So here are some random facts about what Ive seen and learnt about the Mexicans and its gorgeous country.
1. Most mexicans are fat! (especially the women, young and old)
Not surprising really, they really do eat Tacos, Nachos/cheese, quesilldillas etc with EVERYTHING, inc breakfast.
I´ll stick to my cornflakes, ta.
Randomly, I found myself thinking 'nice one, im slim here´'. I do appreciate this bubble will burst when I get to Brazil..
2. Everyone calls you ´hey amigo´.
Kinda cute at the start. But does tend to wear off when theyre saying ´hey amigo, wanna buy some mexican junk´. about 100 times a day. Seriously. The nice bit is the waft of cold Air con that blows out at you when you pass the shops. Fab.
2. Mexicans are obsessed with road speed bumps. I know, random fact.
So we're travelling along in a bus/taxi whatever at say about 30 km ph and we approach a speed bump. Im not joking, you would swear it was the size of the sugarloaf the way they approach it. It nearly takes them 10 seconds to get over one. Totally stop. The front wheels,over ssssllllowwwwwwwwwwwly.
Then the back wheels.
Are we over? Yep I think so, lets just pause for a second to check.
Pause.
Yawn.
'hey mal what do you fancy for lunch'
Yep, and we're off.
Maybe we're too careless about speed bumps, or maybe I am.
3. Speaking of buses, they like to travel with the curtains all closed.
Im the annoying paddy who opens my curtains at the seat. Come on, I like to see where I am going!
4. Mexicans see the yanks as literally $$$ especially when the cruise ships land for a few hours.
They dont really differentiate us paddys with the americans. Ahem. Its all ´hey amigo, u wanna taco or some cheap mexican food´. No thanks Ive OD'd on it - but it is delicious! The yanks do buy awful crap though. We all know the type of t-shirts i´m talking about - 1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, floor. such shite.
5. Resorts over here are mostly all inclusive. Whats with the obsession with food and drink people??
Depending on what ´tarif´you are on, you have to wear a colour coded wrist band for the entire duration of your stay. I mean, come on, people!!
Mal and I purposely went on the B&B rate - trying not to eat our way through mexico - and were given a different colour wrist band than the all inclusive. Much to our amusement, talk about being judged by the staff everyday thinking we were gonna nick a nacho at lunch time! Everyday at breakfast and I mean for 7 days. 'You got a ticket' Yes here is the voucher and no, I am not a random thief on holidays looking to have an extra slice of bread on the sly. There are aout 30 guests in the Hotel right now.
6. They panic at last minute changes.
Called Hotel reception today to ask can they remove our fridge from our room as we leave tomorrow.
No senorita not possible.
why not senor.
You do not tell us in time.
well, do not leave until tomorro. does this call now this morning give you some time.
let me see amigo....
pause.
(Reluctantly) - I ask someone to get it amigo.
Thanks!
The customer is never right in Mexico!
7. How many mexicans does it take to change a lightbulb.
About 10.
8. They genuinely are lovely people, they smile a lot and are very welcoming.
Oh and they are very patient with you as you try and speak terrible spanish. Ive learnt more spanish here than I have when I have visitied espana. Mexicans talk a lot slower funnily enough, everything is on a go slow.
9. They have some of the most amazing white sandy beaches, crystal green water and stunning coral reefs I've ever seen.
10. We have only seen a teeny part of this huge country. The eastern coast called Quintana Roo. Deffo come and see it if you have the time.
Wont be on for about 2 weeks as we head to Lima and Cusco up in the mountains.
Laters........x
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
freckle city in mexico
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Cozumel , where we are right now....
We are back in Cozumel till Sunday. We loved it so much last time, about 2 weeks ago, we got the ferry back out to the island (its about an hours and a half south of Cancun and an hours boat journey out to the island)
Weather has been very mixed the last 4 days, rain one minute in the heat, then el scorchio the next. No complaints though! The place we're staying is grand. Nothing amazing but room lovely and clean and spacious. I've been introduced to 'Texans on Holiday'......
