Confused... im in Manhattan but im crazy about Memphis!

Wednesday 30^th March

So I am on a total buzz… have just been to see Memphis which was… sensational phenomenal incredible what other words describe it! Its so dumb I just want to take you all there!!! Was actually so so so so so good…

SO actually had the best day! One of the other girls in my hostel suggested the greyline tour which is a bus that has hop on hop off stops… so I bought a 72 hour pass and decided to take the downtown tour today.

Drove through the garment district where heaps of project runway is shot then headed past Madison square garden, then the empire state building and the flat iron bldg and then through to Greenwich Village where I hopped off. So basically this was the place in the 60s where all the musos and artists got their inspiration… in particular Bob Dylan and because its seen as quite a sacred place because of this there are laws passed that has no honking or loud stuff in the district so it was really quiet. 

So with much anticipation and book and pen in hand I kinda invisaged walking into some café and just you know being all inspired like and writing poetry or something (not that I have ever written poetry before?) 

I then wandered Greenwich village for about ½ an hour and was so lost and couldn’t find anything and it was just lame and so I was like ahhhh nah! Hopped back on the bus and then got off at SoHo… yes Soho… which is short for south of Houston Ave. and they have Noho which to be Honest I thought was like a total piss take but its not its North of Houston street. So I got off there…

Soho was cool… but still real expensive. Went to Bloomindales… seriously this is like Smith and Cougheys times one million! Soooo crazy! I saw this amazing hand bag that was quite small and I was like hmmm maybe I could afford that so looked and it was like $800 and a Marc Jacobs (so had like a gossip girl moment like when they get the latest hand bag and are like omg it’s the latest handbag) so then I got back on the bus and there was this crackups gangsta asian guy who was doing the tour… he was all like don’t no go to Chinatown with your camera round your neck cos they’lllall spot you tourists and they’ll rip your ass off… you gotta bargain the s*%t out of their asses ma nigga… was hilarious but also not very helpful… was more about giving you advice then history and kinda liked the sound of his own voice. 

 

So… I got off at ground zero which to be honest I wasn’t too keen to see but I went and it was really moving. I think seeing the effect that it has had on a nation and a city and a community more than anything? I then went to the memorial cathedral (only cos it was called st pauls) and turned and attended their lunchtime prayers for peace service and had the most special time. Also cool to read the info about how instrumental the church was during 9/11 a real community effort.

I then decided to have a Gyro for lunch… these are basically like kebabs you can get it in a souvlaki type wrap or on rice etc… they have little men on the side of the road everywhere and they are about $3 it was real yum but super dirty food really I felt pretty sick afterwards! So decided to walk it off and walked across ½ of the Brooklyn bridge – seriously I don’t know why the harbour bridge is a landmark for Auckland… weve got nothing on the 5 bridges of Manhattan… they are amazing! Such works of art! So that was super fun.

Then walked down to the financial district. Where I found wall street (its quite hidden) took a photo but wasn’t too excited. Saw the NYSE which was also cool. Couldn’t actually find the bull and the bear? kinda embarrassing I did have a good wander round too. But yea no luck. Then walked down to battery park where you catch the statue of liberty ferry from. Not much to see there… hopped back on the bus and took the tour all the way back to times square where we had a good hour drive around the lower east side and then past china town and little italy etc etc.

I then got back and randomly decided to catch the uptown tourbus at like 4pm just for fun. … but it got super cold! Like freezing! Was cool going through the upper west side (lots of celebs live here… like all the famous people!!!) and seeing the apartment buildings along central park such as… the Dakota, the san remo, the building where john lennon got shot, and the one where jerry sienfield lives… Then we headed up to see new jersey and the george Washington bridge. 

Then came back through the upper east side… man I am going to have a total new view of gossip girl and everything about manhattens elite now! So basically its amazing! So intense! Drove past the met and Guggenheim which were pretty amazing buildings!

I have to stop taking endless pictures of amazing buildings because they all look the same but they are all so beautiful… and amazing! Gothique style is super popular and awesome!

luckily when i got back the ½ price ticket booth line was really small because I jumped in line and got me tix for Memphis which was WOW!

I got a bagel beforehand and got so confused cos first you have to choose the bagel type… then you have to choose the flavour of cream cheese there are like 20 flavours… I just went for plain… and then basically he put about 2cm thick of cream cheese like im not kidding there woul probably have been half a pottle… SOOOOOOO gross! I ate 1 half of it with just a bit of creamcheese and threw the rest out… talk about heartattack! 

And Memphis it was just amazing! It won the 2010 Tony and ohhhhh! Seriously just loved it! So vibrant and full on dancing and singing and oh man just amazing! 

Peace to you all or should I say y’all