8th street, organised chaos

A 30 second snapshot of the daily mayhem on 8th street NY

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How dodgy is your walk to work

Check out this food vendor walking his cart to work in the traffic lane. No compo cover for him I bet

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Go the mets!

Lisa and I just spent the day at the baseball. We caught the underground out to queens. We got great seats just behind home plate and the game turned out a cliffhanger. The mets won. As you can see we got in the team clobber to help support then. Great day out.

New York puzzle

Ok so if your a regular follower of this blog you will have guessed by now that I am not that enamored with New York. It's been 5 days now and we are finally starting to get the place worked out a bit. Case in point we finally found a good breakfast joint thismorning for the first time. We did it by scoping out the locals. That's the trick. You see there are 8 million people living in the 5 burrows(suburbs) of New York. At any one time there are 1.4 million tourists in the city at the same time. You have to find the little spots where the tourists don't find. It's not easy.
My hatred of NY is a little harsh but to put it in perspective you need to understand where I'm coming from:
1. I don't cope with crowds
2. I don't like being a conventional tourist.
3. I arrived here straight after spending 3 weeks in relative isolation riding my bike in a remote area.
4. We arrived labour day weekend which is when Americans start there summer. So everyone is a bit excited.
5. We also arrived for the first heat wave.

There is no getting away from the fact that NY is a smelly dirty overcrowded and overrated city. However the people who live here develope coping mechanisms that I grudgingly acknowledge.
Having said all that this place is not for me. I hope never to return. We are still trying to make the most of our time here. Today we are off to see the Mets play the pirates at city field. We are just about to take the subway to queens. I have just taken my first Valium for the day. I am sure Lisa will take care of the rest

Regards

Mike from iPhone

Lots of fire trucks, no fires

But they seem to have fun showing off anyway


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View from the top

Rockefeller Tower observation deck

Broadway show

Last night we took in a broadway show called " rock of ages". It was bloody fantastic. By far the most entertaining stage show I have ever seen. As you probably know I don't like them( like
Most things)

Regards

Mike from iPhone

Touring town

Yesterday Lisa and I spent the day on one of those horrible topless tourist
Buses doing a lap if town. Unfortunately they are the best way to scope out a joint and work out what is where. We did the south end of town. Today we might do the north. I think I have enough Valium left. Highlights of the day were seeing the statue of liberty and going up the Rockefeller centre to the observation deck. It is a beautiful city with so many beautiful buildings. The crysler building is magnificent.

Regards

Mike from iPhone

Don't tell anyone

Lisa is drinking a Carmel frapachino from Starbucks. I tried it but I didn't inhale. I promise.

No smoking

Far less smoking evident in USA. No smoking in central park. Wonderful. You should be allowed to smoke a doobie though.

Add a bumper

Nice accessory for city parking.

Memorial day in central park

Central park is huge. A wonderful asset for the city. Great to see so many people outdoors having fun.

New York provides answers

Now I know why Valium was invented.

Regards

Mike from iPhone

New York first report

New York first report. It sucks so far. What a shithole. Mikey

Times square

Amazing sand sculpture in times square last night. Gone this morning?

Times square 1am - packed to the rafters!

Sorry it's blurry. I was in the middle of a mild panic attack from all the people

Off to the big apple

Lisa and I are sitting around waiting for our flight to New York. I am neither excited or apprehensive about our visit to the city. I have never been to the east coast before. I am hoping it is like our Paris experience in 2009. I went there with no expectations and was blown away. Not really looking forward to a 5-1/2 hour plane flight. I guess the Valium will help.

Regards Mike from iPhone

Pimped to the extreme!!!

Venice Beach law enforcement.

Venice beach

Been here many times but it really is a must visit place that has to be one of the craziest places on earth. We had hoped to ride in from the north side to end our trip. Unfortunately we had to settle on riding up from LAX on Connie and Wayne for the day. Beautiful weather and lots of crazy people. Even a few boys working out at muscle beach. Lisa had the best churos ever. A great way to finish our visit to LA.

Santa Monica bike path

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Venice the movie

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Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara

Wow this place is gorgeous and warm!!
I love it here.

Beach crusin

Well the rest of our riding on this trip is going to be flat beach cruising so I bought a bike more suited to the purpose. What a sweet ride

Santa Barbara

We are now down in Santa Barbara which is well known as the American riviera because of it's wonderful climate. This is one of the places that is on our short list for a possible site of an extended USA visit. We are spending a couple of days here looking around. We love it. It's a good sized town(100k) and the climate I'd heavenly. It is so beautiful and well looked after. It is also full of homeless people which is so saddening. Knowone seems to care about them.

Hearst Castle

Last time I ride the coast one of the highlights was a visit to the Hearst Castle. So even though the road was blocked we made sure that after the detour we headed back up the coast a ways to visit it. I thought it would blow Lisa away and I was right. We did the 2 hour experience tour which takes you to all the big highlights like the Neptune swimming pool in the picture. She loved it so much that we stayed overnight and did another tour the next day of the bedrooms, library and kitchen. The castle was built by William R Hearst who was the Rupert Murdoch of the 1920's. He plundered treasures from all over the world to build a living museum to entertain his friends in. While it's often cringe material it really is a must see. I'm sure something like it could never be built again. WRH was a complex man and I think most people can't work out if they liked or disliked him. I know I'm confused. I am going to read a biography on him so I can understand him a bit more. Going to the castle again was well worth the trouble.

Mike

Day 20- the final fling

Today we rode the famous 17 mile drive from Monterey to Carmel. Arguably the most prime real estate on the west coast. It was absolutely beautiful. Huge houses, manicured golf courses and great coastline. We did the ride without luggage on the bikes which was pretty strange. Sadly our riding tour is at an end. The road is closed indefinitely below Carmel because of a huge landslide. So we have hired a car to drive around the long way. A new phase if the adventure begins.

Regards

Mike from iPhone

San Simeon

Oh what a beautiful morning

Don't try this at home

Riding with a diving mask is risky. Also looks a bit silly

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