Im not joking, Ive NEVER in my life seen or heard anything like it.
So picture the scene.
Nice hotel, lovely pool area, stunning carribean sea and just an all round nice vibe.
Enter 8 Middle aged Texans wearing their cowboy hats and togs screaming at the top of the lungs across the pool at Ernie ´hey Ernie, get me another rum and coke dude'. Classy! They're on an all inclusive which means they can eat and drink whatever they like and whenever they like. Usually starts about 10am with a rum and coke and oooh, gets louder as the day goes on...the cackling and roaring is just unreal.
Mal and I analysing them to beat the band (you know me staring at them up and down ha!) and reckon they are all deffo on their fourth marriage. So I'm lying there nice and calm at the pool and next thing one of the women whos about 55 years old and about 15 stone runs and dive bombs into the pool drowing me out of it as well as the others around her followed by a HOWL of cackling by the other locked women.
SCARLET, You're 50! Knackers.
Meanwhile mr and mrs maturity here (he he) are just chillin, sleepin and eatin.
Heading out on a scuba dive this afternoon with my newly certfied husband diver. Yahoooooooooooooooooooooooo
Weather has been very mixed the last 4 days, rain one minute in the heat, then el scorchio the next. No complaints though! The place we're staying is grand. Nothing amazing but room lovely and clean and spacious. I've been introduced to 'Texans on Holiday'......
Im not joking, Ive NEVER in my life seen or heard anything like it.
So picture the scene.
Nice hotel, lovely pool area, stunning carribean sea and just an all round nice vibe.
Enter 8 Middle aged Texans wearing their cowboy hats and togs screaming at the top of the lungs across the pool at Ernie ´hey Ernie, get me another rum and coke dude'. Classy! They're on an all inclusive which means they can eat and drink whatever they like and whenever they like. Usually starts about 10am with a rum and coke and oooh, gets louder as the day goes on...the cackling and roaring is just unreal.
Mal and I analysing them to beat the band (you know me staring at them up and down ha!) and reckon they are all deffo on their fourth marriage. So I'm lying there nice and calm at the pool and next thing one of the women whos about 55 years old and about 15 stone runs and dive bombs into the pool drowing me out of it as well as the others around her followed by a HOWL of cackling by the other locked women.
SCARLET, You're 50! Knackers.
Meanwhile mr and mrs maturity here (he he) are just chillin, sleepin and eatin.
Heading out on a scuba dive this afternoon with my newly certfied husband diver. Yahoooooooooooooooooooooooo
Mal heading off to do his PADI course - Cozumel, Mexico
Belize
Well we've just spent the last 10 days or so travelling down the east coast of Mexico, area called Quintana Roo. Stunning green sea, plam trees and blistering heat. Was really cool. I even went to see some ruins in a place called Coba! God Im so proud of myself. Itwas nearly 100 degrees in the forest as we were looking at them!
We travelled by bus all the way down the coast and the journeys were pretty comfortable actually. Nice air con buses, happy days. Got to the Mexican border, and then arrived into Belize. What can I say about it...I wasnt expecting it!
Now before I am a little critical, I DO appreciate it was terrible weather. Lashing rain in the heat and nobody being able to do anything as a result. We overnighted in a place called Corozal and it was a shanty town! Everyone kept lookin at the 2 white people walking throiugh the town. I said to Mal it was like a very old movie set that they used in a wild western movie in about 1950.
The place had been devasated by hurricanes in the past and they just didnt have the coin to replace buildings or improve roads etc. As a result, we were jumping over holes in the roads, footpaths and as you glance at the buildings, you cant help but feel the desperation these folk have for a better life. We stayed in a 'hotel'. A nice word for The Palm Springs Motel along with a flashing light run by Charlie the american dude who was about 70 and had dyed his hair black. We couldnt work out why her kept hapring on about what a great place Corozal was. Erm, yep ok! The plan was to get the regular daily boat from Corozal to the islands the following day - to a plce called Caye Caulker to dive and chill and really enjoy the carribean vibe.
