New York - 1st Day.
Got an earlier flight than I had expected from Chicago, to La Guardia. Landed just as the sun was setting - the plane flew right over downtown Manhattan, with a deep red sunset in the background, speckled with a few clouds.
In the row in front of me, I noticed a lone traveller (James) with a UK passport and a folded sheet of directions - I peering over his shoulder on the assumption that he was likely going the same way as me, and saw that his directions were to the same hostel as me. We took the bus (M60, $2, stops 2 blocks away from hostel) together.
I've stayed in this hostel before, in the summer of 1999... it looks pretty much the same... more internet terminals this time round, and a little bit more snow than in the summer.
James was only in town for that evening and the following day time, so we ventured out immediately to sample some pubs and bars.
We started by the hostel, at 'Tap a keg' at Broadway/104th. Drank Sierra Nevada (hardly authentic NY beer). A man at the bar had just ordered a round for the whole bar as we arrived, so free beer for us. It was not clear why he so ordered. Half way through our pints, another customer appeared with a box of cookies for everyone. Such a friendly place!
Neither James nor myself were entirely clear on the required etiquette when someone has purchased a round for the whole pub, so before we left we ordered a drink between us for the anonymous round purchaser.
At the same intersection, we moved to the 'Abbey Pub' - no free drinks here, but at least lager brewed by the Brooklyn Brewery (I've had that before, when passing through JFK).
Next to 'Eden', a cocktail bar (still at the same intersection, only a few hundred metres away from the hostel) - not a good selection of beers here - maybe would've been wiser to have cocktails. Corona. Spanish soap opera on the television.
To complete this portion of the crawl, 'Smoke', a jazz bar. It advertised itself as having no cover charge, but upon entering we discovered they claimed a minimum drink charge of $15 per person per set. We paid in cash without starting a tab, and so had no trouble leaving after just one drink (red wine for me). At this jazz bar (and the next) there was no live music until our beers were almost finished - lame timing.
After 'Smoke', took the 1 subway downtown to Greenwich Village - first another jazz bar by the subway station, with a raw fish selection behind the bar and a live threepiece that again did not start until just as we were leaving.
'Ciao!', an Italian restaurant and bar. Barmaid 'Noelle' who was most apologetic that her nitrogen tanks had run out and so was unable to serve us beer from her taps (and noted so in my notebook). This bar was fun -- Noelle was amusing to talk to, as were various other random people who were there for a 21st birthday party. A girl Robyn detected us as English and told us all about how she will go to City University in London in Febuary. At this bar, I violated a number of the fundamental rules of pub crawl:
i) no more than one drink per establishment [3 corona... ]
ii) no shots [... plus one mystery shot prepared by Noelle]
which put me in bad shape for our final bar, the name and location of which I do not recall.
At this final location, we encountered 'Igor', a Russian and 'Katie from Texas'. As I slumped drunkenly in a chair, Katie braided my hair (the knotted remains of which I was to discovered when attempting the shower the next morning) and wrote babblings about how a braid is a weave of life and descriptions of Taurus. Igor noted down for me a place to go on Wednesday evening, which I subsequently failed to go to.
By this point, I was barely able to remain awake, and James sheparded me back to the subway to head uptown. We were on the lookout for food the whole way but did not find anything appetising until directly across from the hostel, we found a 24h deli - they were only doing window service but we were unable to describe coherently anything that they would sell through the window, so they unlocked the door and allowed us to wander around the aisles. We still could not find anything, so one of the staff made us fresh sandwiches (ham and cheese for me). With that, to bed and the onset of hangover...
In the row in front of me, I noticed a lone traveller (James) with a UK passport and a folded sheet of directions - I peering over his shoulder on the assumption that he was likely going the same way as me, and saw that his directions were to the same hostel as me. We took the bus (M60, $2, stops 2 blocks away from hostel) together.
I've stayed in this hostel before, in the summer of 1999... it looks pretty much the same... more internet terminals this time round, and a little bit more snow than in the summer.
James was only in town for that evening and the following day time, so we ventured out immediately to sample some pubs and bars.
We started by the hostel, at 'Tap a keg' at Broadway/104th. Drank Sierra Nevada (hardly authentic NY beer). A man at the bar had just ordered a round for the whole bar as we arrived, so free beer for us. It was not clear why he so ordered. Half way through our pints, another customer appeared with a box of cookies for everyone. Such a friendly place!
Neither James nor myself were entirely clear on the required etiquette when someone has purchased a round for the whole pub, so before we left we ordered a drink between us for the anonymous round purchaser.
At the same intersection, we moved to the 'Abbey Pub' - no free drinks here, but at least lager brewed by the Brooklyn Brewery (I've had that before, when passing through JFK).
Next to 'Eden', a cocktail bar (still at the same intersection, only a few hundred metres away from the hostel) - not a good selection of beers here - maybe would've been wiser to have cocktails. Corona. Spanish soap opera on the television.
To complete this portion of the crawl, 'Smoke', a jazz bar. It advertised itself as having no cover charge, but upon entering we discovered they claimed a minimum drink charge of $15 per person per set. We paid in cash without starting a tab, and so had no trouble leaving after just one drink (red wine for me). At this jazz bar (and the next) there was no live music until our beers were almost finished - lame timing.
After 'Smoke', took the 1 subway downtown to Greenwich Village - first another jazz bar by the subway station, with a raw fish selection behind the bar and a live threepiece that again did not start until just as we were leaving.
'Ciao!', an Italian restaurant and bar. Barmaid 'Noelle' who was most apologetic that her nitrogen tanks had run out and so was unable to serve us beer from her taps (and noted so in my notebook). This bar was fun -- Noelle was amusing to talk to, as were various other random people who were there for a 21st birthday party. A girl Robyn detected us as English and told us all about how she will go to City University in London in Febuary. At this bar, I violated a number of the fundamental rules of pub crawl:
i) no more than one drink per establishment [3 corona... ]
ii) no shots [... plus one mystery shot prepared by Noelle]
which put me in bad shape for our final bar, the name and location of which I do not recall.
At this final location, we encountered 'Igor', a Russian and 'Katie from Texas'. As I slumped drunkenly in a chair, Katie braided my hair (the knotted remains of which I was to discovered when attempting the shower the next morning) and wrote babblings about how a braid is a weave of life and descriptions of Taurus. Igor noted down for me a place to go on Wednesday evening, which I subsequently failed to go to.
By this point, I was barely able to remain awake, and James sheparded me back to the subway to head uptown. We were on the lookout for food the whole way but did not find anything appetising until directly across from the hostel, we found a 24h deli - they were only doing window service but we were unable to describe coherently anything that they would sell through the window, so they unlocked the door and allowed us to wander around the aisles. We still could not find anything, so one of the staff made us fresh sandwiches (ham and cheese for me). With that, to bed and the onset of hangover...
posted by benc at 20:53 GMT
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