A FREEWHEELIN' GREG HART

 I haven't posted to my blog in a long time so I may be a little rusty with my writing, I hope it doesn't show! I'm going to start this by taking you back to November 2021 when the world was on the cusp of reopening. I actually made it home for a couple of weeks and had a whale of time and the future looked rosy, oh so rosy that Amanda and I took the plunge and booked a winter getaway to New York City for some culture and a rock concert and then on to San Francisco California for a little winter sun! We were so excited about our trip and then 2022 hit, omicron hit, Amanda and I got COVID and the world started shutting it's borders again. Everything about our trip was looking bleak as the COVID cases rose and our hopes dropped, restaurants and cafes were going back to take out only and we heard false rumours that the dreaded N95 masks were required indoors in NYC. We came a hair away from cancelling but then as quickly as it hit omicron started to dissipate and we found ourselves on a jet to New York City!

Playing Neil Youngs guitar in Cleveland airport! Up Yours spotify!

We had a great trip out, made even better by the fact we got to leave a day early to beat a huge snowstorm that was about to blanket Cleveland in enough white stuff that it would stick around for 31 days... a modern day record even for Cleveland. We timed things well 😁 

Cool shot of Cleveland from the air, Just look at al that ice on Lake Erie!

We got to Brooklyn where we were staying to be greeted by my belt breaking, I think due to the humungous bag/rucksack (a bagsack?) containing all our worldly belongings we would need for 9 days resting on my lower back right against the belt. I have to be honest here that this bagsack did not contain everything we'd need for 9 days... despite checking the weather and seeing rain we neglected to pack any waterproofs, a umbrella, the notebook with our itinerary in it, a charger for my camera as the icing on the cake I left all my masks behind in a neat pile on the bedroom floor! Regretfully this meant I had to buy and actually had to wear a N95 mask... one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life to date, it really did make breathing hard! So let this be a warning to you in the times of covid that if you are going to be travelling pack your own masks 😊😊Anyway back to my belt dilema to cut a long story short I managed to save a ton of cash by simply using the bagsacks strap as my belt for the next week. AI am not one to blow my own trumpet but this truly was an ingenious solution ... and so thrifty and trendy as well! Amanda agrees with me she says that I am a trendsetter and soon everyone will be wearing them although she is yet to wear one herself. I included pictures what do you guys think?!

Out with the old...

In with the new

Once the belt disaster was sorted and a umbrella purchased we went out and enjoyed the best that Brooklyn had to offer! We went to see the film 'Licorice Pizza' at the Cobble Hill Theatre which was a cute little arthouse cinema next door do a chocolate shop so you can buy a hot chocolate latte and sip it during the film! Licorice Pizza was a cracking film that I'll rate as a 8 out of 10 Stars. I'll award 10 Stars as I did not fall asleep which is a rarity for me in movie cinemas yet sadly I am forced to deduct 2 stars as despite the title promising Licorice and Pizza I received neither. Not only that but I didn't even hear the words pizza or licorice uttered once during the whole movie. What do you reckon, could I make it as a movie critic?!

I love the retro vibes on the subway

With my trendy new belt in tow we thought it was only right that we should spend our next day hanging out with all the cool kids in The Village! Greenwich Village! A bohemian artsy spot that I am sure has changed a lot since Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell called it home in the 60s but still holds on to its Bohemian spirit with lots of coffee shops, music shops, poster shops and music venues to see. Some of which have been here since Dylan strolled these streets in the Sixties! I got to play a Auto Harp and a Appalacian Dolcimer in 'The Music Inn' before we continued our magical mystery tour by sipping coffee in Caffe Reggios - David Bowies favourite coffee shop when he lived in New York in his later years. If you sit in the window and stare out to the nondescript red brick building over the road little would you know that this is the very building where Louisa Alcott wrote Little Women. It is also home to the best cappuccino on the Eastern Seaboard!

Playing the Auto Harp

Playing the Appalacian Dolcimer!

We then went to replicate the past some more by trying to replicate Bob Dylans 'Freewheelin' album cover.... sadly I was to shy to ask someone to take the picture for the two of us so we got Individual pictures.. anyway it still looks pretty cool! There was a record shop located right by this scene where I got a Simon & Garfunkel record before we finished off the day by gobbling down a New York style pizza on Bleeker Street - As New Yoik as it gets! 

The Freewheelin' Amanda

The Freewheelin' Original

In New York before you can even think about gobbling down your New Yoik style pizza you have to prove you are fully vaccinated to get inside and in our experience they take this really seriously. No matter what you think about masking up or COVID in general it is to the credit of New Yorkers that they are taking such precautions so seriously. Thank You New Yoik for thinking of our safety while showing off your beautiful city we appreciated it 😃

In a previous 2013 blog I spoke about how rude, obnoxious and unpleasant New Yorkers were back then. Well I am ready to eat humble pie, the New Yorkers we encountered on this trip couldn't have been any sweeter, maybe because they are just happy to see tourists back in town or maybe we just got lucky but we felt welcome everywhere we went. My favourite New Yorker was the waiter in the Indian restuarant when I asked for my food extra hot - the chef checked that it was correct only for my waiter to say 'don't worry, he's foreign, he can handle it 😁

Squirrel n Central Park enjoying the rain

The next day we threw back the curtains only to be greeted by, you guessed it, more rain! This meant the MET museum and their music galleries. The MET is filled with wondrous treasures from all over the world, whether that be an entire Egyptian Temple, a Fabergé egg or more  Van Gogh paintings than I've had hot dinners. But all of these treasures pail in comparison to what can be found in the music gallery. There, surrounded by Stradivarius and ***** on prominent display is a authentic South African Vuvuzela! For those who are not familiar with this legendary instrument it is a horn shaped instrument that makes a bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz sound, it is synonymous with the 2010 world cup in South Africa where every game was accompanied by not just the constant drone of the commentators, but also the incessant bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz of the vuvuzela, I guess we should be thankful really as it did drown out the aforementioned commentators 😁  Visitor numbers are still recovering from COVID, and we were so lucky to have the museums almost to ourselves, it was really nice to get so close to so many masterpieces and not have anyone stepping on your toes! Just check out this picture of Amanda, she had Frida all to herself, can you spot me in the picture 😁

Amanda, Frida and I!

Spot the Vuvuzela!

Vuvuzela!

There may be less crowds but this painting remains a star attraction at the MOMA

The vuvuzela elation was stifled somewhat a little later in the day when we discovered the concert we planned the whole New York trip around had been cancelled. It seemed that after Courtney Barnett had completed a good 90 percent of her tour including a run of shows out west and ironically in our own back yard - The Midwest she finally succumbed to the dreaded COVID, catching one day before our show. Needless to say we were very sad but the show must go on! Our show that is... sadly not Courtney's! We though about catching a show instead but in the end plumped for another trip to Caffe Reggios instead, it was must busier this time (as it was a Saturday) so we had to sit outside... their Irish coffee sure warms you up though!

Roosevelt has been removed the Natural History Museum! If it was up to me I'd swap him with John James Audubon!

Caffe Reggio outside on a freezing Saturday!

Well that pretty much concludes out New York trip, you may have deduced I was planning to write about San Francisco as well but I have been writing this for a while so San Francisco will be my next post! You may also be wondering about our cats and how they survived without us, Well you needn't have worried and will be pleased to know that they are doing great!!! As I have been typing this I had the pleasure of watching Fleur throw up her dinner and then before I had the chance to move I got to watch Luna lick it all up! They are learning... they even clean up after each other!

The best of friends!

LOL