We woke up to LASHING rain (I had just posted home from rain jacket, nice work sue) and no boats were going anywhere......
So we got a bus to Belize City, we thought feck it we might as well see if the boats are going from there. We got to the bus station with ruck sacks in tow and yer man tells us we're in luck, a bus is due any minute....
You know those yellow american school buses....? Yep, one of those came ricketing around the corner with ´BELIZE CITY' written on it. This bus was probably 20 years older and painted brown. I looked at Mal, he started laughing and we asked the dude when the next bus 'premier class' was going (premier class was like the 44A at home much better)
Next Premier Bus was in 5 hours time. nah, we can do this.
ok so 5 hours later we get to Belize City. I literally cant feel my buttocks at this stage. We have felt every bump on the road and with no air con and it being oh about 90 degrees, we drove with the door open to get some air!! An experience.
Belize City wasnt what I expected at all. Dont know why I thought it was gonna be a heaving metropolis, I guess coz it had the word City in its name. I can only describe it as a chaotic town that looked like one of those chaotic East African villages you see on TV. That are at war!
The local folk love to chat to the tourists coz they just see us as one big american dollar!
One dude kept trying to talk to us, they speak english by the way as their first language which was very interesting and Queen elizabeth is on their currency notes!
Anyway we found lodgings which was fine, clean and spacious, and went to explore. God I couldnt get my head around it. We were walking over poor poor beggars on the footpath, diving for cover on the footpath as motorbikes roared past and I've never felt so white in all my life!! Dont get us wrong, we realised the people were in fact really nice. They just were so so differernt and looked ill or out of it or just a bit pushy, it just wasnt the kind of vibe I had been hoping for. Plus the rain didnt help. All we wanted to do was get on a boat and head to the islands which Ive read about, they are meant to be out of this world and so chilled out.
So that evening, we had some food (in the Radisson Hotel, all the other food places were in back alleys, no bloody way) and back in the hostel, watched Americas Next Top Model (random distraction).
First thing next morning, we packed up and headed to the bus station and got a Premier (yahoo) bus back into Mexico. We figured there was no point waiting for the rain to stop as it could be a few days. The bus took 7 hours and you know what, neither of us minded.....i had picked up 'The girl with the dragon tatoo book, excellent stuff'.
That evening, we were back in Mexico and even though the rain was on and off, we were happy to be back in clean and happy places, now if only the sun would come out.....
We travelled by bus all the way down the coast and the journeys were pretty comfortable actually. Nice air con buses, happy days. Got to the Mexican border, and then arrived into Belize. What can I say about it...I wasnt expecting it!
Now before I am a little critical, I DO appreciate it was terrible weather. Lashing rain in the heat and nobody being able to do anything as a result. We overnighted in a place called Corozal and it was a shanty town! Everyone kept lookin at the 2 white people walking throiugh the town. I said to Mal it was like a very old movie set that they used in a wild western movie in about 1950.
The place had been devasated by hurricanes in the past and they just didnt have the coin to replace buildings or improve roads etc. As a result, we were jumping over holes in the roads, footpaths and as you glance at the buildings, you cant help but feel the desperation these folk have for a better life. We stayed in a 'hotel'. A nice word for The Palm Springs Motel along with a flashing light run by Charlie the american dude who was about 70 and had dyed his hair black. We couldnt work out why her kept hapring on about what a great place Corozal was. Erm, yep ok! The plan was to get the regular daily boat from Corozal to the islands the following day - to a plce called Caye Caulker to dive and chill and really enjoy the carribean vibe.
We woke up to LASHING rain (I had just posted home from rain jacket, nice work sue) and no boats were going anywhere......
