Fun, Food & Foreign Lands!

Till next time...

kmk — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 23:25:00 GMT

Monday 12 August 2013

Today is our final day in NYC and we are heading back to Australia later today via Los Angeles.

I have had the most amazing holiday and I hope you have enjoyed reading my travel blog. I have caught up with dear friends and also made some new friends. I have shared many wonderful and special (& funny...) moments with people who are very dear to me and I would like to pass on my gratitude to them all.

A BIG thank you to Chris G for organising my flights and a BIG thank you to Kimberley for assisting me with my accommodation in London, Dublin and NYC. Thanks to you both I travelled and slept very, very well!! Thank you to Allison and Andy for their generous hospitality in London and thank you dear Susie and Gibbsy for our London adventure. Segolene, Coline, Cassandre and Michelle it was as wonderful as always to spend time with you in Lyon and our time together always goes too fast. Thank you again for a most delightful and special time with you all and I hope our next catch up is sooner rather than later!!

Dear Sarah, Sophia and Sue I had the most magical time with you in Hexham and loved spending time with you all. Thank you too for your very generous hospitality and for treating me to some fabulous sights in Northern England. I can hardly wait to return to see you all (& Jason too of course)!

Italy oh Italy, well this holiday wouldn't have happened if Andrew and Tara hadn't got us to Save The Date for Andrew's birthday a couple of years ago. Andrew and Tara what a wonderful experience Italy was and I can't thank you enough for organising such a fabulous time in Tuscany. Very, very special time that I will always treasure (I will have to continue drinking my Campari and Soda to bring back the Tuscan memories...). Michelle and Norm I am so glad that I was able to share the Tuscan holiday with you both. Thank you for looking after me and for the many laughs and adventures we shared. Who would have thought many, many years ago when I started working with Andrew and Norm that we would all be holidaying together in Italy (& planning our next adventure...).

Annie and John what can I say. Thank you soooo much for London, Ireland and New York City. Anne and I always said that we would love to go to New York together and thanks to John, Thomas and Mackenzie our dream came true! To stay at The Ritz in London was brilliant, meeting the "relo's" in Armagh was fabulous and also to meet the Dubliners was very special. To be able to do this with Anne, who I have known since school, is a treasure that is priceless. We have laughed like crazy, had some funny moments (i.e. getting slightly lost in Northern Ireland a few times...) and, after spending 2 weeks in each other's faces, are still great buddies who have shared something very special.

Lastly a BIG thank you to Ralph Lauren (aka Lachie) who put together our New York program. It was brilliant and I know it took a lot of time for him to do. Anne and I can 't thank you enough Lachie and thanks to you we had the best New York experience you could wish for!!!!

xxxx

Photos: Katz's Deli and NY Street Parade

kmk — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 23:18:00 GMT

Where Harry met Sally and the Secret Service

kmk — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 22:12:00 GMT

Sunday 11 August 2013

This morning Anne and I headed to Katz's Delicatessen on East Houston Street for breakfast. Some of you might recognise the name but for those that don't Katz's claim to fame is it was the location of the famous scene between Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in the movie "When Harry met Sally". Some of the treats on offer for brekkie were eggs, pancakes, sausages, salami (don't think so...), tongue (definitely don't think so...). Anne and I went for pancakes with maple syrup. Our waiter was a ripper i.e. not in a rush for anyone, had a bit of attitude and a fabulous New Jersey accent. Loved him, he fitted the New York Deli waiter mould perfectly!

After brekkie we spent the afternoon doing a bit of retail shopping at Macey's and some other places like DSW (which stands for Designer Shoe Warehouse and Anne and I like shopping here very, very much!!!!)

On our way back to the hotel we had a couple of hiccups. The first being a big street parade along 6th Avenue. It was celebrating something to do with the Domenican Republic and we couldn't cross the road due to the parade. I spoke to a police officer and then when there was a break in the parade they opened up the road barriers so we and others could cross the street. The parade was loud and colourful and there were so many police around watching. Once we got across the road we thought that would be the end of police and barricades but no the best was to come. Walking to our hotel we noticed there were barricades in front of the hotel, police in uniform, photographers, big black cars and van's and men in suits with ear pieces. Apparently members and diplomats from the South Korean government were staying at our hotel so the security was unbelievable. We had the Secret Service both inside and outside the hotel as well as having police officers stationed at both entrances 24 hours a day. For security reasons they had shut down all the elevators except one so you can imagine that didn't go down too well with the other hotel guests. Anyway I thought it was a little bit exciting but I don't think the staff at the hotel thought so as so much mucking around for them plus the South Koreans were staying at the hotel till Wednesday.

