Thursday July 29

We arrived back in Toronto today just before midday after 3 glorious days in New York and we are sitting out on the balcony of Kate and Derek's apartment relaxing after a long walk, hence the opportunity to update the blog.

We flew from Halifax to Newark airport and decided we would 'test' the public transport system. As it turned out it was very simple, fast and relatively cheap. The Amtrak train delivered us to Penn station and since we had our bags we decided against the subway and caught a cab to our hotel on the upper west side. 77th W just off Broadway to be precise. For those visiting NY I would recommend this location as it is a short walk to Central Park, away from the major tourist areas but close enough by subway and you get to mingle with the locals.

We did all the tourist things including taking a horse and carriage ride in Central Park, the double decker bus ride around the downtown area, a Broadway show (The 39 Steps, which we had missed in Melbourne and was just terrific).

 Also rode the Staten Island Ferry (the queues to get the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty were horrendous and the view from the ferry is almost as good).

It seems this trip is turning out to be a gourmet tour as much as anything else and besides a brilliant Japanese meal we had on the sidewalk one evening the highlight of the gastronomic experience was lunch on the balcony overlooking the Central Concourse at Grand Central Station, for not only was the location terrific but the meal was outstanding -tuna tartare, Soft Shell Crab, which neither of us had eaten before .

The weather was just perfect for the 3 days, hot but not humid. The only time it was really uncomfortable was in the subways but fortunately we never had to wait long for a train. The nights cooled down a little but it was very pleasant outside, which added to the enjoyment.

I introduced Heff to my favourite store in NY: Zabars (near 79th street on Broadway). It is an old fashioned deli/kitchen ware store absolutely jam packed with cheese, meats, precooked meals with every imaginable kitchen implement upstairs. This stop is a must do in any visit to NY and one that doesn't appear on any tourist trail. We frequented it for breakfast in the mornings, joining the locals who were mostly gobbling bagels and cream cheese. We were much more boring and had frozen yoghurt with fresh fruit, something we have become very fond of here. Importantly, they also sell excellent coffee at a reasonable price.
Whilst one would never want to live here full time it is a lively and vibrant city and certainly one as described in the lyrics of that immortal Frank Sinatra song, that never sleeps. Nevertheless, a short spell working and living here, as our friend Gerry de Vries is doing, would be a great experience.  For those of you who know Gerry here he is outsde his office building in Park Avenue.

 We did, however, find ourselves thinking about the disadvantages of bringing up kids on Manhattan Island when we walked past the fenced playgrounds which are dotted around the city. For country folk such as us, the thought of growing up without grass to run around on and kick the footy on at will just doesn't seem right. The scene which completely cemented that view was watching the kids playing in the pond around the fountain in Washington Square - fun alright, but not quite what we would want for our kids.