Pretzel Dogs, the Village, and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Well hello all, what an exciting time we had yesterday...

We caught the subway from Columbia University down to Times Square and, after being harrassad by a bad Michael Jackson impersonator, ended up in Toys-R-Us. Not entirely sure how that happened, but they had the original shield from the Captain America film, and a massive toy-themed Ferris Wheel, so it was totally worth it.





We decided that the best way to see NY from on high would be to go to the Top of the Rock, at beautiful Rockefeller Centre, where you can see the whole of Manhattan. One of the Rockefeller stewards started complimenting Charlie on how pretty she was, and how she looked like Kate Middleton... This part of the story doesnt go anywhere, but it was funny at the time.




Charlie indulged my love of American Television by letting me spend far too long in the NBC shop, and its a good thing she did, because a man from NBC approached us when I was laughing at t-shirts of Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock (while IN 30 Rock! How frickin` meta is that?) and asked us if we were fans of Jimmy Fallon. We weren´t, but it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss, and we got invited to be a part of the rehearsal audience. The jokes weren`t particularly funny, but it was ridiculously cool being inside an NBC studio at 30 Rock, being entertained by a man we were assured was a celebrity.

Oh, and I ate a Pretzel Dog. Hot Dog wrapped in a pretzel. And cheese. Certainly an experience.

We travelled around a bit, saw Grand Central and a bit of Central Park, and then walked all the way down to 9th street to meet up with our host Sophia, and Sam, the other Englishman who was staying in the same flat (another Southampton grad, so that was cool). Long story short, we explored Greenwich Village, had some fantastic stone-baked pizza at a restaurant called No. 28, Sam bought a hookah (the 'ah' there is mightily important in the meaning of that word), and we ended up in a bar that was showing the Detroit Tigers baseball game AND had live music. If the game had been exciting, and the band had been good, it would have been like Mecca. If Mecca was home to organised sports and Lady GaGa cover bands. Still, a fantastic night. Sam left early this morning to fly to Puerto Rico, and we`re about to head down to the Statue of Liberty, so we`ll catch you later!

Chris & Charlie