So, the general theme to my stay in New York has been to get over the fact that I have left work and am now unemployed (Yes, I have no Job – Doh) and to just slow down a bit. . . . Well today Friday 22nd (gonna start putting dates in now, as the STA webpage is on UK time, which doesn’t always marry up. . . ). Yes today has been no exception. We headed up town towards Central Park, mainly to go to the Bank at which my new Card was being delivered. . . You’ll be happy to know that is was delivered, so I can continue to spend money. . . Yippeee!

We had a quick stroll through Central Park and round a Winter / Christmas market, where we had some very nice warm cider and a chocolate brownie. . . . Bit cold today, so warmed us up a treat. . . .Now in the park, I saw a first for me. . . . A Black Squirrel. . . ! Very strange. . !

We then went and had some food. . . Followed by some more wandering around and shopping! (David bought some Diesel sun glasses, get this, on the only day the sun wasn’t out. . . .Weirdo!). We then headed back homeward and crashed for a few minutes in the apartment before Dave decided that enough was enough and his hair had to be cut. . . . Now mine also needs cutting, but to be honest I couldn’t be arsed, I had other plans. . . .

I went around the corner to the little dodgy place in a basement. . . A Chinese massage! Oh my god. . . Wow, blimey, aarrrrr! How cool was that! I originally asked for 30 mins, which soon turned into an hour, but my god was it worth it! ($40 well spent). . . .

Well I got back to the apartment about 5 mins before Dave. . . . His haircut cost $40. . . Now I think my money was better spent (You must have seen the advert years ago – Lionel Blair cut?) hehehe. . . Even better though. . . This is Dave all over. . . Goes out for a haircut and comes back with a new jumper and a new Watch?!?! Work that out? Bless him!

Right. . . Shower time now, then a night on the town is in order one thinks! Gotta chill tomorrow and pack for Canada and not to mention the early start on Sunday. . . Wow, can’t wait. . . !

Aaaarrrggghhhhh. . . My head hurts. . . ! Well Friday night was good! Sort of anyway. . . . The weather turned crap! Started raining, still we had been blessed with clear sky’s til now. . . We braved it anyway and managed to get in this very nice Spanish Tapas bar just up the road, that has always been rammed with people. . . Was relatively quite as a lot of people are leaving the city to go home for Christmas. . . Very friendly bar staff, the lady especially, who took time out to have a chat. . . General theme (everyone is so jealous of me and my travel plans). Still was good to chat. . We had a very nice bottle of Red and tried the cheese and meats platter, plus a mushroom cheesy thing (yum).

As it was raining, we didn’t wanna go far, so had a quick pint of Guinness in Tom & Jerry’s. . . . Was quite entertaining in there as there was a sort of party going on and yes, there was a village missing it’s idiot! He was very drunk dancing around like a fool (Yes, I know, that’s what I do!). The body language of everyone was funny though as they snuffed him!

We braved the rain some more and headed up to St Marks Place and dropped into this Jazz bar we had seen the night previous. Very cultural , I know. . . It was all going so well up to this point, some nice red wine, chilled out bars, good music, but then we ended up in an old favorite. . . ‘Tribe”. Very friendly bar staff and Bouncers, great DJ and a good vibe. . . The drinks started flowing, we started dancing and before I knew it, it was 4am. . . Doh!

A savage kebab and a taxi ride and we were homeward bound. . . . Next thing I know, I have got a sore neck, it’s 8am and I am on the couch! May need to visit my masseuse again!

Well it’s Saturday, I need to pack for Canada, wake up and sort my head out!

So the plan for Saturday was to get everything ready for our trip. . . hmmm. We didn’t do much, we did however manage to go out in the evening for some food. Was planning on an early night, however after the food (Snails, followed by a very nice steak + a very expensive bottle of red wine) we went for a walk and found this live music bar and decided to hang around there and see a few bands. . . The first were from Philadelphia and very good, 5 piece, one of which turned up late (bad boy). . . They were full of energy and a pleasure to watch. . . Was also quite funny watching their girlfriends and groupies!

So anyway, so much for an early night. . . I had too many pints of Guinness and we got home later than we wanted. . . The good news however, is that I am sat on the Amtrak train on our way to Canada. . . So, yes the alarm woke me up in the morning and we made the train (JIT).. . . .

Well it’s now just after 7pm, so I have been on this train now for nearly 12 hours. . . . hmmmm nice (Not). . . The journey hasn’t been too bad to be honest, it was all going really well, some nice scenery, and the occasional 10 minute stop to stretch your legs. . . We got held up about 6 hours into the journey, so got to the border about 45mins later than anticipated. Now the border control supposedly can be a bit of a nightmare. . . Well when you’ve got 3 weirdos on the train it is. . . ! Anyway, needless to say the train continued on its journey into Canada around an hour and half late (3 passengers lighter).

At this point I was still quite chilled out about things. . . . But now as I am writing this, the train stinks of piss as some dope clearly didn’t understand not putting a ton of paper down the toilet?!?!? Ready for some fresh air now! Oh yeah and a beer. . . ! Despite what my dad thinks, I haven’t had a beer on the train!

Well that’s it for now. . . Happy Christmas for tomorrow. . .

Will write again soon,!

Ciao for now.