Not a Cloud In The Sky...

Pretty big contrast to the weekend!

The weather has been absolutely amazing so far this week, the perfect temperature, the perfect about of little breeze, beautiful sunshine and not a cloud in the sky...

I have a feeling it's going to be a pretty nice Autumn.

Sunset After the Storm...

It's been so so windy this afternoon, oddly enough it's been windier than it has been all weekend and the little trees outside our apartment are having to try very hard to stay upright.

The clouds are still in the air, but they're clearing, and when I went up on the roof to take another look at Manhattan at sunset, things were back to their beautiful self...

Phew!

We're Still Standing...

So, Irene seems to have been and gone! Well, in New York at least, she's now making her way up to New England but she seems to have calmed down a bit.

Luckily the storms weren't as bad as they could have been, there was some flooding in Brooklyn and Manhattan and there have been a lot of trees blown down, but the waters are subsiding, the rain has stopped and the wind seems to be dying down a lot.

The hurricane got down-graded to a tropical storm, but there were then tornado warnings around the city and then in upstate New York there was a little earthquake!

It's great that no major major damage has been done, but we're both feeling a bit short-changed almost - it sounds like an odd thing to say, but it was all a bit of an anti-climax, in Bedstuy at least.

It was amazing seeing the shots of an empty Grand Central Station and Times Square and it was exciting watching the news and being here when it all happened. I think there'll still be some disruption in the following couple of days, waiting for the roads, bridges and tunnels to reopen and waiting for the subways to get up and running again - but I'm sure New York will be back to normal before long.

We're going to have some celebratory Hurrican Hotdogs for lunch! 

Cloud City...

This was taken about hald an hour ago, it's a bit of a different view from the roof than usual...

Somewhere, in the middle of all this cloud is the Empire State Building!

I know I said I wouldn't go up on the roof, but I waited until the wind and rain had stopped. It was totally safe.

Come on Irene...

It's been a bit of a nerve-racking 24 hours, watching the news, hearing Mayor Bloomberg give a LOT of speeches, ordering the evacutation of certain areas of the city, telling everyone to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

We've got ourselves as ready as we can. We've cooked some food incase the power goes out and we can't use the oven, we've stocked the fridge with water, we've got cans of tuna in the cupboard and we're going to fill the bath with water this evening (that's something they've told us to do incase the water gets shut off). We've got candles, crisps and playing cards ready incase the power goes out too.

The whole subway system has been completely shut down for the first time in history, none of the buses are running, the ferries have all stopped. It feels a bit like we're watching a disaster movie on the telly whenever the news is on, BUT there's a lot of positive thinking happening too. There's a lot of 'We're New Yorkers, we've been through worse, and we'll get through this' and the people in the shops are all saying 'stay safe' and 'take care in the storm'. So there's a definite sense of community coming out of all of this.

There are some folks who seem to be ignoring the warnings though, especially down at the Rockaways - there have been some 10-12 foot waves down there and some people have out surfing rather than evacuating... Hopefully they'll have seen sense soon and get somewhere safe.

There have been some pretty spooky shots on the news of desserted streets of Manhattan, empty pavements and roads with just police cars driving down them. Times Square looks like a ghost town, with just the occasional taxi driving down. I have no doubt there'll be some impressive images coming through on the news over the next 24 hours...

I was thinking about the crazy weather New York's had over the passed year. In the last 12 months there's been a tornado, a monsterous blizzard, a record breaking heatwave and now there's a hurricane on it's way! I wonder what could be next... even within the passed week we've had an earthquake and a hurricane!

Hopefully it'll won't be as bad as their saying it could be, and I'm sure our neighbourhood won't be as badly effected as other parts of Brooklyn, like Coney Island, or parts of Manhattan... I suppose we'll just have to wait and see how it all goes.

Soooooooooooooo, just to let you all know that things over here are fine, they might get a little bit Winnie The Pooh and a Blustery Day tomorrow morning, but the storm should have passed by this time tomorrow and then the forecast is for beautiful sunshine again!