So we got a bus to Belize City, we thought feck it we might as well see if the boats are going from there. We got to the bus station with ruck sacks in tow and yer man tells us we're in luck, a bus is due any minute....
You know those yellow american school buses....? Yep, one of those came ricketing around the corner with ´BELIZE CITY' written on it. This bus was probably 20 years older and painted brown. I looked at Mal, he started laughing and we asked the dude when the next bus 'premier class' was going (premier class was like the 44A at home much better)
Next Premier Bus was in 5 hours time. nah, we can do this.
ok so 5 hours later we get to Belize City. I literally cant feel my buttocks at this stage. We have felt every bump on the road and with no air con and it being oh about 90 degrees, we drove with the door open to get some air!! An experience.
Belize City wasnt what I expected at all. Dont know why I thought it was gonna be a heaving metropolis, I guess coz it had the word City in its name. I can only describe it as a chaotic town that looked like one of those chaotic East African villages you see on TV. That are at war!
The local folk love to chat to the tourists coz they just see us as one big american dollar!
One dude kept trying to talk to us, they speak english by the way as their first language which was very interesting and Queen elizabeth is on their currency notes!
Anyway we found lodgings which was fine, clean and spacious, and went to explore. God I couldnt get my head around it. We were walking over poor poor beggars on the footpath, diving for cover on the footpath as motorbikes roared past and I've never felt so white in all my life!! Dont get us wrong, we realised the people were in fact really nice. They just were so so differernt and looked ill or out of it or just a bit pushy, it just wasnt the kind of vibe I had been hoping for. Plus the rain didnt help. All we wanted to do was get on a boat and head to the islands which Ive read about, they are meant to be out of this world and so chilled out.
So that evening, we had some food (in the Radisson Hotel, all the other food places were in back alleys, no bloody way) and back in the hostel, watched Americas Next Top Model (random distraction).
First thing next morning, we packed up and headed to the bus station and got a Premier (yahoo) bus back into Mexico. We figured there was no point waiting for the rain to stop as it could be a few days. The bus took 7 hours and you know what, neither of us minded.....i had picked up 'The girl with the dragon tatoo book, excellent stuff'.
That evening, we were back in Mexico and even though the rain was on and off, we were happy to be back in clean and happy places, now if only the sun would come out.....
Friday, September 17, 2010
all ok
Just read the news online to hear there was some dude messin on the Mexican border. All ok folks and didnt even get mentioned here, so typical! laters x
Belize
So after about 8 hours on a bus and going through the Mexican Border which was slightly bizzare (off the bus, pay USD 30, bring bags into a hall, get questioned by a nice man, then onto the bus) and off we went, a whole hour later. Belize like to do things sloowwwwwwwwly.
Eventually, we arrived in Belize. It started to lash and lash and lash. Apparently Hurricane Karl was on route. lovely! It literally didnt stop for 3 days and eh, seeing as I had JUST posted my rain jacket home (excuse was ´its toooo heavy..... (such a princess) we couldnt do much other than chill out, read, play cards blah blah. Suffice to say that no boats were going out to the islands - Caye Caulker was the one we fancied so we made a call on it. We got the heck outta there and went North to the Sun!!! Back in Mexico and guess what, its el scorchio. About 30 degrees. Shame about the lack of diving in the Blue Hole. It just wasnt happening for us when we got there and didnt look like it was letting up. Booo!
I´ll fill you in again on what I thought of Belize....jees it was a nutty place. G, kinda reminded me of Luang Prabang in Laos. Off for some dinner, laters dudes x
Eventually, we arrived in Belize. It started to lash and lash and lash. Apparently Hurricane Karl was on route. lovely! It literally didnt stop for 3 days and eh, seeing as I had JUST posted my rain jacket home (excuse was ´its toooo heavy..... (such a princess) we couldnt do much other than chill out, read, play cards blah blah. Suffice to say that no boats were going out to the islands - Caye Caulker was the one we fancied so we made a call on it. We got the heck outta there and went North to the Sun!!! Back in Mexico and guess what, its el scorchio. About 30 degrees. Shame about the lack of diving in the Blue Hole. It just wasnt happening for us when we got there and didnt look like it was letting up. Booo!
