Random

In May 2016 I signed up for a tour of Grand Central station.

Yesterday I did the same for next week-end as I'm going to NYC with younger daughter to celebrate her birthday.
I found the same tour operator and was pleased that they had vacancies on the tour at such short notice.
Confirmation has come through and ........ It'll be the same tour guide (same cellphone number too) as I had 2 1/2 years ago !

freetoursbyfoot.com/new-york-tours/book-online/

Select a Sunday then scroll down to the tour you are interested in

No problem - should have added the tours of Grand Central are Sundays only, other tours operate on different days of the week

^
From memory there is a market of sorts - not an open air one but a proper indoor trading area with stalls. It's to one side of the station, can't remember exactly where but I'll see what they say about it in 5 days time ! How long will you be in NYC ?

Anyone got a jazz club recommendation? We looked at doing an ice hockey match on the Sunday night, but they wanted nearly $300 for the tix. Ice hockey can fuck off!

^
A large part of that is due to the lousy Pound/Dollar exchange rate.
When I first went in 2006, I got just under USD2 to the pound.  From memory it brought my hotel room out at around £100 per night.
At the current 1.27 (or thereabouts) to the pound, reasonable hotel rooms are about £230 per night, so in 12 years the actual dollar rate hasn't gone up that much.

I do recall that in 2006 and in 2016, the last time I visited NYC, items such as a bottle of water were the same price in supermarkets/shops as they were from street vendors, so there is far less an attitude of "rip off the public" that there is in England.

A one-week MTA transport card was around USD25 from memory in 2006, and I believe it's now USD32, so again not that much of a rise in 12 years - and it's outstanding value compared to the cost of using public transport in London.


Some things are expensive though......
When I'm back, I'll tell you about the evening meal that my daughter has already bought to celebrate her birthday with me whilst we are over there

One issue I have with our exchange is that an American can come here go in M&S and buy something that has a price displayed in pounds with the VAT added then pop to customer service, flash their passport and get that bit returned to them, thus earning a nice discount on their new item. I go to the States, go to Maceys and buy something that has a pricetag with no tax on it that then goes up at the till. I can then go to a tax rebate office, flash my passport, which has a photocopy made of it and put in a very safe drawer and then I get a small portion of the sales tax back because the place doing the refunds charges a commission alongside a mandated city charge.

Pretty random. Decided to take photos whilst out for lunchtime walk. 

























baby leopard name

That was a deliberate theme. Well spotted. City is full of places to get mugged. 

I’ll do Westminster next week. 

I’m devastated. I went to put on my Barbour Gamefair jacket and discovered a 6” rip in the wax cotton next to the left hand pocket. I suspect I caught it on the sheep clippers. I bought it new and it’s over 22 years old. It’s just wearing in nicely and has that unique country worn smell that is incredibly comforting. I’ve reproofed it several times over the years and I have a fleece lining for it. I’ve sent it back to Barbour and hopefully they can mend it. There are several on eBay, but they won’t be the same. 😢

I've not been able to find a modern jacket that is as hardwearing, waterproof and up to the abuse you can give waxed cotton.  I love the stuff.  My everyday coat is a Drizabone Drovers Coat and I have a full length one too.  Just reproofed the Drovers last night.  The only reason I have the Aussie coats is that the modern Barbours aren't as thick as the old ones - the cotton seems very flimsy in comparison.  I use my old Barbour for mucking about in and work.

I am sure they can fix it.  There is a video on Youtube about them.

Fjällraven G1000 coats are good, but cost a small fortune. Then again, I expect Barbour ones do, too, but I've never had the slightest inclination to look.

They do a few variations on the G1000 material now like a lighter weight version etc, but the original one feels like it'll last years, very heavy duty. They do their own wax, too.

I got lucky because they used to make a jacket with a removable down liner that I was finding so tempting, but they stopped making it before I could pull the trigger. I can't remember how much it was now, but I think it was over £500. They still do a similar looking one called the Kiruna for £300 that I might treat myself to one day...