We're going to watch The Day After Tomorrow now, to get some 'end of the world' tips!

Watertower...

Beautiful Friday Evening...

As I write this, the rain is coming down pretty hard and we're still a good 11 hours away from when the hurricane is suppose to hit the city. The weather last night couldn't have been any more different though, it was the most beautiful evening (albeit a bit hot and sticky).

We went for a walk after work down to Washington Square Park to enjoy the sunshine...

As we got closer to the arch we could hear piano music, then as we got into the park we saw that a man was playing a grand piano right under the arch...

He was playing a lovely version of 'Here Comes The Sun' - it seemed very fitting.

Lots of people were out in the park, enjoying the sunshine before the storm arrives. It certainly didn't feel like a hurricane was on it's way.

 Washington Square Park is always a great place to go to unwind after work (not that it's been a hectic week, it's been a great week, but we always need to de-work), and it looked especially stunning on Friday evening.

It felt like one of those great New Yorky evenings. I loved it.

Calm Before The Storm?

Well, it's all over the news - Irene's on her way!

Not that you'd be able to tell by going outside today though. It's a beautifully sunny and hot day, the only clouds in the sky are fluffy white ones and those not even the slightest breeze.

I wasn't feeling too bad about the whole hurricane situation last night, but I made the mistake of watching the news this morning and now I'm feeling a bit more nervous about it. It's a sort of excited nervousness, but my main concern is that if the power goes out, we've got a LOT of meat in the freezer! We might have to have an indoor BBQ.

I think we're going to go and do some provision shopping tonight or tomorrow (chocolate, crisps and booze probably!) and batten down the hatches ready for Sunday. 

As long as we've got internet, I'll keep you posted!

White Knuckle Drive...

I had my very first Manhattan driving experience yesterday!

I had to drive to Walmart to get some samples to shoot, and as taxis out to New Jersey are so expensive I had to hire a Zipcar and go myself. I don't think I've ever been so nervous driving somewhere before, apart from when I first started driving...

 Getting from Brooklyn to New Jersey was fine, no problems, just hop onto the Manhattan Bridge, drive down Canal Street through China Town and just follow signs for the Holland Tunnel... so I was VERY relieved and felt good after doing the first leg.

Driving over the Manhattan Bridge was an incredible exprience, driving over on such a beautiful morning, sitting high up in the drivers seat (I got a 4x4!) and looking over to my left seeing the amazing Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge looking so magnificent... I was breath-taking. I just wish I could have taken a photo or videoed it for you.

The trouble started when I got into New Jersey, the ring roads and turnpikes and freeways are a NIGHTMARE! It was supposed to take 30 minutes to get to Walmart... it took me 2 HOURS!

I tried to stay calm at first, but I was effing and jeffing a lot by the end, the signage was awful and the roads just seemed to make no sense - it definitely needs a certain transportation civil engineer to come over here and sort it out!

The journey back was a little more successful, I think it only took an hour!

When I got back into Manhattan I got to drive near Times Square, by Madison Square Garden, down by Macy's and down 5th Avenue, it was amazing! It was incredibly tense with cyclists darting out, pedestrians just walking out, taxis cutting you up and delivery vans just stopping dead, but it was amazing.

The views weren't bad either...

As I drove down 7th Avenue and then 5th Avenue I saw loads of people standing in groups right outside their office buildings. At first I thought there was someone famous there (when I saw the first cluster), then I thought it was because it was lunch or because they were all having a cigarette break. When I was in a traffic jam I quickly checked Twitter and saw lots of people saying 'Earthquake!'

So all the people had been evacuated from their buildings! I'd not felt anything, and I couldn't see any sign of damage, but I read 'BREAKING NEWS - 5.8 Earthquake in DC, effects felt in NYC'.

When I got to our building no-one was outside (probably because we don't have an evacuation proceedure!) and when I asked about it they said they didn't feel a thing. I think the taller buildings felt it more, I suppose the higher up the more you'd notice a wobble?

Hopefully there won't be any bigger quakes any time soon.

Lights, Camera, ACTION...

