Lizzie and Scott

Day three of the tour - this was a morning spent on the coach, drive around the Bronx, Harlem, Queens, Brooklyn and DUMBO.

Now, don't be concerned - DUMBO is not a derogatory name for any place, but rather an area more precisely named "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass". More on that soon. Some of you may think that visiting Harlem and the Bronx was dangerous. And, truth be known, I certainly thought this before the tour but the truth of the matter is that these areas are no more dangerous than the heart of NYC. Yes, you still need to be aware of your surroundings, but at no stage did I feel in danger. In fact, one of our guides lives in Harlem and LOVES it!

Our first stop was the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Although I had heard of it, I had no idea just how significant this building was in world history. This theater has played host to some of the biggest musical acts in the world! Names such as B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Etta James, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, The Temptations - the list goes on and on - have launched their careers here. Standing in front of the theater you could almost sense the history oozing from the walls!
These days, the theater hosts an amateur night every Wednesday which we are reliably informed is a great night full of laughs where the audience are traditionally brutal in booing the less-than-good acts from the stage!

From here, we travelled a short distance down the road and found Yankee Stadium, the home of the famous New York Yankees Major League Baseball team. Arguably the most successful professional sports franchise in the United States, the Yankees have won 21 American League East Division titles, 41 American League pennants, and 27 World Series championships, all of which are MLB records. The team has won more titles than any other franchise in the four major North American sports leagues, after briefly trailing the NHL's Montreal Canadiens between 1993 and 1999. The Yankees have had 44 players and 11 managers inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, including many of the most iconic figures in the sport's history, such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and Reggie Jackson!

Sadly, the original stadium was demolished in 2008, and the site is now a series of fields where the public can "play ball".
The new stadium was opened in 2009 directly across the road, and was built to resemble the old stadium, albeit offering more facilities and comfort.
Next, we were shown some famous (so we were told) street art celebrating the Bronx. What was clever about this mural was that each of the letters in the word BRONX was painted with different images depicting the local area/activities. It was actually pretty cool.
From here, we were taken to Little Italy in the Bronx. This for me was more authentic than the Little Italy we were introduced to in the downtown area. It really only consisted of a handful of shops spread over a short distance in a single street, but oh my, what an experience!

Whilst Lizzie went off to check out the cheese store, she tasked me with waiting in line at the Calabria Pork Store to buy some authentic Italian meat goods. This place is insane! It is a tiny little store which has a line of people out the door and down the street! Once inside the door, I was confronted by the sight of cured salamis hanging from every inch of the roof!
This is not the kind of place you can browse. The line moves quickly and efficiently, with very little chatter between staff and customers. People simply order what they want and it is delivered to the counter with a minimum of fuss. I made a point of listening intently to the way the people in front of me ordered their meat so I could gauge how much sausage I would get if I asked for "a pound". I ended up getting us a pound each of a hot sausage, and a cheese and parsley sausage, as well as two pork chops and some delicious chilli marinated mozzarella!

I met up with Lizzie who was equally as successful in her endeavours, buying some delicious truffle cheddar, and something called prima donna cheddar. She was in heaven!

Then we were back on the bus for the drive to DUMBO. This was developed as a predominantly industrial area and so attracted the lower socioeconomic parts of society. But over the years, with the crash of businesses in NYC and particularly DUMBO, the area has become more of a hipster place to live, with most buildings offering studio apartments in the old factories. The view from the dock looking back towards Manhattan was stunning!
Lizzie also managed to find yet another ice rink under the bridge which had not quite opened yet. I'm not sure if we'll make if back here for a skate.
This completed our tour so we were back on the bus and dropped off back in Manhattan. Lizzie and I then wandered around for a bit, catching a glimpse of an old friend peering at us from behind the skyscrapers.
Our next stop was the NYC Public Library. Some of you will remember this beautiful old building from the movie Ghostbusters. Yep, that's right! This is the place where the boys first come face to face with the ghostly old librarian. We would come back here in a few days to take a look inside, so watch out for that update!
We continued wandering through the city, and stuck our heads in to the official NBA store. This place is two stories of wall to wall basketball! Anything you could think of to do with the game is in this store! Actually, while I think of it, Lizzie would appreciate your help on deciphering what is written on this ball!
From here, we decided to walk home to freshen up before coming back in to the city to check out the various lights around the place. Along the way, we passed one of many Christmas tree vendors that are popping up on almost every street corner!
Lizzie decided it wouldn't really be Christmas unless we had our very own real, live Christmas tree! And with that, we bought ourselves a cute little 4' tree, and a matching real wreath!
Now, what do you do when you buy a tree on the side of an NYC street? You carry it home of course! We carried this thing about 20 city blocks!!!
https://youtube.com/shorts/REttRMv8I_w? ... kfUkhtpAz-

Once we got it home, and up the single flight of stairs to our apartment, we cut it loose and gave it a bit of a zhoosh (sp?) - the little fella came up alright! You'll see more of it once we have it decorated.
Then we were out the door again and back in to the city to check out the pretty lights! Of course, the beautiful Empire State Building didn't disappoint.
Then we spent a bit of time exploring around Radio City Music Hall, which has a number of decoration installations nearby.
NYC at night is a beautiful place!

Having had our fill of walking for the day, we wandered back home to relax (read that as "Lizzie wanted to watch a Hallmark movie"). Before settling down, Lizzie happened to find a pretty looking table lamp in the cupboard.
Which reminds me - you remember the story of our blocked toilet, and how we had to buy a plunger to unblock it?

Well, it turns out this table lamp just happened to be a bloody plunger that was already here!!!
Thanks for reading everybody. Stayed tuned for the next update!

Nice table lamp
Stay freaky kids

Amazing stuff guys!!!!! Love all the pics and stories!!
I think the ball says ‘freaky’ Lizzo!!! xx

You could try using your new inverted lamp as a hot chocolate fountain over Christmas!

The Stay Freaky logo is actually a symbol that honours the nickname of basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo, "The Freak"

Thankyou for identifying the writing on the ball as "Stay FREAKY"

This settles an argument.

You see, someone who shall remain nameless thought it said "Free 4 Ky"

I'm still trying to work out who Ky is, and why he gets it free!

Scott wrote: ↑Sun Dec 08, 2024 3:51 pm You see, someone who shall remain nameless thought it said "Free 4 Ky"

I'm still trying to work out who Ky is, and why he gets it free!

All I know is that he's slippery and scent free !

SarahT wrote: ↑Fri Dec 06, 2024 4:54 pm Amazing stuff guys!!!!! Love all the pics and stories!!
I think the ball says ‘freaky’ Lizzo!!! xx

Thanks Sares. I thought it was free 4 Ky

Mon wrote: ↑Fri Dec 06, 2024 3:42 pm Nice table lamp
Stay freaky kids

So funny! I looked at it a few times and didn’t even notice that there was no power cord

Free 4 Ky