I´ll fill you in again on what I thought of Belize....jees it was a nutty place. G, kinda reminded me of Luang Prabang in Laos. Off for some dinner, laters dudes x
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tulum
Arrived in Tulum an hour south of Playa.
Out of this world stunning beaches and spent 2 days on the best best I have ever been on. Gonna try and load pics to show you what I mean. the accommodation was grand - quite pricey for what it was but hey, we were on a beach and the views were divine.
We rented a scooter one day, Mal got the hang of it!!! he. I was on the back. Went all over the place and came across this amazing place called Zamas. Google it http://www.zamas.com/. it looks exactly as it is in the pics. Minus the models.
Stayed a night at Zamas in our own Beach hut literally on the beach & just enjoyed the pure luxury of it all. Folks you gotta come here if Mexico is on our to do list. its about a 2.5 hour drive from Cancun, South on the Carribean side. The chef is from Brooklyn and the food is gorgeous, with an american flair to it as well as the usual Mexican tortillas, quesidillas etc. What more do you need - A cold Corona beer, a stunning beach on your doorstep and my new hubbie who seemed to love the new hammocks on the deck of our beach hut. Life is good.
Out of this world stunning beaches and spent 2 days on the best best I have ever been on. Gonna try and load pics to show you what I mean. the accommodation was grand - quite pricey for what it was but hey, we were on a beach and the views were divine.
We rented a scooter one day, Mal got the hang of it!!! he. I was on the back. Went all over the place and came across this amazing place called Zamas. Google it http://www.zamas.com/. it looks exactly as it is in the pics. Minus the models.
Stayed a night at Zamas in our own Beach hut literally on the beach & just enjoyed the pure luxury of it all. Folks you gotta come here if Mexico is on our to do list. its about a 2.5 hour drive from Cancun, South on the Carribean side. The chef is from Brooklyn and the food is gorgeous, with an american flair to it as well as the usual Mexican tortillas, quesidillas etc. What more do you need - A cold Corona beer, a stunning beach on your doorstep and my new hubbie who seemed to love the new hammocks on the deck of our beach hut. Life is good.
Meccch ico.
We left NYC on American Airlines. I had to laugh at the old dears who were working on the plane, Jaysus they really didnt wanna be there. Your wan looked like she was an old 60 (and im being kind) year old with pearls to beat the band and the New yYk accent like "yeah darl" " no darl, you gotta pay for that" lark. I just slept and listed to Dublin Gospel Choir (yeahhh) on my iphone.
We arrived in Cancun and as soon as the doors opened, whoooosh, the hot hot HOT air hit you. It was lush.
We got our taxi to the ferry port about an hour away called Playa Del Carmen and across we went to an Island called Cozumel. My lovely sis and her hubbie as a wedding present gave us 3 days on this island so we were thrilled with ourselves and off we went (thanks kids) As we got to the ferry port, it was your classic carribbean water stuff you think about - pure green water with loads of fishies swimming around. Gorge.
When we arrived in Cozumel, we were staying at the Occidental Grand. NICE! It was fab and we were entertained by the people all the time we were there. It was an all inclusive place ye see. describe them? Mostly American, very loud, and drank ALL day. Yup, a Mai thai for brekkie, a pina colada for lunch and 2 litres of margaritas for dinner. Makes for a nice crowd, ahem.....We laughed at the state of them falling around the place and just being loud out. Having said that, we had our own lovely cocktails too, Mal on his infamous Mojitos and me on the Cosmos. We ,met a lovely couple from Texas, a body builder from New Orleans (couldnt help myself by asking him, so how much do you bench he he) - his muscles were el mucho grande. At the end of the 3 days, I was behind the bar making the best cosmo in town.
