Update #3

see all photos »

Bear with me this update is rather long. I have only just had a chance to complete it. I am now in London, it is Thursday. When I started it I was in NYC and it was Sunday.

Well what can I say, Shell and I have just seen the best show ever! It was called Wicked and it is basically the Wicked Witch of the West’s Story. It was funny and really good. A lot of fun for a huge Wizard of Oz fan like me. Thanks to Liam for recommending it!

Now back to the chronological updates.

Last time we spoke I was driving back to LA from Vegas after an amazing time in the desert! We are still enjoying the wedding, even though it is nearly a week ago. We arrived in LA around 6pm, right on schedule! We then checked into our hotel, freshened up, had a drink and headed to Santa Monica for dinner. Marty took us to a lovely little seafood place he knew and it was grouse! Especially the waiter, Randy was getting ready to run a marathon in Dublin, how convenient that I will be there to watch him!

see all photos »

We then headed back to the hotel as we had an early start to get our plane to NYC. We got to the airport around 7.45am for the check in from hell. All I can say is that Americans do not know the idea of easy flow when it comes to queues and people. We finally arrived at our gate around 8.20am, this is without any customs checks! Oh mi god.

Then to top it off the flying kangaroo was running late. We didn’t actually end up taking off until 10.20am, an hour late. Gave me some time to sleep though. Josh looked after us, we had to fly economy but we got first class treatment, literally. We drank first class wine and were given a first class oroton toiletries pack! Noice!

After 5 hours of flying we finally landed at JFK, we were in NYC! What is the first thing we come across, another flow issue – the baggage claim was in the smallest little room you would ever see! After finally getting our bags, we head to Manhattan. We finally got to our hotel room, only to find that it was absolutely disgusting, Shell and I both cried! There was no way that we could stay there for 5 nights. For future reference, if anyone has the chance to stay at the Pennsylvania Hotel, DO NOT! After gathering ourselves, we rang the front desk to ask to be moved to another room, only to be told that there was nothing available. We then called travel agent Marty and got him on the case! The only problem is that we had prepaid for the accommodation back home. Not deterred, we went downstairs and demanded to be moved, we got a newer room – all that was different is that the walls were actually painted, it was still completely unacceptable (do I hear the word PRINCESS!)

We then caught up with the boys again to have some dinner. Went to a bar not far from them, had a lovely stir fry. At least you can get decent food in NYC. After dinner we went back to Marty and Josh’s for some Cosmopolitans! Very string, but well needed. We then logged on to Expedia and booked another hotel, we are now staying at the Radisson. The funny thing is it is cheaper! Much, much nicer. We are no longer crying.

After checking out of the Pennsylvania and checking in to the Radisson, we headed out in to the busy streets of NYC. It was raining so we headed to Times Square to check out what Broadway shows we could see. We were lucky that we were able to get tickets to Wicked (See Above) and also worked out when to get our tickets to Rent. After that we went to the Museum of Modern Art, what else can you do when it is raining. The museum was great, really enjoyed it.

We then headed back to the hotel to get ready to head out for some dinner. Shell and I were on our own so we went to Lombardi’s, a great little pizza place downtown. The food was great. After dinner we walked back uptown towards Union Square. Once we got there, Shell decided to head back to the hotel room and I decided to head to Splash, a very in your face gay bar in Chelsea. The boys were hot and the shows well, lets just say, boys and there toys are always fun to watch! No luck on the picking up front. Although a barman was very interested to know I was fro Sydney (that is after thinking I was from England!) but that could have been because of the $9 tip I gave him, well I didn’t really give it to him, he just decided to keep my change!

Sunday was another rainy day, (I must say that I am now in London and the memory isn’t quite with me!) but I remember, it is the day for Wicked! After getting up rather late we just moseyed around Times Square until 3 o’clock when Wicked was to start. See above for review!

After that we went home and freshened up as we were having dinner with Marty. He took us to a fantastic little café on 9^th Ave. Turns out very good on the eye, for me anyway! After dinner we all decided to go for one drink at a local bar called therapy. Well one cosmopolitan lead to 6 or 7 and we were at another bar in the gay district, where I celebrity spotted Thom from Queer Eye and Michael’s boyfriend from Queer As Folk. Then I met a lovely boy named Rami. A local New Yorker, who was more than willing to make me feel very, very welcome!

Finally got home about 3.30am and slept. Shell and I had decided that we needed to be up around 8am to do our sightseeing. Well we left our hotel room at midday! We were very smashed after last night. We then headed downtown to catch the Statten Island Ferry, Statue of Liberty, 9/11 ground zero, Century 21 for shopping, G-Star for my jeans, then back to the hotel by 7pm (we got all that we wanted to do done in half a day!) We then headed to dinner at a restaurant called Tao. Excellent. Finally crashed at around midnight.

Up the next day to do a full day sightseeing. We left the hotel at 8am and headed for Empire State Building. Got through it in around an hour. Thank god. Then headed to Central Park and the Guggenheim. Then downtown for some shopping at Macy’s. Then kept shopping until we headed back to the hotel at around 5. Packed our bags ready for our departure the next day and then went and saw Rent. It was good but nowhere near as good as Wicked.

After the show Josh, Shell, Sam and me headed to the W hotel for some more cosmopolitans. We had a couple and then they went home and I headed out. The first bar I went to was XL, but there was about 7 people there. I stayed for a drink and then headed to Splash. Unfortunately it wasn’t really my scene. Headed home and went to bed around 2.30.

Had a sleep in and then checked out around midday. Shell and I left our bags at the hotel and went shopping. Bloomingdale’s first, then back to Macy’s where Shell had to pick up a fabulous jacket. That took us to around 4.30pm when the car was picking me up for JFK. Just my luck that there were massive crashes on the JFK freeway. Anyway I finally made it and checked in. BUSINESS CLASS baby. Thanking you Josh. Had a lovely trip over on a Skybed, unfortunately I couldn’t sleep. Oh Well.

Arrived in London today at 7am. Hired a car for the day as it would be way too hard to get them all to Linda and Phil’s on the tube. Right now I am sitting watching tele relaxing for the first time in what feels like 3 months. I have a few days in London, and then I leave for Dublin on Sunday. I see Kylie in concert on Monday night. I soooooooo can’t wait!