Myrtle Avenue had been turned into a film set yesterday morning.

Just down from our apartment a section of the road had been blocked off and there were crew members all over the place with all sorts of gear. Then smack bang in the middle of the road was a Camera on a little trolley thing...

I lingered long enough to see them shout 'Rolling' and 'Action' and to see a little stunt - a cyclist darted out into the road and a car had to swerve quickly to avoid hitting him, the car then almost crashed into the front of a shop!

Apparently it was all part of the filming of something called the Challenging Man (or something like that) which'll be on the telly soon, so not a blockbuster movie, but still exciting!

It's all happening in Bedstuy.

The Museum of Unnatural History...

The last stop on our little Washington adventure was the Museum of Unnatural History!

It's another fantastic concept from the 826 Group, who created the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Store and the San Francisco Pirate Supply Store, as well as a few others dotted around America. This particular shop is dedicated to all things weird and wonderful and completely made up...

Like the Owlephant!

Just like the Superhero Store, there are secret classrooms at the back of the shop and all proceeds from the shop go to fund the writing workshops that 826 run through-out the country. Also just like the other stores, there are some brilliantly clever things for sale, all perfectly themed and packaged...

 From Unicorn Tears (glittery goo) to Cave Painting Kits (pavement chalk), every item was so creative and funny. Most of the items were empty jars or tins, just like they are in Brooklyn, but it's a very clever way to get people to make donations.

We made a wee donation and are now the proud owners of a Koala Containment Unit (or a big glass jar!), that's now sitting proudly in the apartment.

My other favourite item for sale, which I thought was so clever was the Formaldehyde...

They had for levels of Dehyde - Formal, Semi-Formal, Business Casual and Informal... BRILLIANT!

The shop was set up a bit like a museum, with funny skeletons on display, dinosaurs peering round corners and stuff animals with funny names hanging upside down from the ceiling.

The colourful wheel was a Wheel of Answers, you ask it a question, spin it and it'd land on an answer, like 'Just because' or 'Have a cup of tea'.

As all the 826 shops are there to help budding writers, there's always books for sale, in this shop there was even a little reading area, in a cave complete with mammoth skin rugs...

The whole shop was so brilliantly thought out and really inspiring. The 826 Group are having so much fun with what they do and it's proving to be incredibly successful. It's definitely a 'I wish I'd thought of that' kind of thing.

The last thing that we spotted, just as we were leaving was the Customer Complaint Form...

Perfect!

Segs & The City - The Movie...

(Make sure the sound's turned on!)

Segs & The City...

Last time we were in Washington, we saw a load of people on a Segway tour and we both reeeeeeeeally wanted to have a go. So on Sunday, we did! We went of a Segway Safari around Washington!

We'd found a tour operator appropriately called 'Segs in the City' who did a number of different tours each day, so we booked up the 90 minute monument tour...

After a little tutorial we were able to go for a practice around the courtyardy bit before we hit the roads...

 

It was a wee bit tricky to get used to at first, you have to stand up straight and distribute your weight evenly, whilst staying relaxed and loose. It was a little bit like being on a Wii Fit board on wheels really, you lean forward to go forward, you lean back to go back, you try and get your weight in the middle to stop, and you just turn the handles bars to go either way.

It'd take too long to get the hang of it, and then we were off!

The tour was great, and we went passed some of the famous monuments that we saw last time were in Washington, but we were really pleased that we saw a lot of stuff that we missed last time too...

 We went all over, on the main roads, down the mall, round the reservoir, through the park, it was great! We managed to get a bit of speed up when there weren't any pedestrians around, and there were some sweet ramps to go up to get onto the pavement too.

 Luckily the weather was OK - it was very humid, and not incredibly sunny, but the rain stayed away for the most part. There was a brief moment when the emergency ponchos came out though...

Because we were in a small group (just four of us) it was nice and relaxed and we didn't have to wait for people, although the other couple we were with were a bit bloody slow, so we kept hanging back to give them room and then zooming up to catch them.

