Above is the best thing about New York - the pedal cabs. They are like a ride at Disneyworld but for absolute real. Belinda puked five times on one of these between Times Square and Central Station. The drivers have obviously been trained by Nascar - they dodge in out of traffic, race, swear at passersby, cut red lights - these lads are insane! Elly and I hopped in one together with Lucy and mum behind in another ... and the race was on. Sit back, pin your ears back, say a quiet prayer and then GO GO GO! The best - most audacious - way to get from A to B (and, on the way, visit C, D,E, F, G, X, Y & Z!).
We went to Sardi's today right in the heart of the Theatre District. Its the restaurant with all the caricatures on the wall. Been there for 82 years.
We had an early dinner there, a quick argument and some canneloni. Among the movies Sardis has featured in include The King Of Comedy, the most recent version of The Producers and The Muppets Take Manhatten. Top notch - and does a very good club sandwich.
Visited the Hershey's Shop in Times Square - Elly bought a gynormous novelty size bottle of Hershey's Chocolate Sauce that I think contravenes all known luggage regulations on international flights. The trick might be to not put it in her luggage but to put her luggage inside it.
The big event of the day was Broadway. For a 3 pm show, we arrived at 11 and queued up at the equivalent of Halftix. The queue ran back and forth and roundy-roundies for approximately three blocks and was a mess. But being the trouper I am (and being wonderfully patient as always) I took it upon myself to let the others shop and Starbuck while I stood guard in the queue shuffling a nanomillimetre every half hour. So be warned - if you want to go to a Broadway show in NYC either:
a) pay full price and book months in advance
b) go to something so way way off Broadway that no one else in their right mind is going to it and tickets are a dime a dozen. When I say `Off- Broadway' I actually mean something that is showing, say, at the Mont Albert Scout Hall or Forest Hill.
Or c) get me to queue for you. Now I say get me to queue for you because I had a stroke of luck today. The security guards in charge of what some would loosely describe as a `line', choose me as someone of note (it was either because of my tall, rugged Australian goodlooks or because I was fat with a goatee) and decided to rearrange the entire three blocks of human traffic around me! God knows why but this `rearrangement' ended up in me jumping approx 150 places in the queue. As you can imagine, I did end up roundly booed by half of Times Square, but we did get tickets - and good ones.
We chose a show called `Avenue Q' - an adult puppet show that promises `full puppet nudity' and a character called `Lucy The Slut'. Elly was impressed, Lucy not so.
The whole thing is a pisstake on The Muppets and Seasame Street and a hoot. We went to see it because I was firmly of the opinion it wouldn't ever come to Oz (the jokes and setting would in no way translate) ... I have just got home to read the show is coming to Melbourne in June 2009. So you can see, I know my Broadway Theatre!
Anyway, that was our day.
Oh - almost forget the highlight. Belinda forced us to go up the top of the Rockerfeller Centre then refused to look at the view as she is terrified of heights ... only kidding, the REAL highlight was seeing Daniel Radcliffe coming out the theatre for his show Equus. Lots of screaming girls. mums and Muggles. We stood next a New Yorker who told us `Geez, just ten minutes ago I was staring at his ass'.
Broadway - don't you love it!
Hope you continure to have a great time, would love to share it with you - maybe one day...
XXX Fiona