Switzerland: Zurich

This is our first time in Switzerland, and we're impressed. In our usual style we detoured on our way home and squeezed in yet another wonderful European city. It was a long flight from New York to Zurich, about eight hours in total. We left in the evening and arrived in Zurich at about 2 in the morning New York time. 

The Main Street

After keeping pace with locals of New York City, including bumping shoulders with strangers in student bars, getting drunk at breakfast time, surviving the subway and navigating our way through the ever entertaining crowds of people on every block, we found walking through the main streets of Zurich was like a country town.

We walked until we found a small coffee stand on the river bank. At this point we were very much in need of coffee and a relaxing view of the river, and here we had both. We drank coffee and watched swans, and sat. It was fantastic. 

Next we made our way to the top of Lindenhof hill. The area is a large recreational space and apparently the historical site of an old Roman castle. We took another opportunity to pass some time and take in the view of the city.

We later bought ourselves a picnic lunch and headed towards the lake and parklands nearby.

The best thing about this time of year is the flowers coming into bloom. I don't know if it's a temperature thing, but in Australia we just don't seem have all the whimsical trees that suddenly come to life in spring as they do here.

We found ourselves a nice spot on the lake and pretty much lived here for the rest of the day. Not a bad way to recover from a long flight I would say...

- Kate

New York City: Food

What would a trip to New York be without sampling some of America's most heart attack inducing delicacies? Don't worry parents, we balanced this out with lots of walking.

First up was this big bowl of wrong from Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken on the Lower East Side. The first few mouthfuls of the "fries with the lot" were great until you feel your arteries harden up then it was a bit of a mission. Possibly the saltiest thing I've ever eaten. Nutrition was provided by the tub of coleslaw....

Fried chicken and fries with the lot (bacon, cheese, sour cream). 

 Just around the corner from our apartment was an old fashioned diner which was advertising breakfast tacos. Who am I to walk past that? They were actually pretty decent and fresh tasting. This was also our first taste of the awful black liquid that American's seem to think qualifies as coffee. Also on the menu was a milkshake that you could have a piece of pie blended into!

Breakfast tacos 

 There are tiny pizza shops all over town selling slices from 99c. One common deal was 2 slices and drink for $2.75. We had pizza many times during our stay and can safely say that they are our favourite in the world (sorry Italy).

Standard 2 slices and a drink - Usually $2.75

Typical pizza shop seating

You can't go to New York and not have a hot dog so we did just that in Central Park. Kate found the sausage a bit spicy, not sure if it was "standard". Nothing special, it tasted just as you imagine.

Remains of a hot dog from a Central Park stand

Hannah took us for a beer at McSorley's Old Ale House which bizarrely serves you 2 smallish beers when you order one. I don't know why they don't just get bigger glasses, I guess it's their trademark. It had a very cool old interior and was full of students from nearby NYU, beer was good.

McSorley's Old Ale House

 Mighty Quinn's is somewhat of a trendy BBQ joint on the Lower East Side. We had brisket and pulled port with pickled vegetables. The sides we had were baked beans with burnt brisket ends mixed in, sweet potato casserole, and broccoli salad. This was one of the best meals we had and everything was brilliant.

BBQ brisket with all the fixins yall

We needed something healthier for breakfast one day so we settled on a couple of bagels from Brooklyn Bagel Co on 8th Ave. They had about 10 types of bagels and about 30 different flavoured  cream cheese spreads. They were good for a while but are a bit dense and heavy going after about half. We would definitely ask for less cream cheese next time too.

New York bagel with cream cheese (Jalapeno on right, sun-dried tomato on left)

 Epstein's Bar offers a "drunch" (drunken brunch) special which includes a meal and all you can drink Mimosa's, Bloody Mary's, or vodka orange between 11am and 2pm for the bargain price of $15.95! We didn't have high expectations for the food, but the burritos and burgers were great and huge! The waitress kept the drinks flowing so we were a little worse for wear by the time we left. She was dancing around the bar saying "Ima gonna get you druuuuunk!".

Food and all you can drink Mimosa's for $15.95!

Katz's Deli is one of the more famous diners in New York (from When Harry met Sally), and is especially known for their pastrami sandwiches.  We ordered the Reuben which is a ton of pastrami with sauerkraut, Russian dressing, and swiss cheese. It also came with more pickles than we knew what to do with. It was very tasty and I'm glad we didn't get one each because it is enormous. As an added bonus there was a guy in a pool of blood outside when we left. The ambulance was quickly on the scene and we don't really know what happened.