We stayed 3 nights and lay by the pool and beach during the day - it was crazy hot so a lot of the time under the shade. I felt it when I put my foot out from under the umbrella and it felt el scorchio. A few Americans were like 'Jees darl, I hope you gotta high factor for your skin'. Erm yeah thanks for the reminder!! Needless to say it was factor 60 all round and we've been grand so far, no burning, dont plan to either.
Took a local boat out to the Palacar Reef and did some brilliant snorkeling for a couple of hours. Was brilliant to see all the diff types of colourful fish and the water was pure green and visibilty was 100%. Very lcuky to be able to do that. As we were coming back into shore, I asked the guide about a massive big house on the shore. Oh thats the guy who founded Corona beer ...some have the life!!
So with our bellies full and our skin just getting used to the hot Mexican sun, we headed back inland to Playa Del Carmen for a night. Its about 2 hours south of Cancun and pretty built up. Think Costa Del Sol on the Carribean......loads of English there and dunno why they go so far to get what you can get in europe (minus the green water). As we walked along the strip, there all the dudes saying 'hello miss, you come into my shop'. There are only some many Mexican Sombreros a girl needs! We couldnt believe the humidity. As soon as you go outside your t-shirt sticks to you. After juggling with this a day, we soon realised,. you tend to stay by the beach as much as you can or go indoors where there is AC. its a must. Having discussed the pros and cons with Mal my new hubbie (woooo woooo!) of having ridiculously heavy rain jackets with me from Ireland and a bulging packpack, I decided to ship them back home in a package to Dublin along with a few things of Mals and off we went. (classic, I needed my rain jacket 4 days later, I'm off to buy one in the airport ha)
Tulum next down south..
We arrived in Cancun and as soon as the doors opened, whoooosh, the hot hot HOT air hit you. It was lush.
We got our taxi to the ferry port about an hour away called Playa Del Carmen and across we went to an Island called Cozumel. My lovely sis and her hubbie as a wedding present gave us 3 days on this island so we were thrilled with ourselves and off we went (thanks kids) As we got to the ferry port, it was your classic carribbean water stuff you think about - pure green water with loads of fishies swimming around. Gorge.
When we arrived in Cozumel, we were staying at the Occidental Grand. NICE! It was fab and we were entertained by the people all the time we were there. It was an all inclusive place ye see. describe them? Mostly American, very loud, and drank ALL day. Yup, a Mai thai for brekkie, a pina colada for lunch and 2 litres of margaritas for dinner. Makes for a nice crowd, ahem.....We laughed at the state of them falling around the place and just being loud out. Having said that, we had our own lovely cocktails too, Mal on his infamous Mojitos and me on the Cosmos. We ,met a lovely couple from Texas, a body builder from New Orleans (couldnt help myself by asking him, so how much do you bench he he) - his muscles were el mucho grande. At the end of the 3 days, I was behind the bar making the best cosmo in town.
We stayed 3 nights and lay by the pool and beach during the day - it was crazy hot so a lot of the time under the shade. I felt it when I put my foot out from under the umbrella and it felt el scorchio. A few Americans were like 'Jees darl, I hope you gotta high factor for your skin'. Erm yeah thanks for the reminder!! Needless to say it was factor 60 all round and we've been grand so far, no burning, dont plan to either.
Took a local boat out to the Palacar Reef and did some brilliant snorkeling for a couple of hours. Was brilliant to see all the diff types of colourful fish and the water was pure green and visibilty was 100%. Very lcuky to be able to do that. As we were coming back into shore, I asked the guide about a massive big house on the shore. Oh thats the guy who founded Corona beer ...some have the life!!
