The Centre Of The World

After being in New York for a good few days now it really feels like it is the city centre of the world. There are people from all different nationalities, socio-economic brackets, religions etc and despite having their own little districts are all knitted together with relatively no trouble. This is a true city. This is definitely my favourite city so far and I can't see how it will lose top spot. Underground there is the incredibly efficient and easy to use subway system, you then pop up into one of the many buzzing neighbourhoods with eateries, shops and bars run by people from all walks of life for people from all walks of life. Then there is the traffic. With time perceived in a totally different way to the way it is in Australia cars are rushing around but people are rushing in front of cars with a "Screw you, Im wawkin' 'ere" attitude. With patience being a challenge of mine I feel at home in a city like this. Above all this hustle and bustle is a breathtaking skyline. Walking down some streets is like walking in between massive cliffs (especially on wall st, downtown) with walls of steel concrete and glass surrounding you. All this, surrounded by water with little islands like liberty and coney? Its like a fairytale. You can't walk for very long without running into a statue, shop or restaurant you have seen in a movie or on TV. I haven't even left and yet can't wait to be back.

Back to the tales.

We (Adam, Brooke and I) didn't end up going to Coney island as the people we were going out with didn't land at JFK until about 8 that night which would give us less than the required time to fully enjoy it. Instead we had a few drinks at brooke's apartment before heading for a walk down into the "Meat Packing District". We walked down some typical New York streets, past a sex shop of Sex and the City fame and past Carrie's house itself. Ive never seen an episode but it was exciting nonetheless. A guy named Mike from South Dakota and I started with "Geez I love this city" and after a few ales it became a bit of a laugh. I laugh this city, I love this bar, I love this beer, I love etc etc... We went to a little bar called the Brass Monkey. Reminded me of the Beastie Boys song however I have no idea if it was their inspiration. After a solid few sherbets I got Brooke to take us to Joe's pizza, a famous new york pizzeria (box ticked). She rang ahead and even though they were closed got them to give us a feed. Im starting to get the feeling she has a little bit of pull around here. Now, you can put all sorts of gourmet toppings on a pizza in an attempt to make it delicious, goats cheese, truffles, smoked salmon etc. But executive chefs in fancy restaurants around the world... "Fuggettaboutit". Dough. Tomato sauce. Cheese. Done. The best, simplest, most delicious pizza I've ever had. I refuse to put it down to the beer I was seriously in heaven.

In a cab. Into bed. 4 hours sleep. Up for sightseeing with an Aussie girl called Tamara. Rough.

Coffee. Eggs. Turkey. Fruit Salad. Ready to go...

We headed down to Ground Zero. Had a look at the memorial. I was astounded that 400 first responders were killed in the attacks and that the youngest killed was only 2 and a half years old. Despite women and children also being killed in the American retaliation it is easier to empathize with the American response. It allowed me to understand the anger with which marines went into Iraq as described in a book I'm reading called "One Bullet Away" by Marine Officer Nathaniel Fick.

From there we shot down to Battery Park (Tick) and took the free ferry across to Staten Island to see the statue of Liberty. Despite being (as everyone says) smaller than expected (which for me meant it was the size I expected it to be) it was magnificent to see such an iconic statue with my own eyes and reasonably close without having to pay for a ferry to the actual island.

After shooting straight back to Manhattan we went for a walk down wall st which was really what I imagined New York to be like. Walls of building lining the streets, suits rushing by, the stock exchange etc. I found a really nice looking chocolate shop by the name of "La Maison Du Chocolate". Wow, easily the best chocolate I've ever had. I had a passionfruit granach and a orange and lemon zest granach. 2 tiny bit sizes only cost me just under 4 dollars but you could easily drop some serious cash there. I think Ill be visiting the London/Paris branches.

Next was lunch in Chinatown. By this stage I was starving and had a generous roast duck entree with a beef and broccoli main on rice. just over ten bucks and a really good sized feed. We then strolled through little Italy which was somewhere that I could picture my Nan and Pop settling into from a spaghetti and some veal scallopini. Some awesome little restaurants, pizzeria's and cafes. I stopped in at sal's pizza joint for a slice. I think I saw it on Entourage one time. Anyway it was delicious but I think Joe has Sal covered by a small margin.

Really hitting the hangover/fatigue wall now we stopped for a double espresso at colombe coffee which seemed with a cool little coffee place. Nice coffee, my second nice coffee of the day (I forgot to mention my first one was a single origin Ethiopian bean which I think was brewed pour over style) and the caffeine was enough to a) get me excited about walking through Greenwich Village and b) give me the energy to get to the subway and back to the hostel.

What a day. Back to the hostel. Nuts. Berries. Snooze hard.

Woke up for a workout before dinner. It was awful. Gym packed half with people who had no clue and half with freakin' narcissist bodybuilders. Workout below..

Warmup:
500 m Row
Squat Bottom Hold
Sampson Stretch

Strength:
Deadlifts with yet another american gripless barbell. Still no excuses for my poor effort of:
2 x 5 Deadlifts @ 142kg

Metcon:
AMRAP 10
10 Power Cleans @ 61kg
10 toes to bar
10 burpees

3 very lethargic, nauseating rounds.

Building:
Tabata Row

Good to do something. But Morale was rock bottom. Looking forward to a crossfit gym workout at metropolis tomorrow.

Then got a deli buffet feed which I mistakenly thought was 5.99 all you can eat but with 5.99 per pound so I got stitched 10 bucks for some really shitty food. Chicken and Vege but I seriously hate to think how long it was "brewing" under lights.

Early one tonight. Up early tomorrow. I think a really nice breakfast somewhere cool and then off to central park. The MET and across to CrossFit Metropolis for a workout.

Happy days.