanding of the history and life of Alcatraz. It was not as eerie as I expected, but hearing the stories about the events that occurred in the prison certainly gave me shivers.

The food in San Fransisco is amazing! I did not have one bad meal. Everything was fantastic. The city has a reputation for great Asian food. There is a very impressive Chinatown and equally impressive Chinese restaurants. The queues for brunch more than rivaled those in New York and the options were cheap and delicious. As one would expect from the city by the bay the seafood was also really good - in fact it was the best ever and we found a really great range. The miserable weather made the clam chowder a perfect choice.

We made sure we saw everything the city has to offer... the seals that live at Pier 39...

Fisherman's Wharf...

...and a tram ride through the city.

The line for the tram was incredibly long. We waited for over an hour learning later that there are a number of tram stops, most of which do not have hour long queues.... Damn. At least it was a sunny!

On our last day in the city we walked through the financial district. We passed the San Fran office of our company and admired the parks and artworks creatively placed between the buildings. Given it was the long weekend it was very quiet and we had the area to ourselves. .

Noodles left the city the day before me and I spent some time exploring Union Square area, shopping and eating some more. I was more than ready to leave by the end and felt I had done a good job exploring and seeing the city.

At the airport I was pulled up at customs. The agent shouted out: "Stop that water smuggler!" Whoops... I guess I left that bottle of water in my suitcase - glad they recognized I was not a threat to national security. So, I made it back to New York after a great trip with no arrests. The city was completely different to what I expected, but all in all, I had a great time!

Christmas at Rockefella

One of the reasons New York City does Christmas so well is because it is unoriginal. That sounds like an attack, or something unpleasant, but what I mean to say is - New York takes all the best traditions of Christmas from all around the world - then does them as only New York can do. Bigger, grander and with a wonderful intensity.

I was very eager to see the Rockefeller Christmas tree. There is a Christmas movie, "The Christmas Tree" in which a nun learns how much the Rockefeller tree brings to people, and the joy it imparts on the city. I was actually disappointed the first time I saw the tree.

Sure, it's big. It's really big. But Manhattan is kind of a large city. The tree seemed swallowed by the grandness of her surroundings. It wasn't a complete let down. The tree was nice enough and Rockefella was a great place to be. There were loads of decorations, silver bells ringing and long lines of people waiting to ice skate.

Of course, the obvious problem was that I was visiting the tree during the day. It should have been clear to me that the tree was in her full glory after dark. I went back the weekend before Christmas at around 8pm. I have never been anywhere that crowded! It was insane.

The tree looked magnificent. The most beautiful Christmas tree I have ever seen. She was so bright and beautiful. Breathtaking.

It was amusing to watch the crowd take pictures. Because it was so busy, the people were kept moving by crowd control. The effect was a huge moving crowd, taking pictures as the slowly past the tree.

There were cartoon characters out taking pictures with kids. Sponge Bob, Mickey, Minnie and the rest. Stalls were set up in the less crowded corners selling people pictures of themselves with the tree.

It was great! But far too crowded to stay long. I did have to venture back to Rockefella one more time before Christmas was over. I could not spend a Christmas in New York City and not see the famously fabulous Rockefella Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall.

The Rockettes are a precision dance company performing out of the Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, New York City. During the Christmas season, the Rockettes have performed five shows a day, seven days a week, for 77 years. Perhaps their best-known routine is an eye-high leg kick in perfect unison in a chorus line, which they include at the end of every performance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rockettes

The show was great! Extremley tacky and very much aimed at children under the age of twelve. But nevertheless a lot of fun and very amusing. I thought it was strange, but fantastic, that the let us take pictures inside during the show.

It is a short show with no intermission. However the tickets are reasonably priced. We had particularly good seats in the second row, however the angle we were at made it a bit hard to fully enjoy the 3D segments... But that was OK, I was blown away enough by the fact that they stopped the show for 3D adventures. I think they must have developed the script over the past fifty years. 

So that was the end of my Rockefella Christmas. Wonderful really! 

Ice skating in Central Park

Perhaps the most magical experience of my New York Christmas was ice skating to Christmas Carols at dusk in Central Park with leaves frozen in the ice beneath my feet.

Bolt had two wishes for her visit to NYC. She wanted to see a Broadway show and she wanted to go ice skating in Central Park. At first I was skeptical about the second wish - I mean, ice skating? Sounded like a lot of effort. But she was persistent and I am so grateful that she was. We had the time of our lives. There is something wonderful about skating in the outdoors, dreaming with your friend about what you are going to do and where you are going to go. I felt very free.

