We texted Alistair this morning to wish him a ‘Happy New Year’ as it was already 2013 in Australia. By the reply we received he seemed to be having a good time at his little ‘gathering’.
We then spent the day unpacking – it feels so good not to be living out of a suitcase anymore. We now have a home away from home and eagerly await the imminent arrival of several visitors. Cameron should be around soon if only to drop off some luggage. By all accounts he’s having a good time here too. And Jenny and Richard arrive on the 6th for a week, so we should have some fun showing them ‘our city’.
It is New Year’s Eve, so as darkness fell we put on our glad rags and set out for the first leg of our mission - dinner at the famous ‘Oyster Bar’ Restaurant at Grand Central Station. The oyster selection was impressive and we shall definitely be bringing people back here, not only sample the cuisine but also to just soak up the amazing atmosphere. Our waitress brought us a selection of one dozen oysters each from a different region so that we could ascertain which area of origin we had a preference for.
So we sampled ‘French Kiss’, ‘Dabob’, ‘Kumamoto’, ‘Hama Hama’, Lady Chatterley’ and ‘Watch Hill’, among others, and at the end of this exhaustive process, and after getting our feedback on each variety, our waitress recommended that in future we order oysters from the NE coast as that seemed to be our favourite area. The soups, scallops and lobster that followed were delicious but there was more to follow so we thanked our host and moved on to the next activity – the river cruise.
While thousands were braving the cold in Times Square, we grabbed a cab and headed south for a short trip to the South Street Sea Port to board our boat (The Zephyr) for our cruise on the Hudson River to watch the fireworks by the Statue of Liberty. It was a wonderful night. The lights of the city were stunning and the decorations and lighting for the festive season made it even more special.
The Empire State Building was showcased in rippling blues and purple lights (hard to photograph), the Chrysler Building in its shining white and the new Freedom Tower, rising from the ashes of ‘Ground Zero’, looked resplendent in what else but red blue and white. The fireworks were impressive and I’m sure I saw the Statue of Liberty give them the nod at the end of the show. Or was that the Cosmo’s cocktails I had been drinking?
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