So with our bellies full and our skin just getting used to the hot Mexican sun, we headed back inland to Playa Del Carmen for a night. Its about 2 hours south of Cancun and pretty built up. Think Costa Del Sol on the Carribean......loads of English there and dunno why they go so far to get what you can get in europe (minus the green water). As we walked along the strip, there all the dudes saying 'hello miss, you come into my shop'. There are only some many Mexican Sombreros a girl needs! We couldnt believe the humidity. As soon as you go outside your t-shirt sticks to you. After juggling with this a day, we soon realised,. you tend to stay by the beach as much as you can or go indoors where there is AC. its a must. Having discussed the pros and cons with Mal my new hubbie (woooo woooo!) of having ridiculously heavy rain jackets with me from Ireland and a bulging packpack, I decided to ship them back home in a package to Dublin along with a few things of Mals and off we went. (classic, I needed my rain jacket 4 days later, I'm off to buy one in the airport ha)
Tulum next down south..
Friday, September 10, 2010
New York
NYC was fab. just brilliant. Even though I have been a good few times and the city is always different when you go, this time was just that bit more different for me, a lot more chilled, oh and zero shopping!
The first thing we noticed was it was HOT! Shorts and t-shirt stuff so we were like big tourists walking around in our white runners and our shorts and t-shirts. The blue legs got a bit of sun too. They nearly white at this stage.
We stayed in the W Hotel Midtown on Lexington. Bit tossy but we kinda got a kick outta people thinking we were 'one of them'. in our dreams - 5 star bliss for a few nights (thanks Sand for organising) and loved the location. ...anyway we just had a ball. Jees, I thought I was a legend on the first morning, given we woke at 6am (5 hours behind Ireland), we decided feck it, and headed to the gym. HA. I felt like a complete dinger going off to the gym after long haul flight (whatever) but what was actually quite cool was as I was running on the treadmill, I was looking out onto the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (coming to america, sexual chocolate) and saw allt he tennis players coming out on their way to the US Open. That was kinda cool. They all got into their official vehicles and I was trying to work put who was who - prob no-one massive given they were left all left alone but still had all the gear and that was enough to keep me interested!
So we did the gym once and that has been it to date!
Another buzz was having brekkie in one of those typical NY diners round the corner from the Hotel. I was smiling ear to ear when we heard the new yorker staff shouting hey uuu wannn more cofffeeeeeeeeeeeeeee? erm yes please, Big nerd here was like 'ill have eggs please, poached and soft'. delish.
Mal then suggested to do the Red Bus Tour and it was actually such a great move. Its a hop on hop off and we got great guides who were your typical New Yorkers, full of irony, loud mouthed and just pure locals, loved it. Saw all of Downtown and did the ferry around the Hudson and took pics of yer one with the torch. Nice one.
At night, we loved loved loved the Meat packing area, the West village. So many bars, restaurants and such a deadly vibe. Hooked up with Bri´s pal Sean and his lovely wife Elaine and had deadly craic with them in Brass Monkey '- thanks u guys, yiz are legends x. Needed a big NY bagel the next day.
Had gorgeous food when we were there. Nocello, the Italian in Midtown. I had been talking this place up to Mal for ages saying 'youre gonna love this place wait till you see' and then went in and said 'bradley, reservation for 8pm. Yer one looked at me and said "Bradley? ok" and put us in the shitty seats at the front, bright lights and hard chairs....Mal was craking up and looking at me going "this is fab, Sue nice one" and I was kinda thinking 'hold on'. So after a few mins, I called her over and said "could we move to the back, were from overseas and just love this place´. The lady turned to me and said "are you Susan?" Yep, thats me! and she said sorrrry hon, I had you as O´Driscoll, please follow me - and there we were, led to the candle lit table down the back with the soft white squishy comfy seats and mingling with the locals.
So ya see folks, the O´Driscoll name always gets the good seats...