Given it was Thanksgiving weekend, the rink was not too crowded. We did learn quickly that the key to not falling (and neither of us fell) is to avoid children covered in ice. Kids covered in ice fall a lot - and that means they run into people! We were not stable enough to handle those little menaces...

Bolt and I skated for a long time until Bolt's travel buddy developed some concern that they would miss their flight back to Houston... we resisted for a while "Can we skate for just one more song?"

Eventually, we had to give up... and Bolt was off home. A wonderful way to end her trip. I wish she could be here every weekend!

Winter

It is cold.

Today I saw a bottle of soda water that had frozen solid.

No matter how many scarves and coats I pile on before leaving for work my cheeks and nose are still numb within minutes. Luckily for me I hear this is a mild winter... For now I'm more than happy to remain ignorant as to how cold the city gets at its worst.

Come back summer!

Tis the season to go shopping

It was the weekend before Christmas and it felt like everybody in the entire hemisphere was out shopping in Manhattan. I had a lot of Christmas shopping left to do, so on Saturday I was up early (afternoon) and excited to get going. Armed with my credit card and shopping list I started at Central Park and Fifth Avenue. The plan was to walk down Fifth, shopping and admiring the window displays.

I was not let down! It was unbelievably busy - the streets were swarming with people. The NYPD were out and had police tape up at the lights to stop people from crossing at the wrong time. There were barricades to prevent shoppers from walking on the road. It was nuts. I spoke to some British tourists who argued that not even London Christmas shopping crowds could compare to this.

I loved the window displays, they were incredible. The lights and decorations were so great I kept stopping and causing busy (and angry) shoppers to collide into me. On two occasions I was hit by one of the street vendors pushing their carts along.

I could not help but stop and peak into Tiffany's to check out the decorations. It is breathtaking inside. I felt like I was stepping into a set from a movie. The staff are super happy, friendly and strangely rehearsed "Welcome to level two, where dreams come true!"

Further downtown on 34th Street, Macy's was something of a spectacle. I have never in my whole life seen that many people inside a store. One shopper phrased it well - "It's the one time of year tourists and locals alike flock to the same places with the same goals."

There were long queues to board escalators and guards and the top and bottom controlling the riders. I am ashamed to admit I found this such a novelty that I took a ride to the same floor twice. It was too much fun to only try once! On my second trip up I overheard two shoppers talking:

Shopper One: I saw a coat upstairs and it looked just like 101 Dalmatians! I want it so badly!
Shopper Two: Isn't the point of 101 Dalmatians that you aren't supposed to want the coat? The puppies would have to die for the coat! That's why Cruella De Vil was the bad guy...

When my arms could hold no more shopping bags and my credit card was getting tired, it was time to go home. I was quite reluctant - the crowds were such a tourist attraction that I could have cruised Manhattan shopping hot spots all day.

The Nutcracker

Christmas would not be complete without a visit to the New York City Ballet's production of the Nutcracker. (Well look who has let the city get to her head). Eager to experience the famous ballet, Noodles, Lizard and I booked tickets for a Sunday evening.

We met in the early afternoon at Lizard's apartment then headed to the Upper West side for brunch. The place I chose was called Isabella's. As with all good brunch options, there was a large group of people outside enduring a long wait in the cold for a table. Anything for a good brunch! In the name of getting a table, we chose to sit outside in the heated area. The food was great and coffee and cocktails were included. Perfect!

Finishing up brunch with plenty of time to spare before the show, we took a slow stroll down the west side of Central Park. We stopped at Starbucks and picked up giant cups of gingerbread latte. We sipped away in the park. There is a Starbucks on every corner in New York, so it always perplexes me how many people there are inside! I am enjoying their holiday editions, however I still argue that there is something inherently wrong with the whole Starbucks coffee concept. I found this Macchiato picture on their website and couldn't help but laugh.

That just is not a Macchiato...

After our Starbucks we headed over to the Lincoln center where the ballet was being held. We found the David A Koch theater and picked up the tickets. Outside there were some young boys with their cheeks painted rosy red doing ballet moves.

Me: What's wrong with those kids and where are their parents?
Lizard: I think they're in it! You just insulted the performers!!


While we waited for the doors to open we had a sticky beak at the War Horse movie premier outside.

Inside the lobby of the theater is gorgeous. I have been there before to see the New York City Ballet's production of the Seven Deadly Sins. It was even more beautiful than I remembered.

We had to climb a lot of stairs to get to our seats. I find that whenever I go to see a show the usher says to me - "just keep going all the way up the stairs!" So up we went. When we thought there were no more stairs to climb we handed our tickets over to the usher, who surprised us by taking us to another secret stairwell. At the top we went through a curtained door well and to our shock we found amazing seats!

