I LOVE YOU NYC...I HATE NEW YORK CITY. Its one of those places that you can love and hate in the same sentance. We fell in love with New York and all its charms but also hated it very much when we got totally lost on many occasions on the underground subway. Thankfully, there are some very kind people in New York who are happy to help us damsels in distress and we also had unlimitted use of our subway passes.

We arrived in NYC to our little hostel in Chelsea. Chelsea is a gay district known for its "chelsea boys". Not really Mikes choice of places to reside but all the same its really pretty and has lots of charm. We feel very safe here, protected by the tiny dogs dressed in designer outfits. Our room is a box, we have taken a photo to show you. There is really only room for one person to be standing at a time. Its quite funny really (we need to see the funny side of it or we will kill each other).

On our first afternoon in NY was to use the laudromat around the corner. first of all we had to learn to use the washing machine. It sounds easy but for two people who dont know which detergent to use or which hole it oes in (THE letter that comes after f does not work on this computer so please excuse that). So in laundromats you cant walk away from you washin or someone will steal it so we wated for our load to finish. it finished and bec put it in thr dryer...and off it went.. 15 minutes later mike noticed bubbles and water swishin around the "dryer". bek had placed the washin in the industrial sized washin machine instead of the dryer..so we had the cleanest clothes in new york and about 2 more hours to kill in the laundromat. what a wonderful place to experience new york city.

we ventured out to get our subway passes and our New York Pass (free entry to lots of places). It was freezing! so we went and got our first slice of New York Pizza....delicious! On the way home we experienced our first dodgy side of New York with a group of guys getting arrested by undercover cops on the subway next to us. It was quite exciting really. Our lonely planet book describes the subway as dirty, smelly and hot. And it is spot on! Its disgusting but the best way to get around and we have even had buskers playing us music on the subway while we travel along!

The next morning we slept in quite late and then went on the hunt for some broadway tickets. We managed to score some to the Lion King which we were very excited about. We also went to the Madison Square Gardens for a behind the scenes tour. It was rather disapointing but we did find a good book store where bek picked up some cheap jodie picoults and Mike (yes you are reading correctly Vicki) purchased his first book. Its an autobiography about Pearl Jam which he as been reading each night..he is proudly up to page..100. I have photo evidence!

In the arvo we got lost on the subway and kept passing our stops..that was fun. We then went and tried a lonely planet recommended restaurant in Koreatown. We were way in out of our depth..we had about 10 bowls of stuff that we had no idea what was in them and Mike being the adventurous eater that he is....ended up getting doughnuts on the way home.

That evening we also attempted the Empire State Building except there was zero visability. But we did have our free tickets to the new york skyride which were were really excited about. We had been to an imax screening at the grand canyon and really enjoyed it....except little did we know. We sat down in this tiny theatre...thats fine..we then noticed that there was handle bars....not so fine...we then got told to hold on tight...not fine at all. Bek spent the time with her eyes closed and Mike spent it laughing. Bek soon put a stop to his laughing with her death stares. She was very very very sick and when the man asked if they would like to ride again...she also gave him the death stare.

The following morning we got up and went to central park which is one of my favourite parts of the city. It is so so so beautiful and pretty. it was 8 degrees though so we didnt stay around to long but we had time to admire the skating rink and the horse drawn carts. we then decided it was time to buy some jumpers..we needed to be warmer or all we would remember was how cold it was. we went to times square and got some NYPD jumpers..thats right we are that couple that wear matching brands at the same time. We love them. Everytime we put them on we sing the Law and Order song...in fact we were walking down our street which happens to be where the 10th precinct is, wearing our NYPD jumpers and most likely singing our song when a real life cop went past and said in his american accent "hey guys...nice t-shirts" so we jumped at the opportunity to ask for a photo with him. Check out the photos.

We also went to madame tussauds with our new york pass and posed with pieces of wax. And then went and lined up for the Empire state building for 2 hours. It was worth the wait as the views were amazing.

that evenin we went to a local restaurant called lasa(letter after f here)ne. it was beautiful italian food except we realised as we sat at our corner booth watchin the sidewalk...that we were the only straiht people not only in the restaurant but for as far as the eye could see..it was a very wierd feelin. It was also comfortin considerin we had watched police cars speed around corners earlier and heard that someone had been shot not far from our friends at the 10th precinct police station on our street.

On the sunday we went to FAO Schwarz so Mike could play on the giant piano. See the pictures attached. In the arvo we went to the lion king. It was amazing, it gave me shivers!! the costumes, sets and the music was amazing and we really were impressed. Our seats were front and centre which made it so much better as well.

After this we went to Grenwich Village which is where we would like to live if we moved here! We went to Carrie of Sex and the Citys stoop and also Magnolia Bakery which is known for its cupcakes. the line was around 15 minutes long and wrapped around the block but we were very impressed with the cupcakes and we tried red velvet cake aswell. Mike said they were not as good as the green buttermix we make at home. We also went to the felicity dean and deluca site so i could get a photo for Karlee...it was a bit of a let down but we took a photo anyway. Once again lost on the way home.

Today we went to see the world trade centre. it was a very moving experience for both of us and the set up for the museum was very well done. We also went to TIFFANNYYSSSS and i got to buy some lovely things there. See Photos!! we then went to the bodies expo which was in perth not long ago. We were meant to get the ferry to the statue of liberty but the line was around 3 hours long. we hope to see that on friday when we get back to new york. along with the natural history museum and gugenhiem for some culture!! off to niagara falls tomorrow but we will be in touch after that!

lots of love

Bek and Mike.

PS we almost love New York enough to buy those i heart NY shirts...but we cant bring ourselves to do that...but we did get you one elise!!