Reuben Sandwich from Katz's Deli

Lot of pastrami

We headed over the bridge to Brooklyn and visited Jimmy's Diner which does mainly traditional Southern food. The lady next to us had a piece of fried chicken on a waffle with sausage gravy?! Kate ordered "grits" (we weren't really sure what they were, turned out to be a sort of corn porridge) but wasn't really a fan. I had pulled pork and eggs, while Hannah had eggs on corn bread.

Jimmy's Diner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

The corner bistro in Greenwich Village offered up a variety of burgers. I made the rookie mistake of thinking that the chili burger would be a burger with chili sauce, but it was a meat patty with chili-con-carne on it. Meat with meat sauce! There are two halves of a bun somewhere under there too. Surprisingly better than it looked.

Yes that is food! Chili Burger

Corner Bistro in Greenwich Village

Other notable mentions that we didn't take photos of were a traditional Mexican restaurant and a variety of dive bars with cheap drink and shot combo deals. We also had a good ramen in Hell's Kitchen along with some lightly blowtorched tuna sashimi which Kate actually liked after being hesitant to try it.

- Joe

New York City: Part 2

We took the budget ride up to the top of the GE building at Rockefeller Center for a sweet deal of $27 each... I am kidding. But seriously if you wanted to see the city from the Empire State Building then you'd be looking at paying about $42 for the privilege. This is one of those travel moments that despite the price, you know you have to do it, and we're glad we did.

Central Park from Top of the Rock

You can view the city from three different levels with 360 degree viewing platforms. It was windy and cold, but the view more than made up for the weather. Most importantly the sun was shining. After a very short visit to the top, and I mean short, it was the most cold and the most windy on the very top platform, we continued to explore the city before meeting up with Hannah later that evening.

Empire State Building from Top of the Rock

On our way home we passed by the famous ice skating rink at Rockefeller Plaza. It was a bit of chill out area with loads of people sitting watching, having lunch and/or ice skating.

Ice rink at Rockefeller Centre

As we pressed on we passed Grand Central Station. It was pretty magnificent. Everything in New York reminds you of different scenes from different movies, and it feels kinda strange walking through places you've only ever seen on television.

Grand Central Station

The next day we decided to head for Brooklyn Bridge. Beforehand we found a New York hot dog stand and tried a famous New York hotdog for the first time. My entire mouth was numb, burning and I was full of regret after only trying one bite of that hot dog. It was the spiciest thing I have ever eaten... with no prior warning either. I guess they assume you know.

Looks sunny but was absolutely freezing

The Brooklyn bridge was fantastic. The view of the city from the bridge made it a pretty spectacular walk. It's almost a 2 kilometre walk across the bridge! I must admit though, it was windy and freezing - like no other cold I have ever experienced... just freezing.

Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge and the Lower Manhattan Skyline 

We decided to cross the Manhattan Bridge on the way home. The subway runs along the Manhattan Bridge which created more wind and cold when they went past, but we did have a great view of the neighbouring Brooklyn Bridge with the city in the background. 

Central Park

On a different day we visited Central Park. It's enormous and really pretty. You'll be pleased to know we didn't stumble across any dead bodies like they do in SVU. We went through the strawberry fields, where a local busker was playing John Lennon songs on his guitar and where countless adorable squirrels were carelessly frolicking around the place. You can hire a bicycle taxi for about $3 a minute, where they take you for a very leisurely ride through the park. We saw a couple having their wedding photos taken at the Bethesda Fountain. We walked past the hotel where John Lennon was shot (just to end our walk on a happy note) before heading home. 

Chelsea

The next day we headed to this really cool park called High Line in Chelsea. An old elevated railway track that used to run through the area has been converted into a kind of walk through park. Instead of destroying it they decided to plant trees and create a path way dotted with park benches and recreational areas, cafes and spots to view the river.

High Line Park

The sun-bed style chairs (which would be awesome in the summer) roll along the old railway tracks.

Meatpacking district

Kate makes a friend

I freaking love squirrels. They are the cutest.

- Kate 

Washington DC

The train ride from New York to Washington DC was not amongst the most scenic we've even been on but it was interesting nonetheless. Endless industrial wasteland through New Jersey with abandoned factories and swampland. Baltimore appeared to have entire neighbourhoods that were abandoned. Streets and streets of houses all boarded up and falling apart. We later read that these parts of Baltimore are some of the most dangerous areas in the country and have basically been abandoned by the police and the gangs have taken over.

As we got closer it started to snow so we knew we were in for a cold day. It was snowing fairly heavily by the time we got there. To keep the snow out we had the choice of an umbrella or a poncho. I wisely went with the umbrella while Kate thought the blue poncho was the way to go....

It's winter again!

