Day 4

 Slept late today, well 10AM LOL. Followed the usual starbucks routine – we got into that routine very quickly. The order was always a butter croissant and grande Americano with an extra espresso shot for me and S’s was always a blueberry muffin and a grande caramel latte – in case you were interested Walked across Madison to Fifth avenue and then up Fifth avenue (or is it down? – haven’t a clue!) to the entrance of Central park (beside the Plaza hotel / Grand Army Plaza) and walked by the pond – got lots of really nice photos. Sean got obsessed taking photos of a squirrel hehe. Got some really good photos of the city from the park too, it’s a lovely place and I’d say it would be packed during the summer months, it was quite busy when we were there. Walked around the pond, past Wollmann rink. If you’re ever there take a look at the plates on the benches. I know it sounds strange! Most of them were for in memory of family or friends but some of them were very sweet. For example there was one that said For Noodling, it gave me a giggle anyhoo. From there we walked past the Hecksher playground and baseball fields. Down past the Carousel (which I went on but thankfully there’s no photos of that) we followed the path / road down as far as Strawberry fields (a 2.5 acre tribute to John Lennon) We left the park at W72nd St(I think it was across from the Dakota building) and got a hot dog and a bottle of Coke from a street vendor. We ate the hot dogs which was fabulous by the way on a bench with the February sunshine beaming down on us and all the yellow taxi’s zooming by. Crossed the street to the subway station and took a subway to 34^th street and Macy’s. I actually didn’t get anything there though I was still trying to get my Uggs (which Macy’s don’t stock) and a Nine West laptop bag – which they were all out of We ate lunch in the Cellar there (the hot dog was too small to fill me up) I had a steak and mushroom flat bread and S had a huge burger. For dessert (At lunch I know) I had NY cheesecake. The store had a cookery demo on while we were there. I think we were told they burned what they were cooking triggering the fire alarm. The servers ran around to every table telling them it was a false alarm but the lights and the alarm going off was kinda scary!! Anyway we all got out safely LOL. Sean bought his mum a Martha Stewart turkey baster LOL and that was it. By then I was starting to feel completely knackered so we headed back to the hotel (By taxi this time – my feet were zinging they were that sore) when we got back to the hotel we slept LOL! I was very full after lunch at Macy’s so we didn’t bother going out for something to eat. We left the hotel around 9 and went to Charley O’s for drinks. Left there around 1:30 with some new friends (People from Ireland & UK and also the manager of Charley O’s) and we went to the Playwright across the road. I know people from Ireland always somehow manage to meet in NY but the barman there (when he visits Dublin rather than Kerry where he’s from) always drinks in the bar where I had my 21^st. Anyhow once we made the connections LOL he knocked a coupla rounds off the bill! It was a big deal for me meeting someone who knew the bar more so when I’m thousands of miles from home (and kinda drunk – damned those electric green shots the barman in Charley’s gave us for free LOL) so that night was fun, got to bed at 5:30, I think I just passed out to be honest.  

Day 5 (last day – sob!) 

 Woke at 11, dry mouth, still drunk, not good when check out is at 11. Got up finished packing, had shower, dressed. Thankfully Sean used the TV to check us out of the room so no chit chat with the Receptionist. Left the room just after 12 and headed downstairs. The concierge took care of our cases and we had a chat – he was 3^rd generation Irish (I think) and full of chat which neither of us were really able for. I’m sure we stunk of drink – ah well. So he took our cases and we were going to head out, we stuck our heads out the door, it was P*SSING rain so we went back inside and ate in Oscar’s (Brasserie in the hotel) I got the Waldorf salad (For those of you who watch Fawlty Towers this may seem very amusing it certainly was for me – until I got the salad) I should have ordered the Caesar salad because the Waldorf just looked like Coleslaw made up of 2 kinds of apples, celery and walnuts in a Mayo sauce. The plate was just full of Coleslaw. Anyhow I managed to heat half of it, drank lots of water and Pepsi. Then we went on our way, collected our luggage and took a taxi to JFK. The taxi had one of the little TV’s in the back which kept me occupied on the way out. S slept got to the airport, checked in (its so quick and easy) thought I was going to be sick but the feeling passed quickly enough. Done some shopping in the duty free (Cigarettes for my mum just) I was tempted to buy another watch but I was very well behaved. I did buy some sweets, pepsi and water for the flight home though and that was it for me. S picked up a I LOVE NY thermos mug Then we went through security. For those of you who know me you know I always wear loooong trousers. I had to lift my trousers up going through security so they could see my feet :-S sat at the gate for an hour before boarding. Couldn’t wait to fall asleep I was so tired. We got on the plane and I was very happy to discover that we had individual screens to watch movies or listen to music. I watched Hairspray (again) a couple of episodes of Sex and the city, a Father Ted and then fell asleep. I think I was still drunk getting on the flight! Not long after the meal was served (which we both refused cos we just wanted to sleep) one of the cabin crew came over to me and he was like are you Sarah? Is F your mum? Did you grow up in “certain part of Dublin” and I was like yes, yes and yes. Turns out he lived around the corner from me and I hadn’t seen him in about 8 or 9 years so didn’t recognise him at all!!! I knew his brother better and his brother and mum used to work as cleaners in the building I work in now LOL anyhow after I figured out who he was and we had a quick “how are you” catch up he said that he’d look after us during the flight (You know beer, wine, soft drinks etc for nothing but both of us said there’s no way we’d be able to drink so I had to say thank you very much but no thanks) ah wellNot long after that I fell asleep on S’s arm. I think I drooled cos when I woke up his arm was wet (not good!!) but thankfully he just laughed it offArrived back in Dublin at 5.30AM – Even though the flight was 30 minutes late taking off due to bad winds / rain in NY we were home on time Once we collected our luggage, we got a taxi home. When we got in I sorted out some washing (that I wanted to take with me to Sofia the next day) and stuck that wash on. Then we went upstairs and woke Toby. My mum took care of him while we were in NY – even took time off work to do so LOL. OMG we got such a response, it wasn’t even just his tail that was wagging it was his whole body so after he’s greeted us both, covering us with licks I have to say, we went back downstairs for some brekkie. Then fell asleep on the couches. Got up at 1 and went to the local shopping centre so I could get toiletries etc for my Sofia trip.I think I’ve done enough typing for one day so I’ll tell you all about Sofia tomorrowHAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY to you all )