There was even a cold bottle of pino grigio waiting for us as ordered by my gorgeous Aunty Clo back home (who introduced us to the place a few years back) - thaks clo x
Also ate in Spice Market (get the tasting menu, amazing about USD 60) and another place Mullinos in the West Village that Sean had recommneded. All in all, we were spoilt for choice, we ate like kings and queens the time we were there.
and can I just say to Corbie, my personal trainer, IT WAS DELISH x
The first thing we noticed was it was HOT! Shorts and t-shirt stuff so we were like big tourists walking around in our white runners and our shorts and t-shirts. The blue legs got a bit of sun too. They nearly white at this stage.
We stayed in the W Hotel Midtown on Lexington. Bit tossy but we kinda got a kick outta people thinking we were 'one of them'. in our dreams - 5 star bliss for a few nights (thanks Sand for organising) and loved the location. ...anyway we just had a ball. Jees, I thought I was a legend on the first morning, given we woke at 6am (5 hours behind Ireland), we decided feck it, and headed to the gym. HA. I felt like a complete dinger going off to the gym after long haul flight (whatever) but what was actually quite cool was as I was running on the treadmill, I was looking out onto the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (coming to america, sexual chocolate) and saw allt he tennis players coming out on their way to the US Open. That was kinda cool. They all got into their official vehicles and I was trying to work put who was who - prob no-one massive given they were left all left alone but still had all the gear and that was enough to keep me interested!
So we did the gym once and that has been it to date!
Another buzz was having brekkie in one of those typical NY diners round the corner from the Hotel. I was smiling ear to ear when we heard the new yorker staff shouting hey uuu wannn more cofffeeeeeeeeeeeeeee? erm yes please, Big nerd here was like 'ill have eggs please, poached and soft'. delish.
Mal then suggested to do the Red Bus Tour and it was actually such a great move. Its a hop on hop off and we got great guides who were your typical New Yorkers, full of irony, loud mouthed and just pure locals, loved it. Saw all of Downtown and did the ferry around the Hudson and took pics of yer one with the torch. Nice one.
At night, we loved loved loved the Meat packing area, the West village. So many bars, restaurants and such a deadly vibe. Hooked up with Bri´s pal Sean and his lovely wife Elaine and had deadly craic with them in Brass Monkey '- thanks u guys, yiz are legends x. Needed a big NY bagel the next day.
Had gorgeous food when we were there. Nocello, the Italian in Midtown. I had been talking this place up to Mal for ages saying 'youre gonna love this place wait till you see' and then went in and said 'bradley, reservation for 8pm. Yer one looked at me and said "Bradley? ok" and put us in the shitty seats at the front, bright lights and hard chairs....Mal was craking up and looking at me going "this is fab, Sue nice one" and I was kinda thinking 'hold on'. So after a few mins, I called her over and said "could we move to the back, were from overseas and just love this place´. The lady turned to me and said "are you Susan?" Yep, thats me! and she said sorrrry hon, I had you as O´Driscoll, please follow me - and there we were, led to the candle lit table down the back with the soft white squishy comfy seats and mingling with the locals.
So ya see folks, the O´Driscoll name always gets the good seats...
There was even a cold bottle of pino grigio waiting for us as ordered by my gorgeous Aunty Clo back home (who introduced us to the place a few years back) - thaks clo x
Also ate in Spice Market (get the tasting menu, amazing about USD 60) and another place Mullinos in the West Village that Sean had recommneded. All in all, we were spoilt for choice, we ate like kings and queens the time we were there.
and can I just say to Corbie, my personal trainer, IT WAS DELISH x
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
almost time to go....
1st September 2010
Holy moly I am a married mrs....sweet divine Lantern.....how did that happen?! Mrs. Bradley, how the heck are you.
Very happy now I hasten to add. In fact, we're on a high from the wedding last Saturday @ Seafield.
Doing all the last minute rushing around before we board our flight to London tomorrow avo.
Holy moly I am a married mrs....sweet divine Lantern.....how did that happen?! Mrs. Bradley, how the heck are you.
Very happy now I hasten to add. In fact, we're on a high from the wedding last Saturday @ Seafield.
Doing all the last minute rushing around before we board our flight to London tomorrow avo.
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