Dinner that night was just up the road from the hotel at Kellari Taverna. A really nice Greek restaurant which had a Sunday night dinner special so that was a nice bonus for Anne and I.

Photos: The Brooklyn Bridge

kmk — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 15:22:00 GMT

Brooklyn Bridge & some retail therapy...

kmk — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 15:16:00 GMT

Saturday 10 August 2013

Today we woke up to a beautiful blue sky and it was the perfect day to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. We got the subway downtown and thanks to the perfect instructions given to me by a gorgeous friend we didn't get lost. It was great to walk over the bridge and see the New York skyline. Lots of New Yorkers making the most of the beautiful day and riding bicycles, jogging or walking over the bridge. We could see the Statue of Liberty from the bridge and she was shining in the sunshine.

After our bit of exercise Anne and I hit the shops and did a bit of retail therapy returning to the hotel mid afternoon. Dinner that night was at Buddakan restaurant (known to Sex & the City fans) in the meat packing district (http://buddakannyc.me/). It was delicious and a great experience. When we returned back to the hotel we had a couple of night caps to round off a great day! Bailey's on ice, yum, yum!

Photos: Shopping, eating and sport...

kmk — Fri, 9 Aug 2013 17:38:00 GMT

Shopping, eating and sport...

kmk — Fri, 9 Aug 2013 17:32:00 GMT

Friday 9 August 2013

Anne and I got our Tiffany & Co on 5th Avenue fix this morning and loved it. We bought a few little trinkets so left very happy with our purchases. We then walked through Central Park to our luncheon destination which was the Loeb restaurant at the Central Park Boathouse. It was lovely and would recommend to anyone visiting NYC. After lunch we then headed back to our hotel to get ready for our sporting experience at Yankee stadium. Of course we made sure we had our NY baseball caps ready to wear that evening.

We caught the subway to the Bronx where Yankee stadium is located. The Yankees were playing the Detroit Tigers. Not ever having been to a baseball game before I wasn't sure what to expect but really enjoyed it plus we had excellent seats. I had purchased our seats a couple of months ago but the night before the game the ticketing agency contacted me to say the tickets were no longer available.... Before I could react they advised me that they were offering better seats at no extra cost and literally just behind the Yankees dugout. Wow they were fantastic and Anne and I couldn't believe it. Very, very lucky!!! Great night and great experience plus the Yankees won!

Photos: WTC, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street

kmk — Thu, 8 Aug 2013 21:46:00 GMT

The World Trade Centre, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street and Pasta...

kmk — Thu, 8 Aug 2013 21:39:00 GMT

Thursday 8 August 2013

Today was a very emotional day. Anne and I went on tour to 9/11 site and we went on the official tour that involves your guide being involved in some way with the World Trade Centre. Our guide was Howie who is a New York resident who lives 2 blocks away. He has lived there for many years thus was affected by 9/11. He is now retired and volunteers to do the World Trade Centre site tours. He was joined by Mark who is a retired New York firefighter and this is where the tour became quite personal. Mark was working on 9/11 and he and his station were called to the World Trade Centre when the planes hit hence he was there when they collapsed and also worked there for the recovery. I won't go in to the details but it became quite emotional for him as he talked about that day, his missing "brothers" and the recovery and his life since. He does the tours as it is therapy for him to talk about it and he was so humbled and grateful that we were interested and wanted to hear his story. He did break down a few times which was so sad and it is quite obvious that he is suffering from post traumatic stress but he just wanted to talk. He is a fabulous person and I wish him well as I think every day for him is a struggle and we have no idea of what he and others live with.

We then headed down to the Staten Island Ferry and caught the ferry to / from Staten Island so we could see and take lots of photos of the Statue of Liberty.

After that we headed to Wall Street and the heavens opened i.e. it bucketed down. Once we could move around it was amazing to see the security in place around Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange. Barricades, police check points at every street corner, sniffer dogs are just some of it. Because of the GFC and the financial situation in the USA and the banks, etc., they are on guard 24 hours every day.

We then hit the subway and headed back to the hotel. We were exhausted, we hadn't had lunch and it was 4.30pm... We found a fab Italian restaurant and the owner personally looked after Anne and I. Wouldn't have been surprised if there was a mafia connection cos it sure felt like something out of the Godfather. Food was good (lasagne of course) and was good fun. Couldn't believe we had lunch at 5.00pm!!!!! By the time we got back to hotel and just chilled out we couldn't be bothered leaving again so just plonked on our beds and relaxed. First time we have done that since London!