Our seats were single file in a box with only five other people. We had an incredible view of the stage and entire theater. At first their was a little bit of dizziness being so high up. Looking down we could watch all the people. The children were adorable. The little boys in suits were so cute. The girls were even sweeter in their velvet dresses with sashes and huge bows in their curly hair. They were all so excited to be there.

The ballet itself was brilliant. The music, the costumes, the dancing. It swept me away. The little girl in front of me loved the music and was pretending to be a conductor throughout the show. For the next few days every time I closed my eyes I could hear the wonderful sounds in my head.

It was such an amazing show. The dancing blew me away. The effects were impressive - the sleigh flying through the air and the Christmas tree growing to a monstrous size. The children dancers were very good too. My favorite part was the second act, when the little girl visits the land of toys and candy - the act inspires the imagination. I felt like a little kid as the performance transported me into a magical world.

The performance left me sleepy, happy and rested - like after a yoga class or a massage. I could go again and again. What a wonderful Christmas tradition. I wish I could adopt it as my own!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Christmas in New York has been romanticized in songs, books, movies and television for generations. In fact, over the past few weeks, I have discovered that despite growing up in Sydney, New York in December is the embodiment of what I perceive to be the perfect Christmas. From the Macy's Santa Clause on 34th Street, to silver bells ringing. The Rockefeller Christmas tree towers over the city and people flock to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and the New York City Ballet's production of the Nutcracker. A white Christmas in New York City is what Frank Sinatra crooned about. There is nothing quite like Christmas in New York.

Christmas in the city begins immediately after Thanksgiving. The fall decorations come down and are replaced by magical green wreaths and trees. The pine smells amazing and the decorations are uniformally red, green and gold. There is no Christmas tree too big and no decoration too many. Evergreens that have been cut down are wrapped up and ready for sale to line the streets.

The trees that have lost their leaves and those that line the paths are wrapped tightly in fairy lights.

People everywhere are adorned in Santa hats and Salvation Army volunteers line the streets ringing their bells and singing for donations. Every store plays Christmas carols between the regular pop music. Even the radio throws in some Christmas hits.

Starbucks offers holiday flavors in red snowflake cups. Peppermint mocha, gingerbread, pumpkin spice and eggnog. On a cold afternoon Lizard and I tried the gingerbread latte. It was strange at first, but it warmed us up inside and the ginger was spicy and unusual. Since then, I have made it my mission to try each of the holiday flavors. I am yet to try creme brulee, but so far I am loving eggnog. It's amazing! It tastes like caramel and condensed milk. So good, so sweet. Sooooo many calories!

I took a friend to try American pie at Bubby's. We had the pumpkin pie and it was life changing! As much as I am craving my Nanna's fruit mince pies, I'm loving this American Christmas food.

The city streets are like a war zone with shoppers everywhere. Children are excited, running into walls and pressing extra buttons in the elevators. Parents are out adorned with thousands of bags and strollers. Crowds that flock to see the Rockerfeller tree and ice skate at one of the many outdoor rings are unbelievable.

The city went crazy this weekend with Santa Con, where most of the city seems to dress up as Santa (or an elf) and wander the streets. The city feels crazy with Santas everywhere. Good chance to save money on a picture of your kid with Santa though.

As with at home, there is sensitivity around Christmas being a Christian holiday. Unlike in Australia where we are given two days holiday, Americans take Christmas day alone. It is the only religious day that is given a national holiday. This doesn't stop the city from adorning itself in Christmas decorations. Of course, there are Hanukkah decorations too... if only to make the Christmas ones kosher politically correct.

Christmas trees are everywhere, so my visiting friend from Boston was surprised when I stopped to take a picture of the tree on Wall Street.

Boston: Why that tree? It's not even a good one!
Me: I'm not taking a photo of the tree! I'm taking a photo of the Menorah! 


Why is it so small?

I love Christmas, but I should add here that I am not a Christian. Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Family, food, fairy lights, shopping and presents! Santa Clause, Christmas carols, fruit mince pies and traditions. I just love it. So I think it's a bit much when people get sensitive about Christmas trees and magic puddings. Having said that, I was sympathetic when a Jewish friend told me about waking up on Christmas morning and stringing pop corn to a potted plant so that she too could have a Christmas tree. In contrast, in my Muslim household, we had everything but the Christmas ham.

This year I have enjoyed creating my own American style Christmas at home.

So now I can tick off Christmas in New York with a big joyful Merry Christmas! ... and Happy Hanukkah!