Lizzie and Scott

16 Dec 2024

Today we met up with Peter and Lynn and showed them around downtown. It was a miserable morning with low cloud and light rain falling persistently. The cloud was so low in fact, that passing Macy's I looked up and discovered our old friend the Empire State Building was obscured!
Then we all met Nic and Laura at Madison Square Garden for a tour that Nic had organised. Interesting fact - the current location of MSG is not its original location. Another interesting fact - it's not square, nor is it a garden. The name came from a group of well-to-do gentlemen who used to regularly meet in Madison Square and talk about the topics of the day. Madison Square at that time was a beautiful public garden.

The men decided they wanted to build a public event space, but couldn't come up with a name...what better than to name it after where their dream was born? And so, Madison Square Garden became the name of the new venture. We were reliably informed by our tour guide that the name is not up for sale, and will NEVER be changed to Verizon Stadium/Macy's Arena/[insert highest bidder's name] Hall - it will always remain MSG.
MSG has played host to some of the world's BIGGEST acts/performances. Mohammad Ali and Joe Frazier fought here in 1972 in a battle for the undisputed world heavyweight title billed as The Fight of the Century. The fight is widely regarded as the biggest boxing match in history and arguably the single most anticipated and publicised sporting event ever. It was the first time that two undefeated boxers who held or had held the world heavyweight title fought each other for that very title.

Frazier won in fifteen rounds by unanimous decision. Ali dealt with his first professional loss. It became the first of a trio of fights, followed by the rematch events Super Fight II (1974) and the Thrilla in Manila (1975). Both of those fights were won by Ali.
Billy Joel also recently ended a residency at MSG having performed 150 consecutive concerts over 10 years, the most of any performer at The Garden. A feat which will almost certainly never be repeated.
We were taken down to floor level of the stadium where we learned that it hosts both ice hockey and basketball games throughout the respective seasons which run at the same time! First, they create the ice rink and then, if the need arises to play a basketball game, they lay fibreglass panels over the ice and then the wooden floor of the basketball court over the top! It takes about an hour and a half to convert the stadium floor from one configuration to the other!
Also at floor level, we found the locker rooms for the New York Rangers (ice hockey) and New York Knicks (basketball) teams.
It was really great to see behind the scenes, and we heard a great many stories of the stadium and its history. This tour is well worth doing if you have an hour to spare and are looking for something a little different to do.

After that, Lizzie and I had to dash off as we were hosting a dinner for our group of intrepid travelling friends!

The price of admission for dinner was that everyone had to wear an ugly Christmas sweater!

How did we do?
Dinner was absolutely lovely. Lizzie and I cooked roast beef (that came out perfectly medium rare), roast potatoes, roasted honey glazed carrots, pan sautéed asparagus, and roasted sweet potato and brussel sprouts. Then of course, there was wine aplenty, and we chased it all down with individual serves of frosted vanilla cake from Magnolia Bakery!

We all had a great night, with plenty of laughter and stories. Lizzie and I are so grateful that our friends could join us for at least part of our holiday (all six of us are travelling together until just after Christmas) and share our excitement. We'll all be just a little disappointed to leave NYC, but we also know there are some great adventures to come!

17 Dec 2024

The morning after the night before...

Actually, we woke up feeling pretty good! Not "dusty" at all after a few bottles of wine last night.

Lizzie and I spent an hour or so just cleaning up the last of the dishes from dinner last night, and then wandered downtown for a bit of a walk. We found ourselves some lovely bread rolls and had the last of the roast beef on those rolls for lunch.

After that, we caught the subway to Roosevelt Island, in the East River, where we then caught the Roosevelt Island Tram back to Manhattan. When I say "tram", that's what they're called here but back home we'd call them cable cars!

The tram closely follows the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge as it crosses the East River back to Manhattan. They trams run every 15 minutes, and are absolutely packed both ways! There are two cars that constantly make the trip backwards and forwards.
Once off the tram at 2nd Avenue, we walked back through the city and in to Central Park, which is always a lovely walk.
Once back home, Lizzie and I changed in to something warmer and ventured back downtown to meet Laura and Nic at a bar called Mustang Harry's for dinner, and to watch the ice hockey game between the Rangers and the Nashville Predators. Our dinner was lovely (I had a burger and Lizzie a lasagna) accompanied by a nice chianti. Unfortunately I couldn't find any fava beans to have with it.
The game also gave a disappointing result with the Rangers going down 2-0.

After dinner, we walked back to the subway and caught another great view of the Empire State Building.
Then it was home to bed for one final big day tomorrow!!!

Watch this space...

It’s amazing how much you’ve seen and done in NY, and it will be sad to leave.Dinner sounded delicious, and loved the six Christmas jumpers, or should that be sweaters! Was a lovely photo of you all decked out,you’ll have to start a Christmas in July ritual, and all wear your jumpers( just a thought)! Enjoy your last day there, and hope you get to spend a white Christmas together. Xx

OK! I'm finally caught up. I had to quit all my jobs and I haven't slept or eaten, but well worth it!
New York has done you proud, and you it!!!
Amazing adventures
Sorry Scott, I may have skimmed over the tour the boys did whilst the girls ate a delicious breakfast prepared by Tiffany
Can't wait to see your accomm in Woodstock.

More wonderful pics! What a great time you’re having ) I love the Chrissy jumpers xx enjoy xxxx