We were able to stop at some points for photos and to have a wee rest. Although riding Segways isn't really exercise, you do feel pretty tense for the first little while and you're constantly trying the balance and leaning forward and back, and standing up the whole time - so it got a bit achy towards the end. Even our guide was having a rest.

We stopped off at The Franklin Roosevelt Memorial, which is the world's biggest memorial! Although you can't see it from driving passed because it's not tall, it's big and flat. It's outside, and it's made up of lots of different 'rooms' but it has no roof, so it's a bit like a maze...

 We had a little mooch around it for a few minutes before hopping back on the segways for the final stretch.

By this time we'd caught up with the larger group, so there was about 10 of us all in a row as we zipped down the main road back to the post office where the tour began. The Post Office Pavillion is a very lovely looking building...

I don't think it's a post office anymore, it's full of shops and places to eat now, but it still looks veyr impressive on the outside.

Then our time was up, nearly 2 hours later, we arrived back to the start and received our very own Segs In The City 'Segsy Legs' Licences! 

 

So now, next time we go to Washington (or any city that Segs In The City operates) we can hire the Segways and take them out on our own, without the tour guide!!!

If only Segways were legal in New York.

Splish Splash...

The best thing about the hotel we were staying at (apart from it was very lovely and comfy, and it's location) was the roof top pool!!!

 On the Saturday the weather was amazing - it was so hot and sunny, perfect weather for a dip in the pool. It was nice and quiet up there, as you can see there were only a few people in the pool - and they soon cleared out after Abi bombed in!

Unfortunately there was no diving, or bombing, but it was nice and relaxed and it was lovely to be back in a pool, it's been aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages since either of us have been swimming.

 The view from the roof wasn't quite as impressive as the view from our roof, but it was still pretty great - you could just about see the Washington Monument on the horizon!

The pool was open until 9pm, so after we'd been out for tea we went back up for a night time swim. This time the pool was really quiet...

We were the only ones up there!


It was lovely and relaxing and so much fun to have the whole roof to ourselves (apart from the lifeguard and the cleaner). It was a perfect way to such a fantastic evening.

Dupont Circle...

The hotel were were staying at was in an area called Dupont Circle, which was a much nicer area than where we stayed last time. Dupont Circle's quite close to all the embassys, our hotel was actually on Embassy Street and was called Embassy Row.

Some of the buildings in the area were beautiful. There were some amazingly grand embassys and some lovely little town houses...

I love all the little unique looking buildings around Washington and the way people paint them all different colours. A lot of the buildings felt quite European, especially around Dupont Circle.

It was a great area, just round the corner from the hotel were lots of places to eat and bars to go to and some really nice little shops, it felt like we were in a far better area than before. It was lovely being able to stroll around in the evening looking at all the different people and places around.

Union Station...

On Saturday morning we got the Bolt Bus to Washington for a little weekend break. We'd managed to find a deal online for a hotel and the Bolt Bus cost about $30 return so it was a bit of a bargain get away really!

The Bolt Bus took about 5 hours to get to Washington (longer than it should), and when we arrived the bus stop had changed places since last time. Before the bus dropped us off in an odd bit of town, now all the bus stops were at the very grand looking Union Station.

Union Station is a HUGE white, pillared, incredibly grand looking train station (I wish I'd taken a photo from the outside) where all the buses and trains go off and visit all different parts of the country.

When we got inside we were both amazed by the ceilings, they were quite spectacular...

Some parts of it were metal, like St. Pancras, and some parts were stone, with gold leaf (or paint)...

The other bits of the station were very impressive too, all the shops inside (and there were lots of them! It felt like an airport or something) had lovely dark wood fronts to them, and there was an incredible big windy staircase in the middle of the station that lead up to some bars and down the food court.

I could imagine it would be a very impressive place to arrive as a foreign diplomat, here to visit and embassy or meet the President, arriving by train and stepping out into this amazing station. It would have made a great first impression!

When our necks had got sore from looking up all the time, we made a quick stop at the souvenir shop before heading out into DC...

Someone was channelling Uncle Sam.