There was a protest going on at the supreme court just down the road between pro-choice people and right-wingers arguing that birth control shouldn't be subsidized by Obama-care.

Protest outside the supreme court

Across the road was the Capitol Building where there were more security people than tourists due to the grim weather. Kate was pretty easy to spot in the white-out.

Looking fashionable outside the Capital Building

We next went to National Air and Space Museum. I really wanted to see it and by that stage Kate would have agreed to anything as long as it was inside. There we lots of planes, missiles, spacecraft and things on display. Lots of fathers excitedly explaining technical details of engines to their bored families.

Air and space museum

I dragged Kate back out into the gloom and we headed along the Mall to the Washington Monument. What would a Kate and Joe trip be without a bit of scaffolding? Apparently it sustained damage in an earthquake a while back. The adjacent reflection pool had been heartlessly drained so there was no reflecting to be done.

Washington Monument

One good thing about the weather was that the place was deserted and it was very pretty with the snow on the ground.

At the other end of the non-reflection pond is the Lincoln Memorial which we have seen in numerous tv shows and movies. For some reason a father was forcing his two boys to take their jackets off and make wrestling poses in front of the statue in singlets while he took photos. One of them was bawling but his dad didn't seem to care and continued with the photos.

Lincoln Memorial

We then walked back through the park past the lakes toward the White House. Kate was delirious from the cold by this stage so insisted on going out to an island for a photo and then wiggle dancing around me in circles at traffic lights with her blue poncho on.

Where's Wally

There were only about 4 people outside the White House and Obama was probably in front of a fire having a cuppa.

Snowy White House - Obama not pictured

Sightseeing over we hurried back to the relative warmth of the train station for a taco whose shell was made of Doritos which was as awesome as it sounds.

- Joe

New York City: Part 1

Airfares from Europe to New York are much much cheaper than airfares from Brisbane to New York, so we thought it was the perfect opportunity to visit my sister Hannah who lives in New York. We booked an apartment in the Flatiron district from a girl who had moved out but still had a few weeks to run on her lease. It which was really cheap because the only furniture it had was a bed. It is a very central if not particularly funky neighbourhood and it was a perfect base for us.

Flatiron building just around the corner from our apartment

At first we just went on a big walk through various neighbourhoods towards downtown until we reached the World Trade Centre site. There is lots of construction work going on and the Freedom Tower looks like it is nearly finished.

Patriotic fire truck

Then across through Wall Street and the financial district to the East River and around to Battery park on the southern tip of Manhattan.

Freedom Tower

We took a ride on the Staten Island ferry which goes past the Statue of Liberty. About half the people on the boat were tourists doing the same thing, and they all just hopped straight on the return ferry at Staten Island.

Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island ferry

The next day we met up with Hannah and she took us over to Williamsburg in Brooklyn which is a gentrified area teeming with hipsters. We had a traditional southern style breakfast at Jimmy's Diner before having a walk along Bedford Avenue through a Hasidic Jewish community. We stuck out like sore thumbs here with everyone else wearing the traditional black outfits, and all of the signs were in Yiddish.

Breakfast in Brooklyn with Hannah

Back over the bridge on the subway we got off in Chinatown and had a walk from there through Little Italy and over to SoHo. New York is a great walking city, there is always so much happening everywhere and the neighbourhoods all have their own feel to them.

Little Italy

The next day we ventured up to midtown past the Empire State Building towards Times Square.

Empire State Building

Times Square is just as crazy as it seems in the movies with over the top advertising, colours, lights, performers, and people everywhere. There was a lady in a bikini and cowboy boots playing guitar even though it was below zero and our faces were hurting from the icy wind.

Times Square by day

Interesting characters in Times Square.......It was -1 Celsius and windy........

Hannah put us onto the citizenM hotel in Times Square that was offering free test nights ahead of it's official opening. Hell yes! The price is supposed to be $300+ a night! The room was super modern with everything controlled via a tablet on the bedside table. You could choose different "mood light" settings which changed the colours of the lights depending on your mood. The location was great and we walked a few blocks east into Hell's Kitchen for dinner at a Japanese restaurant.

citizenM Hotel at Times Square

Times Square by night

We saw just about every stereotypical American in New York. From the black guy walking past a Maserati and shouting "Daaaaaayyyuumm" to no-one in particular to white trash at the bus stop talking about their various baby-daddies. 

Typical Intersection

Later we happened to wander past Jay Z and Beyonce's place in Tribeca which Kate was thoroughly unimpressed with. It just looks like a converted warehouse from the outside but I'm sure it's much fancier inside.

I can't really explain in words how much we liked New York, so you'll just have to go there yourselves.

- Joe