The View Through My Eyes: April 2007

Farewell to New York

Farewell to New York
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

Brett and I at the edge of Central Park, New York, just before flying home.

The Abercrombie Chapel

The Abercrombie & Fitch store on Fifth Avenue has a mural running the height of the store's staircase and the ceiling over it; not quite a modern-day Michaelangelo, but I think there's a certain nod in his direction...

Child at Play

Child at Play
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

This is me in FAO Schwarz on Fifth Avenue, New York. I'd just spent half an hour playing with some wonderful magnetic mecano stuff and was fighting the urge to buy a box to take home. I did grab the manufacturer's website details though (www.plastwood.com) so I can see if they sell it in the UK.

At the Rockefeller Centre

Prometheus in the Rockefeller Plaza...

... and some random gateway decorations, ...

...and finally, the statue of Atlas.

Views from the Empire State

About the only decent photographable sight visible from the top of the Empire State Building is the nearby Chrysler Building, seen above through my telephoto lens and below in wide-shot.

Below is the view looking northward towards Central Park with the George Washington bridge over the Hudson River in the distance towards the top left.

And here's the view looking in the other direction (south) towards the financial district, with the Brooklyn Bridge over the East River to the left of shot.

Downtown Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge

Finally, to prove that we were actually there, here's Brett and me...

Easter Bunnies

Easter Bunnies
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

After spending the morning out and about in the freezing temperatures of a New York April, we headed into Chelsea for some lunch. Brett had found a recommended café/bar/restaurant in the gay guidebook that John Mc had given us as an engagement present so we went along and weren't disapponted. We had some lovely food, albeit in typically oversized portions (I cancelled my steak and eggs entree almost as soon as I saw the size of the chicken cesar salad they delivered for my appetiser!) The service was excellent and the place had a good, friendly vibe to it. I'd recommend it if you happen to be in town; the Food Bar on 8th Avenue between 17th & 18th Streets.

Here we see the staff enjoying the opportunity of Easter to dress up a little...

Pictures on Brooklyn Bridge

Handwashing 101

Handwashing 101
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

On our walk around the southern end of Manhattan we stopped off for a warm drink in a Starbucks just off Water Street. Here's a picture of a sign in the toilets. I can understand that they maybe need to remind staff to wash their hands before returning to work, but I'm rather worried that they also feel it necessary to give step-by-step instructions about how to do it. It would seem that standards of parenting really are dropping if you can't rely on people having been taught as a child how to wash themselves!

Brett in Battery Park

Brett in Battery Park
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

Brett, somewhat over-exposed in this shot, waits for me to stop all the photographic mucking about in Battery Park, New York

Brett and Tom

Brett and Tom
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

While we were in town, we met up with Tom, one of Brett's friends from his university days, who's now a writer/director in New York and has a play opening this coming June.

Times Square Overload

Times Square Overload
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

Times Square is just too busy to be enjoyed. Between the solid crowds on every pavement and the advertising covering almost every surface, you come away from it all thankful to have escaped from all the pressure, both physical and mental.

Central Park Scenes

Saturday morning we spent strolling through Central Park. It's a very popular spot for New York's joggers, cyclists and roller-bladers and we even saw a couple of roller-skiers!

More traditional pastimes were also going on and we spent a while watching baseball practice on the North Meadow playing fields.

There's also a large section of unmanaged woodlands where you can see quite a bit of wildlife.

Brett Sleeping

Brett Sleeping
Originally uploaded by PhoenixUK.

The trip over to NYC was quite pleasant - even with the three hour delay on the tarmac at Heathrow. We' had Club World seats which meant virtually our own private cabin we were so secluded. Here's Brett taking advantage of the flat bed that your seat turns into.

The View Through My Eyes

Monday, April 09, 2007