Photos: The NYC experience continues...

kmk — Wed, 7 Aug 2013 23:11:00 GMT

The NYC experience continues...

kmk — Wed, 7 Aug 2013 23:05:00 GMT

Wednesday 7 August 2013

Anne and I absolutely bombed out last night but got up nice and early and headed to the Empire State Building in order to beat the crowds. It was great and the view of NYC was brilliant. After that we headed downtown to Stumpdown Coffee Roasters as both Anne and I love our caffe latte's and this place had been recommended. Didn't disappoint as the coffee was delicious.

After that we walked along Broadway towards Union Square and checked out the Flatiron building and the cool shops along the way. We then caught the subway for the first time and didn't get lost! We ended up in the West Village and checked out the very trendy shops including Magnolia Bakery (known to fans of Sex in the city). Sticking to our program we had lunch at Pastis and it was yum, yum, yum. After having the fullest of stomach's a bit of exercise was required so we walked the High Line (http://www.thehighline.org/about/park-information) and then walked back many, many blocks to our hotel.

That evening we headed to Broadway to see "The Book of Mormons"show. It was fabulous and very funny but also a bit rude so not everyone would find it funny but Anne and I absolutely loved it. Would definitely see again if it came to Australia. After the show we then walked to Times Square before heading to the Parlour restaurant at The NoMad hotel (http://www.thenomadhotel.com/#!/dining/dining-room) for our 10.30pm dinner booking! Restaurant is very funky and expensive...but we had great time and the food was delicious and the service exceptional.

Have now caught a couple of New York taxis and OMG they are shockers. Drive really fast and erratic and don't stop tooting at anything and everything. What an experience!!!

Photos: The Big Apple!!!!

kmk — Tue, 6 Aug 2013 22:26:00 GMT

The Big Apple!!!

kmk — Tue, 6 Aug 2013 22:21:00 GMT

Tuesday 6 August 2013

Well we arrived in NYC! One of the good things to happen before we departed Dublin is that due to a special arrangement between Ireland and the USA all passengers traveling to the USA are processed for security / customs before you depart Ireland. This means that when you land in the USA you can go straight to the baggage carousel and then depart the airport. So much easier and quicker.

Anne and I arrived at the hotel around 1.00pm and had lunch and a wine while waiting for our room to be ready at 3.00pm. We were hanging out to get changed / refreshed as the flight from Dublin was about 7 hours and wasn't too flash. We flew with American Airlines and I can honestly say that Qantas leaves them for dead in regards to condition of plane and definitely the quality of the flight attendants. They were shockers and found it difficult to smile let alone even speak to a passenger.

So after getting refreshed we hit the Big Apple. A gorgeous friend of mine who knows NYC very, very well constructed a daily program for Anne and I so we would see things, eat at wonderful places (including what subway stations to get off / on), where to shop, walk, etc. If anyone is thinking of going to New York let me know as I will send the program as it is fabulous! We walked to and visited: Bryant Park, New York Public Library, Grand Central Station (which is beautiful), the Chrysler Building, the UN building, St. Patrick's cathedral and the Rockefeller Centre. After doing all of this and walking around and feeling like zombies we had dinner at gorgeous restaurant in Bryant Park but could hardly wait to crash back at the hotel. We were so tired as our body clocks were on Ireland time so at 8.00pm in New York it was 1.00am in Ireland.

Looking forward to more adventures tomorrow!

Photos: Guinness and Leprechaun's

kmk — Sun, 4 Aug 2013 16:53:00 GMT

Leprechaun's and laughs...

kmk — Sun, 4 Aug 2013 16:38:00 GMT

Sunday 4 August 2013 & Monday 5 August 2013

On Sunday we left Armagh and the family early afternoon and drove to Dublin (and miracle of miracles we didn't get lost). Our accommodation was The Westbury Hotel (http://www.doylecollection.com/locations/dublin_hotels/the_westbury_hotel.aspx) and we treated ourselves to separate rooms. Hotel was very, very nice and in the perfect location as close to all the action i.e. pubs, shops, cafes, etc. Anne and I went for a look around the Temple Bar area (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Bar,_Dublin) had a drink at the Temple Bar pub (http://www.thetemplebarpub.com/) before dining at a Thai retaurant. Anne and I just wanted to have something different rather than potatoes, pasta, bread and our Thai meal fitted the bill perfectly.

Monday was sightseeing day and we went to Trinity College (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_College,_Dublin) in the morning and did a tour with one of the graduates (Henry) who was charming, good looking and quite funny so we enjoyed the tour immensely. We then headed to the Guinness factory (http://www.guinness-storehouse.com/en/History.aspx) and also did tour there. Huge complex and Guinness family and Guinness tradition have very interesting history. We then headed back to Trinity College as knew the queue for the Book of Kells (http://www.tcd.ie/Library/bookofkells/) and the Trinity College Library should be better than what it was in the morning. The library is absolutely wonderful, felt like it was from Harry Potter movie. Trinity College has many wonderful and eccentric traditions which only add to its charm.

That night we met up with Jean's (Anne's sister-in-law) brothers and their wife's for drinks. We had French champagne at The Westbury, followed by drinks at Irish pub close to the hotel and then finished the evening with delicious Italian at restaurant also near our hotel. Very, very funny night and was great to meet them and no doubt will catch up with them on their next visit to

Australia. They were very happy, as the Irish up north were too, to hear I had Irish blood in me!

Loved Dublin and would definitely like to visit again and would make sure I stayed in the same area as perfect location.

On to New York City tomorrow....

Photos: Titanic and Giants causeway

kmk — Sat, 3 Aug 2013 16:22:00 GMT

The Titanic & Giant's Causeway

kmk — Sat, 3 Aug 2013 16:02:00 GMT

Friday 2 August 2013 /Saturday 3 August 2013

Today we headed to Belfast to see the Titanic exhibition (http://www.titanicbelfast.com/ )as Belfast is where Titanic was built and launched. Then you wouldn't believe it but we made another wrong turn when leaving Belfast and ended up in the Loyalist area again... I couldn't stop laughing but because we had done it before we knew how to get out of there....

Then we headed north up to Ballycastle as we had booked a B&B for the night and wanted to see the Giant's causeway. We got to the Giant's causeway (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/giants-causeway/) around 6.00pm which was perfect as the weather was great, we didn't have to pay for a car park and there were not many people around plus it doesn't get dark until 10.00pm. Beautiful coastline and lovely place to visit.

The B&B was really nice and the host's Nikki and Paul were lovely. The breakfast the next morning was delicious with a capital D! Better than most hotels! After brekkie we headed to Bushmills Irish Whisky distillery (http://www.bushmills.com/BMTheOldBushmillsFindUs.html#BMHistoryTimeline ). It has been in operation since 1608 so they certainly know what they are doing. We had a tour and a wee drop of whisky at 1100 a.m in the morning. Then we hit the road and headed south to Armagh. You wouldn't be surprised to know that we did get lost a couple of times. At one roundabout I had to tell Anne to pull over as we went around it a couple of times because we didn't know which exit to take. I couldn't stop laughing and I am sure that the other drivers who saw us going around and around the roundabout thought we were looneys!

The family was happy to see us return from our trip up north and had planned a dinner with all of Anne's cousins and their partners. Dinner was at pub in Blaney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaney) and was great fun with dancing and the irish cousins were kept busy looking for a nice irish man for me! Great night with lots of laughs. I was made to drink some Guinness and I made out that I didn't really like it but secretly I did. Reason I did this is because if they had an inkling that I didn't mind Guinness then they would have been buying me pint after pint. We got home around 4.00am and then I had a couple of Bailey on ice night caps with Seamus so think I hit the pillow around 4.30am.

Photos: Northern Ireland

kmk — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 15:51:00 GMT

Irish eyes are smiling....

kmk — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 15:43:00 GMT

Wednesday 31 July 2013 /Thursday 1 August 2013

Well today we travelled to Northern Ireland. When we landed in Belfast (where it was bucketing rain) we found out that the World Police and Fireman games were being held in Belfast. This caused a slight hiccup as Anne had not booked a hire car and for a moment or two we thought we would not have any wheels. The lovely lady at the airport help desk came to the rescue and we got a car! The Irish adventure started... After we left the airport we made a wrong turn and we ended up in a Loyalist area. I was fascinated as there were British flags on display everywhere as well as paintings and flags depicting the Ulster Defence. While Anne was trying to work out how the hell to get out of there and making sure our doors were locked I was busy taking photos!!!!!!

We finally worked out how to get out of there and journeyed to Armagh (and we did get lost a few times on the way and every time we got lost I got the giggles and told Anne to think of it as an adventure).

We arrived at Seamus and Dimpna's home / farm and this would be our base for the next few days... We spent the next couple of days catching up with Anne's family, especially Uncle Patrick. Uncle Patrick is Anne's fathers brother and he is now in his mid 80's and the last remaining member of the Grimes family. We had a lot of fun and, as the irish do, we drank, laughed and talked till the wee hours of the morning. As the Irish would say we had good craic!

I was taken up the hills to St. Patrick's chair (which is rock formation in the shape of a chair) to make a wish. Legend has it that your wish will come true so let's wait and see!!!!!

I met so many cousins, etc and felt like part of the family. So much so I have now been invited to 2 weddings ......

Photos: Afternoon tea & Dirty Dancing

kmk — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 23:58:00 GMT